Ardhanarishvara is the internal unison of the masculine and the feminine that we all have within us. When the masculine and the feminine is balanced, we are in an ecstatic state. A woman represents Prakriti, the ultimate feminine power who creates, whilst a man represents the Purusha, the ultimate masculine power who empowers the creation. They are interdependant and incomplete without each other. Shiva and Parvati are everything and nothing in their own wake - If Shiva is nothingness, the Shunya, Parvati is empowerment. She is the beginning.