The Dictionary meanings of "Shiva" are as follows:(Monier-Williams): Meaning mf(%{A4})n. (according to Un2. i , 153 , fr. 1. %{zI} , `" in whom all things lie "' ; perhaps connected with %{zvi} cf. %{zavas} , %{zizvi}) auspicious , propitious , gracious , favourable , benign , kind , benevolent , friendly , dear (%{a4m} ind. kindly , tenderly) RV. &c. &c. ; happy , fortunate BhP. ; m. happiness , welfare (cf. n.) R. v , 56 , 36 ; liberation , final emancipation L. ; `" The Auspicious one "'N. of the disintegrating or destroying and reproducing deity (who constitutes the third god of the Hindu1 Trimu1rti or Triad , the other two being Brahma1 `" the creator "' and Vishn2u `" the preserver "' ; in the Veda the only N. of the destroying deity wss Rudra `" the terrible god "' , but in later times it became usual to give that god the euphemistic N. S3iva `" the auspicious "' [just as the Furies were called $ `" the gracious ones "'] , and to assign him the office of creation and reproduction as well as dissolution ; in fact the preferential worship of S3iva as developed in the Pura1n2as and Epic poems led to his being identified with the Supreme Being by his exclusive worshippers [called S3aivas] ; in his character of destroyer he is sometimes called Ka1la `" black "' , and is then also identified with Time "' , although his active destroying function is then oftener assigned to his wife under her name Ka1li1 , whose formidable character makes her a general object of propitiation by sacrifices ; as presiding over reproduction consequent on destruction S3iva's symbol is the Lin3ga [q.v.] or Phallus , under which form he is worshipped all over India at the present day ; again one of his representations is as Ardha-na1ri1 , `" half-female "' , the other half being male to symbolize the unity of the generative principle [RTL. 85] ; he has three eyes , one of which is in his forehead , and which are thought to denote his view of the three divisions of time , past , present , and future , while a moon's crescent , above the central eye , marks the measure of time by months , a serpent round his neck the measure by years , and a second necklace of skulls with other serpents about his person , the perpetual revolution of ages , and the successive extinction and generation of the races of mankind: his hair is thickly matted together , and gathered above his forehead into a coil ; on the top of it he bears the Ganges , the rush of which in its descent from heaven he intercepted by his head that the earth might not be crushed by the weight of the falling stream ; his throat is dark-blue from the stain of the deadly poison which would have destroyed the world had it not been swallowed by him on its production at the churning of the ocean by the gods for the nectar of immortality ; he holds a %{tri-zUla} , or three-pronged trident [also called Pina1ka] in his hand to denote , as some think , his combination of the three attributes of Creator , Destroyer , and Regenerator ; he also carries a kind of drum , shaped like an hour-glass , called D2amaru: his attendants or servants are called Pramatha [qq.vv.] ; they are regarded as demons or supernatural beings of different kinds , and form various hosts or troops called Gan2as ; his wife Durga1 [otherwise called Ka1li1 , Pa1rvati1 , Uma1 , Gauri1 , Bhava1n2i1 &c.] is the chief object of worship with the S3a1ktas and Ta1ntrikas , and in this connection he is fond of dancing [see %{tANDava}] and wine-drinking [1074,2] ; he is also worshipped as a great ascetic and is said to have scorched the god of love (Ka1ma-deva) to ashes by a glance from his central eye , that deity having attempted to inflame him with passion for Pa1rvati1 whilst he was engaged in severe penance ; in the exercise of his function of Universal Destroyer he is fabled to have burnt up the Universe and all the gods , including Brahma1 and Vishn2u , by a similar scorching glance , and to have rubbed the resulting ashes upon his body , whence the use of ashes in his worship , while the use of the Rudra7ksha berries originated , it is said , from the legend that S3iva , on his way to destroy the three cities , called Tri-pura , let fall some of rage which became converted into these beads: his residence or heaven is Kaila1sa , one of the loftiest northern peaks of the Hima7laya ; he has strictly no incarnations like those of Vishn2u , though Vi1ra-bhadra and the eight Bhairavas and Khan2d2o-ba1 &c. [RTL. 266] are sometimes regarded as forms of him ; he is especially worshipped at Benares and has even more names than Vishn2u , one thousand and eight being specified in the 69th chapter of the S3iva-Pura1n2a and in the 17th chapter of the Anus3a1sana-parvan of the Maha-bha1rata , some of the most common being Maha1-deva , S3ambhu , S3am2kara , I1s3a , I1s3vara , Mahe7s3vara , Hara ; his sons are Gan2e7s3a and Ka1rttikeya) A1s3vS3r. MBh. Ka1v. &c. RTL. 73 ; a kind of second Siva (with S3aivas) , a person who has attained a partic. stage of perfection or emancipation MBh. Sarvad. ; %{ziva-liGga} L. ; any god L. ; a euphemistic N. of a jackal (generally %{zivA} f. q.v.) ; sacred writings L. ; (in astron.) N. of the sixth month ; a post for cows (to which they are tied or for them to rub against) L. ; bdellium L. ; the fragrant bark of Feronia Elephantum L. ; Marsilia Dentata L. ; a kind of thorn-apple or %{puNDarIka} (the tree) L. ; quicksilver L. (cf. %{ziva-bIja}) ; a partic. auspicious constellation L. ; a demon who inflicts diseases Hariv. ; %{zukra} m. %{kAla} m. %{vasu} m. L. ; the swift antelope L. ; rum , spirit distilled from molasses L. ; buttermilk L. ; a ruby L. ; a peg L. ; time L. ; N. of a son of Medha7tithi Ma1rkP. ; of a son of Idhma-jihva BhP. ; of a prince and various authors (also with %{dIkSita} , %{bhaTTa} , %{paNDita} , %{yajvan} , %{sUri} &c.) Cat. ; of a fraudulent person Katha1s. ; (du.) the god S3iva and his wife Kir. v , 40 Pracan2d2. i , 20 (cf. Va1m. v , 2 , 1) ; pl. N. of a class of gods in the third Manvantara Pur. ; of a class of Bra1hmans who have attained a partic. degree of perfection like that of S3iva MBh. ; (%{A}) f. S3iva's wife (also %{zivI}) see %{zivA} below ; (%{am}) n. welfare , prosperity , bliss (%{Aya} , %{e4na} or %{e4bhis} , `" auspiciously , fortunately , happily , luckily "' ; %{zivAya@gamyatAm} , `" a prosperous journey to you! "') RV. &c. &c. ; final emancipation L. ; water L. ; rock-salt L. ; sea-salt L. ; a kind of borax L. ; iron L. ; myrobolan L. ; Tabernaemontana Coronaria L. ; sandal L. ; N. of a Pura1n2a (%{ziva-purANa} or %{zaiva}) Cat. ; of the house in which the Pa1n2d2avas were to be burnt Ma1rkP. ; of a Varsha in Plaksha-dvi1pa and in Jambu-dvi1pa Pur.

Q@I am not able to understand your second question about "transcribing it in picture words into English". Do you mean how to write the word in sanskrit script?@Q

This is a follow-up question to the previous one about Shiva. The Supreme God is only ONE, called Brahman; the human mind, being limited, gives IT different names and forms(Siva, Vishnu, etc.), to facilitate worship, meditation, contemplation, etc.

Yahweh, Allah come closest to the concept of Brahman. Jesus would be compared to the Avatar, the Suprme Spirit(Brahman) taking a human form to teach humanity the potential to be divine.

The archaeological evidence presently goes back to about 7000B.C (Harappa-Mohenjodaro) for the worship of Siva. It seems logical that the development of this worship must have existed many millenia or centuries before that.

It would seem that the boundaries of the land where the language(s) arose were not as restrictive as the present political ones! However, the present Indian sub-continent seems to have spent the maximum effort in preserving those traditions and use of the language, namely Sanskrit.

The prehistoric Siva is a column of light, illuminating the universe, stretching to infinity and existing eternally, and seen in mystic contemplation/meditation. The concrete form of worship is as rounded cylinder situated in the center of a cavity, representing the creative or generative energy of the former. In Sanskrit, Linga refers to 'representation', as well as gender. The esoteric symbolism is beyond the grasp of most unprepared human minds. So paganistic interpretations of 'fertility cult' etc. abound in non-mystical texts.

The humanisation of the abstract Siva perhaps began around 3000 B.C., and the epic and mythical literature from then until about 1000 A.D. consolidated the practice of Saivism.

I hope this information is useful to you. The internet now has a voluminous collection of documents related to any subject, and links could number in the thousands. Any search engine would give you a reasonable overview of articles. by Sunder Hattangadi Mon, 15 Nov 1999