The significance of the serpents wrapped around his body—The snakes that are
wrapped around Lord Shiva show that he is beyond the power of death and poison.
These coiled serpents around his body indicate the fact that he constantly reminds
himself of imminent death, because serpents are very poisonous and symbolise
immediate death. They also remind him about the unholy and poisonous nature of the
gross world. This helps him to remain focused on his spiritual aim of self-realisation
instead of being attracted by the material charms of this material world of sense
objects and getting deluded by them.
The serpents also signify that Shiva is the Lord of death; he is death personified.
Since he is able to wrap the serpents around his body and they cannot harm him, it
indicates the fact that he has conquered death. That is why he is called ‘Mrityunjay’,
the conqueror of death.
Again, the coiled serpents represent the Kundalini, the coiled subtle cosmic
energy center at the base of the spine which when activated can entitle the spiritual
aspirant to experience a burst of stupendous spiritual energy which provides him a
glimpse of his own divine powers as well as the powers of the cosmic Consciousness
present inside his bosom as his Atma. This Kundalini is activated by doing numerous
Yoga exercises as described in the Upanishads on the subject of Yoga.
The coiled serpents may also represent cycles of time in the macrocosm and the
basic energy of life in the microcosm in the form of sexual energy.
These reptiles are very ferocious, dangerous, poisonous, and a symbol of male
potency. The symbolism is that Shiva is a very potent God who can be extremely
ruthless and unforgiving towards sinful creatures. He has exercised extreme self
control and has ‘girdled’ or readied himself in preparation for enduring the greatest of
hardships and sufferance for self-realisation as well as to provide the world with
liberation and deliverance. The serpents warn his enemies not to fool around with
him. That is also why he has fire in one of his hands. This fire signifies his ability to
reduce to ashes the entire physical world consisting of falsehood and sins as well as
eliminate all impurities, imperfections, faults and shortcomings that cripple the
creature’s spiritual well being.
(^9) Narad has been called an ‘imposter’—a “Thug”—by the Sapta-rishis to impress
upon Parvati that she thinks he is a saint because of his external features and clothes,
but she is not aware how he acts as a spoil-sport for all who want to fall in the trap of
worldly affairs. Parvati has done severe Tapa, and instead of seeking spiritual
liberation, deliverance, salvation and emancipation, she seeks to get entangled in
relationships by getting married. Marriage is certainly a shackle for the creature as it
forces him or her into a bond and its associated obligations and responsibilities that
later on it becomes virtually impossible to break free. It is like bartering eternal
freedom and its inherent peace and happiness for imaginary comfort and pleasure that
comes with marriage.
This statement has a double meaning—on the face of it the statement seems to be
highly derogatory for Narad and scorns at him, but when looked deeply it means that
Narad is so holy, pious and noble that inspite of inviting ridicule and scorn he
continues to do his moral duty of pulling away the creature from falling into the
vicious whirlpool of worldly entanglements, and instead showing him the path that
would give eternal peace and happiness that comes by having devotion for Lord God
and by renouncing all attachments with this grosss material world.
(^10) Shiva was not at all interested in marrying. It was on the insistence of Brahma
the creator and other gods that he had consented to marry Sati, the daughter of
Daksha Prajapati. This story is narrated in Padma Puran, Sristi Khanda, Canto 24. It
was narrated by sage Pulastya to Bhisma as follows—
In some ancient time, the entire creation consisting of different worlds such as the
Bhuloka (earth), the Bhurvaloka (the sky), the Swargaloka (the heaven), and
Maharloka (the nether world) came to and end by being burnt. At that time, the
essential life-forces of all living beings, i.e. their individual Atma or soul, got together