Recorded at the Vedanta Society of Western Washington on March 9, 2014.

In this lecture, Swami Bhaskarananda explains how Hindu religious thought has evolved through centuries, and uses that broader context to trace the development of Shiva from the earlier Vedic figure Rudra. He clarifies dharma as that which sustains a thing’s very nature, and describes the Hindu view that divinity is the single Source behind the universe—knowable in a special way, though not through ordinary sense-based knowledge. To show how spiritual teachings are adapted to different levels of understanding, he recounts Sri Ramakrishna’s parable of the lion cub raised among sheep, emphasizing that the task is not to become something new but to know what one already is: divinity itself. Within this framework, devotion to deities is presented as an approach that gradually purifies the mind and prepares it for the recognition of the one Reality.

Turning to the main theme, he surveys references to Rudra in the Vedas and Upanishads, noting how Rudra is portrayed with both fierce and benevolent aspects and, over time, comes to be understood as the one God dwelling as the inner Self of all beings. He then outlines how Shiva is later represented in epics and Puranas—as part of the trinity of creation, preservation, and dissolution—and how traditions reconcile apparent differences between Shiva and Vishnu by affirming their underlying unity. The talk closes with symbolic elements and well-known narratives associated with Shiva, including a story about the sanctity of the Ganga, offered as a “sweet ending” in keeping with traditional teaching style.