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Shiva As Nataraja -
The Lord of Dance
"Because
You love the Burning -ground, I have made a Burning-ground of my heart -
That You, Dark One, hunter of the Burning-ground, May dance Your eternal
dance."
~ Bengali Hymn~
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The significance of the
Nataraja (Nataraj)
sculpture is said to be that
Shiva is shown as the source of all
movement within the cosmos, represented by the arch of flames. The
purpose of the dance is to release men from illusion of the idea of
the "self" and of the physical world. The cosmic dance was performed
in Chidambaram in South India, called the center of the universe by
some Hindus. The gestures of the dance represent
Shiva's five
activities, creation (symbolized by the drum), protection (by the
"fear not" hand gesture), destruction (by the fire), embodiment (by
the foot planted on the ground), and release (by the foot held
aloft).
As Nataraja (Sanskrit:
Lord of Dance)
Shiva represents apocalypse
and creation as he dances away the illusory world of Maya
transforming it into power and enlightenment.
Click here to see
all Lotus Sculpture's Statues of Lord Nataraja |
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The
symbolism of
Siva
Nataraja is religion, art and science merged as one.
In God's endless dance of creation, preservation, destruction and paired
graces is hidden a deep understanding of our universe. Aum Namah
Sivaya. Bhashya
Nataraja, the King of Dance, has four arms.
The upper right hand holds the drum from which creation issues forth.
The lower right hand is raised in blessing, betokening preservation.
The upper left hand holds a flame, which is destruction, the dissolution
of form. The right leg, representing obscuring grace, stands upon Apasmarapurusha, a soul temporarily earth-bound by its own sloth,
confusion and forgetfulness. The uplifted left leg is revealing
grace, which releases the mature soul from bondage. The lower left
hand gestures toward that holy foot in assurance that
Siva's grace is
the refuge for everyone, the way to liberation. The circle of fire
represents the cosmos and especially consciousness. The
all-devouring form looming above is Mahakala, "Great Time." The
cobra around
Nataraja's waist is kundalini shakti, the soul-impelling
cosmic power resident within all.
Nataraja's dance is not just a
symbol. It is taking place within each of us, at the atomic level,
this very moment. The Agamas proclaim, "The birth of the world,
its maintenance, its destruction, the soul's obscuration and liberation
are the five acts of His dance." Aum Namah Sivaya.
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The Symbolism of the Nataraja
Pose
"O my
Lord, Thy hand holding the sacred drum has made and ordered the heavens and
earth and other worlds and innumerable souls. Thy lifted hand protects
both the conscious and unconscious order of thy creation. All these
worlds are transformed by Thy hand bearing fire. Thy sacred foot,
planted on the ground, gives an abode to the tired soul struggling in the
toils of causality. It is
Thy lifted foot that grants eternal bliss to
those that approach Thee. These
Five-Actions are indeed Thy Handiwork.."
~ Chidambara
Mummani Kovai~
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The
Nataraja dances within the universe of illusion. The locks of his hair
stand out in many strands as he whirls around in his dancing frenzy. His
locks are decked with a crescent moon, a skull, and are interspersed
with the sacred river Ganges.
Shiva's
unkempt hair, a symbol of a rejection of society, shows him to be an
ascetic. This contrasts with his role as a grhastha, or
householder, with his wife and family.
Click here to see
all Lotus Sculpture's Statues of Lord Nataraja
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The fiery ring
surrounding Shiva,
prahabhamandala, represents the universe with all its illusion,
suffering and pain. The outer edge is fire the inner edge the waters
of the oceans. Many
Nataraja statues have multiple levels of fire
and water. |
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The goddess of
the Ganges is here shown nesting in
Shiva's dreadlocks. The river
Ganges that flows in
Nataraja's hair originally flowed in heaven. When the
heavenly Ganges was needed on earth, she was unwilling to fall to earth
because she realized that her fall from heaven would be too much for the
earth to withstand.
Shiva as
Nataraja agreed to break the violent power of
the sacred Ganga's fall by catching her in his tangled hair, breaking the
fall with his hair on its way to the Himalayas and Northern India. |
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The crescent moon in
his matted hair keeps Kama, the god of nightly love, alive. Through
the waxing and the waning of the moon
Shiva creates different
seasons and rejuvenates life.
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Nataraja wears a snake coiled around his upper arms and neck
symbolizing the power he has over the most deadly of creatures.
Snakes are also used to symbolize the Hindu dogma of
reincarnation. Their natural process of molting or shedding their
skin is symbolic of the human souls transmigration of bodies from
one life to another.
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In the back right hand Shiva often holds an hour glass shaped drum
or damaru. The drum represents the rhythmic sound to which
Nataraja dances and ceaselessly recreates the universe.
The front right hand is in the abhaya-mudra (the "fear not"
gesture, made by holding the palm outward with fingers pointing
up).
Click here to see
all Lotus Sculpture's Statues of Lord Nataraja
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The
back left hand carries agni (fire) in a vessel or in his hand. The
flames represent the destructive energy with which
Nataraja dances
at the end of each cosmic age, cleansing sins and removing
illusion.
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His
uplifted left foot, grants eternal bliss to those who approach
him. The other foot treads firmly upon the dwarf of ignorance,
allowing the birth of knowledge.
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