e series of changes culminates in a
crisis and an individual breaks up, we see death and destruction, but
in reality they occur throughout the process of growth. The egg is
destroyed when the chicken is hatched: the embryo ceases to exist when
the child is born; when the man comes into being, the child is no
more. And for change, improvement and progress death is as necessary
as birth. A world of immortals would be a static world.

When once the figure of Siva has taken definite shape, attributes and
epithets are lavished on it in profusion. He is the great ascetic, for
asceticism in India means power, and Siva is the personification of
the powers of nature. He may alternate strangely between austerities
and wild debauch, but the sentimentality of some Krishnaite sects is
alien to him. He is a magician, the lord of troops of spirits, and
thus draws into his circle all the old animistic worship. But he is
also identified with Time (Mahakala) and Death (Mrityu) and as
presiding over procreation he is Ardhanaresvara, half man, half woman.
Stories are invented or adapted to account for his various attributes,
and he is provided with a divine family. He dwells on Mount Kailasa:
he has three eyes: above the central one is the crescent of the moon
and the stream of the Ganges descends from his braided hair: his
throat is blue and encircled by a serpent and a necklace of skulls. In
his hands he carries a three-pronged trident and a drum. But the
effigy or description varies, for Siva is adored under many forms. He
is Mahadeva, the Great God, Hara the Seizer, Bhairava the terrible
one, Pasupati, the Lord of cattle, that is of human souls who are
compared to beasts. Local gods and heroes are identified with him.
Thus Gor Baba,[352] said to be a deified ghost of the aboriginal
races, reappears as Goresvara and is counted a form of Siva, as is
also Khandoba or Khande Rao, a deity connected with dogs. Ganesa, "the
Lord of Hosts," the God who removes obstacles and is represented with
an elephant's head and accompanied by a rat, is recognized as Siva's
son. Another son is Skanda or Kartikeya, the God of War, a great deity
in Ceylon and southern India. But more important both for the
absorption of aboriginal cults and for its influence on speculation
and morality is the part played by Siva's wife or female counterpart.

The worship of goddesses, though found in many sects, is specially
connected with Sivaism. A figure analogous to the