Jagadisha(n), Jagadishwara

This name literally means the Lord of all the worlds and it is a name of Lord Shiva and also of Lord Vishnu. The word jagat means the universe and all that moves and has life. This name is actually a description of the great God who is really beyond description - the infinite One who is beyond birth, beyond youth, death and old age.

He is the source of all, including the illusion (maya) that binds and entangles souls to the world of form and thought. Actions, intentions and feelings of all beings are absorbed in maya. This maya even hides the real nature of God from humankind. However, through this maya shakti, the power of illusion, that co-exists alongside Jagadishwara, we can penetrate and destroy the illusion.

In this way we can evolve to a state of atma vidya (self-knowledge) and mukti (liberation). Pure knowledge, pure joy and pure love constitute the true form of the soul. We can discover all this through meditation on Jagadishwara, the great Lord, source and father of the universe.