Carrying forward discussion on Lord Shiva’s entourage, the divine beings are personification of the cosmic forces, vital to creation, sustenance, and recycling of existential order.  Human beings armed with intelligence and awareness level, higher than other creatures, the onus lies on them to service the existential order to ensure qualitative existence, individually and collectively.  Devilish existences imply ignorant people with relatively lower intelligence level and primarily driven by animalistic instincts.    They, therefore, are not expected to be conscious about their collective obligations.  It also implies all negative orientation of mind that may prove detrimental to harmonious and peaceful coexistence.

The presence of invisible existences such as ghosts, make out a purposeful reference.   They supposedly symbolise the invisible existences in the intervening period between two successive form-existences.  They, therefore, symbolise continuum between successive lives.  In a way it can be said that Lord Siva’s entourage presents a picture of all seen and unseen existences forming this living world.

Lord Siva, despite evolutionary barrier of incommunicability amongst the varied creatures forming His entourage, through His selfless force of love, remains in accord with all of them at one go.  Overlooking their individualistic vagaries, He does not differentiate.  It is not that He would not be aware of their individualistic limitations, as His eyes, half open and half closed would signify.  It implies that knowingly ignoring their limitations, He remains in accord with them.     

Why? Is Lord Siva under any compulsion to do that?  Absolutely not. He purposely does that.  For, He knows that all creatures, by themselves, are imperfect, and incapable of meeting existential needs all by oneself.  But all put together, complement and supplement each other to together make out a self-sufficient world.  If each one of them is bound by individual limitations, they are simultaneously also armed with such virtues, as would be necessary to nourish and sustain the collective existence.    

Take the case of a trivial looking termite, which otherwise is known to spoil wood, paper, and if left unattended can spoil the crops also.  But then, they dig hole deep inside the soil structure to facilitate entry of oxygen and activate creative potential of the earth mass.  In the process, the termite eats earth mass. To digest it, its body releases necessary enzymes.  Consuming a small part needed for its survival, it excretes the rest, and that being rich in enzyme, further add to the fertility of the soil.  The termite, however, meets its end before the crop comes up, but not before serving the cause of larger existence.  Similarly, bacteria in a drain or a sewer pit treat the night soil, but for which, life will become inhabitable in course of time.  There is nothing in existence, without a specific assignment in support of the collective existence. We, thus, have a shared destiny.

Lord Siva, therefore, in order to get the best out of one and all and facilitate smooth run of the worldly order, purposely ignores their individual limitations.  But it doesn’t come about easy.  He absolves all and sundry of the three types of sins– Daihika (Body bound), Bhautika (Material), and Daivika (Cosmic), they attract, as fallout of cause-effect chain they are bound to.  He absorbs them all as would His poison fed blue neck imply.  He does that in the larger interest of the existential order, but for which the very existence may become questionable.     

Serving as provider, He nourishes the whole living order with all His resources in hand - the cosmic energy drawn through lunar crescent, water stream of river Ganges.  Remember, we plunder the earth in a bid to secure our survival.  But the earth on its part bears with it kindly, and still supports us with all provisions - the food it produces or water bodies it holds in its womb, vital to our existence. We, knowingly or inadvertently, vitiate even the atmosphere, which could disturb ecological balance, evidently detrimental to our healthy existence.  Nature, however, on its part has been kind enough to make provisions for absorbing them all, but for which our very existence would be at stake. 

Lord Siva enjoys the confidence of all.  For, He selflessly serves them all without any sense of differentiation, with the sole noble objective to ensure a smooth run of the existential order.  His selflessness is exemplified by being bare bodied, despite being the source and effective cause of creation, symbolically though.

To sum up, Lord Shiva’s model offers us lesson in inter-personal-relationship, vital to smooth run of life individually and collectively.

The writer is an astrologer, vastu consultant

and spiritual counsellor. Connect with him at

Tel: 91-11-9818037273/9871037272

Email: bharatbhushanpadmadeo@gmail.com