[Chaturamnaya] Shiva ≡ The Supreme

[S Jayanarayanan]

 Happy Maha Shivaratri!
 
A short paper on Shiva can found at the following link(s):
 
http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/articles/Shiva.pdf
 
http://tinyurl.com/SupremeShiva 
 
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4kAV1fkta3XYlV6bUJrYjJvR1k 
 
 
The First Page of Introduction follows:
 
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|| ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ||
    || श्री कृष्णाय नमः ||
 
 
Shiva ≡ The Supreme
 
 
It is a foregone conclusion in Advaita Vedanta that Vishnu = Shiva. Why then point to scriptural
passages that extol Shiva (also) as the Supreme? There is one purpose, though not very lofty.
Most Hindus grow up in families that read the Ramayana and the Gita, celebrate festivals like
Ramanavami and Gokulashtami, and make a pilgrimage to Tirupathi. This does not go unnoticed
by some Vaishnavas, who time and again selectively quote the scriptures to ‘prove’ that Vishnu
alone is the Supreme, and that Shiva is an ‘inferior’ deity. They (often) go on to claim that
Vishnu is to be exclusively worshipped, suggesting that worshipping Shiva is less recommended
in the Scriptures – or worse, that it may actually be ‘wrong’ to do so! As this issue keeps popping
up repeatedly, this present write-up will (hopefully) end any doubts in that regard.
 
Only two Scriptures will be cited here, which are accepted by all Hindus – the Mahabharata and
the Yajur-Veda. The English translation of a verse will be supplied first, after which will follow
(in most cases) its Sanskrit transliteration (saMskRRitam) in the ITRANS format. The
translation of the Mahabharata by Kisari Mohan Ganguli has been used almost verbatim, with
negligible changes.
 
Unless otherwise specified, “Shiva” will refer to the Being who resides in Kailasa, has a Blue
Throat, uses Nandi for a vehicle, etc.; and “Vishnu” will denote the Being who resides in
Vaikuntha, bears the Kaustubha gem, uses Garuda for a vehicle, etc.
 
If one wants to skip the explicit details and directly obtain the conclusion, please visit the last
Section V below.
 
Sections:-
 
I. Shiva as Supreme in the Mahabharata 
II. Glorification of the Sata-Rudriya in the Mahabharata 
III. Shiva as Supreme in the Veda 
IV. Dispelling Myths 
V. Conclusive view of Shiva and Vishnu in the Scriptures 
 
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