'Siva and Avalokitezvara

[Narayan S. Raja]

Dear Dr. Ganesan,

What I questioned was the description of
Avalokitesvara as "the Hindu 'Siva in a Buddhist garb".
Possibly you just said it casually and din't
expect to debate it seriously.  If so,
we can just leave it at that.

Sugar is whitish, crystalline, is produced by
boiling a liquid, is prized by humans, and is
added to tea in small quantities.  Salt is also
whitish, crystalline, is produced by evaporating
a liquid, is prized by humans, and -- in Tibet --
is added to tea in small quantities.  Yet,
one would be seriously mistaken to say
"salt is sugar in a Tibetan garb".


The basic "flavours" of Siva and Avalokitesvara
are totally different.  I already pointed out
some such differences in my previous posting.

If I were to characterize these two deities
in terms of their main rasas (moods), I would
come up with:

     Siva:   raudra (furious), vira (heroic),
             bhayanaka (frightening), adbhuta (marvellous),
             sringara (erotic), hasya (funny),
             shanta (peaceful)

     Avalokitesvara:  karuna (compassionate),
                      adbhuta (marvellous), shanta (peaceful)

These are my own reactions (not based on any
authority or citation).  But I believe most
people would agree with the above characterization.

The difference is dramatic and obvious.

Best regards,


Raja.