Siva as a Varada Deity

Abstract

The most common way Siva intervenes in the Sanskrit Mahabharata is by granting a character a ‘gift’ or ‘boon’ (designated by the Sanskrit term vara). This paper investigates the role of Siva in the Mahabharata by ascertaining the specific elements at play in boon transactions involving Siva. I analyse Siva’s boons in main plot passages, and in passages of secondary importance to the main plot, and compare these with other boon transactions, human and divine, including stories pertaining to asuras (demons). The paper proposes that human concerns and intentionality are core narrative building blocks in Siva’s role in the text. I discuss these propositions and their implications for ideas of human action and fate, concluding that Siva is best understood as a facilitator of a character’s will, and so of a character’s own fate. In evaluating Siva’s narrative function, this paper identifies elements commonly neglected by approaches focused on mythology and those centred on text history.