The Sharav Upanishad of the Atharva Veda, verse nos. 10 and 14 says as
follows—
“Verse no. 10= We bow reverentially and pay our obeisance to the great Lord known
as Rudra who can burn to ashes the entire world by the fierce spurt of fire emanating
from the third eye located in his forehead^1 , and is so gracious that he re-creates it
once again after punishing it (for its sins and misdeeds by reducing it to ashes), and
then offers it his protection (10).
“Verse no. 14 = We bow reverentially and pay our obeisance to the great Lord known
as Rudra whose three eyes are the Sun, the Moon and the Fire (representing eternal
sources of light, life, energy, warmth and heat) (14).”
From the metaphysical perspective, his two eyes are the conventional eyes, and
his third symbolises his deep insight and great wisdom and enlightenment. Shiva
personifies the fire element which also has a symbolic significance. The fire is known
to burn all impurities present in gold when it is put into it, thereby purifying the
metal. Similarly, fire is used in blast furnaces to extract iron from its ore. Fire has the
inherent ability to reduce to ashes all filth and garbage, which is a metaphoric way of
saying that a person who has worshipped this element in the form of Shiva is
supposed to have burnt all his faults, blemishes and shortcomings that taint his
character and soul, thereby purifying his inner self. The ash is indicative of total
renunciation and detachment from the world of materialism, because it is indicative
of a renunciate way of life and symbolically stands for burning of everything into the
fire pit. That is why Lord Shiva has been called the patron God of ascetics, hermits
and Sanyasis who worship the fire element only.
Besides these points, Shiva is the God assigned the task of concluding the world
which necessitates his being closely associated with the ‘fire element’ in the sense
that he must be as unrelenting, merciless, powerful and ferocious as the latter in order
to conclude this creation inspite of all the odds. He must reduce everything to ashes
just like the fire does. And it is from this ash that the new creation would emerge in
due course. Herein lie the magic of creation and its chief Lord, Brahm, the Supreme
Being—the fact that a new creation rises from ashes!
To quote Yogtattva Upanishad, verse no. 93—“This (i.e. the fire element is the
symbolic abode of Lord Rudra or Shiva. [That is, he symbolises the fire element.]
One should meditate upon this Lord who has three eyes, who is the one renowned for
granting boons (to his followers and devotees, and in the presence case to the ascetic),
who is as splendorous, illuminated and radiant as a sun which has just risen, and who
has the ash of the fire sacrifice smeared all over his body (just like an ascetic,
indicating that he is their great icon and patron deity of ascetics) (93).”
Trayambak—The word Trayambak means the Lord who has a most
unconventional form with one extra eyes oddly placed in the forehead. Lord Shiva’s
behaviour and general bearing are also most unconventional and odd because he is at
once an incarnation of the eclectic virtues of peace, renunciation, detachment,
tranqulity and blissful, and at another moment he becomes personified form of anger
and wrath. On the one hand his cosmic form is the Supreme Being, the Greatest
amongst the Gods (‘Maha-deva’), and in another form he is a gross Lingam (Shiva’s
gross symbol made of stone). In one instance is is lost in meditation and
contemplation, being completely detached from the outside world, and in another
instance he is said to have a family consiting of his divine consort Parvati or Uma, the
divine Mother, and sons known as Ganesh and Kartikeya. Hence, he is called
Tryambak—the ‘odd one’.
The word also means ‘the Lord of the three (‘Traya’ = 3) worlds’ consisting of
the heavens, the earth and the hell; the cosmos, the terrestrial world, and the nether
world.
The Lord’s Mantra is given in the Tripura Tapini Upanishad of the Atharva Veda
tradition, Canto 4 is entirely devoted to Lord Trayambak. It describes the meaning of
this word and the Mantras dedicated to Lord Trayambak in great detail. This
kiana
(Kiana)
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