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Symbols of Shiva:
1. Vibhuti: The sacred ash called Vibhuti is the first symbol of Shiva.
It has to be specially prepared and then applied in 16 places while chanting Om Namah Shivayah. First mix it with water and dip your fingers in it and apply horizontally on the forehead then on the left collarbone and then on the left arm in 4 places then on the left side of the body at waist level and then left side of the neck (8). Repeat it in the same way for the right side (15) and lastly horizontally on the back of the neck (nape) is 16. There is potassium in the vibhuti which enters into the blood stream through the skin in the same
way as nicotine from nicotine patches. 2. Kumkum: This is made by mixing turmeric with lime. By varying
the quality of turmeric you can get different shades of kumkum from maroon to post office red. There is a chemical reaction which takes place between the lime and the turmeric and one of the by products is lacto calamine. When the ladies put a big bindi (dot) of this on the face and then wash it off next day, it spreads all over the
face and cleanses the skin. This is one of the benefits of kumkum. 3. Rudraksham: This is the third symbol of Shiva. “Rudra” means
Shiva and “aksham” means eyes. The tears of Shiva are supposed to have crystallized into rudraksham. Shiva has three eyes. The right eye is called “dakshin netram”.That is supposed to correspond to the Kshatriyas. His left eye is called “vama netram”. That corresponds to the Brahmans. The middle eye called the “jnan netram” and corresponds to the Shudras. The rudraksh seeds have come from each eye and you can distinguish them by colour. (Right eye gave red, left eye gave whitish grey or gold and centre eye gave black) Dakshin netram or right eye of Shiva is also called the Surya (sun) netram ie the deity is Surya. How many trees came out of the right eye? There are 12 names of Surya and 12 trees are supposed to have come out of Shiva's right eye and those rudrakshams are red in colour.
shantidoot / messenger of peace
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