Editing Ardhanarishvara (section)

==Symbolism==
[[File:Khajuraho Ardharnareshvar.jpg|thumb|Ardhanarishvara sculpture, [[Khajuraho]], depicting [[Shiva]] with [[Parvati]] as his equal half.]]
Ardhanarishvara symbolizes that the male and female principles are inseparable.<ref name="britannica">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/33339/Ardhanarisvara|title=Ardhanārīśvara|year=2011|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=26 January 2011}}</ref> The composite form conveys the [[unity of opposites]] (''coniunctio oppositorum'') in the universe.<ref name = "garg"/><ref name = "Daniélou63ff">Daniélou pp. 63–7</ref><ref name="kinsley">{{cite book|last=Kinsley|first=David |title=Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition|year=1998|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ|isbn=81-208-0394-9|pages=49–53}}</ref><ref>Goldberg p.115</ref> The male half of Ardhanarishvara stands for [[Purusha]] and female half is [[Prakriti]]. Purusha is the male principle and passive force of the universe, while Prakriti is the female active force; both are "constantly drawn to embrace and fuse with each other, though... separated by the intervening axis". The union of Purusha (Shiva) and Prikriti (Shiva's energy, Shakti) generates the universe, an idea also manifested in the union of the [[Linga]] of Shiva and [[Yoni]] of Devi creating the cosmos.<ref>Rao pp. 332</ref><ref name="swami59">Swami Parmeshwaranand p. 59</ref><ref name="Daniélou">{{cite book|last=Daniélou|first=Alain|title=The Myths and Gods of India: the Classic Work on Hindu Polytheism|year=1985|publisher=Inner Traditions|isbn=0-89281-354-7|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/mythsgodsofindia00dani}}</ref> The ''Mahabharata'' lauds this form as the source of creation.<ref name = "Mbh"/> Ardhanarishvara also suggests the element of [[Kama]] or Lust, which leads to creation.<ref name="Daniélou"/>

Ardhanarishvara signifies "totality that lies beyond duality", "bi-unity of male and female in God" and "the bisexuality and therefore the non-duality" of the Supreme Being.<ref name = "Dehejia37ff"/><ref name=conner67>{{cite book |title= Cassell's Encyclopedia of Queer Myth, Symbol and Spirit|last= Conner |first= Randy P. |author2=Sparks, David Hatfield |author3=Sparks, Mariya |year=1998 |publisher=Cassell |location=UK |isbn=0-304-70423-7|page = 67|chapter = Ardhararishvara}}</ref> It conveys that God is both Shiva and Parvati, "both male and female, both father and mother, both aloof and active, both fearsome and gentle, both destructive and constructive" and unifies all other dichotomies of the universe.<ref name="kinsley"/> While Shiva's rosary in the Ardhanarishvara iconography associates him with asceticism and spirituality, Parvati's mirror associates her to the material illusory world.<ref name = "Srinivasan158"/> Ardhanarishvara reconciles and harmonizes the two conflicting ways of life: the spiritual way of the ascetic as represented by Shiva, and the materialistic way of the householder as symbolized by Parvati, who invites the ascetic Shiva into marriage and the wider circle of worldly affairs. The interdependence of Shiva on his power (''Shakti'') as embodied in Parvati is also manifested in this form.<ref name="kinsley"/> Ardhanarishvara conveys that [[Shiva]] and [[Shakti]] are one and the same, an interpretation also declared in inscriptions found along with Ardhanarishvara images in [[Java]] and the eastern [[Malay Archipelago]].<ref name = "garg"/><ref name="swami58"/> The ''Vishnudharmottara Purana'' also emphasizes the identity and sameness of the male Purusha and female Prakriti, manifested in the image of Ardhanarishvara.<ref>Srinivasan p. 59</ref> According to Shaiva guru [[Sivaya Subramuniyaswami]] (1927–2001), Ardhanarishvara signifies that the great Shiva is "All, inseparable from His energy" (i.e. his ''Shakti'') and is beyond gender.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sivaya Subramuniyaswami|author-link=Sivaya Subramuniyaswami|title=Dancing with Siva: Hinduism's Contemporary Catechism|year=2003|publisher=Himalayan Academy Publications|page=758}}</ref>

[[File:Ardhanari Gangakonda.jpeg|thumb|left|upright|A three-armed Ardhanarishvara sculpture with only Nandi as a ''vahana'', 11th century, [[Gangaikonda Cholapuram]] temple]]
Across cultures, hermaphrodite figures like Ardhanarishvara have traditionally been associated with fertility and abundant growth. In this form, Shiva in his eternal embrace with Prakriti represents the eternal reproductive power of Nature, whom he regenerates after she loses her fertility. "It is a duality in unity, the underlying principle being a sexual dualism".<ref name="swami59"/> Art historian [[C. Sivarama Murti|Sivaramamurti]] calls it "a unique connection of the closely knit ideal of man and woman rising above the craving of the flesh and serving as a symbol of hospitality and parenthood".<ref name = "Dehejia37ff"/> The dual unity of Ardhanarishvara is  considered "a model of conjugal inseparability". Padma Upadhyaya comments, "The idea of ... Ardhanārīśvara is to locate the man in the woman as also the woman in the man and to create perfect homogeneity in domestic affairs".{{sfn|Chakravarti|1986|p=43}}

Often, the right half of Ardhanarishvara is male and the left is female. The left side is the location of the heart and is associated with 'feminine' characteristics like intuition and creativity, while the right is associated with the brain and 'masculine' traits – logic, valour and systematic thought.<ref name = "Daniélou63ff"/><ref>Goldberg p. 156</ref> The female is often not equal in the Ardhanarishvara, the male god who is half female; she remains a dependent entity.<ref name="Courtright">{{cite journal|last=Courtright|first=Paul B.|date=December 2005|title=Review: The Lord Who is Half Woman: Ardhanāriśvara in Indian and Feminist Perspective.|journal=Journal of the American Academy of Religion|volume=73|issue=4|pages=1215–1217|doi=10.1093/jaarel/lfi130|url=http://jaar.oxfordjournals.org/content/73/4/1215.full}}</ref> Ardhanarishvara "is in essence Shiva, not Parvati". This is also reflected in mythology, where Parvati becomes a part of Shiva. It is likewise reflected in iconography: Shiva often has two supernatural arms and Parvati has just one earthly arm, and his bull ''vahana'' – not her lion vahana – typically accompanies them.<ref name="Seid">{{cite journal|last=Seid|first=Betty|year=2004|title=The Lord Who Is Half Woman (Ardhanarishvara)|journal=Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies|publisher=The Art Institute of Chicago|volume=30|issue=1|pages=48–95|jstor=4129920}}</ref>