Siva upasana stotras for five forms of Shiva

 

I took the slokas from a very popular book named "Thaithreeya Manthrakosham", the name resonating with one of the famous upanishads "Thaithreeya Upanishad".

Five basic acts are identified that are done by the Supreme one. Within the parenthesis is the term in Tamil

• Creation (padathaiththal) - In sanskrit, this is Shristi
  
• Sustenance (kaaththal) - In sanskrit, this is Sthithi
  
• Destruction (azhiththal) - In sanskrit, this is samhaaram
  
• Concealment (maraiththal) - In sanskrit, this is thirodhanam - This is the act of maaya, due to which we tend to believe what we gather through our senses as real and permanent.
  
• Revealment (aruLal) - In sanskrit, this is anugraham - This is the realisation and the removal of the maaya. Interesting to note that both the act of delusion and realisation is seen as the act of god. We can see in the later posts that the form of Nataraja is also a representation of the five acts, as is with Sadhashiva murthy.

Concentrating once again on the Sadhaashiva murthy,

• Act of creation is represented by Thathpurusham (Facing East). By puranas, the creation act is done by Brahma. Its apt to say that Brahma is the east face of Sadaashiva murthy
  
• Act of sustenance is represented by vaamadhevam (Facing North). The act of sustenance is done by Vishnu. Vishnu is the north face of Sadhaashiva
  
• Act of destruction is represented by aghoram (Facing South). Rudra is responsible for the destruction. He being the south face of Sadhaashiva
  
• Act of concealment is represented by Sathyojaatham (Facing West). Maheshwara is responsible for concealing. He being the west face of Sadhaashiva
  
• Act of reveal is represented by eesaanam (In the top). Sadhaashiva liberates the soul from maaya
  

Though the identity of the supreme one is said differently in each of the sub-religions in sanatana dharma, the five acts/deeds are common to all the sub-religions. When i say sub-religions of sanathana dharma, they are gaaNapathyam, kaumaaram, saivam, vaishnaivam, saaktham and souram.

To quote Lalitha sahasranama here which praises goddess lalitha as "Pancha-krithya parayana", "pancha-brahma swaroopini", "pancha-brahma manchadhi saayini". All these refer to the five deeds that are mentioned above

Lets medidate on the Sadhaashiva murthy and let him bestow his blessings on us.

Now for your viewing pleasure, i am producing the image of Maha-sadhaashiva murthy.