Shiva as depicted in his standard game design in Smite official game art

(9) HINDU MYTHOLOGY – HERO: SHIVA

The other of two deities from Hindu mythology I rank as heroes in my top ten, Shiva may be a more ambiguously heroic figure than Vishnu but I just have an idiosyncratic preference for him – a running theme for this and two other pantheons in my top ten where I prefer the more ambiguous and arguably anti-heroic of two heroic deities from that pantheon.

As I noted for Vishnu, Hindu gods can be incredibly complex figures, and Shiva is one of the most complex. Like Vishnu, “the persona of Shiva converged as a composite deity” – “Vishnu and Shiva…began to absorb countless local cults and deities within their folds. The latter were either taken to represent the multiple facets of the same god or else were supposed to denote different forms and appellations by which the god came to be known and worshipped…Shiva as we know him today shares many features with the Vedic god Rudra…the god of the roaring storm”.

In broad strokes, Shiva is known as the Destroyer within the Trimurti or trinity of supreme divinity that includes Brahma as the Creator and Vishnu as the Preserver. However, when it comes to the practice of Hinduism, Shiva and Vishnu are the big two with Brahma a distant and abstract third (or lower if you count goddess), reflected in Shaivism and Vaishnavism as the two major strands of Hinduism. The former elevates Shiva as the sole supreme deity “who creates, protects, and transforms the universe”, just as the latter does with Vishnu (although there are variations within these two strands which combine both gods as one).

Where Vishnu is usually depicted in blue hue, Shiva is usually depicted with white skin, albeit from ashes smeared on his skin and a blue throat, both with hardcore explanations. He has many iconic attributes – his mystical third eye, crescent moon as his crest or crown, matted hair, yogic pose, tiger skin pelt, trident, drum, the serpent or naga Vasuki as his garland, and the bull Nandi as his mount.

“Shiva has many aspects, benevolent as well as fearsome…in his fierce aspects, he is often depicted slaying demons”. The fierce aspects usually fall within his persona as the Destroyer, but he has a dual persona as a benefactor as well – and we’re talking righteous destruction here, slaying demons after all.

“Shiva is often depicted as embodying attributes of ambiguity and paradox. His depictions are marked by the opposing themes including fierceness and innocence. This duality can be seen in the diverse epithets attributed to him and the rich tapestry of narratives that delineate his persona within Hindu mythology”.

Two aspects of Shiva particularly appeal to me. Well, apart from his representation as the phallic “lingam” – Shiva is a phallic god!. The first is his persona as Nataraja – lord of the dance. We’re talking the cosmic dance of creation and destruction here, as well as the other literal and metaphorical meanings of dance.

The second is the extent to which he is identified with Dionysus from classical mythology – to the extent that “the ancient Greek texts of the time of Alexander the Great call Shiva Indian Dionysus, or alternatively call Dionysus god of the Orient”.

SUPERMAN-BATMAN SCALE

Like Vishnu and Hindu gods in general, Shiva is definitely on the divine Superman end of the scale.

PUNCHING OUT CTHULHU RANKING

Even more so than Vishnu, as punching out demons is part of his epithet as Destroyer

PARTY ROCK RANKING

With his phallic lingam symbol and Dionysian persona, Shiva scores even higher than Vishnu for party rock ranking. And of course he’s a god for the goddesses, from his usual consort Parvati to the divine feminine principle, Devi or Shakti.

RATING:

A-TIER (TOP TIER)