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A Series of Lessons on the Inner Teachings of the Philosophies and Religions of India1304
The conception of Vishnu, as the Lord of Righteousness and Goodness, had
a wonderful growth among the people, and although originally opposed
by many of the priests, it grew until the latter were compelled to accord
it recognition and sanction. Not only was Vishnu regarded by many as the
Supreme Principle in the Trinity, but gradually the conception grew until
he was identified with the Supreme Being, or Brahman, itself, and the idea
of Brahman lost its original philosophical significance among the people,
and was regarded as the “nature of Vishnu”—Vishnu being regarded as the
One God. But this idea of the One God was more than monotheism—it was
Pantheism, for Vishnu was given the quality and nature of Brahman, and was
held to be the Real Self, from whom all the universe, with its individual souls,
flowed or was emanated. In other word Vishnu became a personified that.
But growing up at the same time was another cult or school of religion—
both with the enclosure of the orthodox Hinduism, and both receiving
full sanction and tolerance. This second school was that of Shiva, whose
former name of Rudra was dropped. Shiva was the direct contrast of Vishnu
the preserver and loving righteous guardian of his people. Shiva was the
destroyer—the god of change and dissolution. As Lyal says: “Shiva represents
the earliest and universal impression of Nature upon men—the impression
of endless and pitiless change. He is the destroyer and rebuilder of various
forms of life; he has charge of the whole circle of animated creation, the
incessant round of birth and death in which all nature eternally revolves. His
attributes are indicated by symbols emblematic of death and of man’s desire;
he presides over the ebb and flow of sentient existence. In Shiva we have
the condensation of the two primordial agencies, the striving to live and the
forces that kill. He exhibits by images, emblems, and allegorical carvings the
whole course and revolution of Nature, the inexorable law of the alternate
triumph of life and death—the unending circle of indestructible animation.”
Shiva, under his ancient title of Rudra, was a fierce and terrible devil-god
of the mountains. Dwelling surrounded by his bands of demons, goblins,
and destroying spirits, and accompanied by his bride Parvati, in the depths