Lord Shiva

Lord Shiva

Pratihara Dynasty,9th Century CE,Bhopal Museum

         This is an unusual image of Lord Shiva.  For while He holds a trident (trishul), He carries a lotus bud (symbol of Lord Vishnu ),  and a pitcher of holy water ( symbol of Lord Brahma ). Thus it seems to be a composite image of the Hindu Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh.  

         The Lord sits calmly, ever smiling and ever young. Like the Lord, we too are the  creator,  the maintainer, and the destroyer. The snake  is the symbol of desire,  of the changes in life. We too are full of desires; we too are prone to changes in life. The trident is the symbol of the three mental states: the sub - consciousness , the unconsciousness, and the consciousness.  All three are bound, like the shaft of the trident, with superconsciousness. The holy water is a symbol of the purity within us that is hidden from us and others. But it has the capacity to cleanse us of our dilutions,  of our egos, of our desires. The end result is the reward of beauty  ( the lotus). The lotus of thousand petals is the symbol of superconsciousness which is inherent in us, which we can achieve with some efforts. Divinity is within us. It all depends which facet of the divinity we cherish and cultivate.