Image 1.1 – The Shiva Lingam at Bhojpur Temple in Madhya Pradesh
Image Credit: Vijay Tiwari09 (licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0)
A Shiva linga, also known as Shiva lingam or Shivling, is a short cylindrical pillar-like structure that is rounded on top and fixed on a circular base with a vent. Usually, it is made of a black granite stone. It is one of the most worshiped idols as it is a symbol of Lord Shiva, who is a very popular Hindu god.
There are thousands of temples of Lord Shiva in the world, where people worship him in the form of a Shiva lingam. The most famous of them are 12 Jyotirlinga temples and Amarnath cave in India. Thousands of liters of milk are poured daily on Shiva lingams across the world to please Lord Shiva. In Hinduism, there is a subsect of Shaivism known as Lingayatism (Lingayats believe theirs is a separate sect/religion), the followers of which worship Shiva in the form of a lingam only and wear it in a necklace.
Most of the Hindu houses contain altars where you would find a Shiva lingam. There are many stories related to it in the Hindu scriptures.
Shiva lingams are found in many parts of the world, including but not limited to India, China, Japan, Vietnam, Ireland, Italy, South Africa, Indonesia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
The common notion about it is that physically it is a union of private parts of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, and symbolically, it represents the masculine (Purusha) and feminine (Prakriti) aspects of God. But there are some problems with these assumptions. They cannot explain certain things that are in practice in Hinduism.
Following are the five main views about what a Shiva lingam is:
In this book, we will see what the reasons are behind these views, but before going into that, we will get some essential information about the Shiva lingam in the next few chapters.
1.1 - Why is only Lord Shiva Worshiped in the Form of a Lingam?
The same question was asked by some sages to Suta who narrated the Shiva Purana. He answered it as follows (Shiva Purana, Vidyesvarasamhita, Chapter 5: 9-16):
“O sages, this question is holy and wondrous. Here the speaker is Śiva Himself and not any ordinary person. I shall tell you what Śiva Himself had said and what I heard from my own preceptor. Śiva alone is glorified as Niskala (nameless and formless) since He is identical with Supreme Brahman.
He is also Sakala as He has an embodied form. He is both Sakala and Niṣkala. It is in his Niṣkala aspect that the Liṅga is appropriate.
In the Sakala aspect, the worship of his embodied form is appropriate. Since He has the Sakala and Niṣkala aspects, He is worshipped both in the lingam and in the embodied form by the people and is called the highest Brahman. Other deities, not being Brahman, have no Niṣkala aspect anywhere. Hence, the deities are not worshipped in the formless Linga. The other deities are both non-Brahman and individual souls.
In view of their being embodied alone, they are worshipped solely in the bodily form. Sankara has Brahmatva and the others Jīvatva. This has been explained in the meaning of the Pranava (Om), the essence of Vedanta, by Nandikesvara when asked by Sanatkumara, the intelligent son of Brahma, at the mountain Mandara.”
From the above story, it is clear that Lord Shiva himself wants his devotees to worship him in his formless and nameless aspect, and he is the only god who is identical to Supreme Brahman.
There is a story in the Mahabharata (Drona Parva – Ch. CCI) where Ashwatthama asked Sage Vyasa the reason for his defeat by Lord Krishna and Arjuna. Sage Vyasa told him that he was defeated because Lord Krishna and Arjuna worshipped Lord Shiva in the potent form of a linga while he paid homage to Lord Shiva’s image. Further, he tells him that one who is spiritually advanced can realize Lord Shiva in all forms and see linga as the source of all creation is only entitled to worship it.
Many other stories in the Puranas underline the importance of the worship of the Shiva lingam.
Therefore, Hindus worship only Lord Shiva in the form of a lingam.
Actually, this is partially true. Lord Vishnu is also worshiped in an abstract form as a Shaligram stone; although, it is not as popular and as common as a Shiva lingam. It is a black stone found on the banks of the Gandaki River in Nepal.
Image 1.2.1 – Shiva Lingam Structure and Nomenclature
The Shiva lingam shown in the above picture is the commonly worshiped type, but it is not necessary that it must be in this shape only.
According to the Linga Purana (1.74.19), there are mainly four parts of a Shiva lingam:
1. Lingam – an aniconic representation of Lord Shiva or Parashiva.
2. Pedestal, Pindi, peetham, base, yoni, or shalunka - an aniconic representation of Goddess Shakti or Parashakti, the manifesting power of God.
3. Vishnu Peetham – an elongated bowel-like structure that represents Lord Vishnu.
4. Brahma Peetham – the lowest circular base symbolizes Lord Brahma.
A Shiva lingam should be kept in such a way that its outlet should face north.
Some priests apply Tripundra (the three horizontal lines) on a lingam that is the tilaka worn by Lord Shiva on his forehead. The red dot represents his third eye.
Some Shiva lingams have a metal snake coiled around it with its hood over the lingam. In most of the temples, a vessel, with a small hole at the bottom, containing water/milk is hung over it with a drop of water falling on it every few seconds. The shape and structure of a Shiva lingam vary from temple to temple.
In some temples, it is cylindrical with a rounded top and a peetham, while in some temples, it is depicted as a phallus without a peetham. In the Kedarnath Temple, it looks like a pyramid. Bana-lingams are egg-shaped and some swayambhu Shiva lingams look like a pillar. In many Shiva lingams, there are no Vishnu peetham and/or Brahma peetham. In swayambhu Shiva lingams and Bana-lingams, there is no pedestal also.
There are mainly two types of Shiva lingam, namely Chala (movable) and Achala (immovable). These types can be further classified into many categories, but for the sake of simplicity, we will consider only three here.
1. Swayambhu Lingam:
Image 1.3.1 – Ice lingam at Amarnath Cave
Swayambhu means self-emerged or self-formed. These types of lingams are found on hillsides or riversides and are generally formed of natural rocks. They look like a pillar or a miniature mountain. These are considered the most sacred of all. All the 12 Jyotirlingas are believed to be swayambhu.
Parvatalingas are the hills that look like lingams. Arunachala Hill and Mount Kailash are Parvatalingas.
These are mainly Achala types of lingams.
2. Banalinga:
Image 1.3.2 – Banalinga
It is an ellipsoid stone found in the bed of the river Narmada. It got its name after Banasura, who was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. The word Bana means an arrow in Sanskrit. The Banalinga is considered very sacred. These are natural water-borne pebbles of linga shape. Actually, Banalingas are also found naturally like swayambhu lingams, but for some reason, they are considered different types from swayambhu lingams. It is a Chala type of Shiva lingam.
3. Itara Lingam:
(Refer to Image 1.2.1)
Itara means other. All the other lingams fall in this category. These are mainly manmade lingams. The Shiva lingam that is commonly worshiped falls in this category.
This type of lingam is further classified into many sub-types depending on the material used to make them. They can be both Chala and Achala types.
According to some Tantric texts, the location of swayambhu lingam is at the Muladhara chakra of the astral body. Banalinga is believed to be located in the region of the Anahata chakra. Itara lingam is located at the Ajna chakra.
1.4 - Meaning of the Word Linga
The word linga has many meanings, and its meaning is one of the reasons for controversies related to the Shiva lingam. The word is commonly used as a phallus or gender nowadays.
Linga is a surname also. Its origin is attributed to the Senga tribe in Zambia. There are many families with the surname Linga in the USA, Norway, Africa, and India. Its meaning is fortification.
Following are the different meanings of the word linga:
1. Image of a god.
2. Gender.
3. Landmark.
4. Reason.
5. Evidence, proof.
6. Symptom.
7. Characteristic.
8. Mark of disease.
9. Crude base or uninflected stem of a noun.
10. Sign.
11. Male organ or phallus.
12. Disguise.
13. Any assumed or false badge or mark token.
14. Token.
15. Order of the religious student.
16. Sign of gender or sex.
17. Idol.
18. Anything having an origin and, therefore, liable to be destroyed again.
19. Organ of generation.
20. Emblem.
21. Sign of guilt.
22. Concrete evidence of a crime.
23. Inference, conclusion.
24. Badge.
25. Eternal procreative germ.
26. Spot.
27. Mark.
28. An invariable mark, which proves the existence of anything in an object.
There could be many other meanings also.
According to Panini, who is considered the father of Sanskrit linguistics, the verbal root ling means paint, variegate has the sense “that which means paints, variegates, characterizes.” Panini and Patanjali mention lingam with the contextual meaning of “gender.”
According to some sources, the word lingam is derived by combining two words "lim" and "gam." Lim means “end or to dissolve,” and gam means “creation or the place of creation.” Therefore, the word lingam means end and creation.
But this definition is wrong because there is no word such as “lingam” in Sanskrit. It is "linga." The word lingam is an English variation of it.
Meaning of linga according to scriptures:
1. The word linga is first mentioned in the Upanishads. There is a verse in the Katha Upanishad (2.3.8) that talks of the cosmic Purusha as all-pervading and without any mark (alinga).
avyaktat tu parah purusho vyapako'linga eva cha ।
yam jnatva muchyate jantur amrutatvam cha gacchati |
Meaning: Beyond the Avyaktam (not manifested or devoid of the form) is Purusha, all-pervading, and devoid of linga (indicative sign). He who knows Him is liberated and obtains immortality.
The word linga here means an indicative sign or gender because Purusha, in the Rigveda, is described as a being, who becomes a sacrificial victim of gods, and whose sacrifice creates all life forms including human beings. It means it existed before human beings. The word Purusha here does not mean a male, but it is the consciousness that is present everywhere.
puruSha evEdaM sarvaM yadbhUtaM yachcha bhavyam | (Rigveda Book 10 – hymn 90).
Meaning: This Purusha is all that yet hath been and all that is to be.
In Samkhya philosophy, Purusha is considered as the masculine principle of God. This association might have given rise to its contemporary meaning, i.e., “a male” and the word linga its meaning “a phallus” as it is used as a sign of Purusha because the sign of a male is his sexual organ. The word used in the Rigveda and ancient Sanskrit texts for the penis is shishna.
2. According to the book “Hindus: An Alternative History” (page 198) by Wendy Doniger, the word lingam appears in early Upanishads, but the context suggests that it simply means a sign such as “smoke is a sign of fire,” but she has not mentioned from which Upanishad she has borrowed this meaning.
3. Shvetashvatara Upanishad (Sixth chapter, Verse 9):
na tasya kaścitpatirasti loke na ceśitā naiva ca tasya liṅgam |
sa kāraṇaṁ karaṇādhipādhipo na cāsya kaścijjanitā na cādhipaḥ |
Meaning: There is no master of His in this world, no ruler of His, not even a sign of Him (by which He can be inferred). He is the cause, the lord of the lords of the organs. He has no progenitor nor is there anyone who is His lord.
4. The Mahanarayana Upanishad contains a series of prayers that correlate linga with Rudra-Shiva. Prayer numbers 271-316 are dedicated mainly to Rudra-Shiva and contain the formulaic repetition of the term linga. Each instance homage is first paid to a particular attribute of the Supreme and then to the linga of that power or attribute (XVI-1).
5. Linga Purana:
In the Linga Purana, the word linga is mostly used as a symbol.
A. “Pradhana is Linga, and Lord Shiva is its substratum” (1.17.5).
B. “Obeisance to him who has a golden linga or who is of gold himself or who is of watery linga or who is water himself” (1.18.6).
Only once the word linga is used as a phallic symbol (2.11.32).
yeye padaarthaa lingankastete sarva vibhutiya|
artha bhagankita yeye teta gaurya vibhutayah|
Meaning: All the objects marked with the phallus are the manifestations of the lord. All the objects that are marked by the symbol of vaginal passage are the manifestations of the goddess Uma.
In this verse, the word bhagankita means “vulva”; hence, the meaning of the word linga implies “phallus”.
6. The word Lingaparamarsha means “finding out or consideration of a sign or characteristic.” It is a part of the doctrine of inference in Nyaya-Vaisheshika.
7. The Sivanubhava Sutra (3.3):
“That in which all mobiles and immobiles enter, i.e., get dissolved, and that from which the universe is created is Linga.”
8. In Tamil Shaiva tradition, the common term for lingam is kuRi, which means "a sign, mark, punctuation, brand mark."
9. In the Mahabharata, in the story of self-castration by Lord Shiva, linga clearly means the sexual organ of Lord Shiva (10.17). While in some other verses, it means gender or sign.
Other References:
1. It is also mentioned in the Kamasutra as a phallus a few times (KS 7.1.25, 7.2.8 -15, 25), but while translating it to English, Sir Richard Burton translated it as a phallus throughout. After this, nearly all of the translators started translating it as a phallus. Indian translators were also no exception.
2. Charaka states that alinga describes a state attainable by the doctrine of ultimate renunciation.
3. According to Buddhacharita of Asvaghosha, linga denotes marks of an ascetic or mendicant.
4. In Sanskrit, linga-sharira means “subtle body.” Therefore, the Shiva lingam actually means “subtle body or formless aspect of Lord Shiva.”
There are many other texts and references, but I think the above examples are sufficient to prove that the word linga was mainly used as a sign, symbol, or gender but was also used as a phallus a few times.
The Upanishads are older and more authoritative than the Puranas and the Mahabharata. The etymology of the word linga also does not point to it being a male sexual organ. Therefore, we can say that the original meaning of the word linga is “a sign” or “gender,” but with the advent of time, it changed to “a male sexual organ.”
1.5 - Meaning of the Word Yoni
The meaning of the word yoni is also debatable. The word yoni has different meanings but commonly means “a female sexual organ” nowadays.
Different meanings of the word yoni:
1. The Shvetashvatara Upanishad mentions yoni as a womb.
2. According to Sir Monier Monier-Williams, the word “yoni” appears in the Rigveda and other Vedic literature in the sense of feminine life-creating regenerative and reproductive organs, as well as in the sense of "source, origin, fountain, place of birth, womb, nest, abode, the fire pit of incubation." Other contextual meanings of the term include "race, caste, family, fertility symbol, grain, or seed.” It is a spiritual metaphor and icon in Hinduism for the origin and the feminine regenerative powers in the nature of existence. The Brahma Sutras (commentary on Upanishads) metaphorically calls the metaphysical concept Brahman as the "yoni of the universe," which Adi Shankaracharya states in his commentaries means the material cause and "the source of the universe."
The Rigveda is the oldest and most sacred Hindu text. Therefore, in terms of the Shiva lingam, the meaning of the word yoni can either be the source of the universe, a female sexual organ, or a womb.