What is the meaning of Shiva Shambho?
Question - Gurudev, what is the meaning of Shiva Shambho?
Gurudev Sri Sri - The ancient people went in deep meditation and they found such beauty in the depth of the consciousness in the Self, what came out of them was ‘Bho’, Wow. And Shambho means unbelievably beautiful, unbelievably benevolent. So Shambho means so benevolent, beautiful is that principle which is at the basis of this whole creation.. Na Mah Shi Va Yah, the five letters indicate the five elements. And that consciousness which is in all the five elements, earth, water, Air, fire and ether is what Shiva is. Shiva actually has no form. Shiva is like the space, who is all around you, inside of you, everywhere. So later on the artists who could not depict this, they could draw a figure in meditation, and they put blue colour. Why blue? So that you don’t think it is solid, manifest entity. The whole Universe is filled with the Shiva Tatva. And what is Shiva Tatva? Truth, beauty and benevolence. These three things cannot be separated. Truth, beauty and benevolence can never be separated. These are all the qualities. Later on artists, because it is so abstract and so intangible in deep meditation, but for common masses, who could never grasp it, they made a serpent on the neck of Shiva. What does that mean? If someone has their eyes closed it could mean someone is dozing off, sleeping. No, though you are in the most peaceful state, inside there is alertness. Snake is always a symbol of alertness, alert, conscious. And then there is the trident, which indicates the awaking, sleeping, dreaming state. It is the basis of all the three states of consciousness. In fact it is beyond the three states.
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