英文摘要 |
The Hindu deity Ardhanārīśvara, one of the incarnations of Lord Śiva, has a body split down the middle comprising two separate parts--the right is Śiva and the left is Pārvatī. Although this specific image has been interpreted from several Hindu and sociocultural perspectives, its foremost symbol is the creative power of procreation as recorded in the Purānic cosmogonic myth. Śiva, in this form, granted Brahmā the ability to produce women and all living things that are “tormented by the fear of birth and death” (janmanṛtyubhayāviṣṭa) and are “immersed in the ocean of suffering by their own independent actions” (karmavaśā vimagnā duḥkhavāridhau), as well the origins of procreation, in order to increase the number of living beings. In regards to human beings, Brahmā, through this creative ability, also produced the progenitors of humanity, the male Manu and the female Śatarūpā, and humanity was thereby continuously propagated. From the perspective of Manu's genealogy, the procreative power of Ardhanārīśvara not only indicates the physiological aspects of intercourse and the multiplication of descendants, but also encompasses the continuation of karmic consequences related to behavior and consciousness connected to morality, psychology, sacrificial rituals, and other various aspects of life. Based on the two cosmogonic myths described in the Śiva Purāṇa, this article discusses the origins and substance of procreative ideas concerning Ardhanārīśvara |