[Advaita-l] Some questions on Advaita Vedanta and Smartism

[sunil bhattacharjya]

Dear friend,

Linga is the causal expression indicative of
causation. For example once a person dies the astral
body (Sukshma sarira) leaves the physical body behind.
Later on the linga sarira(the causal body) leaves the
vital body and alone survives to take another birth.
This purpose of this example is just to say that linga
does not always have to have a physical connotation.
Anybody interested in this further can look up the
Sankhya. When we worship Lord Siva we think of him as
the ultimate cause of this creation. Patanjali has
said about lingalinga ie. linga and alinga. Here linga
is the purusha and alinga is the prakriti. My point is
that though puranas had expressed the word linga in
terms of physical connotation we should not lose sight
of its deeper(or advanced?) meaning.

Regards

Sunil Bhattacharjya


--- Satish Arigela <satisharigela at yahoo.com> wrote:

>  I should agree with shrI Jaldhar on the issue of
> linga.
> 
> In the Shiva Purana it is clearly mentioned that the
> linga is actually Shiva's penis. It narrates the
> story
> behind it starting with the incident in the
> dArukavana
> (dAruka forest).
> 
> Linga isnt generally worshipped without a Yoni.
> 
> If Linga means only mark or type then what about
> Yoni?
> Should we not come up with a matching alternative
> explanation for Yoni?
> 
> Other than the Shiva Purana there is a lot of
> vAmAchAra material which confirms that linga is
> penis.
> 
> 
> --- S Jayanarayanan <sjayana at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> > Here's H.H.Wilson's take on the word "linga" - he
> > simply takes the
> > meaning to be 'mark' or 'type', being symbolic of
> > Shiva. Unless there
> > is good reason to believe otherwise, I'm going to
> > believe his
> > account.
> > 
> > Pages xli-xlii of the translation "The Visnu
> > Purana":
> > 
> > ---
> > 11. Linga PurANa. "Where Maheshvara, present in
> the
> > agni linga,
> > explained (the objects of life) virtue, wealth,
> > pleasure, and final
> > liberation at the end of the agni kalpa, that
> > PurANa, consisting of
> > eleven thousand stanzas, was called the Lainga by
> > BrahmA himself."
> > 
> > The Linga PurANa conforms accurately enough to
> this
> > description.
> > 
> > ...
> > 
> > A description of the universe, and of the regal
> > dynasties of the
> > Vaivasvata Manvantara to the time of KR^ishhNa,
> runs
> > through a number
> > of chapters, in substance, and very commonly in
> > words, the same as in
> > other PurANas. After which, the word resumes its
> > proper character,
> > narrating legends, and enjoining rites, and
> reciting
> > prayers,
> > intending to do honour to Shiva under various
> forms.
> > Although,
> > however, the Linga holds a prominent place amongst
> > them, the spirit
> > of the worship is as little influenced by the
> > character of the type
> > as can well be imagined. There is nothing like the
> > phallic orgies of
> > antiquity; it is all mystical and spiritual. The
> > Linga is twofold,
> > external and internal. The ignorant, who need a
> > visible sign, worship
> > Shiva through a 'mark' or 'type' - which is the
> > proper meaning of the
> > word "Linga" - of wood or stone; but the wise look
> > upon this outward
> > emblem as nothing, and contemplate in their minds
> > the invisible,
> > inscrutable type, which is Shiva himself. Whatever
> > may have been the
> > origin of this form of worship in India, the
> notions
> > upon which it
> > was founded, according to the impure fancies of
> > European writers, are
> > not to be traced in even the Shaiva PurANas.
> 
> 
> 
> 	
> 		
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