  |
|
|
|
Shiva Nataraja - Myth, Meaning, and Symbolism
Nataraja is the Cosmic Dancer. Siva Nataraja, the lord of the dance, consolidates into a single image many meanings of the Hindu tradition. The symbolism shown in an image of Nataraja uses many subtleties to help tie the tradition together, making it one of the most popular of all Hindu representations. Hindus use it to explain their existence and their future. This is perhaps Hinduism's richest and most elegant symbol. God is the cosmic dancer. Siva is the primal soul, Parameshvara, as power, energy, and life of all that exists. This is Siva's intricate state of Being in Manifestation. Nataraja is the dance of the entire cosmos. It is the rhythmic movements in all. All that is, sentient and insentient, pulsates in his body. Shiva is the third aspect of the Hindu Trinity, representing Godhead in its aspect of annihilator. He is incharge of 'constructive destruction' in the continuous process of creation, preservation, destruction and recreation. He is the God of austerity and the embodiment and dispenser of supreme knowledge. His third eye is the eye of wisdom as well as the instrument of annihilation. The deer skin, holy ash, the matted hair - all these symbols signify supreme renunciation. Natana means 'role playing' - that is the Cosmic role played by Him, for the manifestation and maintenance of the entire universe, and it is called Tandava Nrityam. [Tandava = Cosmic; Nrityam = dance] . Natana actually means 'to be doing something' that is not being static, but being dynamic. This dynamism is the manifestation of the entire universe. This is one among the twenty five types of iconographic representations of Lord Shiva. The dance personification is for eternal dynamism. Nataraja, the King of Dance, has four arms. The upper right hand holds the drum from which creation issues forth. As Nataraja he holds the entire domain of the universe, representing Nada (sound), signifying the evolution of the universe. From sound came all language, all music, all knowledge. The upper left hand holds a flame, which is destruction, the dissolution of form. Creation and destruction are aspects of His own being. The lower right hand is raised in blessing, betokening preservation. The lower left hand gestures toward that holy foot in assurance that Siva's grace is the refuge for everyone, the way to liberation. It lies across the body, directing the gaze to the foot. This is 'Gaja Hastha' or elephant hand or trunk. The trunk is discriminating.
The copyright of the article Shiva - Nataraja . in Hinduism is owned by Kalyani Subramanyan. Permission to republish Shiva - Nataraja . in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
|
|
|
|
