Lord Shiva's seven attributes

Lord Shiva has 7 major attributes - Jata, Ganga, Third Eye, Rudraksh, Snakes, Trishul and Damru. The Trishul is His symbol, and even if it is shown with no other form of Shiva around, people automatically assume it belongs to Lord. According to Shiv Puran, when the Universe was created, due to the three gunas of nature - Satvik, Rajsik and Tamsik - and till date all the three gunas are found in each individual of course each is present to a different extent. Trishul with its 3 prongs holds the 3 gunas of each individual and therefore the personality together.

Similarly at the beginning of the universe time was created which automatically became divided into 3 parts - past present and future. Similarly there are 3 main nadis inside human body - Ida, Pingala and Sushmana and yogis control and manage these three. So 3 has a lot of significance on Lord Shiva’s path. Trishul is also used for Alakh. In Swetashwetara Upnishad Alakh is described as Alakshan or without any attributes. It is used for the soul. When yogis raise the slogan “Alakh Niranjan”

The Trishul Mantra is below- sat namo āde? | gurujī ko āde? | o? gurujī ! o? dhartī so ākā?, mahā dhartrī mahā ākā? | tri?ūla lāyā siddha nivāsa | o? pahalī dhār anahad bānī, dūjī dhār am?ta bā?ī tīsarī dhār alakha nirvānī | siddha sādhaka ne tri?ūla dhariyā| lohā tri?ūl jogī nirvā?a | āsana pavitra tri?ūl pavitra kahe machandar sun bā gora?a tri?ūl sadā rākhiyo pās, kāl kan?aka nahī āve pās | tri?ūl cāle bhūt pi?āca nika? nahī āve | itanā tri?ūl mantra sampūr?a bhayā | ?rī nātha jī guru jī ko āde? | āde? |

This translates into - Adesh to the Holy Name! Adesh to my Guru! Om Guru! OM to the Earth (Prithvi) and SOM to the Space (Akasha), to the Great Earth (the essence of the all earths), to the Great Space (the essence of the all spaces)! Trishula gives siddhis and dissolves existence. Om, the first spike symbolizes the unaccented sound of anahata, the second spike symbolizes the immortality, the third one is a symbol of uncomprehended and unexpressed, boundless state. The trishula grants siddhas to a sadhak. The iron of trishula is bliss for a yogin. The holy asana and the holy trishula heard what Matsyendra said and what Goraksha heard, the holder of trishula, who is piercing the time by a needle. The trushula that is eliminated inferior spirits and ghosts. Such is the true trushula-mantra. Adesh, adesh to Great Nath, to Guruji !

Adesh in yogic tradition is described as the realization that the soul, Bramhan and Jiva are one.

Aatmetu paramaatmeti jiivatmeti vicaarane

Trayaanaam aikya-samshutir asdes’s iti kiirtitah

In our relative thought we distinguish between Atman, Paramatman, and Jiva. The Truth is that these three are one and a realization of it is called Adesh. Sitting at home or office Trishul does 2 major things -It removes bad energies, it makes the person care free and therefore successful. Vishnu Purana presents an alternate version of the creation of Lord Shiva's Trishul by Vishwakarma (the god of architecture).

As per Vishnu Purana, Trishul was crafted by Vishwakarma upon the request of his daughter Saranyu (also known as Sanjana). Vishwakarma's daughter Saranyu was married to Surya (the sun god). However, Saranyu soon became intolerant to the unbearable heat and excessive radiance emitted by her husband thus became unhappy with her married life. She soon approached to her father Vishwakarma to solve out the problem.

Vishwakarma, who is known as architect of the universe had one daughter known as Sanjana. She was married to Suryadev (Sun), but immense heat coming out of Sun became unbearable for Sanjana. She could not withstand the extreme heat and asked her father for some remedy. Vishwakarma forged an grinding machine and instructed Surya to emit his excess radiation upon the machine. Vishwakarma revealed this problem to Suryadev and suggested a remedy. He shaved off some parts of the Sun which reduced his glow a bit.

Soon the excess energy of Surya which was apportioned off from his body was ground off on the grinding machine. The heat of Surya was reduced by 1/8th proportion resulting in an material being crafted from the machine which later came to be famously known as Trishul astra (Trident weapon). Trishul is always held by Lord Shiva in his right hand. The three spikes of Trishul represent the manifestation of three Shaktis (energies), namely Iccha shakti (will power), Jnana shakti (knowledge power) & Kriya shakti (the will of action).

The three spikes parallelly represent the three aspects of Lord Shiva, namely Paramashiva, Parashakti and Parabindu. Paramashiva represents the absolute form of supreme awareness. Parashakti signifies the eternally limitless power of Lord Shiva. Parabindu is the manifestation of the unified power of Lord Shiva and Shakti (his divine consort Parvati). The three spikes also represent the three transcendental letters forming the sacred word Omkara, namely A (akara), U (ukara) and M (makara).

As per Shaivite pantheon, Lord Shiva bearing Trishul symbolizes that the entire triadic creation (Swarga, Martya, Patala) is held together by his supreme energy and the wielder of the Trishul (Lord Shiva) is the ultimate epitome of divinity. Interesting Facts of Lord Shiva:

1.) Shiva cursed Brahma that he will not be worshipped. There was competition between Brahma and Vishnu to prove who is greater between them, and who should be worshipped first. In order to win this competition, Lord Brahma spoke a lie and tried to trick Lord Vishnu. On seeing this, lord shiva appeared and chopped his fifth head of Brahma and cursed him not be worshipped.

2.) Shiva was the first Adiyogi(Adiyogi Shiva statue - Wikipedia). Sadhguru says “This first transmission of yogic sciences happened on the banks of Kanti Sarovar, a glacial lake a few miles beyond Kedarnath in the Himalayas, where Adiyogi began a systematic exposition of this inner technology to his first seven disciples, celebrated today as the Saptarishi.

3.) Shiva Exists in 3 states that is Nirgun, Saguna and Nirgun-Saguna.\

4.) The Worshipers of Lord Shiva worshiped Nirgun-Saguna state that is Shivalingam. Shivalingam is the mark of lord within its creation. Everything being round is a mark of the Lord/Shiva. Since Shiva can’t be comprehended, we worship his mark or we worship the whole Brahmman in a Shivalingam.

5.) Lord Shiva is believed to have 19 avatars. Grahapati(Baby form of Lord Shiva),Nandi, Rishi Durvasa, Lord Hanuman and Ashwatthama are few lesser-known Avatars of Lord Shiva. (19 Avatars Of Lord Shiva).

6.) Shiva is the only god whose prayers do not involve any particular procedure or methods. You can please him in any way you wish. You devotion and dedication are the only things required in your prayers.

7.) Shiva and Vishnu once took the hari-har form to show their equality. A son was born from them and his name is Ayyappan. Ayyappan slayed the female demon Mahishi, sister of Mahishasur.(Ayyappan - Wikipedia)

8.) Lord Shiva gave Sudarshan Chakra to Lord Vishnu. Later Parashuram borrowed it from Narayan and gave to Shri Krishna.

9.) Lord Shiva has nothing except a trident, damru and skin of tiger & elephant. His necklace is snake and wears a series of Rudraksha beads. But he was the one who blessed Kuber with the boon of becoming the deity of wealth and prosperity. Mahadev has nothing for himself but everything for others.

10.) The meaning of word Shiva is “who is not”. It means “Nothing”. Which signifies that this universe is created from nothing or silence or darkness or zero. The third sound of OM (A, OO, M) signifies the energies of Bholenath which vibrates our throat. And the fourth sound which is silence, signifies all the three trinity gods. Om Namah Shivay