The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hindusim vol 2

Pashupati
the ascetic and his entrance into social
and family life. Their union highlights
the cultural tension between the two
most important Hindu religious ideals:
the householder and the renunciant
ascetic. Perhaps to illustrate the contradiction
of being a married ascetic, Shiva
and Parvati have children but not in the
normal way: Skanda develops from
Shiva’s semen, which falls on the ground
during their interrupted love-making,
while Ganesh is formed of the enlivened
dirt from Parvati’s body.
Parvati, as with all married Hindu
goddesses, is generally seen as benign
and benevolent. In some mythic stories
she can be spiteful, but on the whole she
projects a nurturing and motherly presence.
Her mythology is almost completely
connected with that of Shiva,
showing her subordination as the model
wife, and her worship is generally connected
with him as well. She occupies
an important position in tantra, a
secret, ritually based religious practice,
since in tantric texts Parvati is usually
portrayed as the person questioning
Shiva and then as the student receiving
his instruction. For more information
on Parvati and all the goddesses of
Hinduism, see David R. Kinsley, Hindu
Goddesses, 1986.
Paryanka
(“bedstead”) One of the postures
(asanas) described in commentaries to
the Yoga Sutras, in which the person is
lying down with the arms stretched
around the knees.
Pasha
(“noose”) In Indian iconography, one of
the weapons carried by some of the
divinities, especially Ganesh and Yama.
For Ganesh, as the “Lord of Obstacles,”
the noose signifies his ability to bind
(and release) obstacles, whereas Yama,
the god of death, uses the noose to draw
the soul from the body at the time of
death. In the Shaiva Siddhanta religious
community, pasha is also the name
given to Shiva’s power of illusion (maya),
through which he entraps and enthralls
unenlightened people (pashu). The triad
of pasha, pashu, and Shiva as lord (pati)
are the defining features of the Shaiva
Siddhanta school.
Pashu
(“beast”) In the philosophical school
known as Shaiva Siddhanta, and in the
secret, ritually based religious practice
known as tantra, the term for an unenlightened
person, who is said to have a
human form but to be little better than
an animal. This lack of awareness
comes not just through inherent dullness,
but through the activity of maya,
the power of illusion wielded by Shiva
as lord (pati). The triad of pashu, pati
and the bonds of illusion (pasha) are
defining features of the Shaiva
Siddhanta school.
Pashupata
An extinct ascetic community, of devotees
(bhakta) of the god Shiva in his
form as Pashupati, “the Lord of Beasts.”
Although the Pashupatas have now disappeared,
according to the Chinese pilgrim
Hsuan Tsang they were once the
most important ascetic sect in northern
India. According to historical reports, its
members would engage in strange and
antisocial behavior intended to bring
disgrace upon themselves, although
without lust or malice in their hearts.
This practice was in imitation of one of
Shiva’s mythic tales, in which he
exposed himself to the wives of the
Sages in the Pine Forest but was without
desire for them. For further information
see Daniel H. H. Ingalls, “Cynics and
Pasupatas: The Seeking of Dishonor,” in
Harvard Theological Review, 55, 1962.
Pashupati
(“Lord of Beasts”) Epithet of the god
Shiva in his form as the “Lord of Beasts.”
See Shiva.
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