Lord Nataraja - The Source of all Movement -
Introduction Nataraja (Sanskrit: नटराज, lit. ‘Nataraaj’, meaning “the lord of dance”), is a depiction of the Hindu god Shiva as the cosmic ecstatic dancer. His dance is called Tandavam or Nadanta, depending on the context of the dance. The pose and artwork is described in many Hindu texts such as the Anshumadbhed agama and Uttarakamika agama, the dance relief or idol featured in all major Hindu temples of Shaivism. The classical form of the depiction appears in stone reliefs, as at the Ellora Caves and the Badami Caves, by around the 6th-century. Around the 10th century, it emerged in Tamil Nadu in its mature and best-known expression in Chola bronzes, of various heights typically less than four feet, some over. The Nataraja reliefs have been identified in historic artwork from many parts of South Asia, in southeast Asia such as in Bali, Cambodia, and in central Asia. The sculpture is symbolic of Shiva as the lord of dance and dramatic arts, with its style and proportions made according to Hindu texts on arts. It typically shows Shiva dancing in one of the Natya Shastra poses, holding
Agni (fire) in his left back hand, the front hand in gajahasta or dandahasta mudra, the front right hand with a wrapped snake that is in abhaya (fear not) mudra while pointing to a Sutra text, and the back hand holding a musical instrument usually a damaru. His body, fingers, ankles, neck, face, head, ear lobes and dress are shown decorated with symbolic items, which vary with historic period and region. He is surrounded by a ring of flames, standing on a lotus pedestal, lifting his left leg (or in rare cases, the right leg) and balancing over a demon shown as a dwarf (Apasmara or Muyalaka) who symbolizes ignorance. The dynamism of the energetic dance is depicted with the whirling hair which spread out in thin strands as a fan behind his head. The details in the Nataraja artwork has been variously interpreted by Indian scholars since the 12th-century for its symbolic meaning and theological essence. Nataraja is a well known sculptural symbol in India and popularly used as a symbol of Indian culture, in particular as one of the finest illustrations of Hindu art.
Philosophy Nataraja is Shiva in the form of the Lord of the Dance. He represents the combined might of the dynamic universal energy and the awakened Soul. He is the source of all life, activity and vibration. His dance is the dance of creation. The circle of fire that surrounds Him is His primal energy that flows out of Him and again into Him. The being lying at His feet is the embodied or the deluded soul whom he shapes through a painful process of karma and suffering and liberates Him in the end from bondage. His dance is rhythmic, regular and perfect. It is the rhythm of divine perfection, which is hidden in the entire universe as an underlying current or subtle vibration. It manifests itself in many things, in the regularity of the seasons, the movement of the planets, the cyclical nature of creation, the physical, chemical and biological laws of our universe, the biorhythms of our bodies and the constitution of our cells, molecules and atoms. The duality or multiplicity of objects in the image is for the beholder but in truth it is one complete image of the supreme Shiva. Whatever that may appear to us as separate parts
of one image is but an illusion that arises because of our experience of duality. The energy or Shakti that manifests out of Him as a ring of fire is not separate from Him because it cannot hold itself or survive without Him. So is the apasmaramurthy under His feet. If you look carefully, the being is not separate from Shiva. It is connected with Him as well as with the rest of the creation. The idea that he is suffering being crushed by the feet of Shiva is an illusion of our minds, a projection of our thought and an idea that exists in our minds because when we look at the image of Nataraja we, as limited beings, identify ourselves with the apasmaramurthy lying at His feet, but not with Shiva, the dancer. The circle of His energy starts from there and also ends there. There in lies the mystery. The whole of the image is an assurance to us that creation is not a chaotic and accidental phenomena but a guided and rhythmic movement under the mastery and control of the eternal self and that we too can become masters of our own movements and action by liberating ourselves from the limitations of smallness (ego) and delusion (apasmara).
Symbolism
Nataraja means the “Lord of the Stage�. The idea is that the world is a stage, which presents the vision and activity of life, through the power of the omnipresent God. He represents the teacher or guru whose one of the most important function is, to enforce his teachings by example. The legend teaches that He subdues and wraps round Him, like a girdle, the feline fury of human passion. The guile and malice of mankind He transmutes into His necklace. One of his feet is planted over and crushes the giant - the endless illusion or monster of human depravity, while the other is raised upward to aid and comfort those who are shrouded in Maya, and enable them to realise His eternal fellowship.
Vishnu arose one day from his slumber, and repaired to the Sacred Mount Kailas, there to pay reverence to the supremem Siva, who told him, that, in that, in the neighbouring forest of Taruka there were multitudes of heretical Rishis or devotees, dwelling with their wives, and puffed up with the pride of their learning, and who regarded themselves as independent of his authority. It was the intention of Siva, to visit this forest, in order to ascertain the state of the Rishis there, and to teach them a lesson. He accordingly asked Vishnu to accompany Him in the guise of a woman, and the two - Siva as a medicant, with the usual insignia including the bowl for the collection of alms, and Vishnu as his wife entered the forest. As soon as the two entered the Darukavana as man and wife, the Rishis’ wives were seized with and unspeakable frenzy of passion for the mdicant, while the Rishis were equally infatuated by the woman that followed Him - Vishnu in disguise. A fierce wrath soon raged throughout the hermitage. The Rishis speedily perceived that the medicant and his wife, who possessed such a mysterious power of attraction, were not what they seemes. They became ashamed of their ecstasies, of evil desire, and, gathering in a body, pronounced fierce imprecations upon the couple. But the Divine visitors remained
unharmed. They then dug a sacrificial pit and proceeded to burn oblations, in view to ensure the destruction of the unwelcome intruders. As a result of the sacrificial rites, a fierce tiger came out of the sacrificial fire and sprang at Siva; Who, smiling gently, seized it with His sacred hands, and, with the nail of His little finger, ripped off its skin, and wrapped it around himself like a soft silken garment. Undiscouraged by the failure, they renewed their sacrificial offerings, and from the altar-fire came out a monstrous serpent, which He seized and wreathed round his neck, where it has since hung forever and then began His mystic dance. At last, a monster names Musalaka (the club-bearer), in the shape of a black dwarf, hideous and malignant, rushed upon Him, brandishing a club, with eyes of fire. Upon him, the Lord pressed the tip of his sacred foot, and broke his back, so that he writhed on the ground. Thus with His last foe prostrate, Siva resumed the dance of which all the gods were witnesses, while His hosts sang enthusuastic choruses. The Rishis, parched with the heat of their own sacrificial fires, faint with the fury of their anger, and overwhelmed with the splendour of the heavens opening around them fell to the ground as dead, and then rising, worshipped the known God, acknowledging themselves His faithful devotees.
As he dances the world in and out of existence, Shiva maintains a stoic face, representing his neutrality of being in complete balance.
The snake is kundalini, the Shakti or divine force thought to reside within everything.
Shiva holds a small drum (Damru) in his upper right hand. It symbolizes the sound that originates creation and perpetuates the universe.
The Arch of Flames represent the Universe and the cycle of birth and rebirth. Fire is used to symbolize destruction.
The upper left hand contains fire, which signifies final destruction, the dissolution of form, out of which a new world will arise.
His dance is so vigorous that his hair, usually in matted locks piled on his head, becomes loose and flies about him.
The right hand shows the Abhaya mudra (fearlessness gesture), giving freedom from fear and bestowing protection from both evil and ignorance.
The second left hand points towards the raised foot which signifies upliftment and salvation.
The crescent moon represents the time cycle through which creation unfolds.
The dwarf on which Nataraja dances is the demon Apasmara, symbolizing Shiva’s victory over ignorance, which can never be completely eliminated, but it can be overcome.
The Left and Right His left hand holds Light / Fire and his right hand holds Drum / Sound. The process of Evolution which starts with the absolute time and Pranava is fantastically represented pictorially. It suggests that the evolution process starts with the rhythmic dance of the Paramaanu (a particle that exists in every creature in this Universe and binds everything as one) and this process evolves first as light and then as sound. This light and sound creates further forms and the entire universe. We all know that the light is at a higher frequency and velocity than sound. This is the same reason we see lightning first then hear the thunders.
This leads to a pulsation which is called as the Dance of Evolution and aural forms in this universe. Pointing his left hand towards his foot which is raised in air , the left side is the side of heart, symbolizing that one should not be afraid of changes, as the heart is beating constantly unstable things will also change constantly. Right leg and right hand (abhaya mudra) are stable, symbolizing that mind should be stable and with his right Stable leg he is standing on ignorance (Dwarf / demon). Unstable things keep on changing in life but the mind should be stable.
Geometry, Form & Movement Both lines and curves, geometrical motifs and figures have their own logic and meaning and the Natyasastra uses these with extraordinary sensitivity and understanding. From these geometrical figures in space made by the human body we must pass on to the units of movement of another order. From dynamic positions another category of movement is developed where change of position takes place in different directions. The body assumes particular stances known in general terms as the pose. In Indian sculpture we recognise it as the bhangas. Through a stylized pose, floor space is covered in measured steps. This primary unit of movement is termed as the cari. The relationship of the body to the earth below and sky above and the symmetrical and assymetrical relationship of the two halves of the body in relation to the central axis is obvious in the conception of the sthanas. The relationship of the parts to the whole, the unit and its multiples in varying proportions, provide the key to the structural frame and have a validity both on the plane of physical existence and kinetics as well as in the sphere of symbolic design. There is a near transmutation of the human body into geometrical figures capable of psychical evocation and movement on the Sanskrit theatre
is not free individual subjective expression. The body assumes postures recalling abstract yantras, all contained within the space of a circle or a square. The centre, the vertical axis, the subsidiary vertical corresponding to the joints (particularly shoulder and elbow), the horizontals corresponding to the neck joint, the pelvis, knees and the ankles are the cage of the body and guide the movement patterns withing the circumscribed space of a circle. The speculative thought of the Upanishads with their imagery, the ritual of the Brahmanas, the particular approach to the body and the senses from the unenciated background of the system and the Natyasastra is not only an extension deriving its ideational background from them, but is another layer or sheath of ‘form’ on the speculative thought and the ritual. The body is depersonalized to the point of geometrical abstraction. The continuities of this approach and the consequent methodology of ‘form’ are consistently apparent in the various dance styles of India. Bharatnatyam is a series of triangles in space, Kathakali a square, Manipuri a spiral or an intertwined serpent and Kathak an axis. Orissi evolves its distinctive basic motif of the tribhanga which is also a symmetrical geometrical figure from the vaisakha sthana.
“The source of all movement, Shiva’s dance, Gives rhythm to the universe. He dances in evil places, In sacred, He creates and preserves, Destroys and releases. We are part of this dance. This eternal rhythm, And woe to us if, blinded By illusions, We detach ourselves From the dancing cosmos, This universal harmony…” -Ruth Peel
Lord Nataraja: The Source of all Movement is an insight to the significance, symbolism, meaning and how it holds the evolution of life, all in a nutshell. Lord Nataraja is the depiction of Lord Shiva in a dancing pose. This depiction of Lord Nataraja symbolises the beginning and creation of life itself, the significance of life once you have it, how to live life and destruction. It holds many juxtapositions about life such as creation and destruction, the daily rhythm of birth and death, all of knowledge and ignorance all combined into one cosmic dance, the ‘Anandatandava’, meaning the Dance of Bliss. Its amazing how this depiction has used science, math, art and spirituality in its pure essence. Inside this book is a gist of all the aspects of Lord Nataraja that makes it a piece of admiration, respect, learning and a great treasure of Hindu mythology.