Lord Śiva is depicted with a third eye on His forehead . This third eye is the eye of wisdom . Therefore , another name for Lord Śiva is Tryambaka meaning the three-eyed one . The puranas narrate many different stories about Lord Śiva’s third eye .
The well-known story would be the one of Kamadeva or Manmatha . After the death of Sati , Lord Śiva entered into a deep meditation . At this time , the asuras grew in power and started terrorizing the three worlds . All the devas sought Brahmaji’s help who in turn told them that Sati has taken rebirth as Goddess Parvati and that the marriage of Lord Śiva and Goddess Parvati alone can remedy the problem . Now , the devas had to make Lord Śiva abandon his meditation to get Him married . So , Kamadeva ( the lord of desires ) was instructed to seduce Lord Śiva out of his meditation . As Kamadeva’s arrow hits Lord Śiva , the Lord opened his third eye and burned Kamadeva into ashes .
From the Vedic standpoint , Kamadeva represents all forms of desires .
From desires , all other problems such as anger , delusion , pride and
etc. are born . Burning the desires here refers to discerning of the
desires . It is not merely giving up all desires because that defeats
the goal of human life . Living is growing from the experiences gained
in the process of fulfilling desires . In fact , the Lord himself says
-“ I am the desires that conform to dharma .”
Only with knowledge , one can decide which desire is to be pursued and which not to . Therefore , we pray to Lord Śiva to be given wisdom to discern our desires well . Eventually , an individual reduces his worldly desires and his affinity towards the spiritual pursuit increases . It is the sign of a matured person living a meaningful life .
In the Vedic tradition , all forms of worship and spiritual disciplines is meant to bring the individual to acknowledge the divine’s presence in his or her life . Nothing is devoid of the Lord’s grace . As the person ventures further in their journey , he or she comes to appreciate the fact that nothing that is separate from Ishvara , the Lord . All that is here is only Ishvara .
Om Tat Sat .
Only with knowledge , one can decide which desire is to be pursued and which not to . Therefore , we pray to Lord Śiva to be given wisdom to discern our desires well . Eventually , an individual reduces his worldly desires and his affinity towards the spiritual pursuit increases . It is the sign of a matured person living a meaningful life .
In the Vedic tradition , all forms of worship and spiritual disciplines is meant to bring the individual to acknowledge the divine’s presence in his or her life . Nothing is devoid of the Lord’s grace . As the person ventures further in their journey , he or she comes to appreciate the fact that nothing that is separate from Ishvara , the Lord . All that is here is only Ishvara .
Om Tat Sat .
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