" Shiva-linga then is thus at once, the self-stirred phallus of the Tapasvin, the reverse flow of his semen, the burning of Tapa, the endless pillar of fire and the form of the formless divine. This is the Stanu, the still pillar of consciousness, the fountainhead of imagination, around which nature dances. "

― Devdutt Pattanaik , 7 Secrets Of Shiva