Ardhanarishvara
Ardhanarishvara, “The Lord Who is Half Woman,”
is a form of SHIVA whose left half is the GODDESS
PARVATI or SHAKTI, with breast and sari drape.
The iconic image is a popular one at temples and
shrines to Shiva everywhere in India. Images were
present very early in the development of stone
architecture and are found at various rock cut
temples such as at MAHABALIPURAM.
It is said that BRAHMA, the creator god, tried
many times to create beings who would pro-
create properly. Usually the beings he created,
god or human, would take up asceticism and
not reproduce. Finally, he asked Lord Shiva to
separate out his female goddess aspect, so that
procreation could take place. Shiva did so; this
feminine aspect stood before Brahma and at
his request gave him the feminine energy that
allowed him to become the creator of the human
line.
Through this story all human beings are seen
to be descended from Brahma via his feminine,
procreative energy. The Ardhanarishvara depic-
tion of Shiva as half goddess is a reminder of this
story.
A different explanation for the Ardhanarish-
vara is found in another story, in which the sage
Bhringi respectfully circumambulated Shiva every
day but ignored Parvati, unlike all the other rishis,
who customarily circumambulated them both. To
induce him to honor Parvati, Shiva and Parvati
joined together as one, but the stubborn sage
became a bee and bored between them so as only
to go around Shiva (explaining the name bhringa,
which means bee). Still other explanations exist
(see ANNAPURNA).
Further reading: Ellen Goldberg, A Lord Who Is Half
Woman: Ardhanarisvara in Indian and Feminist Perspec-
tive (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2002);
Stella Kramrisch, The Presence of Shiva (Princeton,
N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1981); Neela Yadav,
Ardhanarisvara in Art and Literature (New Delhi: D. K.
Printworld, 2001).
arhat
In the Jain tradition (see JAINISM), an arhat (one
worthy of worship) is an omniscient being who
teaches in the world. As Jains do not believe in
living liberated beings (jivanmukta), the arhat
while living is not released from the cycle of
birth and rebirth, but will be upon his/her death.
A person becomes an arhat when he or she has
destroyed nearly all KARMAs except those that
hold him or her in bodily existence. Technically,
one becomes an arhat at the 12th gunasthana
(progression level) out of the 14 that take one
to posthumous NIRVANA. All the TIRTHANKARAs in
the Jain pantheon are referred to in their texts
as arhats.
The term arhat is also used in the Buddhist
context, where it refers to someone who has
attained nirvana—who has attained enlighten-
ment and will be released from the cycle of birth
and rebirth upon death. In the Buddhist tradition
also one can be referred to as an arhat before one
is dead.Further reading: M. A. Dhaky, ed., Arhat Parsva and
Dharanendra Nexus (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1997);
P. S. Jaini, Jaina Path of Purification (Berkeley: Univer-
sity of California Press, 1979); K. C. Lalwani, Kalpa
Sutra (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1979); Kristi Wiley,
Historical Dictionary of Jainism (Lanham, Md.: Scare-
crow Press, 2004).Arjuna
Arjuna was one of the five PANDAVAS in the MAHAB-
HARATA epic, all of them sons of Kunti by different
gods. Arjuna’s father was the king of the gods,
Indra, hence his prominent role in the epic.
It is Arjuna who won the Pandavas’ wife
Draupadi at her “self-choice” ceremony, where
the contestants competed in various challenges of
strength and skill. The rule was that each of the
five brothers would stay at night with Draupadi
alone. No other brother was to enter their chamberArjuna 43 J