Siva. Photo by form PxHere
DRISTI
ON THE HISTORY OF ASANA
Movement for Millenia BY JAMES BOAG
The Lord of Yoga, Siva is represented in many ways: as Yogisvara, he is usually sitting in a radiant example of a steady, easy classic yogasana such as siddhasana or padmasana. His spine is tall, spacious, erect. His aspect serene as he demonstrates his mastery over the tremendous powers of incarnation. He holds Ganga, the river of consciousness, so she can flow smoothly, gently, easily, to nourish the whole body of life. In this form, Siva Yogisvara can be seen to represent dynamism in stillness. Another way Siva is represented is as Namaraja, stillness in dynamism. Nataraja is the Lord of the Dance, the five act dance-drama of Creation: the expansion of consciousness, the sowing of life, srsti in Sanskrt; of sthithi, the sustenance of existence, holding the galaxies in their dance; of samahara, the drawing back in to its source of the universe; of tirodhana bhava, of the concealing or veiling of the real deeper nature of existence 28
NAMASKAR
and consciousness; and of anugraha, grace, or the revelation and remembering of who we really are. As Nataraja, Siva is shown as a slenderwaisted, androgynously beautiful and graceful dancer. He is four-armed. In one hand he holds the damaru, the twin-headed drum that symbolises the beat, the rhythm, the pulsation of life, the sound of the creation of existence: srsti. Another hand is in abhaya mudra, the gesture signifying ‘have no fear’ - sustenance/sthiti. The third hand wields fire. The circle of flames symbolises the ever-turning, ever-changing wheel of existence. This is the circle of life, in which he is constantly dancing. The fourth arm makes the shape of an elephant’s trunk. This symbolises the unifying power of yoga as incarnated by Siva’s elephant-headed son Ganesa. The fourth hand is pointing to the junction point of Nataraja’s lifted, bent knee. This reminds us it is through yoga, through
