Anadi Linga

Anadi Linga in Shaivism is the primal cause. It is unaffected by change, eternal, limitless and not bound by time. The letter ‘ga’ represents creation, the letter ‘n’ stands for sustenance and the letter ‘la’ represents the dissolving quality of Shiva. It is represented in seed form as bindu rupa (dot form) and at higher level of consciousness, it represents Parabrahman. It is also symbolically represented by eight petals of lotus, each of which stands for the following –

1. Ahimsa (nonviolence)
2. Brahmacharya (celibacy)
3. Sarvabhuta daya (compassion for al living beings)
4. Kshama (forgiveness)
5. Dhyana (meditation)
6. Tapa (penance)
7. Jnana (wisdom)
8. Satya (truth)

Anadi linga gets manifested in various forms such as bhava linga, ashta linga and prana linga which further get manifested in various other forms of linga. Each sense is represented by a form of linga.