SHIVA, FLIGHT OF THE ULTIMATE TIME TRAVELER.

SHIVA, FLIGHT OF THE ULTIMATE TIME TRAVELER.

He is the One who existed even before the World began.
He is the One who has been prayed to, even when He was unseen.
And ever since the very first time He chose to make His presence known,
Shiva, is loved by millions.
Records about Him from ancient folklore are very interesting; He is the perfection of opposites:
Supreme spiritual Guru, but warrior chieftain,
Ascetic, but perfect husband,
Mendicant, but householder,
Meditative, but intoxicated,
Master of Yogic stillness, but King of dance;
Shiva is the fountainhead where paradox reconciles.
In the Hindu Pantheon of Gods, He is called the Destroyer,
And yet known by the beautiful symbol of creation, the Shivlinga.

Shiva is a story teller’s delight.
But because Shiva is hugely paradoxical, it comes as no surprise , that , much as He is loved by the masses, There have been times when He has actually been maligned in some circles. This may have been by the design of a select few, as had happened at His own Father- in-law Daksha’s instance, or then it may be simply because of ignorance- a lack of knowing Shiva’s esoterics. Ignorance is not always bliss, ignorance mostly leads to a fear, which then makes up its own stories.
I believed, it was important that Shiva’s endearing mythology, as well as His scintillating spirituality, both needed to be known. It became my call to write a book that gives equal emphasis to Shiva’s story, and, reveals the fabulous mystic that He is, and indeed, has always been.

At first I was overwhelmed with His infinite Aspects: What could one write about Him, who is Timeless, limitless, boundless? And then the question itself revealed the answer. One sure mark of Shiva is that He is bound to Parvati.
It is said of Shiva that He does not incarnate. Of Parvati's Bhakti (devotion), it is said she is one who can make even Shiva incarnate. and they always find each other, through the mists of cosmic time, even through lifetimes; And I realized that behind the innumerable tales about Him, at the core of the myriad Roles that He plays out, Shiva's story, is essentially a love story, over, and over again.