Soham Shivoham Mantra translation in English:
„I am that. I am pure consciousness.”
Soham Shivoham Mantra meaning:
„Soham” signifies or „I am He” or „I am Brahman.” Sah signifies „He”, Aham signifies „I” and Shivoham signifies „I am Shiva”.
Lord Shiva is the 3rd god in the Hindu triumvirate and it consists of 3 Gods who are responsible for the creation, preservation and destruction of the whole creation. The other 2 Gods are Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma.
Lord Brahma is the creator of the whole universe while Lord Vishnu is the preserver of it. Lord Shiva’s role is to destroy the creation in order to re-create it.
Lord Shiva is also called The Great Destroyer, because by transforming our world each moment, He destroys what was – to create what is. When we are attached to our present circumstances in life, and when Shiva dutifully changes them, we feel sorrow and suffering.
Hindus believe his powers of destruction and recreation is used even now to destroy the imperfections and illusions of this world, paving the way for beneficial change in the world. Corresponding to Hindu belief, this destruction is not arbitrary, but constructive. Thus, Lord Shiva is seen as the source of both evil and good and is considered as the one who combines many contradictory elements.
The Linga Purana (which is one of the major 18 Puranas) has the description regarding the origin of Lord Shiva which goes something like:
„Just before the beginning of the universe, Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu had some disagreement and a quarrel ensued. At that time a column of white bright light appeared in-front of them and solved their issues.”.
Lord Shiva signifies „auspiciousness” and Lord Shiva is also considered the representation of the Consciousness of Infinite Goodness. Shiva is known by a few other names, among other are: „Mahadev,” „Neelakanth,” „Bholenath,” „Shankar,” „Mahesh,” „Nataraj” and „Mahadeva”.
In his representations as a man, Lord Shiva always has a blue throat and face. Strictly speaking his body is white, but images often show him with a blue body too.
Historically, Lord Shiva has been the most significant and important god in the Indian subcontinent. In the Indus valley, Lord Shiva appears on the seals of the Harappan civilization 4500 years ago.
Image source – Flickr
