SIVA. Siva is one of the principal Hindu deities. He has developed out of the Vedic deity Rudra (q.v.). He is one of the triad, Brahma, Vishnu (q.v.), and Siva; for at one time Brahma was regarded as the Creator, Vishnu as the Preserver, and Siva as the Dissolver and Repro ducer. Orthodox Brahmans are generally worshippers of Siva, or Vaishnavas, worshippers of Vishnu. The ference for the worship of one or the other. The Hindus of modern times are usually either Saivas, worshippers of Siva, or Vaishnavas, worshippers of Vishnu. The Saivas worship one personal god Siva as the Supreme Being. Monier-Williams points out that Siva is repre sented as less, human and more mystical than the incarn ated Vishnu. " The character in which he is most frequently worshipped is that of an omnipotent God, taking the place of Brahma the Creator, and granting new life to all created things, but only through death and disintegration. Hence he is not represented by the image of a man, but by a mystic symbol—perhaps the best symbol of delegated creative power—which Is not dressed or fed or put to sleep like Vishnu's Idols, but is supposed to be in a condition of perpetual heat and excitement, and requires to be cooled and appeased by constant sprinklings (abhisheka) of cold Ganges water and cooling Bilva leaves applied throughout the day by those who worship him." This symbol is the Linga (q.v.), which is often
made of white stone, just as Vishnu is represented by a black stone, the Salagrama (q.v.). Although Siva never became incarnate in the sense that Vishnu did, be assumed a distinct personality and a variety of characters. His worshippers gave him more than a thousand names or epithets (1008). These include: The Mother (MAW; The Father (Pita); Extinction (Nirvanam); The Great Illusionist (Mahamayah); The White One (Suklah); The Mule (Haya-gardabhih). Of his many characters, Monier-Williams thinks that five stand out prominently. 1. Siva personifies the dissolving and disintegrating powers of nature. 2. He personifies the reproductive power of nature. 3. He is the type of asceticism and self mortification. 4. He is the learned sage and contempla tive philosopher. 5. He is the jovial mountaineer, who is fond of bunting, dancing, and drinking. The wife of Siva appears with several names, which include Durga or Kali. The female energy corresponding to Siva is called Sakti (see SAKTISM). See Monier-Williams; E. W. Hopkins; J. A. Dubois and H. K. Beauchamp.