Anandatandav — The Dance of Bliss
Last week, I had the opportunity to observe Mahashivratri — the night of awakened consciousness. The night was spent on ruminating Shiva — the primordial Yogi. Even for the agnostic, Shiva is a metaphor of the nature of our infinitesimal existence in the Cosmos. Shiva (along with his Consort Parvathi and offspring Skanda) was one of the earliest of Gods from the Indus/Vedic era and predated the other popular Hindu Gods of the later Gangetic period. The cryptic Indus Valley civilisation which has left almost no decipherable script or clues has left behind one image that establishes his antiquity among world civilizations — the image of Pashupati (Shiva on a tamed bull). Like most Gods from the Hindu pantheon, Shiva has multiple forms — each one appealing to the psyche of the believer. Among his forms, the most enigmatic and elegant is the Nataraja.
Nataraja is Shiva in a state of Anandatandav — the dance of bliss. The king of dance is seen dancing in a circle of fire representing and the perennial cycle of creation and destruction — the basis of all existence and natural phenomena. With unlocked hair of a yogi, flowing across space within the circle of fire, the damaroo in his right hand (representing the sound of creation) and fire on the left hand (representing the flame of destruction), Nataraja juxtaposes creation and apocalypse. Nataraja reminds us of one of the fundamental truths of life — that destruction is an inherent part of any creative process. The only way of evolution is in creating new paradigms and letting go of redundant knowledge and old dogmas. What we have learned no longer matters. What matters is what we are willing to learn.
Nataraja is seen dancing over a dwarf demon called Apasmara. Apasmara represents the ignorance and demon in us. Nataraja’s dance over Apasmara is a symbolic representation of mastery over our demonic qualities. Man, by creation is conjoint of the divine and devil. The trouble is we are ignorant of both our sides. We are neither aware of our divine potential nor do we acknowledge our demonic side. The first step towards conquering our demonic side is to be aware, acknowledge and accept the demon in us. Only with awareness comes the clarity and courage to transcend our demons and only with meditation and self-introspection comes awareness.
There is a stark contradiction in the image of Nataraja. And this contradiction is more by design than the default. Contrary to his feverish dance, he is seen with a serene face adorned by a crescent moon. It is a killer combination of constantly engaging in activity and yet keeping one’s cool at all times. ‘Hands at work and mind at peace’ is the clarion call of the Nataraja to all the mortals. This state is possible only through developing a sense of detachment to the fruits of our actions. The crescent moon carries a more nuanced metaphor. Crescent represents twilight — the transitionary or intermediary zones. Life is seldom black or white; it is in the greys. Evolution, of life or thought, has always happened in the twilight zones.
Nataraja vision is not just aided by his two eyes but also by a third eye — an eye which nestles on his forehead between his two eyes. The third eye represents Viveka (discrimination) and vairagya (detachment) in our lives. Our vision in life should not be restricted by our two biological eyes but should be enhanced by the vision of our third eye. The third eye is the metacognition capacity or the capacity to stand in the balcony and look at oneself.
Among the myriad names of Shiva, Neelkanth (Bluethroat) is one of the ubiquitous ones. The legend goes that the world was about to be devoured by poison when Shiva swallows the poison to save the world. Yet at the same time, to avoid the poison from consuming his body, he doesn’t digest it but holds it in his throat. Hence the name Neelkanth. We need to understand that the world will never be rid of conflicts and difficulties. Just the way Shiva swallowed the poison, we too need to accept the imperfections. In the process, we need to be wise enough not to internalize these imperfections into us.
The most inspiring part of Nataraja’s iconography is the serpent coiled around Nataraja’s neck. Although the snake represents many aspects of Shiva (including consciousness), one of the critical underlying philosophies is of embracing risk and danger. Life is so fickle that it can be taken away at any moment. Shiva is also said to have covered himself with ashes (which represents the end of all material things) indicating his embrace of death. In the Vedic view, Death is not an end, but an inherent part of life that gives a sense of urgency and purpose to it. Life is short, and it is best lived when the risk is embraced. This is not to say that we glorify death, but this is to emphasize the point that we rather sail into unchartered waters rather than discover on our death beds that we didn’t live.
Nataraja offers a great metaphor to grasp the essence of our existence. For the rightly tuned mind, Nataraja is a portal to experience deeper dimensions of our lives. A portal to let the Shiva happen in us.
