The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2290 page)

he is at times the equal of Vi
u, perhaps even the creator of Vi
u and Brahm
, worshipped by other gods. He became associated with generation and destruction, especially in conjunction with
akti
, and is therefore worshipped through the power of the
li
ga
. The Mah
deva image in the
Elephanta
caves already depicts
iva in the threefold guise of creator, destroyer, and preserver: in this and other such images, the two faces on either side represent (apparent) opposites—male and female (
ardhan
r
); terrifying destroyer (
bhairava
) and active giver of repose; mah
yogi and
g
hasta
—while the third, serene and peaceful, reconciles the two, the Supreme as the One who transcends all contradictions. The three horizontal marks which