Shiva as the Supreme (was Re: [Advaita-l] purANas)

[S Jayanarayanan]

--- Antharyami <sathvatha at gmail.com> wrote:

> parvan lord MahEswara beautifully mentions that lord NarAyaNa is
> the non
> dual entity of the whole Universe and strongly mentions that
> worship of Him
> (Shiva )  without the knowledge of NarAyaNa as the supreme deity,
> is of no
> use.

Mr. Antharyami,

How then do you explain the equation of the Shiva with the Supreme
Brahman in the Mahabharata, which is considered to be a Sattvic
scripture by all:

In the anushAsanaparva, adhyAya 17, KR^ishhNa recites the Shiva
sahasranAma in YudhishhThira'a presence (as previously instructed by
upamanyu). Names like the following make it clear that it refers to
the Supreme Brahman: 

8. sarvAtmA -- The Self of All
88. sarvaGYaH -- The All-knowing One
413. paraMbrahma -- The Supreme Brahman
860. brahmavit -- The Knower of Brahman

And names like these make it clear that is KailAsagirivAsI-Shiva:

378. nandIshvaraH -- the Lord of nandi (Shiva's vehicle).
611. kApAlI -- One who wears skulls
660. KailAsagirivAsI -- one who dwells in Mount KailAsa
869. pashupatiH -- the Lord of all living beings (typically applied
to Shiva).

-Kartik

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