As I Know: The Lord of the Mountains – Shiv Purana: 138

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Shiva, the great lord is beyond all attributes …he is beyond gunas and karmas… principles of lord

Monk Upamanyu further expounded the image of Shiva who is beyond any sin or dirt and neither karmas nor delusory powers can keep him in bondages. He is not under the control of prakriti, cosmic intellect, ego, mind, cit, senses and elementary constituents, and he is beyond bonds relating to Panchabhutas. Infinite radiance of Shiva does not permit any bond concerning kaal, art, knowledge, destiny, attachment or jealousy to involve him. He is beyond desire, happiness or sadness, karmas and the effects, pleasure or suffering or passions because of karmas.

He is beyond the contact of past, present or future and the feelings and impressions time carries. He is neither the cause nor the effect and he is sans the beginning, the end, or even the space in-between. He is neither karma nor akarma or sukarma, neither obligation or relation or lack of relation or providence or inspirer or controller or guru, preceptor or protector or superior or equal. He is beyond birth or death, hopes or aversion, decrees or exclusion, autonomy or bondage.

He is neither providential nor ominous. He is only auspicious for, he is Atma – the universal and the individual soul as well. Firmly stationed Shiva never abandons fundamental nature, and all the intrinsic shaktis preside over the mutable, the changeable, the movable and the stationary. He is the image of every single entity and collective identities of created beings and the man, who knows the truth and so, he is beyond any delusion.

As image of Rudra, he is the great purusa beyond truth and carries many names. He is Ishana and the trident-bearing lord with a bull-vehicle and golden hair, the great Brahma. He looks soft, horrible and the mix of both, and he is imperishable and deathless and the unchangeable. He is kaal, the slayer of even death and beyond the conscious and non-sentient, and beyond delusory creation – the mysterious mix of mayabi acts. He is beyond the luxuries and intellectual prowess of all the lords of the worlds. He is great preceptor of Brahmas in the beginning, who takes birth and lives for a specific period in a kalpa during the time of re-creation of the world. Lord of all, he is beyond time and he is the guru of gurus and he is not subject to the authority of time.

He continued to talk of his potency and purity, naturalness and immense knowledge. He is the eternal body that defies death even as he is unrivalled in sovereignty, strength eternal, brilliance and virility, resilience and great compassion. He is unselfish and does not want anything from creation and its fruit but blesses devotees and therefore, one infers that he is Pranava, a symbol of Shiva and Rudra. If one is focused and performs japa, meditates on Pranava, one attains siddhi – perfection in achievement of objective and so wise men, who know Agamas, think lord as single-syllable.

Mandukya Upanishad stipulates Pranava of four matras – Akara, Ukara, Makara and Nada i.e. A, U, M and nada that further means A is Rigveda, U is Yajurveda, M is Samaveda and Nada is Atharaveda. A-kara is the supreme seed and symbolises rajas quality and Brahma the creator, U-kara is Prakriti – yoni and stands for sattva quality and preserver Vishnu whereas M – kara is jiva, purusa and the seed that carries tamas quality and Rudra, the destroyer.

Nada is the supreme Purusa, the Isa, and Shiva beyond all gunas and karmas. Pranava symbolises and expresses itself through the three matras in three different ways and tells of the supreme soul, the great lord Shiva through Nada the half matra. Nothing is greater than this Purusa, neither subtle or small nor bigger or greater but is like a sturdy tree that is alone in the bright and radiant akasa and so the purusa pervades all, the great monk told Krishna.

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