The literal meaning of Ardhanarishwar means Half-Woman-God. Shiv is usually known as the epitome of masculinity but his Ardhnarishwar form shows that Shiv and Shakti are inseparable. Sadhguru has discussed how Shiv became Ardhanarishwar; I will briefly mention the same thing here. Parvati, as a feminine energy, is very restless. On the other hand, Shiv is static energy. Parvati always wondered how Shiv remains so calm and one day she asked Shiv this. Shiv told that it is due to his yog ability. Parvati was curious and wanted to learn yog. Shiv then asked Parvati to sit on his lap. After Parvati sat on Shiv’s lap, Shiv started to share his knowledge via yog and Parvati started to mix with Shiv. And ultimately a point came when their bodies became one. The right half was Shiv and the left half was Parvati.
There is a funny lore about Ardhanarishwar and Vringi. Vringi and Nandi are two closest assistants of Shiv and both of them are great devotees of Shiv. Vringi is also a sadhak and can change his appearances. Every day, he revolves around Shiv to show his obedience. However, Vringi does not give much attention to Parvati and this pestered Parvati. One day Paravti thought that as she is Shiv’s wife, she should also be respected by Vringi and she sat very close to Shiv’s body. When Vringi saw this, he turned into a bee and revolved around Shiv’s head and left. Parvati was astonished. Next day, she took the Ardhanarishwar form with Shiv and thought that now it was impossible for Vringi to revolve only around Shiv. But Vringi took a form of a wasp and made a small hole on the division line of Shiv and Parvati and revolved around only Shiv. This made Parvati very angry and she cursed Vringi that from that point onwards, Vringi’s body will become as thin as a straw. Vringi accepted the curse happily.
Ardhanarishwar form teaches us about the importance of partnership. In one hand, it tells that to form a soulful relationship, both partners need to empty some portions from themselves. Also, it tells that every human needs a partner to become complete, especially, the sansaari people. Sadhaks can perform yog and awaken their kundalini to experience milan of Shiv and Shakti (when kundalini Shakti rises from Muladhar to Sahasrar chakra). But, for most people living a normal life, this is neither possible nor needed for everyone. And this is so because most of us cannot escape the effects of shat-ripu. I personally think that in order to successfully make a transition from sansaari to sanyasi, one should experience the shat-ripus and only after the person is fed up with all the sansarik elements, he/she can purely enter the path of sadhana. In today’s society where materialism is the measure of success, it is hard to develop a mindset which will tell one to avoid shat-ripu. We want money, we want sex, we enjoy smoking/drinking, we emphasise on feelings rather than work, and we are slaves of all types of luxury. The simplest way to surpass all this is to find a suitable partner who will support and guide.
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