Ardhanarisvara

File:Shiva Shakti.jpg

Shiva and Shakti as One

In Hinduism, Ardhanarishvara (sa. अर्धनारी; variously known as Ardhanārī, Ardhnarishwara, Ardhanarishwara Ardhnariswara, Ardhanariswara, Ardhanarishvara Ardhanaarinateshwara and Mohiniraaj) is an androgynous deity composed of Shiva and his consort Parvati or else Shakti, the active, creative female energy. Together, these unified divinities represent the synthesis of masculine and feminine energies in the process of creation. The Ardhanarisvara form also illustrates how the female principle of God, Shakti is inseparable from the male principle of God, Shiva. In iconography Ardhanarisvara is depicted as half-male and half-female, split evenly down the middle upon a central axis. The image of Ardhanari is one of the most universal in India, popular from Kashmir to Tamil Nadu, and has also extended beyond India into regions as Nepal.

Origins

The term 'Ardhanarishvara' is a combination of three Sanskrit words: ardha, nari and ishvara, meaning respectively, 'half', 'woman' and 'Lord' or 'God'. Thus, Ardhanarishvara is the "Lord whose half is woman", or "Lord who is half woman". Other scholars have suggested that the name translates as "half-man, half-woman" . However, this has largely been discounted, since it implies dvaita, or a duality of existence. This would stand in direct contradiction the Advaitic philosophy which informs Shaivism; this states that Shiva and Shiva alone permeates all of existence, as it is by His will exclusively that the cosmos came into being.

Mythologically, Ardhanarisvara seems to be a continuation of Indo-European Aryan motifs of androgyny dating back to the Vedic period. One of the earliest examples of such a pan-sexual deity is the Vedic Dyava-Prthivi, who generates the universe by dividing into distinct halves: Dyaus, the fatherly sky god and Prthivi, the motherly earth goddess. Similarly, Rg Veda 3.38.4 describes how Visvarupa, the androgynous Bull-Cow god, can self-generate. This motif was continued on in the Brhadaranyaka Upanishads, wherein the description is provided of a single body in the shape of a man. For want of companionship, this man creates the universe by splitting his body into two halves, husband (pati) and wife (patni). Each of these legends seem prototypical of Ardhanarisvara.

The earliest Ardhanarishvara images date back to the Scytho-Kusana period, around the beginning of the Christian era or a short time before. The earliest of these images is a small red sandstone Kusana stele which has been dated to circa 35–60 C.E. This piece pictures Ardhanarishvara, identifiable by way of a central axial division of male and female halves, standing alongside three other deities thought to be Vishnu, Lakshmi and Kartikeyya. Other accounts suggest that Shiva, under the label of Oesho, appeared in androgynous form on some coins during the late Kusana period. This may be taken to suggest that the notion of the male-female deity was popular very early on after its appearance. Ardhanarishvara has remained one of the most prevalent forms of the Divine in Indian art ever since.

Iconography

Ardhanarisvara is most identifiable by way of his/her differentiation into male and female halves along the central vertical axis. Barring a few exceptions, the right half of his/her images comprises male anatomy and the left that of the female. A few images, obviously influenced by the Shakta sect which gives preeminence to the power of the goddess Shakti, have reversed placement of the male and female parts.

The male half of Ardhanarisvara is characterized by the typical features of Shiva. The head bears his crescent moon and snake ornamentations, as well as half of a mustache. Upon his ears he wears traditionally male earrings. His physique is very masculine, with a flat pectoral muscle, a broad shoulder, and a wide waist as well as a muscular thigh. Furthermore, the male side is ornamented with all the typical accessories of a Shiva image, such as draped garments or else a tiger-skin around his waist. Canons of iconography suggest that the right side of Ardhanarisvara should be covered with ashes, or else painted red to depict Shiva's Rudra aspect. Some images from North India depict the male half with tumescent genitalia.

The female half of the image is distinguished by a different hairstyle, which is either held in a braid or in a bun. Her forehead bears a half tilaka or dot (bindu), which is sometimes placed beneath the third eye. Her left eye is larger than the right one, and the left ear wears a earrings designed for women called valika. On the whole, the left side is more curvaceous, with a smaller waist and fuller hip as well as a rounder, well-developed breast. Her ornamentation is greater and decidedly female, including draped silk clothing which reaches her ankles, saffron body powder, anklets, bracelets and henna coloring her left foot or hand. This half of the body is typically colored saffron or parrot-green.

Several features are shared between the male and female sides, including the navel, chest ornaments, bracelets on the wrists, anklets, neck pieces, rings and belts. A halo often illuminates the entirety of the deity from behind it's head. Sometimes the male and female halves share a third eye. From the Gupta period onward, the sacred thread worn by twice-born castes appears upon the deity. Often, it takes the form of a serpent and crosses the upper torso of both the male and female halves.

The Ardhanarishvara image may be endowed with two, three, four, six or eight arms. Two-armed Ardhanarisvara images are the earliest. In these images, the diety holds the male hand in the abhaya mudra, the gesture in which the hand faces toward the devotee with fingers straight, serving to impart fearlessness. The female hand carries either a mirror or nilotpala, a blue lotus. Four-armed images are usually divided at the elbows, one male hand remains in the abhaya mudra while the other most commonly holds a Parasu or trident. This can also be a rosary, sword, club, thunderbolt, skull or noose. On four-armed images, one arm on the female half is bent and rests on Shiva's vehicle, the bull Nandin, or else is held in the kataka mudra, a gesture of intellectual engagement. These hands many also hold the water pot (Kamandalu), a mirror (darpana), the lotus flower, the lute (or Vina), a drum (damaru) or else a small parrot. When three-armed, one of Ardhanarisvara's arms is on the female side and the two on male.

The Ardhanarishvara images have a number of bodily postures. The most common is the tribhanga, a posture with three mild curves, one in the head, which leans to the left, anothe in the torso, which leans to the right, and the third in the right leg, which leans to the right. Also recorded is the atibhanga, a posture with more pronounced curves and the abhanga or sthanamudra, a straight posture. Sometimes the deity is seated upon a pedestal, such as the lotus (padmasana). While seated images of the god do exist, they are not nearly as common as those of the god standing.

Modern images of the deity pay closer attention to the contrasting complexions of his/her halves. The male half usually takes on the bluish tone typical of Shiva, while the female half is golden in color. Parvati is pictured in proximity to her lion vehicle, while Shiva is accompanied by the bull. The images is often placed against a familiar backdrop, such as the Himalayas, where Shiva meditated upon Mount Kailasa. The Ganges, meanwhile, flows from Shiva's head and into these mountains in congruence with the Hindu legend of that river's origin.

Symbolism and Significance

Ideally, Ardhanarisvara points toward the perfect unity of male and female in the creation of the cosmos. In the figure of Ardhanarisvara Shiva and Shakti, his female energy, are non-dual and inseperable. Ardhanarisvara is an anthropomorphized manifestation of Parasiva, the abstract, formless Shiva comparable in His theological properties of Brahman, the monistic essence of the universe. Ardhanarisvara explains a fact of biological necessity, and that is the pairing of male and female in order to create life. Thus, Ardhanarisvara represents the transition from formlessness to form. The hathayoga tradition suggests that Shiva and Shakti are not separate entities but instead mutually interdependent, undivided whole. With this in mind, the goal of the practitioner in the hathayoga system is to acheive sustained of experience of Ardhanarisvara, thereby recognizing his or her true nature as divine, non-dual, and androgynous. In doing so, the kundalini-Shakti can be drawn upward from the muladhara cakra to Shiva's sahasrara cakra at crown of the head. Having done this, Shiva and Shakti are now united, and one can proceed to the final stage of liberation, identity with Shiva, which is characterized by no form.

However, some feminists have disagreed with this interpretation. Such critiques begin by pointing out that Ardhanarisvara refers to the "lord who is half woman" as opposed to a "half-man, half-woman". This phrasing suggests the inherent male nature of the deity and privileges him as Isvara — "god", "lord" or "master"; Parvati meanwhile, is simply "woman" (nari). It has also been noted that the left side of the body is commonly thought of as subordinate to the right in Hindu doctrine and iconography. Thus, the male right side gains another token of implicit privilege over the female side. Furthermore, the concept of aforementioned liberation, towards which yogic practitioners' experience of Ardhanarisvara serves as a stepping stone, is a male-identified variation of non-duality; since identity with the ultimate Parasiva, despite its formlessness, is a decidedly male principle. In this union, Shakti's vibratory manifestation is said to be quelled entirely, and so she loses her ability to act, rendering her no different from Shiva, the inactive principle. Thus, at the highest level of spiritual attainment, the female half of Ardhanarisvara seems to be subsumed into its male half, which seems incongruent with the equality of the male and female principles the deity supposedly represents.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Goldberg, Ellen. "The Lord Who Is Half Woman: Ardhanarisvara in Indian and Feminist Perspective" State University of New York Press, 2002. ISBN 978-0791453261
• Walker, Barbara G. "The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets" HarperSanFrancisco, 1983. ISBN 978-0062509253
• Yadav, Neeta. "Ardhanarisvara" DK Print World Pvt.Ltd, 2004. ISBN 978-8124601693

External links

• Ardhanari in Indian Art and Philosophy
• Ardhanari

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