Chitrakar - Painter, Illustrator, Writer

Shiva Consciousness – 1

To possess a lion-like attitude which we possessed in the ancient times, ensuring that no danger is following us from behind our backs; and proceeding on a confident and onward march with necessary course corrections, is a virtue – or more appropriately, a national virtue. This virtue was credited to Indians when the discovery of the earthen pot – The Ghata (घट) or Kalash (कलश) – was reassessed after Bhimbetka Cave Paintings dating from 15,000 BC were found. The reassessment of the Ghata reacquainted Indians about the difference between a vacuum and man created SPACE or discovered SPACE. The Ghata also signified the true man-made creation, and the study of our creativity in turn led Indians to man’s inner creative and welfare-causing light – that is SHIVA.

While the Ghata stood for India’s Creative Heritage, Shiva stood for India’s Creative Tradition. Both, the Creative Heritage and Tradition together established the fact that true Knowledge always comes after creative innovations and is the product of balanced functioning of the left and the right sides of the human brain.
 
The SHIVA icon has many aspects that are represented by some curious symbols; the prominent one among them is the Trishul or the Trident. It indicates that the functions of the left and the right sides of the human brain, under joint control of the tallest values of Propriety and Beauty, give us an instrument of potent Self-Defence Strategy.
 
On the social and the Nation-Building level, the Trishul represents the balanced union of the values of Propriety and Beauty resulting in Dharma (धर्म) – the very basis of our family, social and Ganatantrik (गणतांत्रिक) life some 3000 years ago.
 
Today, when India as a nation is happy with its left side brain functions, our innovative right side of the brain carries layers of rust accumulated in the last 2000 years at least. It is, in a broad sense, the sad result of losing our Shiva Consciousness.