Book Review “7 Secrets Of Shiva”
The book is about the Hindu God, Shiva. Shiva is one of the most followed Gods in Hindu mythology. A god is who is known as the destroyer, there are many stories & each story shows one layer of his mightiness. Shiva is the only God who doesn’t believe in usual rituals he doesn’t understand cultures & its need. The book has seven chapters & each chapter represents one of his characters. The book starts from the earliest events to the latest. In this short book, most of the events are covered superficially but will give a glimpse of why few things are the way they are. This book is a guide book to the mightiness of Shiva.
As the book name suggests this book Seven secrets of Shiva cover his forms from Lingeshwara’s secret to Bhairav secrets & from Murugan’s secret to Bholenath’s secret. The formless God allows us to avoid all the confusion & believe in the supreme power than to get attached to the facade of nature. He is a Tapasavi who performs tapa & looks inward for answers. Tapa is a spiritual fire that doesn’t require any external wood or fuel to burn itself. Shiva is a god of tapa & because he doesn’t need any external fuel, he is self-sustaining & doesn’t feel the requirement to participate in nature.
Shiva has one form i.e Kala Bhairav & only God that takes Alcohol & meat as an offering to God. Bhairav word derived from “Bhay”; which means fear. The fear of death makes us fearful. We want to survive, hence, we eat, fight, acquire territories. Shiva, on the other hand, is fearless & self-sufficient. Because he is self-sufficient, he is fearless. He has won over the God of death, “Yama.” & hence named Yamantaka. Once demons created three flying cities & spread havoc across the cosmos. Shiva was called to destroy these cities. After waiting patiently for the right moment, he destroyed three cities & collected the ash of these cities & smeared them across his forehead as three horizontal lines.
There are many incidents through which one can get to know the various accessories used by Shiva. Like Cobra, drum, Ganga, moon, etc. All the reasons behind these accessories are fascinating to read. There is so much to Hindu mythology & this is only the tip of the iceberg. The book covers Shiva from being a person avoiding participation in nature but eventually surrendering to it by getting married & having kids. His kid Ganesha & Kartikeya has some stories behind them.
This book is wonderful to know about Shiva & the reasons behind his greatness. The stories are short & sweet but will flow through the vastness of Hindu mythology. If any is interested in knowing about Shiva shall surely read this book.