Ardhanarishvara as a Humanistic Construct of Hindu Philosophy: A Paradigm Shift beyond Spirituality.

Abstract

The idea of Ardhanarishvara (A Sanskrit term for half female and half male spiritual manifestation of the Hindu God Shiva) offers a fascinating investigation of gender dichotomy and its cohesion within the divine. This paper, “Ardhanarishvara as a Humanistic Construct of Hindu Philosophy: A Paradigm Shift beyond Spirituality” examines metaphorically, the mythological androgynous composite of Shiva and his consort Parvati from a humanistic angle. The present research explores this unusual depiction of divinities from allegorical, biological and social viewpoints. Ardhanarishvara, although a Hindu divine concept, finds parallels in Greek, Christian, Chinese and Japanese philosophies. Taking all such studies into consideration, the paper attempts to establish a shift from the existing popular notion of Shiva’s spiritualism to a more relatable idea of humanism, thus establishing Shiva as a deity with humanistic attributes. The paper correlates the theories of Humanism to the idea of Ardhanarishvara and consequently, presents the latter as, not only a spiritual belief, but also an earthly ideology and thus very relevant to the mundane realities of human beings.