'Shiva' means 'auspicious' and everything about Lord Shiva is auspicious. A great personality, he is delineated in the Vedas, Agamas and the Puranas. He is all powerful, an embodiment of austerity, penance and renunciation. During the churning of the mighty ocean, he is said to have consumed the deadliest of poisons, 'haalaahala', in order to save the world. When Shiva tried to kill Andhakasura who was his own creation, the demon turned into the Lord's devotee as the touch of the Lord's tr...