Recorded at the Vedanta Society of Western Washington on February 19, 2012.
In this talk, Swami Bhaskarananda explains why Vedanta and Hindu tradition speak of God through many forms and names, even while affirming that the ultimate Reality is formless and beyond time, space, and causation. Using simple analogies—colored glasses altering the appearance of the same sky, or children preferring one chocolate shape over another—he shows how the human mind naturally projects familiar relationships and attributes onto the Divine. Shiva is presented in this context as a particular conception of God, traditionally associated with auspiciousness and with the cosmic function of dissolution, which is inseparable from creation and preservation.
He then traces how the idea of Shiva develops through scripture: the Vedas and Upanishads often speak of Rudra, whose character includes both benign and fearsome aspects, and later tradition gradually identifies this Vedic Rudra with Shiva. Swami Bhaskarananda notes how different Hindu texts emphasize different divine aspects, and how later writings reconcile apparent conflicts by affirming the underlying unity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva as expressions of one Reality. He also comments on symbolic features in Shiva imagery and on the meaning of Shiva’s consort as Shakti, the divine power through which cosmic activity is expressed.
