The cosmic dance of Shiva symbolises the interplay of dynamic and static divine energy flow, containing the five principles of eternal energy – creation, preservation, destruction, illusion and emancipation.

 ~ The Dance of SHIVA ~

Shiva dances in ‘Rudra Tandava’ or the dance of destruction in an aureole of fire, creating wild thunder storms all around the universe, even shattering the Sun, the Moon and stellar bodies with his matted hair, marks of ash on the forehead, trident and drum, lifting his left leg and balancing over a demon of ignorance, with snakes crawling over his arms, legs and braided hair that depict egotism. His upper right hand holds an hourglass drum or ‘dumroo’ standing for the male-female vital principle, while the lower gestures us to ”Be fearless”. A skull on his head depicts conquest over death. Goddess Ganga, epitomising the holy river, sits on his hairdo. His third eye represents omniscience, insight and enlightenment.

‘Locks of matted hair/ Thick like luxuriant Amazon rain forest/ Spread all over/ Stirring never-ending cyclones, tsunamis! Ceaseless torrents/ Cascading cataracts/ Floodwater of the Ganga/ Caused holocaust, apocalypse/ Unprecedented obliteration in the Milky Way! Blazing inferno originated/ From his third eye raged like wild fire/ Blazed all over his forehead/ Engulfing everything in the aureole of fire!’

The ‘Lasya’ or the gentle form of his dance, known as ‘Ananda Tandavam’ or dance of bliss is associated with the creation of the world, after its total destruction. Shiva’s two different cosmic dances take place in one’s ‘Chidambaram’ or in the sky of the mind, portrayed as the centre of consciousness situated at the altar of one’s heart.

Shiva is the symbol of ‘Brahmn’, the universal consciousness. The cosmic serpent called ‘Kundalini’, draped by the Lord of all dance, is mythically present in every living form. Arousal of the ‘kundalini’ is a metaphor for the awakening of the seven energy centres or ‘chakras’ situated in the spine.

The sacred text, the Bhagavad Gita, interprets that the three basic gunas – sattvic, tamasic and rajasic – combine with each other to create life forms in the universe. The divine entity is divided into nine; but only eight of them are perceived by human intellect – earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect and pride. The ninth part of the divine entity is eternally shrouded in the mystery of creation.

Fritjof Capra, in his book The Tao of Physics, paid due tribute to the Hindu view of matter and established its linkage with modern physics with empirical research in 1972. He observed the linkage between ancient Vedic mythology, religious symbolism, art and modern physics: “Every subatomic particle not only does an energy dance, but is also an energy dance; a pulsating process of creation and destruction…without end…For the modern physicists, then, Shiva’s dance is the dance of subatomic matter.”

The European Centre for Research in Particle Physics in Geneva-CERN had unveiled in 2004 the two metre-tall statue of Nataraja, the form of Shiva depicted in the dance pose. The dancing Indian deity, representing the cosmic cycles of creation and destruction, also depicts the dynamics of subatomic particles, the basis of creation of the universe that is being researched by physicists around the world.

 
 
 
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