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शिवः(shiva)







What does शिवः mean?



A popular Guruji gives a rather different meaning online(No! No! It's not the E =MC^2 Guruji)



This Guruji says शिव  means "that which is not" which to a great extent does not jive with the etymology of the word because it is माया    (mAyA ) that means "that which is not"





Let's get to the root of the word.



शिव can be broken down into शि and  व.



 शि at a root level means "to lie down"





 व at a root level can have a variety of meanings ranging from auspiciousness,power ,dwelling, strong.





Now we have the Unadi Sutras that says :



शोङ् स्वप्ने । अस्माद्वन् ह्रस्वत्वम् । शेते Sस्मिन् प्रप्ते सुखमिति शिवं क्षेमः ॥



again it talks about the root word शि  "to lie down and the subsequent explanation of happiness and well being that comes along with it.





So what is the   शि  "to lie down" all about?



It means "that in which everything lies and rests upon "



next..what about व ?which meaning is chosen?



That we have to refer to Shiva Rahasya where the व is taken to mean "Power ".





We do learn a lot by dissecting words.