Shiva Nataraj

Dance of Shiva (Shiva Nataraj)

The extended right hand holds the drum, the beat of which is sound leading to the beat of time, time being the first principle of creation, the extended left hand holds a flame which is the flame of destruction of the created world; the second right hand is held in a gesture of "fear not," while the second left, pointing to the lifted left foot, is held in a position symbolizing "elephant" (the elephant is the "breaker of the way through the jungle of the world" - remover of obstacles that is the divine guide); the right foot is planted on the back of a dwarf, the demon "Not Knowing" or ignorance which signifies the passage of souls from God into matter, but the left leg is lifted, showing the release of the soul: the left foot to which the elephant hand is pointing and supplies the reason for the assurance "fear not."

Shiva’s head is balanced, serene and still, in the midst of the dynamism of creation and destruction which is symbolized by the rocking arms and rhythm of the slowly stamping right heel. This means that at the centre all is stillness. Shiva’s right earing is a man’s and his left a woman’s; for the God includes and is beyond the pairs of opposites. Shiva’s facial expression is neither sorrowful nor joyous, but is the visage of the Unmoved Mover, beyond, yet present within, the world’s bliss and pain. The wildly streaming locks represent the long-untended hair of an Indian Yogi, now flying in the dance of life, for the presence known in the joys and sorrows of life, and that found through withdrawn meditation are but two aspects of the same, universal, non-dual, Being-Consciousness-Bliss. (Satchitananda)

Shiva’s bracelets, arm bands, ankle rings, and Brahminical threads (symbolize the threshold or sun door so the twice born is dwelling at once in time and eternity) are living serpents. This means that he is made beautiful by the Kundalini (Serpent Power)- the mysterious Creative Energy of God, which is the material and formal cause of his own self-manifestation in , and as, the universe with all its beings. In Shiva’s hair may be seen a skull, symbolic of death, the forehead-ornament of the Lord of Destruction, as well as the crescent moon, symbolic of birth and increase, which are his other boons to the world. Also , there is in his hair the flower of datura, from which plant an intoxicant is prepared. A little image of the goddess Ganges is hidden in his locks; for it is he who receives on his head the impact of the descent of the divine Ganges from heaven, letting the life and salvation bestowing waters flow gently to the earth for the physical and spiritual refreshment of mankind.

The dance posture may be visualized as the symbolic AUM which is the verbal equivalent of the four states of consciousness and their fields of experience. A: waking consciousness; U: dream consciousness; M: dreamless sleep; the silence around the sacred syllable is the Unmanifest Transcendent.    

                                                      From Hero with A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell