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Pashupati - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pashupati or Shree Pashupatinath (Nepali /Hindi: ) is an incarnation of theHindu Lord Shiva as "Lord of animals". He is revered throughout the Hindu world, but especially in Nepal, where he is unofficially regarded as a national deity.
Contents [hide] 1 Etymology 2 The Deity 3 Pashupatinath in Nepal 4 Pashupatinath in India 5 "Pashupati" seal 6 See also 7 External links 8 Notes 9 References

Etymology

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Pashupati (Sanskrit: Paupati), "Lord of all animals", is an epithet of the Hindu godShiva.[1] In Vedic times it was used as an epithet of Rudra.[2] The Rigveda has the relatedpashupa "protector of animals" as a name of Pushan. "Pashupatinath" is derived from three Sanskrit words: "pashu" (organism), "pati" (protector), and "nath" (Lord). In Nepali and Hindi, the additional honorific "Shree" is sometimes prefixed as a display of respect or devotion; thus, Shree Pashupatinath, Respected Protector and Lord of all living things.

The Deity

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Pashupatinath is an avatar of Shiva, one of the Hindu Trinity. He is the male counterpart ofShakti. The five faces of Pashupatinath represent various incarnations of Shiva; Sadyojata (also known as Barun), Vamdeva (also known as Uma Maheswara), Tatpurusha, Aghor & Ishana. They face West, North, East, South and Zenith respectively, and represent Hinduism's five primary elements namely earth, water, air, light and ether.[3] Puranas describe these faces of Shiva as [3]

Sadyojata, Vamdeva, Tatpurusha & Aghora are the four faces, The fifth is Ishana, unknowable even to the seers [edit]

Pashupatinath in Nepal
Main article: Hinduism in Nepal

Though Nepal is an officially secular state, its population is predominantly Hindu, and Pashupatinath is revered a national deity. The Pashupatinath Temple, located at the bank of the river Bagmati, is considered the most sacred place in Nepal. In myth, Pashupatinath started living in Nepal in the form of a deer, when he saw the Kathmandu Valley and was overwhelmed by its beauty.

Pashupatinath in India

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A Pashupatinath temple is sited on the banks of the Shivana river in Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh,India. It is one of the most prominent shrines in Mandsaur, and Lord Shiva in the form of Lord Pashupatinath is its primary deity. Its
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main attraction is a unique Shiva Linga displaying eight faces of Lord Shiva. The shrine has four doors, representing the cardinal directions.[4]

"Pashupati" seal

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The central figure on a seal discovered during excavation of the Mohenjodaro archaeological site in the Indus Valley (2900BC-1900BC) was interpreted as an image of "Pashupati" (Lord of Animals) by the archaeologist John Marshall.[5]The same figure has been described as a possible "yogi" or "proto-Shiva";[6] and as possibly ithyphallic.[7][8][9] Some describe the figure as sitting in a traditional cross-legged yoga pose with its hands resting on its knees, surrounded by animals and wearing a horned head-dress. Archaeologist Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, current Co-director of the Harappa Archaeological Research Project in Pakistan and Indologist Heinrich Zimmeragree that the 'Pashupati' figure shows a figure in a yoga posture.[10][11][12] Gavin Flood characterizes these views as "speculative", saying that while it is not clear from the seal that the figure has three faces, is seated in a yoga posture, or even that the shape is intended to represent a human figure, it is nevertheless possible that there are echoes of Shaiva iconographic themes, such as half-moon shapes resembling the horns of a bull.[6][13] Historian John Keay is more specifically dismissive, saying:
...there is little evidence for the currency of this myth. Rudra, a Vedic deity later identified with Shiva, is indeed referred to as pasupati because of his association with cattle; but asceticism and meditation were not Rudra's specialties, nor is he usually credited with an empathy for animals other thankine. More plausibly, it has been suggested that the Harappan figure's heavily horned headgear bespeaks a bull cult, to which numerous other representations of bulls lend substance.[14]
Seal from Mohenjo-daro. The central figure is interpreted by some as an early or prototype form of Shiva as Pashupati

Lingam image of Lord Pashupatinath in his Mandsaur temple, India.

Archaeologist Gregory Possehl also disagrees with the Proto-Shiva theory,[15] but contends that "the posture of the deity...is a form of ritual discipline, suggesting a precursor of yoga."[16] Possehl also states that this view:
...is supported by several other yogi images in the corpus of Mature Harappan materials....These diverse images suggest that the Indus pose of ritual discipline was used in more than one way and that their buffalo god did not have exclusive access to it. Taken as a whole, it appears that the pose may have been used by deities and humans alike....This presents an interesting possibility: Some of the Harrapans were devoted to ritual discipline and concentration, and this was one of the preoccupations of at least one of their gods."[16]

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See also

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Potnia Theron Pashupata Shaivism Pashupatinath

External links

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http://discover-nepal.tripod.com/pashupatinath_temple.htm - This is a good article on the history of Pashupatinath and explains clearly about four faces of Lord Pashupatinath. http://knol.google.com/k/dmr-sekhar/poturaju/3ecxygf1lxcn2/2# http://www.shripashupatinath.nic.in/intro.htm http://nepalrudraksha.com/about-pashupatinath-temple.html

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