OBJECTIVE TWO:         To provide an introduction to some basic ideas, terms, 
                                           concepts and images of India

OBJECTIVE THREE:     To enable the beginning student to experience the "flavor"
                                           or "taste" (rasa) of Indic spirituality

MODULE 5:    SHIVA AND VISHNU

THE COSMIC DANCE OF SHIVA

INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS:

Although there are numerous gods and goddesses in Indic religion, there are three principal cultic complexes  in Hindu spirituality that derive from classical times:

(1) the Vaishnava traditions (devotees of the god,Vishnu, and his various earthly manifestations or avatara-forms, including the popular cults related to Krishna and Rama),
(2) the Shaiva traditions (devotees of Shiva), and
(3) the Shakta traditions (devotees of one or another form of the Great Goddess).

All three cultic traditions have roots in ancient Indic spirituality (going back possibly to Vedic or even Indus Valley times), although the forms in which we now know them can be traced only to the first centuries of the Common Era and thereafter.

Also, in the later centuries of the Common Era (the fifth or sixth century and after), the many gods of the Indic tradition come to be encompassed under "three basic forms" (called the Trimurti) of the Ultimate or Absolute, namely, Brahma, the creator, Vishnu, the Preserver, and Shiva, the destroyer.  There is also, of course, the tradition of the Great Goddess [and see below under Module X, "The Power of the Great Goddess"].  Oddly enough, no cultic traditions of major importance appear to have grown up around the creator god, Brahma, possibly because the tradition of Brahma and the world egg (and see below Module VII, "The Cosmic Sleep of Lord Vishnu and Brahma’s World Egg") has been assimilated primarily to the Vaishnava traditions, or possibly because Brahma was assimilated, finally, to the abstract  Brahman.

The Ultimate or the Absolute (often referred to as Brahman) in and of itself is "without attributes" (nirguna), but the Ultimate or Absolute comes to show itself or manifest itself through a kind of cosmic "play" (or lila) in various "faces" or "forms" or "attributes" (saguna).  Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, therefore, are separate "forms" or "attributes", but they are also simply limiting manifestations of the one Ultimate or Absolute.  The various forms or attributes of the Ultimate are fluid and changing, and sometimes the attributes of Vishnu are ascribed to Shiva or the attributes of Shiva come to be ascribed to Vishnu.  Devotees of Vishnu (Vaishnavas) naturally tend to see the supreme attributes of the Ultimate as deriving from Lord Vishnu, and devotees of Shiva (Shaivas) naturally tend to see the supreme attributes of the Ultimate as deriving from Lord Shiva.  The divine feminine is usually dealt with either in terms of (a) the various divine consorts (Lakshmi for Vishnu, Parvati for Shiva, and so forth), or (b) the divine feminine as the inherent "power" or "force" (shakti) within the male deity. It is generally recognized by all, however, that the various forms and attributes of the Ultimate are fleeting and limited and that, finally, there is only the Ultimate or Absolute that transcends all forms and attributes (nirguna), including those of gender.

This module of the core course focusses on the image and iconography of Lord Shiva in his form as "Lord of the Dance" or Nataraj.  In the next Module we will look at Lord Vishnu’s cosmic sleep and Brahma’s world egg, and then in Module X we will look at "The Power of the Great Goddess."

There are, of course, many stories about Shivaís dancing, three of which are especially popular:
  (1)  Shiva's quiet evening dance in which he brings to a close the
   busy activities of the day--it is a dance performed in the
   foothills of the Himalayas in the presence of all the gods and
   goddesses--from a poem entitled "Shiva Pradosha Stotra"

  (2)  Shiva's "frantic" (Tandava) dance at midnight in the burning
  ground (the cremation grounds) or, according to another
   tradition, in a sacred grove, in which he dances orgiastically
   and/or competitively with his feminine consort (and see further
   under Module X, "The Power of the Great Goddess")

  (3)  Shiva's dance as "Nataraj" or "Lord of the Dance" in the golden
   hall of Chidambaram

NARRATIVE/THEMATIC EXPOSTIONS: SHIVA AS NATARAJ

In the forest of Taragam in the south of India a group of heretical Rishis (sorcerers) through their negative magical power are stealing the forces of creation (sun, moon, water, and so forth).  The gods must stop this negative process of destruction, but Brahma and Vishnu realize that they are not sufficiently strong to do the job.  Shiva, however, is willing to take on these demonic forces and proceeds to the forest to confute them.  The sorcerers are gathered around a fire and uttering magical incantations when Shiva arrives.  When they see Lord Shiva approaching, they first conjure out of the sacred fire a terrible tiger who attacks Shiva.  Shiva, however, strips the skin of the tiger with his fingernail, wraps himself in the tiger skin and continues to approach the sorcerers.  They, next, conjure from the fire a serpent (snake) who proceeds to attack Shiva, but, again, Shiva simply grasps the serpent, whirls it around his head, places it on himself as a kind of necklace or ornament and continues to approach the sorcerers.  Finally, the sorcerers conjure a small, polluted dwarf, covered with sores and filth who begins to move towards Shiva.  The sorcerers think that such pollution will surely force the pure Lord to withdraw.  Instead, Shiva picks up the dwarf, throws it on to the ground, steps on the back of the dwarf and begins to perform his Dance of Creation (or perhaps better, his Dance of Recreation), that is, reestablishing the world order after vanquishing the demonic forces of destruction.

ICONOGRAPHY OF SHIVA NATARAJ

(1)  In his hair (piled on top of his head but also fanning out on either side as he dances) are the cobra (symbolizing earthly or chthonic forces), a skull (signifying Shiva as lord of finitude), the mermaid Ganga (the sacred female and life-giving waters of creation located in Shivaís hair) and the crescent moon (the receptacle of the sacred nectar)
(2)  Shiva wears two earrings--his right ear holds a Linga or male earring and his left ear holds a Yoni or female earring--the image, in other words, is androgyne, encompassing both male and female
(3)  Shiva has four arms--the upper right hand holds the time-marking drum of the classical dancer (signifying the beginning of creation), the upper left hand holds a piece of fire (signifying finitude and death, that all things created have only a finite life-span), his lower right hand makes the sacred gesture (mudra) known as "have no fear" (abhaya-mudra) (signifying that what he creates he will sustain through its normal course of development), and his lower left hand points to his raised or poised foot but also to the broken back of the little dwarf, whose name of Apasmara or "Forgetfulness"
(4)  Shiva's two feet--his right foot breaks the back of Apasmara (Forgetfulness)--his left foot is raised or poised in the air in the posture of the classical dancer
(5)  Shivaís body has the girdle and jewelry of the classical dancer
(6)  Rising out of Apasmara is the "circle of fire" (the Prabha Mandala), that is, the actual circle of creation or, in other words, this phenomenal, empirical world in which we find ourselves
(7)  Finally, the entire image sits on a lotus pedestal--lotus as a symbol of purity growing out of the dark waters of the unknown
(8)  The face of Shiva has a countenance of tranquility and utter detachment even though he is vigorously dancing

INTERPRETATION

Shiva, according to tradition, performs five basic activities with his dance, namely,

(1)  Creation (Shrishti)--the hand holding the drum
(2)  Preservation (Sthiti)--the hand making the mudra of "have no fear!"
(3)  Destruction (Samhara)--the hand holding the piece of fire
(4)  Veiling (Tirobhava)--the foot on the back of Forgetfulness and the "circle of fire"
(5)  Gracing (Anugraha)--the raised or poised foot and the detached face

The Mandala or Circle symbolizes the sacred syllable "OM" used in Yogic
auditory meditation--the image can become a focus for auditory meditation: mantra-s

Shiva performs his Dance in the forest of Taragam, but more than that, he performs his Dance in the center of the world, in Chidambaram, and he performs his dance every year (a creation dance as a New Year's performance).

Shiva, of course, finally, is each one of us.  Shiva also performs his Dance in our hearts. We all are Lord Shiva if we would but recognize our true nature.

Says the poem:  [cited in Coomaraswamy, The Dance of Shiva, p. 72]

   The dancing foot, the sound of the tinkling bells,
   The songs that are song and the varying steps,
   The form assumed by our dancing Gurupara,
   Find out these within yourself, then shall your fetters fall away.
 

Polarities in the Interpretation of the Dance:

   Eros and Thanatos (2 upper hands)
   Order and Chaos (circle of fire arising from dwarf)
   Movement and Rest (active dance/tranquil face)
   Male and Female (male earring/female earring)
   Sound and Silence (circle of fire, syllable "OM")
   Bondage and Release (circle of fire/raised foot)
   Macrocosm and Microcosm (cosmic center/heart)

Back to top