The sound of the damaru
A new life is born
A new rhythm set in divine motion
The dance of life
The dance of procreation
It is the churning of the ocean of life.
The Lord meditates, the world is stable
All is bright and peaceful
He brings in calm and warmth
Crushes the head of ignorance
Performing the dance of enlightenment
He is complete with charge
And with those thunderous steps
He sways in wild motion
Destroying all darkness
The flames of enlightenment
Form rings of light
Such radience, such dynamism, such grace
Oh what a sight to behold
These very flames burn all ignorance
And raise one to ever lasting bliss
There is silence on His face
A vision of another world
In the glow of the crescent moon
Cradled around gentle locks, the jatas
Oh burn me in the flames of enlightenment
Take me to that new beginning
Like a new born, innocent and beautiful.
Like a child in Your arms forever.
21 comments:
Hi K,
Very beautiful manner of connecting The Dance with destroying ignorance and setting in enlightenment.
The fierceness of destroying ignorance and the grace and peaceful manner of ebbing enlightment are visually enticing.
~fEelix
Hi Kavitha~ A nice representation of ancient ‘Hindu’ thought, “Satyam Shivam Sunderam,” which communicates the ‘truth’ understood by the ‘wise’ ancient ‘Hindus’ – that has perhaps remained a mystery to the ‘born Hindus’ even, because of the characteristic property of apparent time (Shiva also called Mahakal, or the controller of time) that governs the appearance and disappearance of forms, and human knowledge apparently reducing from near 100% to zero% with different waves of such rise and falls – waiting for some Yogi to realize it (or rather to pat His own back to have created such an instrument
:-)…
As I have come to realize while seeking essence or ‘satva’ of many of their thoughts - read together with ‘present’ day thoughts (or Yoga) - the wise had understood the Creator as Formless, the Super being who alone existed in zero space and zero time and therefore called unborn and unending… They also understood that physical forms within the apparent infinite void were illusory, images of the one and only Creator Himself, the only perfect form being our Earth. And that the events in the lives of the innumerable life forms in the universe, and on our earth too with man at their head, were related with apparent time and reflected their hierarchy from near zero and tending to infinity (life forms acting as instruments to aid the Creator). And, that the human being, in fact, acted as the model of the universe or an image of God, such that his efficiency reduced from 100% to 0% over a long duration, in four parts having a ratio of 4:3:2:1…
I had earlier indicated how the game of cricket (that represents our galaxy) even carries ‘His signatures’. The five-day match that ended today (between England, our ex-(suryavanshi-like)-Rulers, and India (the land of formless Shiva) indicates the above ratio as almost reflected in the runs scored in four innings, i.e., 400:279:191:100 - reflecting thus the greatness of Shiva, the Bholanath or the simple God, by conforming to the age old saying, “Atithi Devo Bhava” or the fact reflected in its History - India welcoming all its visitors or apparent aggressors
:-)
a very different interpretation of the "tandava nrutya"
Eventhough a static picture, the top angle somehow conveyed graceful yet sinister dance movements. I am unable to fathom which is more evocative, the picture or your verse!
Hi Dr Anil,
In the usually accepted communication by the majority at any given time, in the mythology, the dance conveys Shiva in anger as in the case of the reported ‘untimely death’ of His consort, Sati, and fear of destruction of earth (Pralaya, caused by the panchbhootas) and therefore consequently the entire life forms on it too. The formless Vishnu (or Shiva the Bhootnath) had to intervene… And, physical Shiva (model of Earth) had to remarry Parvati (model of Moon, which itself had evolved from Earth, as the phenomenon of ‘Sati dying in a sacred fire' arranged by Her father, or molten magma in the core of earth perhaps describes a volcanic eruption) in the interest of continuance of life and death cycle, i.e., ‘scientifically’ speaking, Moon after evolution becoming the only satellite of Earth (because of its greater gravitational force)… And, therefore, the Hindu practice of continuing with one wife lifelong!
Hi Anilji,
There are various ways to interpret the tandava nritya. It depends on what emotion it evokes in you during a period in time.
None the less it does bring back Lord Shiva as a very enigmatic deity.
truely enigmatic.
Hi Revati,
Long time no see! Where have you been? This image took me a while to source. Though i was a little disappointed with the lack of details in the frame, eg: the apasmarapurusha at the bottom under his feet is missing, and the right hand is a little cut off, it still managed to convey the idea.
Regds
Kavitha
With limitation of available material resources, for visualizing ‘appearance’ and ‘disappearance’ of life, as indicated, let us consider a simple hypothetical case of a cow in a grassy land, (and see what happens to plant life only), tied to a peg driven into the ground and tethered to a spring-like rope (like Yo-yo, the toy that moves from a child’s hand and returns back to its hand again)…
To appease its hunger, thanks to the visual communication, the cow would start from the region close to the peg, going round in circles that grow bigger and bigger as it moves outwards. The process would continue till the outermost boundary of the grassy ground...
At any intermediate stage, it would see dry ground behind her and greener pastures as she moves outwards… However, by the time it reaches the end, or even much before that, the region closer to the peg would have grown fresher grass first. Maybe after some hardship, it would be thankful to God, or consider itself lucky, when during its return journey it again comes across grass that had grown in the meanwhile, and therefore is available to it - till it reaches the original starting point. However, forced to move outwards again because of the ‘papi pate’ or the compulsion of the basic need of filling its belly with food!
The ancients, in the Upnishadas, are seen to have taken trouble to explain in detail (for the ‘common man’ too) the process of deterioration of efficiency of human beings with passage of time…
One such I read long ago stated that in the beginning devtas (the selfless) were satisfied by vision (of food) till the demons (the selfish) created malfunctioning of this capacity... The devtas went to God again. Thereafter, man was satisfied just by hearing about it – till the demons again vitiated it too… (in Gita, the character of Krishna says that there are only two types of humans that He has created)… In essence, they described how human efficiency reduced with passage of time such that man wasn’t satisfied through any of the five physical senses. However, nothing was said about the ‘sixth sense’ or 'intuitive power’ (the God within!) - its possibility of vitiation!
Hi Joshi uncle
The 6th sense can do wonders, we just need to be ready to believe it. I would seriously consider those outlandish thoughts/ideas when they enter my head, not all of them, but some yes,i have felt very satisfied acting upon them.
There is one more truth, the ideas that enter the mind, teach just how much you are capable of accept change, changing is another question but accepting it is half the battle won.
Regds
Kavitha.
Hi Kavitha,
The ‘sixth sense’ (i.e., essence of Moon or Shiva’s soul or Bhootnath) helps one to pick up the messages that pop up into the head from deep within the body, from Mooladhar, after passing through all the intervening ‘chakras’ or ‘bandhas’, i.e., locks – only when one allows them to do so – at the right time (like proper bread toasts pop up from an automatic toaster!)
Thus patience or tolerance, and Faith are necessary. Otherwise some physical sense(s) cause interference and consequent wavering of mind - that most of the time leads to indecision or wrong decision…
Lord shiva also depicts other qualities.
Shiva is a lord of the poor, this is depicted by his simple form .
H
As Nataraja, he signifies the importance of arts like Dance.
The presence of ash colour in his body depicts that all things come to an end one day and nothing is permanent.
As Arthanareeswara, he depicts that a devoted husband must give full freedom to his wife and treat her as his other(better half).
There are a lot more things about lord shiva. But since Iam not an expert , i shall not say further.
Hi Aswin,
Please do not hesitate to give your views on the various forms of Shiva and their meaning. It will be very interesting to see how Lord Shiva can be interpreted by various people.
It would help others to get an idea of how simple and complex the same form can be interpreted.
Regds
Kavitha.
Hi Aswin, K… Yes one can enjoy better the apparent variety with consciousness of ‘Truth’…
Once someone is convinced about the ‘Absolute Truth’ that the Creator is formless, a dot called Naadbindu, i.e., a point source of energy or Supreme soul (Vishnu or Bhootnath, or ‘a bubble’ as Buddha’s reported realization), by the ancients. And that everything else is illusion (like one’s own apparent image in a mirror, plain or ‘magical’) the person can hope to reach the so-called stage of eternal bliss…
With the consciousness of the above stated Truths, each individual can hope to live life as recommended by the ‘wise’ ancients, i.e., remaining detached while apparently performing a variety of actions while remaining conscious of the fact that your faith would get shaken off and on - maybe very badly. You will sometimes wonder whether you are really on the right path or not, for the entire world would apparently be doing exactly opposite of your belief… In the present time, it is very common to hear that those who are corrupt are better off and those who work honestly only are suffering… A Hindu at least should find this as ‘natural’ for it is already said so by the ‘wise’ ancients about the inherent characteristic of time, particularly rapidly towards the fag-end of the Kaliyuga when it is expected to reflect the lowest human efficiency (like a ball thrown upwards, after reaching the peak, on its return journey falls much more rapidly before it hits the earth, teh zero datum)!
Perhaps inspired by thought received from the undying earth (along with its four other permanent companions of G5 group ('pancha parameshwara'), i.e., air, water, fire and ‘sky’ (Sun, and Moon the bhootnath or the soul of earth, respectively), man desires to live in human form till eternity...
To achieve this objective, with the belief that food itself is the biggest poison, certain Yogis appear to have devised yogic exercises. And, some appear to have succeeded in sustaining themselves only on air while doing ‘tapasya’ or receiving water and solar energy from air...
Although these exercises apparently helped in maintaining good health and peace (with the help received from the society, of course, which is rare in the present) man hasn’t been able to conquer death. In the ‘present’ also it is felt that the life span can be increased (with medicines) but death can’t be conquered…
Kavitha~ For further 'enlightenment', I might as well mention the other group, G8, which finds reflection in SMS ‘Gr8!’, that is, the solar system with the Sun as the driving force of the space train, and the seven selected planets or the bogies (having a special royal coupe, Earth-Moon), all with their in-built brakes or the positive and negative forces, like the booster rockets in a space-ship…
Now, imagine the scenario I had indicated earlier also: The sun exhausts its fuel. Obviously the whole train - along with ‘life forms’ or passengers sustained by them - would come to a halt in the dark space. And, God alone would perhaps know what He has as the back-up plan when and if such an exigency does occur. However, in the interest of continuity, as is made apparent by the mythologies, as well as ‘scientific evidence’ regarding alternating ice-age and interglacial, it could reduce energy release from the sun to just keep all life frozen (as in a refrigerator as its reflection) till it is time to restart the drama (as is indicated in the mythological stories)…
The above could also perhaps be seen in the team India’s recent performance in matches of cricket, where top hitters (engines) are apparently failing and the tail-enders (bogies with booster rockets) are only performing comparatively better! In the field of politics also, the apparent performance of the ‘leaders’, belonging to any party, has been pathetic in the recent times – these examples also could lend support to the ancient Hindu belief of ‘man as a model of the universe' and poorer human efficiency towards the fag-end of a yuga’!]
Hi Joshi uncle.
A very valid point Joshi uncle. The deterioration of the human race, the world at large and the misuse of all its resources, and finally its extension into the solar system, shows the undercurrent of a massive break down in human conscience.
Fighting wars, signing treaties, terror attacks and religious anarchy are signs of instability and doubt in faith that makes people cling to their faith and call it supreme instead of being tolerant to other similar faiths and probably more ancient.
Yes uncle, there is a complete disregard to faith in its purest form, and that makes the world deteriorate. How far can a life of convenience move forward in the name of development?
Hi Kavitha,
‘Astronomers’ tell us that our universe is an infinite void that - perhaps starting from a Cosmic Egg (perhaps because of the ancient Hindu belief calling universe as Brahmand, or Creator’s egg!) - is growing larger and larger like a balloon (thus it would have a centre, a point that would remain unseen and relatively unmoved). And that within this void Heavenly Bodies also are getting enlarged…
Once you could visualize yourself ever attached to the centre or the Formless Creator, or zero time and space, although you might (with apparent time lapse) believably be becoming more and more distant - like a child separated from its mother as it turns into an adult and advances in IT/ a Kite rising higher and higher gets more distant from its flier - you can relax knowing that although you might be weak or imperfect you are in safe hands!
It’s only a matter of change of attitude, or a matter of Faith…
Joshiji,
By seeing the way things are moving around us,very aptly described by Kavita I think a time has come for the baloon to explode!!
Maybe yes or maybe no Anilji! ‘Scientists’ aren’t sure whether the universe would continue to expand indefinitely or at some stage stop and start shrinking again to implode when it reaches the original starting point of the believable ‘Bing Bang’ that as per them marks the beginning of the universe just 13.7 billion years ago…
As per Hindu mythology, on the other hand, Shiva (the formless Creator) has neither a beginning nor an end, as reportedly found by Brahma and (physical) Vishnu – as Kavitha has also indicated… There could be many versions of the same story though…
In essence, the universe is believed to be 'Swayambhu' or appeared on its own - unborn and unending… Parambrahma or the formless creator is believed to have created the universe with ‘His thought power’, a dream-like illusion or ‘Maya’.
Read with His being called ‘unborn’ and universe as ‘His egg’ (within which life or physical forms in the universe remain undelivered) and also apparent human dreams (which appear ‘real’) at the Ajna chakra level (between the physical eyes or 'Shiva's third eye) may help the literates to believe that the ancients could be right... The faithful however do not ask for any proof, which even a sixteen-year-old demands today (influenced by the atheist or non believers, the natural 'second side' of the coin, and not the 'blank side' or teh neutral or detached one)!
Hi Kavitha, you have written many good articles on lord shiva, why cant you also write about many legends associated with lord shiva,like why he was called nilakanta, the original story behind thiruvannamalai and also other interesting info that supplement you articles.
Please follow this link for further information on thiruvannamalai
http://www.ramana-maharshi.org/downloads/marapr03.pdf.
Hi Aswin,
Interesting link! i need to see the pdf in detail. will do so this evening.
Regds
Kavitha
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