Shiva-Nataraja

Shiva the destroyer in the Hindu pantheon is popularly known as the hermit of the netherworld, as the one who resides in cremation grounds. However, there is another aspect to Shiva- as Nataraja. Nataraja literally translates as the Lord of the Stage.

The western world is familiar with Shakespeare’s words, “All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely actors.” The soul assumes a physical form only to perform certain functions, duties, to give and receive pleasure, learn karmic lessons, and finally move on to a different realm. In this gross body, we humans who are supposed to be of a higher intellect are merely players and puppets in the hands of an unseen force called God.

Every birth gives us new pleasures, even as it gives us pain. We as living beings, are caught in the grasp of illusions, attachments, bonds that further pull us towards more cycles of birth. Suffering bothers man who ultimately seeks salvation, and he finds himself grappling with the results of his deed. Even as the soul leaves one gross body, it steps onto another womb, in the hope of fulfilling unfulfilled desires, to cleanse itself and perform certain karmas.

Nataraja in his cosmic dance form shows us the path to liberate ourselves from this continuous cycle of birth and death. Shiva stands majestically on the body of ‘Apasmara purusha’ and performs his dance. This body represents the ego, ignorance, the soul’s illusions. By trampling on it, Shiva is seen as controlling this ego and urge. Click Here to read more...