Lord Shiva the god or destruction and regeneration. He is also known as Triambake, which in Sanskrit means “Third Eye”. His right eye is supposed to symbolise the sun, his left eye the moon. Let’s find out more The Jai Jais way. This attribute of Shiva’s is definitely fascinating.
Once, Lord Shiva was sitting was meditating. Goddess Parvati, playfully covered both his eyes with her hands. Immediately, the entire universe was plunged into darkness. Chaos prevailed everywhere. Even the Gods of heaven were afraid. With his divine power, Shiva created a third eye in the centre of his forehead. Fire emerged from his third eye and he restored light in the universe. The heat emitted by the fire of the third eye caused Parvati's hands, that covered Shiva's left and right eyes, to perspire. The perspiration filled with the power of Shiva and Sakti (Parvati) transformed into a child which was called Andhaka.
Shiva’s third eye is located on his forehead and most of the times remain closed. However when Shiva opens his third eye, it destroys everything that it sees. In Shiva Purana, there is a story where Shiva burns Kama Dev (God of love) to ash by opening his third eye. This happens when Kama Dev shoots an arrow of desire on Shiva, to win his affection to Parvati.
This third eye of Shiva is also famous for emitting flames that destroy evil. It is believed that Shiva has only opened the third eye in extreme cases, when there no more space for forgiveness was left and no question of granting another chance existed. It was his third eye, which gave him the name of the destroyer; when the eye opened it destroyed the person who befell for the vision. This also happened during the birth of Jalandar, that’s a story fir another day.
However, the third eye has always embarked a sense of rage and fierceness, destroying everything that came in its vision. Third eye of Lord Shiva represents the anger and symbol of righteousness too. It indicates the results of overwhelming emotions and vengeance. Lord Shiva having three eyes means he is holding spirit, energy & matter within himself. Thus, three eyes represent Lord Shiva as the ultimate reality.
Shiva’s third eye signifies the destruction of the world of Maya (illusion). It is an eye of wisdom, which provides us the faculty to distinguish what is right and what is wrong. Ref: Temple Purohit
