Shiva. The symbolic revelations in chakras and kriya yoga to realize your own Shiv swaroopa

SUMMARY

Shiva's iconography isn't decoration. It's yoga shastra rendered in pictorial form, a complete portrait of the realised state.

Every ornament maps to something internal. Ganga at the sahasrara. The third eye as jnana-chakshu. Halahala held at the throat in vishuddhi, the most exact yogic instruction in the entire imagery: neither swallowed nor spat, the model for how a mature sadhaka meets difficult content.

The crescent moon is the borrowed-light mind worn above the ajna. The trishul is the threefold structure of experience held but transcended, the three matras of AUM with turiya as the handle. The serpent at the throat is kundalini metabolised into ornament, and also maya seen through. Ash is the body remembered as perishable. The tiger and elephant skins are kama, krodha, and ahamkara mastered into asana. Read across registers (chakras, koshas, the five elements, the yamas, Kriya Yoga states), the figure resolves into a single integrated picture: the body is ash, the seat is the mastered animal, the mind is the borrowed-light moon, perception is the third eye, and the whole being sits in the field of damaru-spanda, where stillness and movement meet.

The lingam is the formless form of this same realisation. As the spinning-axis visualisation reveals, it's in fact the shape of your own Self. To worship the lingam is to worship the Self within. The closing instruction is simple. You are Shiva. Realise it.

THE INSPIRATION

For many days, on and off, thoughts on the symbolism of the saguna rupa have been arising. Especially of Shiva. Today, on Buddha Purnima, as I finished my Kriya Yoga practice near Igatpuri, the urge was strong enough to put it down. And so, this blog began. Darshan at Agastya Rishi's ashram nearby helped!

Born in Kashi and with Ganesha as my ishtadev, I've always carried a special connection with Shiva. It has only deepened in recent years, as repeated journeys to Kashi have helped me rediscover my roots.

The symbolism in the saguna rupa is profound. It does not merely decorate. It indicates the realised state of Shiva.

While writing, it was reconfirmed that attempting to explain Shiva is like holding a single grain of sand amid countless particles. What follows is based on a limited understanding, blessed with insights from gurus. The timeless, endless Shiva can never be fully described.

Enlightenment? Not so soon!

A funny incident during meditation. It was a full moon night. As I meditated, after some time, I could see a bright light within. I thought, " Wow, I am enlightened! Then a thought came: "Not so fast, buddy, it's a long way ahead." Curious to know the source of light, I opened my eyes only to see the bright moonlight coming from my hotel window, straight on me! The angle and timing were just right. With a smile, I went back into meditation. To an unaware person, this could be a profound spiritual experience. For me, it was moonlight coming in.

THE IMAGES WE CARRY

Popular modern image

Bearded Shiva

From the north

From the south

The most common image we hold of Shiva is shankara: the form of the formless one, the saguna rupa that can be worshipped and meditated upon.

A small detail is telling. Where is the moustache? The older depictions show both a beard and a moustache. The face appears to have been quietly tuned to the modern man: clean shaven. It is otherwise impossible to imagine a being with long jatas of matted hair on the head and yet a clean-shaven face.

The imagery has shifted across time. The authentic descriptions remain. In the Shiva Tandava Stotram, the Shiva Manas Puja, and similar sources, the saguna nature of Shiva is described with great precision.

HOW TO READ THE SYMBOLISM

Every deity is symbolic in nature. Every story carries a message. Let us discover the subtle meaning of Shiva's symbols.

The classical iconography of Shiva, or ShankaraShankara, is best read as yoga shastra in pictorial form, not as decoration. Each 'ornament' maps to an internal locus, a movement of prana, or a metaphysical category the yogi traverses. Shiva himself is the substratum: turiya, unborn awareness. The symbols around him are what awareness contains, witnesses, or transcends without being touched by. The whole figure is a portrait of the realised state.

PART 1: THE CHAKRAS EMBODIED IN SHIVA

Ganga from the head: sahasrara chakra

Vibrant, flowing and pure

Shiva, the Adiyogi, has a fully active sahasrara chakra. Ganga represents purity and the power to dissolve papa-vrittis and clear sanskaras manifesting as past, present, and future karmas. The sahasrara is now connected to universal consciousness. Ganga is flowing, turbulent, white, bubbling: cosmic energy itself, pure consciousness in motion.

White colour

White also represents light, the source of all colours in the other chakras. This signifies that everything is assimilated in the bright white colour.

Destroyer of sins

Ganga is the destroyer of all sins. The originator is Adiyogi. When you're in touch with the aura of a realised yogi, the tendencies for doing actions that are against the five principles of Sanatana Dharma are eliminated.

Buddha

Evident from the stories of Buddha. When he used to walk through a village, the entire village felt the transformation within.

Satsang

Hence the importance of satsang. When you sit in satsang with realised masters, you're taking a bath in the Ganga. Just being near them is enough.

Being near Guruji

My experience is that when I'm near Guruji, I have nothing to ask. At times when I get a question during work, meditation, or projects, Guruji appears in the form of a book, a video, a thought, or a dream and gives the solution.

While sitting near Guruji, I answer when they ask a question. Though they know everything, they pretend to ask me, reassuring me that yes, I have their attention!

Many disciples crave Guruji's attention, their grace, their talking to them. For me, just being in the presence is enough. These days, even physical presence isn't necessary, as I'm always connected to Guruji. He's the same consciousness as mine, within.

Being Shiva

Feel the vibrations in the fontanelle. This is the sahasrara activation, the cosmic energy within.

Shiva swaroopa experienced

Other than Guruji and Histas Baba, my father comes to mind right away. Radiating peace, calm, love and commitment to their gurus.

Reflection

Do people around you feel the aura and want to just be in your presence? Who are these people in your life? How do you make others feel in your presence? Who do you want to be in the presence of?

Third eye: ajna chakra

Yogic interpretation

The two horizontal eyes are sun and moon: the duality of perception that requires a seer and a seen. The third eye is jnana-chakshu, vertical, central, opening only when the lateral split closes. This is the symbolic representation of the ajna chakra.

On activation

When the ajna is activated, things are known beyond the body, energy and mind triad. Advaita is established. This is kutastha. The burning of kama, of desire, is symbolic. There's nothing left to burn, because there are no twos left. The many stories of Shiva's third eye opening in rage and incinerating what came in its range carry this same core message: when jnana is established and the kutastha state is firm, the illusion of maya disappears.

Colour

In paravastha, one sees a bluish indigo smoky foggy light representing the mind, a circle representing the world, and a star point inside, representing the self. The colour blue indigo matches the colour of the chakra. Some people see bright light, some bluish, depending on the state within.

Burning Kamadev

The story of Kamadev being burnt by the third eye of Shiva has to be understood in this context. When jnana happens, desire goes away. Kamadev portrays emotional bonding, romance and passion. The burning of Kamadev is symbolic: the one who is established in Advaita has no desire, as there is no other object than the Self.

Ramana Maharshi

What a simple gaze can do is described in this incident.

While travelling in South India after college as a sceptic, Menon was drawn to the ashram despite his intellectual atheism. He sat at the foot of the couch where Ramana was reclining. The Maharshi looked directly into his eyes.

A single, intense look from the Ramana Mahrishi left the future founder of Chinmaya Mission feeling "opened, cleaned, healed, and emptied," shattering his materialistic skepticism.

Chinmayananda later acknowledged it as the moment his spiritual journey truly began, describing Ramana as an "experience" and "highest reality." The encounter was the catalyst that transformed a "Mortal Menon" into a "Conscious Chinmayananda".

Swami Chinmayananda later recounted that while other masters helped solve a seeker's problems, Ramana Maharshi simply dissolved them.

Hence the "kripa drishti" of saints is a blessing of a lieftime. When saints ignore you, it is a big, big problem. They can get angry at you. They can love you. But make sure they are not indifferent to you.

Swami Vishwananda's darshan

My experience is similar. In today's times, when Swami Vishwananda, the founder of Bhakti Marga, gives darshan, he looks straight into your eyes. Countless people have experienced that he touches their soul and something deep within transforms. I have seen him giving darshan to thousands, non-stop for 14 hours, in their ashram in Vrindavan, 2 years back. A truly realised master, a paramhans. I am grateful to him for the role assigned to build the ashram in Pandharpur. Atma Kriya Yoga, OM chanting, and the deep connection with disciples are all ongoing transformation processes for me.

These two are live examples of the power of the awakened third eye. This is what the iconology truly portrays.

Being Shiva

Kutastha state of Kriya Yoga, with eternal focus on the third eye, eyebrows raised on the outside like a frown, while focused on the inside. With eyes closed, see the divine light, as given in Kriya Yoga. I have seen a few Kriya yogis, with eyebrows up, most of the time.

Shiva swaroopa experienced

Darshan of Swami Vishwananda is the closest experience of this state.

Reflection

When someone talks to you, look straight in their eyes. You'll know what they really want to say: their pain, joy, deceit, love, passion. Avoid people with cold eyes, or those who avoid looking into your eyes.

Blue throat with halahala: vishuddhi chakra

Space element

This chakra is represented by the space element.

Samudra manthan

The samudra-manthan is within. Mount Meru is the spine, also called meru. The two nadis are ida and pingala. When sufficient churn happens in the pranamaya and manomaya koshas through Kriya Yoga, divine gifts come along with poison. Everything separates. Everything is seen in its pure form.

Neither in. Nor out.

The poison is the difficult content: samskara, klesha, the toxic emotional residue. Taken in through the mouth, it can damage the entire system once it reaches the stomach. Expelled through the mouth, it can harm others. So it's held in the throat.

Halahala held at the throat, neither swallowed nor spat. This is the most exact yogic instruction in the entire iconography.

The literal meaning

Halahala, kalakuta. Named so because it "ploughs and twists" (halati) the stomach while being black (kala).

Blue colour

The poison is held at vishuddhi for transmutation. Not repressed into the unconscious (swallowed, digested, assimilated). Not expressed into action (spat out, rejected, thrown away). When a yogi reaches this state, the colour of the chakra, blue, is visible in the throat.

What would have been poison becomes ornament. The vasanas are suspended, without acceptance or rejection. This is exactly what mature sadhana looks like in practice.

This poison is suspended in space, not impacting any other elements.

Being Shiva

Faced with tough situations, conflicts, differences of opinion, one experiences a churn within. The "manthan" creates many good things like nav ratnas, and some poison (negativity) also. Holding the poison within, not letting it out to affect others and not letting it in to damage yourself, is the key. This comes with awareness. The perfect after-effect poise of Kriya Yoga.

When we get emotional, we choke, unable to speak. This indicates that the vishuddhi chakra is affected. One of the most powerful methods to disassociate memories and pain is EFT.

Shiva swaroopa experienced

My close friends in my housing society, where I was the Hon. Secretary, threatened me with legal action, ganging up together as a group. This was after 2 years of contribution and working as a team. Coming as a shock, I realised it was a mind game of blame and judgements, everything within me. With advice from close friends, who are more matured than me, I didn't let the bitterness spread around me or within me. The introspection led to deep study, implementation, and ultimately an app on the power of the subconscious mind. This was the stepping stone to the spiritual path. I now have the tools to understand how the mind works and make it work!

Reflection

Recall a turning point in your life that caused a churn within. Something perceived as negative or incompatible, which later turned out to be a great learning experience as you held it within, didn't let it affect you or others, and created a new future which otherwise would not have been possible.

Shingi, the horn: anahata chakra

Air element

Anahata chakra is represented by the air element.

Similar to the shofar

This is a horn, not a chillum. It's similar to the shofar used in Jewish ceremonies. Its sound is similar to a conch (held by Vishnu, who is shown floating on the sea). Shiva is in the mountains, so a horn is depicted in his hands. Being a wind instrument, it activates the anahata chakra. Vishnu in the sea uses the conch. Shiva in the mountains uses the shingi.

OM, conch and shingi

OM in khechari at a high pitch, the shingi, and the conch all have similar sounds. These are instruments to tune in and realise that the true sound comes from within.

The sound of anahata

With the inner sound on, the anahata naada is connected with this chakra. The method to listen to this sound, discovered before I did Kriya Yoga, is given here:

https://www.limaye.org/post/immersion-in-inner-sound-in-an-instant

Green colour

Life is sustained by green plants, the lowest and yet most essential parts in the food chain.

The shingi is derived from nature. Hence the association with the green colour of the chakra.

The shankh, though it comes from the ocean, is created by a living organism.

Being Shiva

Be aware of the anahata naada at all times. This is the key. It's a part of Kriya Yoga. Over time you will hear it always, and be aware always.

Shiva swaroopa experienced

This is the seat of universal love and compassion. Saints like Amritanandamayi Ma overflow with love. Our Guruji sometimes gets angry. But it's only for the betterment of the disciples, just as a mother gets angry with a child because she loves.

Reflections

Who do you love the most? Is your love limited to family and friends? What about animals? What about nature? What about unknown people? What is the expanse of your love?

When you're in the company of someone who loves you, does distance matter, do words matter? Or is the presence in person or in thoughts enough?

Are you loving without any expectation? Only to give?

Do you love yourself? Do you crave for love from others? Or is it natural to love everyone as an extension of your self-love, knowing everything is one, Advaita in different forms?

Ash all over: manipura chakra

Ash, the energy carrier

Ash is from a homa. It carries all the energies of the mantras and samagri offered in the homa. Hence one should never apply ash whose source is unknown.

Bhimashankar Mahadev

I remember an incident at Bhimashankar Mahadev with Sudarshan. There was bhasma from a yagna that had just concluded. I asked Sudarshan if I could take the bhasma. He stopped me and said, "You don't know who has done this homa, or for what. So don't." I did not.

Dhunis

There are dhunis in Kashi and Bhimashankar that have been burning for hundreds of years. Application of this ash, or vibhuti, at specific points on the body creates an instant connection with the homa. This is, in effect, the manipura fire in its dormant form.

Mahasmashan at Kashi

The maha yagna in the maha smashana is the cremation of the human body. In Kashi Vishwanath, the morning bhasma aarti is performed with the smashana ash: the ash chosen carefully from among the hundreds of bodies cremated that day.

My great-grandmother

I remember my mother telling me that my great-grandmother's ashes were taken for the bhasma aarti many decades ago. A great honour for a soul who lived and breathed Shiva throughout her life.

Colour yellow

The ash appears grey, but its source is fire, which is yellow. Hence the correlation with this colour.

Being Shiva

Being a witness to the eternal cycle of creation and destruction. The ash, the fire, the homa, and the ahuti (offering) in the homa. The awareness that as soon as something is created, it starts its journey to dissolution. That is the key.

Shiva swaroopa experienced

I was asked by my team: what is the target for this year? I told them, we have no constraint of working capital, as we're a construction partner. So just focus on value addition. This creates detachment from the result, by focusing on action. The acceptance that the construction we do today may not last after 100 years. We will not be there. Even so, while we're here, and after we're gone, the structures should have long life and low maintenance.

Reflection

Do you realise that everything around you didn't exist 100 years back and will not exist after 100 years? Have you accepted this fact, that other than consciousness, everything has a start and end? Has your attachment and aversion reduced with your spiritual practice?

Tandava, the cosmic dance: swadhisthana chakra

Creation

The greatest force in the universe is creation, reproduction, creativity, dance. All governed by this chakra. The cosmic dance is the divine manifestation of creation. No wonder Nataraja stands outside CERN.

Nataraja

Balanced on one leg, the classic Nataraja pose signifies that universal creation is itself an expression of Shiva consciousness. Tibetan dance traditions show similar postures. I noticed this at a mindfulness summit a few years ago.

The four arms of Shiva (Nataraja form)

(Nataraja image)

In his four-armed form, primarily as Nataraja, Shiva holds a damaru and agni in two hands, while the other two form mudras of protection and liberation. Together, these represent his role in the cosmic cycle of creation, destruction, preservation, and grace.

Upper right hand, damaru (drum). The primordial sound, rhythm, and the creation of the universe.

Upper left hand, agni (fire). Destruction. The dissolution of the universe at the end of time.

Lower right hand, abhaya mudra. 'Fear not': the gesture of protection from evil and ignorance.

Lower left hand, gajahasta mudra. The 'elephant-trunk' hand pointing toward the raised foot: liberation (moksha) and grace.

Why Shiva holds the fire

The ball of fire (agni) in his upper left hand is not merely a symbol of destruction. It signifies transformation: the burning away of the old and false to allow the new and true to emerge. There are at least three layers to this image.

1. Destruction and transformation. As Nataraja, Shiva dances the Tandava, a dance that encompasses creation, preservation, and destruction. The fire in his hand represents the destruction of the world at the end of a cosmic cycle. In its inner sense, it is the burning of Apasmara, the dwarf-demon of ignorance and ego on whom Shiva treads. This demon is visible at the bottom part of the image. Fire, the purest element, dissolves worldly attachment, illusion (maya), and the residues of past karma.

2. The balance of cosmic cycles. Shiva holds the fire in his left hand to balance the damaru in his right. The universe was created with a sound! The sound of damaru, the sound of OM. The drum sounds the music of life and creation. The fire dissolves it. This represents the transformation of life energy and the ongoing cycle of birth and death.

In essence: the fire isn't for destruction alone. It's the transformative flame that consumes the perishable so that the eternal may stand revealed.

Being Shiva

The Manas Puja explains this very well. It's the dance of life. What you do is Shiva's puja. When you walk, it's Shiva's pradakshina. Prasad is an offering to you, the Shiva within. When you speak, it's Shiva stuti. This is the dance of creation, expressed.

Shiva swaroopa experienced

When any creation happens, a new life when a baby is born, a painting by an artist, a dance by a dancer, a sculpture, a discovery in science, it's the creative cycle experienced. When there is gradual or sudden dissolution of anything, it's destruction in action. This is also the vishwaroopa darshan given by Krishna to Arjuna, where creation and destruction happen at the same time, at different places. This can be experienced all around us and within us, at all times, provided we're aware.

Reflection

When was the last time you spent time with yourself? In silence. Being a witness, observing the cosmic dance of nature, stars, life, things happening in some order, in a poetic form. Seeing no difference between yourself and everything outside your body, energy, aura and mind.

The damaru: mooladhara chakra

Authentic damaru

My shankhnaad guru, Yogesh, once showed me a damaru that, when perfectly tuned, produced the OM sound when struck. It was made of a special natural material. The damarus available in the market today, with synthetic membranes, are certainly not of this kind.

The combined effect of the beats activating the mooladhara chakra and tuning itself to the anahata nada is the gift of the authentic damaru.

Concert experience

The lowest frequencies are those of the drums. That's why you feel the vibration in the lower part of the body when you stand near a speaker at a concert. This is experience itself.

Being Shiva

The seat of desires, goals, ambition is all in this chakra. The clarity that it's related to the roles I play keeps me out of mind games. Involved in action, detached from the result. The teachings of the Bhagavad Gita lived every moment!

Shiva swaroopa experienced

Any true spiritual organisation like the Ramakrishna Mission has created so many hospitals to treat the poor. Through the mission as an organisational role, navigating the complex challenges of building and operating hospitals, they're serving everyone. No ego. No pride. Only service.

Reflection

Are you able to see that all goals and desires you have are related to roles? Are you clear that these aren't your desires, but are attached to your roles? Roles keep changing, hence goals also keep changing. Are you able to articulate goals where you're focused on value addition as the purpose? Are you focused on giving?

PART 2: KRIYA YOGA EMBODIMENT OF SHIVA

Nitya shambhavi

The gaze is constant. Shiva is focused on the ajna chakra. He is neither focused on anything nor focused on everything, yet He is omnipresent.

Manifestation as light, sound, and vibration

Light at the third eye, Ganga vibrations in the fontanelle, and anahata sound from the shingi: these align with the three manifestations of consciousness as taught in Kriya Yoga.

Kutastha

One whose third eye is opened is, by definition, established in kutastha. (focussed on the third eye)

Paravastha

Whether dancing as Nataraja, sitting alone in meditation, or carrying out the actions of a householder, Shiva is always in paravastha.

Tranquil breath

The breath remains tranquil even in the midst of dance. Eternal dance can only happen when the breath is controlled. The sixty-four kalas (music, dance, sculpture) are all forms of meditation in which one loses awareness of the self, and the breath becomes still.

Reflection

Are you in the after-effect poise of Kriya? Are you mechanically doing the process, or are you doing kriya with love and devotion to your gurus?

PART 3: SUMMARY: YOU ARE SHIVA

Shiva is the representation of the five Sanatana elements, the seven chakras, the Kriya states, and the five koshas.

The still form of Shiva is the lingam. The dynamic form is Nataraja. The form of Shiva sitting in meditation is for devotion: it offers a still image of the lingam in human form.

The lingam: the formless one

Lingam: you are Shiva itself.

Try this. Sit in padmasana. Join your hands in the namaskar pose, thumbs at the heart chakra. The mudra of joining both palms together brings complete balance to mind, body, and energy. Keep the hands parallel to the ground.

Now, imagine a spin along the vertical axis: the axis of your own symmetry. Keep spinning, faster and faster. Build a three-dimensional model in your inner vision of this spinning. At sufficient speed, what remains is just an outline.

The neck and head form a near-perfect ellipsoid as the outer edges are smoothened by the spin: the upper portion of the lingam. The extended arms form the middle portion. The folded legs form the conical base.

This is the Shiva lingam itself. It is you. This is exactly what is meant by 'atmastvam' in the fourth shloka of the Shiva Manas Puja, composed by Adi Shankaracharya. The Shiva lingam is the perfect manifestation of the Self. That is all.

So when the Shiva lingam is worshipped, you're in fact worshipping the pure Self within.

The formless form. The mark (linga) of the unmanifest, presented as a vertical pillar: sushumna externalised, the axis of consciousness as such. The base (yoni) and the pillar are inseparable: ground and being, Shakti and Shiva as a single fact. Jyotirlingam, the pillar of light, is the experiential ground of pure awareness as luminosity without object, exactly the chidakasha the meditator finds when the contents thin out.

Reflection

Try doing the process given above. Experience the feeling within.

Reading them together

The body is ash. The seat is the mastered animal. The breath-energy is the serpent raised to vishuddhi. The difficult content is held at the throat. The mind is the borrowed-light moon worn on the forehead. The descent of grace is Ganga, buffered through the nadi-jata. The perception is the third eye that incinerates desire structurally. The threefold structure of experience is the trishul, held but transcended. The whole being sits in the field of damaru-spanda, stillness and movement at their meeting. This is nothing but you. You are Shiva. Realise it!

Blessing

May you realise that you are Shiva, the all-pervading, soon.

Part 2 coming soon!

॥ हर हर महादेव ॥