Sadāśiva
By Swami Harshananda
Sometimes transliterated as: Sadasiva, SadAZiva, Sadaashiva
Sadāśiva literally means ‘the Ever Auspicious One’.
Contents
As per General Description
Sadāśiva is one of the aspects and names of god Śiva. He is described as having five heads and ten arms, and is seated in baddha-padmāsana.[1] The heads are adorned with matted hair. The ten hands hold:
- Śakti - spear with a triangular tip
- Triśula - trident
- Khaṭvāṅga - magic wand
- Abhayamudrā - gesture of protection
- Varadamudrā - gestures of boon-giving
- Serpent
- Snake
- Ḍamaru - hand-drum
- Nīlotpala - blue-lotus
- Bījāpura - pomegranate fruit
Alternately, he may be shown as having a single face with three eyes, with a crescent moon adorned on the head. His consort is Manonmaṇi.
As per Other Description
In another description he is pictured as saumya.[2] He has four arms, two carrying purṇāmṛta-kumbhas[3] and the other two carrying one more pot and a rosary.
As per Śaivasiddhānta
In Śaivasiddhānta, Sadāśiva is the Supreme God-head but absolutely formless. He is all-pervading, extremely subtle and incomprehensible.
References
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore