As we celebrate the end of the year and the beginning of the return to longer days, it’s a fitting time to reflect on the cycles of endings and beginnings that make up every aspect of our existence. One of the great symbols of this constant cycle of change is the image of Shiva Nataraja, the King of the Dance. Shiva Nataraja is portrayed in Hindu mythology as the aspect of Shiva whose ecstatic dance of destruction lays the foundation for the creation and sustenance of the universe. Depicted in southern Indian art dating back to the 10th through 12th centuries, Shiva Nataraja dances at the center of the wheel of samsara (the cycle of death and rebirth to which life in the material world is bound), a cosmic ring of fire that symbolizes the eternal cycle of birth, life, and death.
The name Shiva derives from a Sanskrit root that means “liberation,” and liberation or freedom is what the dancing four-armed Shiva Nataraja expresses. He can’t stop the passage of time or the fire that surrounds him, but he can find bliss amid the chaos. His dreadlocks shake as he balances on the demon of avidya, or ignorance. In one of his hands, he holds a drum on which he beats the passage of time. Another hand holds a conch shell, recalling the power of the sound of Om that reverberates through the universe. In a third hand, the flame of vidya, or knowledge, reveals the internal light of our true nature. One of Shiva’s right hands is held up in Abhaya Mudra, a gesture of fearlessness. It’s the fearlessness that comes from knowing one’s own transcendent nature. That is, though the mortal form we inhabit will change and die, there is an aspect within us that will continue on.
Shiva’s heart is the center of the wheel; it is the hub that stabilizes him within the great cycles of cosmic change. The image is a reminder that we too can live from our center and dance, celebrating life’s ups and downs, knowing that a part of us is connected to the light beyond time and space.
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