Ardhanarishvara : The fundamental root of Advaitha.

Ardhanarishvara: the fundamental root of Advaitha.

Ardhanarishvara is a combination of three words “Ardha,” “Nari,” and “Ishwara” means “half,” “woman,” and “lord,” respectively, which when combined means the lord whose half is a woman. It is believed that the God is Lord Shiva and the woman part is his consort Goddess Parvati or Adishakti.

Ardhanarishvara represents the synthesis of masculine and feminine energies of the universe (Purusha and Prakriti) and illustrates how Maa Adishakti, the female principle of God, is inseparable from (or the same as, according to some interpretations) Lord Shiva, the male principle of God, and vice versa. The union of these principles is exalted as the root and womb of all creation.

One can state that even in gender definition, this aspect became the fundamental root of Advaitha.

The Ardhanariswara form emphasizes the mental approach of reconciliation of the principal cult deities of Saivaism and Saktism. This shows that the supreme Deity is the father and the mother of the Universe at the same time.

I heard one interesting story about Ardhanariswara from one bihari pandit when I went to visit Kalighat ( I went my College time... I used to explore Kolkata that teen-age time). Yes, this story not verified by me , but I am mentioning what I heard from Babaji  that the sage (rishi) Bhringi had vowed to worship only one deity and so failed to circumambulate and prostrate himself before Parvati. Parvati tried to force him to do so by asking Shiva to unite with her in one form. However, the sage assumed the form of a beetle, pierced a path through the middle of the androgyne, and continued to circumambulate only the male half. Parvati at first cursed Bhringi to become nothing but a skeleton (in classical Hindu embryology, the father gives a child only the bones and sinew while the mother gives the blood and flesh), but eventually they were reconciled, and she blessed him.

The whole Cosmos is inhabited by Shiva-Shakti. The whole Universe and all its entities have Shiva-Shakti as its source. Shiva and Shakti represent the Dual aspect of Brahman. Shiva is Purusha, the Chit/ Consciousness, the Witness. Shakti is the Prakriti, the Maya. Shakti creates all the objects and Shiva inhabits those objects as their Innermost Self/Consciousness.It is Brahman itself who manifests as Shiva- the Chit/Consciousness and as Shakti- the Maya/the Object.

🪷🙏🏻Om Namah  Parbati Patyaye Har Har Mahadev 🙏🏻🪷