......contd.... TRYING TO UNDERSTAND SHIVA

........contd.....TRYING TO UNDERSTAND SHIVA
Siva is also known as “Nataraj”, or the Lord of Dance and the Universe is due to the Dance of Siva. The Dance of Siva is the Dance of Life – which at some point turns into the Dance of Destruction – the Fiery Tandav. When Siva gazes at Prakriti (or, Parvati), certain forces come into play, and Prakriti comes forward – they both start to dance – signaling the creation of the Universe. One sees the manifestations of Siva’s dance in all the phenomena that one comes across everyday – the birth and death of all living beings, the waves in the ocean, the endless repetitive cycle of the seasons, the rotation of the planets, the movement of air, the spinning electrons, the frenzied motion of the subatomic particles (which can be photographed and observed in a bubble chamber), the oscillations of the mind in the movement of the senses towards their objects of desire – everything is caused due to an energy which causes a vibration – or “spandan”, which further causes motion, i.e., the conversion of Potential to Kinetic energy – from motionlessness to movement. This conversion of energy, this movement is the cause of the potential being manifested and till the motion exists, the Universe is sustained. The beauty and precision of his dance movements is unsurpassed – hence Siva is Nataraja – the Lord of Dance. However, when the dance of creation rises in its crescendo, there are sudden bursts of energy, resulting in earthquakes, cyclones, tornadoes, and according to Swami Sivanand – the falling of the mind from the Sattvic mode to the Tamasic mode. Even epidemics of infectious diseases sweep in different parts of the earth to keep down the population to manageable levels. Thus cyclones, earthquakes, lightning, thunder, war, disease, famine – all reflect Siva’s dance. The rising of the crescendo of the rhythm of the dance implies an increase in the Kinetic energy – synonymous to an object rolling down a slope. Thus it has within it the potential of destruction – and – without destruction nothing new can be created! After all a river has to end to form a waterfall, and the waterfall’s energy dissipates into the calmness of the lake, which at some future point in time may be the source of yet another river! But at all times the sum total of Potential energy and Kinetic energy remains unchanged. Potential energy alone means ‘nothingness’ – IT JUST IS. But conjoined with Kinetic energy – which is initiated through a spandan – Shakti – vibration, the potential of creation is manifested. In this manifestation is the seed or potential of annihilation, which once again has the seed of creation within it. All beings are projected into existence (manifested) due to the Potential energy – the seed, and then through the conversion of the Potential into Kinetic energy. The conversion or withdrawing of Kinetic energy into Potential energy implies the withdrawing of Prakriti into Siva. Thus, the origin of the worlds is within Siva and so also of KALA or Time. So Kala – Time! Hence Siva is also Kala Bhairav – the Destroyer becomes synonymous with Siva and He is also the destroyer i.e., Kala or Death of Time. Explaining this idea in a different way, at the time of Pralaya – when the whole creation comes to an end, Brahma – the Creator and Vishnu – the Maintainer also should logically come to an end. Since Siva is the God of Destruction, Brahma and Vishnu should merge into Siva at the time of Pralaya! But since Brahma is the Creator- and - Brahma is within Siva at the time of complete Destruction, i.e., Siva has the seed of the new Creation within Him. Thus Siva has the potential of destruction and yet within Him is the potential of a new creation, as also the potential to maintain till the creation is destroyed! This eternal rhythm of creation and destruction of life on Earth, as also of phenomena in this Universe - from the microcosm to the macrocosm is the basis of all existence, and it goes on and on in endless cycles – and the beginning and end of it is SIVA. Thus Siva is GOD ABOVE GODS!!! –

The Dance of Siva hence is not only ‘the dance of creation and destruction,’ it is essentially ‘the dance of energy’ as it flows from one form into another. Fritzof Capra in “the Tao of Physics” has dedicated one whole chapter to explain this ‘Cosmic Dance’ as he calls it. To clarify his point he states, “Modern physics has shown us that movement and rhythm are essential properties of matter; that all matter, whether here on Earth or in outer space is involved in a continual cosmic dance”. To further quote from his book, “According to quantum field theory, all interactions between the constituents of matter take place through the emission and absorption of virtual particles. More than that, the dance of creation and destruction is the basis of the very existence of matter, since all material particles ‘self-interact’ by emitting and absorbing virtual particles. Modern physics has thus revealed that every subatomic particle not only performs an energy dance, but also is an energy dance; a pulsating process of creation and destruction”. Then, making a very interesting observation about life in the subatomic world he says, “Virtual particles, finally, are not only an essential part of all particle interaction and of most of the particles’ properties, but are also created and destroyed by the vacuum. Thus, not only matter, but also the void, participates in the cosmic dance, creating and destroying energy patterns without end”. Reading this description, one is forced to contemplate whether the ancient seers of India had really understood all this by seeing or visualizing it during their deep meditations, and had tried to portray the constant, continuous, endless rhythmic pulsations existing in all the constituents of matter in the Universe through the simple concept, of God who is a dancer par excellence – The Nataraj. Even when dancing wildly, His “superbly balanced and yet dynamic gestures express the rhythm and unity of Life”. At times though his arms and legs may seem to be flaying around in total chaos and his body swaying vigorously in a mad frenzy (as one may observe at the time of natural calamities – that occur across the globe), yet the Dancer – Siva is, in complete control – and as Heinrich Zimmer has put it - “death exactly balancing birth, annihilation the end of every coming- forth”. Thus the concept of the Dance of Siva is where probably mystic philosophy, art and modern physics unify. It is as Coomaraswamy has said, “Poetry, but nonetheless Science”.

The concept of Siva as potential energy and the manifestation of this energy due to kinetic energy (Shakti) is considered to be the cause of the creation of this Universe. This coming together of opposing polarities, i.e., one part which is completely motionless and the counterpart which is defined as motion, brings to light, the concept of Siva as ‘Ardhanareeshwar’. According to Modern Physics, matter is actually just a form of energy and energy can be converted to matter and vice versa, in accordance to Einstein’s famous equation, E = mc2. In his famous book ‘The Tao of Physics’, Fritzof Capra says, “This also means that there is energy locked inside matter”. At another place, while dealing with subatomic particles, he says, “When such particles collide, their masses are destroyed and converted into kinetic energy which is then distributed among the other particles taking part in the collision. Conversely, when subatomic particles collide at very high velocities, their kinetic energy can be used to form masses of new particles”. Thus according to him, “The creation and destruction of material particles is one of the most impressive consequences of the equivalence of mass and energy”. Thus at subatomic levels, “force and matter are but different aspects of the same phenomena”. Here particles are both destructible (when viewed as matter) and indestructible (when viewed as ‘bundles’ of energy); matter is both continuous (as energy changing from one form to another) and discontinuous (as mass of a body). These according to Fritzof Capra are “examples of the unification of opposite concepts”. Taking another example from science, Light has a dual nature – it is at once of wave nature, as well as of particle nature. Certain phenomena can be explained only on the basis of light having a wave form (reflection, refraction, interference etc.), but certain other phenomena in quantum physics necessitates that light be assumed to have a particle nature (‘quanta’ of energy). Thus waveform and particle nature are both required to define Light. It is neither this nor that, but a unification of both aspects. These concepts of Modern Science are perfect examples of what the “Ardhnareeshwar” form of Siva probably tries to portray or convey – neither male, nor female; but only the ‘Dynamic unification of the male and female”, (in the words of Fritzof Capra) can explain ALL.

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Dr. Poonam Mehra