Shiva as nataraja (Lord of the dance)
Shiva as Nataraja
Shiva represented here as Nataraja, or Lord of the Dance, is symbolically very powerful.
We will see Shiva in certain traditions being purely represented as “The Destroyer”, alongside Brahma as “The Creator”, and Vishnu as “The Preserver”, to create the “Trimurti”.
However, in Non-Dual Shaiva Tantra, Shiva is the One, and so represents all 3 of these “roles” as the Creator, Preserver and Destroyer (or more accurately “re-absorber”). He does this continuously in a dance known as the Tandava, represented here in the form of Nataraja. In every moment “things” are emerging from Him, being preserved by Him for a moment in time, and then finally being reabsorbed back into Him.
These “things” we are referring to is everything tangible and perceivable. Everything that emerges into existence is then eventually reabsorbed back in to “nothingness”. We know this already, this isn’t some esoteric teaching, we all know that nothing in this physical World lasts forever, and that things emerge and disappear in every moment.
Moving then on to the symbolism of Nataraja, and how this relates. Let’s begin with Nataraja’s upper right hand, shown holding the Damaru, which is a two-headed drum. Shiva bangs this drum to make the first sounds or vibrations of creation, birthing the manifest World and igniting the heartbeat of existence. With every beat of the drum, the World emerges. This relates to the Sanskrit word Spanda, or Divine Vibration or Pulse. This is Shiva as Creator.
Damaru drum
His lower right hand is shown in Abhayamudra, with the palm facing forward, which is a gesture symbolising peace, protection, and the removal of fear. This is referring to Shiva as the Preserver, granting every thing its space to express itself in its manifestation.
Abhayamudra
His upper left hand is shown holding Agni, which is the cosmic fire. Fire here isn’t referring to death, but rather transformation, or reabsorption. In this philosophy nothing really dies but is rather just reabsorbed back into the Groundless Being, which is Shiva. This is Shiva as Destroyer.
agni (cosmic fire)
His lower left arm is shown crossing in front of his body. This is representative of concealment, the concealment of our true nature, or the illusion of recognising ourselves purely as individual entities, and not as part of the One Whole. This hand is also pointing towards his raised left foot (see below).
His right foot is shown standing on top of a dwarf figure, this figure is known as Apasmara, which means “Forgetfulness” or “Heedlessness”, and is a symbol of spiritual ignorance. Ignorance here depicting the forgetting of our true nature. Shiva is shown stamping on Apasmara with his right foot, to stamp out this ignorance.
This is also also symbolic of us all having a foot in this manifest World, embodying a human body. This is important, as there isn’t a denial of the physical in this philosophy, just as long as we recognise ourselves to be part of the Whole and not separate from it, despite this temporary embodiment.
Shiva’s foot on top of Apasmara (spiritual ignorance)
His raised left foot is then representing the release from ignorance, or rather the recognition or remembrance of our true nature as Shiva/Pure Consciousness. Represented here by the left foot not being in contact with Apasmara. The left hand (concealment) is pointing towards the left foot, as previously mentioned above. The symbolism here is that to reveal our true nature, and thus remove the concealment of it, we need to step out of the ignorance that we are purely an individuated being.
There are then 5 main parts to this “dance” of Nataraja. The 3 acts of Creation, Preservation and Dissolution. Then we also have 2 further acts of Concealment and Revelation.
The first 3 are happening every moment, all around and within us. We see this in nature with the emergence of a flower, the beauty of its existence, and then its eventual dissolution. We see this with every thought, emotion and sensation within ourselves.
What then is meant by concealment and revelation? Whist the Divine manifests Himself temporarily as an individuated being, such as me and you, He is momentarily concealing His true nature as the Groundless Being. When you then look at a flower, you are in fact Consciousness becoming aware of Itself in apparent separateness, as how can you possibly be separate when the flower has also emerged from the same space? The recognition that you are Consciousness becoming aware of Itself is then the Revelatory part of this Dance. This Revelation isn’t always permanent, in fact it rarely is. On our return to our daily existence concealment often comes back in to play, and we temporarily “forget” our true Nature once again, only for it to be Revealed again in another moment of meditation of wonder.
It's good to sit and meditate on this imagery. The symbol of Nataraja is definitely very helpful to begin with, but we mustn’t’ get stuck on this physical representation. Instead, we must try to experience this within ourselves, within the felt-sense of the body, rather than it just being conceptual imagery.
When we focus inwards, can you sense a sensation as it arises? Can you stay with it and be fully present with it? Can you recognise the moment that it dissolves? There are millions of such moments happening within you at every moment.
