Week 14 Reading: Epified's "7 Secrets of Hindu Calendar Art" Videos, Part C

Ardhanari on Wikimedia
For this week, I chose to continue onto parts C and D of Epified’s “Seven Secrets of Hindu Calendar Art” YouTube videos. Part C is on the gods Ardhanari, who I had never heard of before, and Shiva. I liked the videos that I watched in week 13 as they were more eye-opening and informative than I had expected. I also think that watching these videos is good for anyone who struggles with paying attention, especially in reading assignments. Furthermore, as I have watched many Epified videos throughout this course, I can say that Epified does a great job of summarizing important aspects of Indian epics and Hinduism and that they make them easily attainable for those who are new to this kind of storytelling.
Ardhanari’s secret is “God is stillness within, Goddess is movement around.” In this video, I learned that gods can be with or without form and that a god is never limited to only one form. Also, there is both a male and a female trinity in Hinduism. The male trinity made up of Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu represents the spiritual world, while the female trinity of Saraswati, Lakshmi, and Shakti represents the material world. It is incorrect to view the male trinity as simply those who do things while the female trinity remains passive. Instead, the male trinity representing spirituality should be viewed as the actions that the female trinity responds to, such as the act of contemplating one’s behavior.
Shiva’s secret is “Withdrawal leads to destruction.” Shiva is the god of destruction, and he destroys Kama, the goddess of desire, and Yama, the god who watches over the death and rebirth of man. When these two are destroyed, the three worlds are destroyed. The three worlds are “our private world, our public world, and all the rest that is.” Shiva wants nothing and destroys the “desire for life, the fear of death, and the need of the world around us.” While destruction is usually thought of as accompanied by rage, vengeance, etc., Shiva’s mannerisms are calm and composed, hence “withdrawal leads to destruction.”

If you would like to watch these videos, click here: link.

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