Ardhanārīśvara
From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia
By Jit Majumdar
- the Divine or Godhead who is half-female
- the anthromorphic form where the right half is male and the left half is female, representing a form of Śiva where he is conjoined with Śakti as his left half, signifying the essential unity of male and female principles and of polar opposites that are in fact complimentary for existence to be possible, and also signifying that every female is nature’s primal expression and complete manifestation while every male is an evolute of the female and half-female.