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

[Satish Arigela]

 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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