History

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ser ene sm i l e. Fu r therm or e, he uses the dum ar u i n h i s r i gh t hand to br i ng f or th cr eat i on , bu t then dest r oys the ver y un i ver se he has cr eated w i th the f l am e i n h i s l ef t hand . T hus, Sh i va i s both cr eator and dest r oyer , sm i l i ng bu t m enaci ng. T he cosm os i s h i s theat r e, i n wh i ch he i n st i l l s l i f e and m ovem en t , bu t he then dest r oys what he has cr eated . T im e, space, ener gy and m at ter appear to be i n h i s hands. T her ef or e, Sh i va?s dan ce i s a sp i r i tual m etaphor f or the H i ndu bel i ef of cr eat i on and dest r uct i on and the con t i nual cycl e of b i r th and r eb i r th . T he ci r cu l ar f i r e ar ound Sh i va r ep r esen t s th i s cycl i cal v i ew of l i f e. T hus, hum an s ar e en cl osed w i th i n th i s ci r cl e of t im e. T h i s m ay st r i ke us as qu i te pessim i st i c: what p r ogr ess l i es f or us as i nd i v i dual s w i th i n th i s eter nal cycl e? H owever , the f i gu r e does appear to dep i ct an escape. T h i s i s shown by the dwar f - l i ke f i gu r e cr ushed by Sh i va?s f oot wh i ch sym bo l i cal l y r ep r esen t s the cr ush i ng of the ego. Br eak i ng the

back of the ego enab l es one to ach i eve m oksha, m ean i ng a ?l i ber at i on?or ?sal vat i on?f r om the cycl e of b i r th and r eb i r th . I n or der to cr ush the ego, one m ust p r act i ce con tem p l at i on and l i ve a sp i r i tual l i f e, r ep r esen ted by the r i gh t l eg r ai sed agai n st gr av i t y. T h i s t i es i n w i th the con cep t of karm a wh i ch or i gi nates f r om the San sk r i t r oot ?k r i ?m ean i ng ?to do? or to ?act and r eact .?Con t i nuousl y do i ng good karm a (e.g., con tem p l at i on , m ed i tat i on , et c.) con t r i bu tes to m oksha. T he Sh i va Natar aja f i gu r e has cer tai n l y had a l ast i ng l egacy, even appear i ng i n f r on t of the CERN nucl ear power r esear ch cen t r e i n Sw i t zer l and . T he dep i ct i on of Sh i va as the gener ator of m ovem en t i n the cosm os by m ean s of h i s eter nal dan ce can al so be used as a m etaphor f or the m oder n study of the ?cosm i c dan ce? of subatom i c par t i cl es. T he cosm i c scal e of the im age, w i th al l m at ter , space, t im e and ener gy en cl osed w i th i n the ci r cl e of the dan ci ng Sh i va, cer tai n l y f i nds

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