11. The Conflict between Shaivites and Vaishnavites
In ancient times, when there were no other religions to compete with, Hindu sects fought among each other. Fortunately, this battle was philosophic mostly.
Since the start of Kali Yuga, there has been a conflict between the devotees of Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu over who is supreme. This conflict is evident in the Puranas also.
Following are some of the examples:
1. In the Padma Purana, Sage Bhrigu declares Lord Shiva to be a slave of sexual desires and curses him to be worshiped as a clitoris, and proclaims Lord Vishnu as the Supreme God. While in the Shiva Purana, Shaivites claim that Lord Vishnu slept with Vrinda to desecrate her.
2. Tulsi is offered to Lord Vishnu but not to Lord Shiva.
3. The Shiva lingam is the formless aspect of Lord Shiva. In the same way, the Shaligram stone is of Lord Vishnu.
4. As Lord Shiva is depicted coming out of the cosmic pillar in the Lingodbhava story, the Lord Vishnu is depicted as coming out of a pillar in the Narasimha Avatar story.
5. The U-shaped tilaka worn by Vaishnavites looks like a reverse lingam.
Image 11.1 – U-shaped Tilaka worn by Vaishnavites (licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0)
Credit: Brosen (This image was modified to fit the purpose of this book).
6. Allegedly, a Vaishnavite saint Ramanuja was forced to leave the Chola kingdom because of the hatred of a Shaivite king, Krimikanta Chola, toward Vaishnavism and him.
From all the above points, it is quite clear that there seemed to be a latent competition between the devotees of Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu that might have resulted in propagating the Shiva lingam as a phallus. Therefore, one of the reasons that it is believed to be a sexual organ might be the rivalry between the Shaivites and Vaishnavites.