Editing Shiva (section)

=== Avatars ===
[[Puranas|Puranic scriptures]] contain occasional references to "ansh" – literally 'portion, or avatars of Shiva', but the idea of Shiva avatars is not universally accepted in [[Shaivism]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Parrinder| first= Edward Geoffrey |title=Avatar and incarnation |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |year=1982 |page= 88 |isbn=0195203615 }}</ref> The Linga Purana mentions twenty-eight forms of Shiva which are sometimes seen as avatars,<ref>{{cite book| last=Winternitz| first=Moriz| author2=V. Srinivasa Sarma| title=A History of Indian Literature, Volume 1| publisher=Motilal Banarsidass| year=1981| pages=543–544| isbn=978-8120802643| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JRfuJFRV_O8C&pg=PA543| access-date=8 June 2020| archive-date=19 October 2023| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019091516/https://books.google.com/books?id=JRfuJFRV_O8C&pg=PA543#v=onepage&q&f=false| url-status=live}}</ref> however such mention is unusual and the avatars of Shiva is relatively rare in Shaivism compared to the well emphasised concept of Vishnu avatars in [[Vaishnavism]].<ref>James Lochtefeld (2002), "Shiva" in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 2: N–Z, Rosen Publishing, {{ISBN|0823922871}}, p. 635</ref>{{sfn|Jones|Ryan|2006|p=474}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Parrinder| first= Edward Geoffrey |title=Avatar and incarnation |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |year=1982 |pages= 87–88 |isbn=0195203615 }}</ref>
Some Vaishnava literature reverentially link Shiva to characters in its Puranas. For example, in the ''[[Hanuman Chalisa]]'', [[Hanuman]] is identified as the eleventh avatar of Shiva.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lutgendorf|first=Philip|title=Hanuman's tale: the messages of a divine monkey|publisher=Oxford University Press US|year=2007|page=44|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fVFC2Nx-LP8C&q=avatara+Hanuman&pg=PT333|isbn=978-0195309218|access-date=7 November 2020|archive-date=31 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331131656/https://books.google.com/books?id=fVFC2Nx-LP8C&q=avatara+Hanuman&pg=PT333#v=snippet&q=avatara%20Hanuman&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Catherine Ludvík|title=Hanumān in the Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki and the Rāmacaritamānasa of Tulasī Dāsa|pages=10–11|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KCXQN0qoAe0C&q=Hanuman+Rudra&pg=PA10|isbn=978-8120811225|year=1994|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ.|access-date=7 November 2020|archive-date=31 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331131657/https://books.google.com/books?id=KCXQN0qoAe0C&q=Hanuman+Rudra&pg=PA10#v=snippet&q=Hanuman%20Rudra&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Sri Ramakrishna Math (1985) "Hanuman Chalisa" p. 5</ref> The ''[[Bhagavata Purana]]'' and the ''[[Vishnu Purana]]'' claim sage [[Durvasa]] to be a portion of Shiva.<ref name="Footnote 1 HH Wilson">{{cite web | url= http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp044.htm#fn_229 | title= Footnote 70:1 to Horace Hayman Wilson's English translation of The Vishnu Purana: Book I – Chapter IX | access-date= 17 July 2012 | archive-date= 9 September 2006 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060909124522/http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp044.htm#fn_229 | url-status= live }}</ref><ref name="Footnote 2 HH Wilson">{{cite web | url= http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp045.htm#fn_243 | title= Footnote 83:4 to Horace Hayman Wilson's English translation of The Vishnu Purana: Book I – Chapter X | access-date= 17 July 2012 | archive-date= 5 August 2012 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120805200504/http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp045.htm#fn_243 | url-status= live }}</ref><ref name="Bhagavata Purana 4.1">{{cite web | url= http://vedabase.net/sb/4/1/en1 | title= Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 4 Chapter 1 – English translation by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada | url-status=dead | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120829232539/http://vedabase.net/sb/4/1/en1 | archive-date= 29 August 2012}}</ref> Some medieval era writers have called the [[Advaita Vedanta]] philosopher [[Adi Shankara]] an incarnation of Shiva.<ref>{{cite book|translator-first=Sengaku |translator-last=Mayeda |title=A Thousand Teachings: The Upadesasahasri of Sankara |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8fkLggRFFBwC |year=1979 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0791409435 |page=4}}</ref>