At the Paris Congress on the History of Religions, Swami Vivekananda was > an invited speaker. At this congress Vivekananda said that the worship > of Shiva Linga originated from the famous hymn in the Atharva Veda > Samhita sung in the praise of the 'Yupa Stambha', the sacrificial post. > In that hymn a description is found of the 'beginingless and endless' > stambha or 'skambha' and it is shown that the said skambha is put in > place of the eternal Brahman. Afterwards the Yajna (the sacred fire) and > its flames gave place to the conception to the brightness of Shiva's > body. Yajna's smoke was symbolized as Shiva's dark matted hair, the Soma > plant used in the Yajna was symbolized as Shiva's blue throat, the ashes > of the Yajna became the ashes applied to Shiva's body and the ox that > used to carry on its back the wood for the Yajna, was conceptualized as > the carrier or Vaahana of Shiva. Just so, the Yupa Skambha, in time was > symbolized as the Shiva Linga and was deified to the high Devahood of > Shri Shankara. In Atharva Veda Samhita, even the sacrificial cakes > are also extolled along with the attributes of the Brahman
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