नटराज THE COSMIC DANCER

AN ODE TO THE COSMIC DANCER

With a roar, out of darkness, 

The unborn gives birth to time itself

Out of infinite nothing, 

he manifests as everything

With the rhythm of birth and dissolution, 

he dances in unison

To comprehend this cosmic dance, 

we give him name and form

Dwarfed by ignorance, 

we see him not in our timeless selves

Churning oceans within, sri asks,

is there a permanence of anything 

other than the unmanifest nothing?

_____

PURPORT

With a roar, out of darkness, 

he gives birth to time itself

Commentary: When the Universe was created time (Kala) and space came into existence from the darkness of  “non-existence” (shunya).  This “nonexistence” is unaffected by time since time itself came into existence from it. For visualizing this event let this “non-existence” be personified and labeled as Shiva. The incomprehensible event is visualized as Shiva’s roar Rudra. In the modern parlance, we call it the Big Bang!

Out of infinite nothing, 

he manifests as everything

Commentary: Any existence in the physical universe has boundaries of space and time. Non-existence (Shiva) has no such boundaries (Anantam). Shiva manifests as everything that we know and experience as the causal Universe.

With the rhythm of birth and dissolution, 

he dances in unison

Commentary: Everything goes through the cycle of birth, life, and death. In Hindu cosmology, even the Universe is cyclic. The Big Bang or the Roar of Shiva is the beginning of time and space in this cycle. While the standard model in physics today assumes time to have a beginning without an end, there are renowned Theoretical Cosmologists like Paul Steinhardt of Princeton University who have been proponents of a Cyclic Universe. While the jury is out until more evidence is accumulated, a theoretical framework exists both ways albeit with their own shortcomings. As far as Shiva is concerned, as is the micro, so is the macro.

To comprehend this cosmic dance, 

we give him name and form

Commentary: Our ability to understand is limited to our senses, and our experience of the causal world around us. The behavior of matter at minuscule (quantum) levels that goes against what we observe in our daily lives is therefore often termed as a bit “spooky”. Similarly, to understand the concept of something that is truly permanent and unaffected by time, having no qualities (nirguna), no form (nirakara), but which possibly is the source from which all existence came into being, through classical means is somewhat futile. One way to deal with it is to dismiss the plausibility of such a source due to lack of evidence. That is a classic materialist or charvaka’s position. But there is a conundrum: taking the thought experiment further, since the source cannot be “material” or “causal” it cannot fall within the current definition of physical evidence (nirvikalpa). In the Standard Model, everything ultimately is a particle. However, human beings, especially the Hindus, have since time immemorial refused to stop there. Our Rishis consistently through their own elevated levels of experience and yogic practices, insisted that this “indescribable source of everything” is very much the only reality and therefore be given name and form (Nama-rupa) just to simplify it to a more relatable form for ordinary people.

Dwarfed by ignorance, 

we see him not in our timeless selves

Commentary: The great Rishis and practically every enlightened being since has consistently described that the Source that has manifested into this universe is all pervasive. All of us, the animals, plants, insects, trees, everything (jagat) is temporarily participating in the material world. Our collective inner most essence and the all-pervasive Source is one and the same (Aham Brahmasmi, Tat tvam Asi, Chidananda Rupa Shivoham Shivoham all attest to the same thing). Since our senses are outward oriented (laukika), our focus gets distracted from this ultimate reality that is inward (adhyatmika) - eternally blissful, unconditional and unaffected by externalities. This distraction is the source of our ignorance and is so beautifully represented by “the dwarf of ignorance” that the cosmic dancer is dancing on.  Crushing that dwarf is to realize that You and I, in our permanence, are one and the same, and the same is him.

Churning oceans within, sri asks,

is there a permanence of anything 

other than the unmanifest nothing?

Commentary: churning of oceans within is the churning of thoughts and the restlessness to understand/experience the ultimate reality. The rationality of the mind vs the realization of its limits; the path of intuitive insight vs the perturbations of continuous thoughts that churn in the mind. As the story goes, no nectar can be found before encountering poison. In that restlessness, I wonder if there is anything other than Shiva (the unmanifest) that is permanent?!

Chalk Art and Ode written on ShivRatri (2/13/18)