Parashiva (or Paramashiva, Paramshiva, or Parmshiva, among other spellings;

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

: परशिव,

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Brahmic family, Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that ...

: Paraśiva) is the highest aspect of Shiva in

Shaiva Siddhanta Shaiva Siddhanta () is a form of Shaivism popular in a pristine form in Tamilnadu and Sri Lanka and in a Tantrayana syncretised form in Vietnam and Indonesia (as Siwa Siddhanta). It propounds a devotional philosophy with the ultimate goal of e ...

and in

Kashmir Shaivism Kashmir Shaivism tradition is a 20th century umbrella-term for a body of Sanskrit learning, Sanskrit exegetical literature from several Nondualism, non-dualist Shaivism, Shaiva-Shaktism, Shakta Tantra, tantric and Monism, monistic religious t ...

. Below him are the primordial Shiva with the Parashakti and Sadashiva with seven Shaktis.

Shaiva Siddhanta

According to the Shaiva Siddhanta tradition, which is a major school of

Shaivism Shaivism (, , ) is one of the major Hindu denominations, Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Para Brahman, supreme being. It is the Hinduism#Demographics, second-largest Hindu sect after Vaishnavism, constituting about 385 million H ...

, Parashiva is absolute reality which is beyond human comprehension and is beyond all attributes. According to Mahamahopadhaya Gopinath Kaviraj, in this aspect

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

is both formless and with forms. He is beyond both

dvaita Dvaita Vedanta (); (originally known as Tattvavada; IAST: ''Tattvavāda''), is a sub-school in the Vedanta ''Vedanta'' (; , ), also known as ''Uttara Mīmāṃsā'', is one of the six orthodox (Āstika and nāstika, ''āstika'') trad ...

and advaita. In Shaivite theology, Parashiva is both the source and the destination of everything in the existence. According to the

tradition, the other two aspects of

are

Parashakti Parashakti (IAST: Paraśakti, Sanskrit: पराशक्ति) or Parā is one of the three chief goddesses in Trika system of Kashmir Shaivism along with Aparā and Parparā. In Siddhantic perspective, Parashakti is the counterpart of Par ...

and Parameshwara. The upper part (oval stone) of

Shiva Lingam A lingam ( , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. The word ''lingam'' is found in the Upanishads and epic literature, wher ...

represents Parashiva while lower part (pedestal) represents

. Parashiva is beyond all of the 36 tattvas mentioned in

philosophy.

Kashmir Shaivism

Kashmiri Shaivism describes how all of reality, with all of its diversity and fluctuation, is the play of the single principle, Paramashiva. The two aspects of this single reality are inseparably united: Shiva and Shakti. Paramashiva ''appears'' as the world through his creative power, Shakti. The ontological nature of Paramashiva is beyond human knowledge and articulation, yet it can be experienced directly through mystical intuition. The Kashmir Shaivism tradition, also called Trika Shaivism, is a non-dualist branch of Shaiva-

Shakta Shaktism () is a major Hindu denomination in which the deity or metaphysical reality is considered metaphorically to be a woman. Shaktism involves a galaxy of goddesses, all regarded as different aspects, manifestations, or personificatio ...

Tantra Tantra (; ) is an esoteric yogic tradition that developed on the India, Indian subcontinent beginning in the middle of the 1st millennium CE, first within Shaivism and later in Buddhism. The term ''tantra'', in the Greater India, Indian tr ...

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

that originated in

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

after 850 CE.David Peter Lawrence, ''Kashmiri Shaiva Philosophy'', Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
/ref>Wallis, Christopher; Tantra Illuminated, chapter II, The History of Śaiva Tantra In its place of origin in Kashmir, this tradition is commonly referred to as "''Kashmiri Shaivism''." It later spread beyond Kashmir, with its great scholar

Abhinavagupta Abhinavagupta (Devanāgarī अभिनवगुप्तः; c. 950 – 1016 CE) was a philosopher, mystic and aesthetician from Kashmir. He was also considered an influential musician, poet, dramatist, exegete, theologian, and logicianR ...

calling it "Trika" (meaning "the Trinity"). It particularly flourished in the states of

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

and

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

.Carl Olson
The Many Colors of Hinduism
Rutgers University Press, 2007, page 237 Defining features of the Trika tradition are its

idealistic Idealism in philosophy, also known as philosophical realism or metaphysical idealism, is the set of metaphysical perspectives asserting that, most fundamentally, reality is equivalent to mind, spirit, or consciousness; that reality is entir ...

and

monistic Monism attributes oneness or singleness () to a concept, such as to existence. Various kinds of monism can be distinguished: * Priority monism states that all existing things go back to a source that is distinct from them; e.g., in Neoplatonis ...

Pratyabhijna Pratyabhijñā or Pratyabhigyā () is an idealistic, monistic, and theistic school of philosophy in Kashmir Shaivism which originated in the ninth century CE. The name of the system is derived from its most famous work, ''Īśvara-pratyabhij� ...

'' ("Recognition") philosophical system, propounded by

Utpaladeva Utpaladeva (c. 900–950 CE) was a Shaiva tantrik philosopher, theologian and poet from Kashmir. He belonged to the Trika Shaiva tradition and is a thinker of the Pratyabhijñā school of monistic idealism.Torella, Raffaele (2021), ''Utpaladev ...

(c. 925–975 CE) and Abhinavagupta (c. 975–1025 CE), and the centrality of the three goddesses Parā, Parāparā, and Aparā.

References

Forms of Shiva Shaivism {{Hindu-theo-stub

Shaiva Siddhanta

Kashmir Shaivism

See also

References