ATOP HIS MOUNTAIN, THE KING OF DANCE

ATOP HIS MOUNTAIN, THE KING OF DANCE

He was much married Himself and the name of His eternal beloved Parvati, was always fused into His own, as were reportedly, their hearts. So often was He referred to as ‘Shivaparvati’, that this plural had become synonymous for togetherness.
But it was His presence as singular that got Him accredited with some contrary attributes.
The most popular belief had Him listed as The Destroyer.
The ancient Indians , who propitiated many gods, had three principal deities at the Helm of affairs. Brahma, the creator of the Universe, Vishnu, who handled its running, and then ,
there was another amazing aspect that no one really understood- The ancients had said emphatically that there existed a God who destroys the Universe at the end, and that God was Shiva. So it was, that He shared Godhead with the other two.
No one really understood why God would need to destroy the Universe, yet horror stories abounded about how Shiva would always signal the end of time for each creation.
And though this was a little strange, because , no one, surely would have seen the end of a Universe and live to tell of it, yet graphic details about the Divine holocaust were chanted in fervent whispers, as though etched in a collective memory. Details of how Shiva literally snuffed out all life. It was whispered that He stomped His feet upon the Earth in so furious a manner that sent massive tremors through the cosmos, and that all this was a dance! The last dance called Tandav, that, always beginning from Prithviloka, ended all things that had ever come into existence. Ending, as it were, existence itself.
This was the great mystery, when did the endearing mountain dweller become a cosmic hard stepper, the Avatar of destruction? And, why?
Ancient seers sensed an enthralling story here.

It was the young seeker Shaunaka’s curiousity which finally got bits and pieces of Shiva’s known episodes out from the wise sage Suta.
“ Tell us about Shiva, the timeless mountain God, respected Sutji ”, Shaunaka would implore the master.

In time, when Shaunaka grew old and himself sported a free flowing white beard, he often told the story to his own disciples. Through generations of the forest dwellers, the constant retelling of these narratives of the great Forester came to be called the Shiva Mahapurana.

Shiva was accredited with a peculiar penchant for Earth, roaming its length and breadth in general, but preferring in particular its mountains, the Himalayas as His abode.
The Himalayas actually meant that, the abode of snow. They were noted for their Majestic ‘touch the sky’ stature, noted for their stunning beauty and their crisp air , as though preserving the pristinity of life itself.
Ironically, the other place where He was said to visit frequently was where life ended,
He was said always to be present at the cremation grounds, a presence as certain as the lit up pyres which devoured life. Some of them were actually named ”Shiv Dhaam” – The sacred place of Shiva.

In all His mentions, different aspects abounded, both terrible and magnificent, which were spoken of, in whispers. Over a period of time, the repetitive whispers became a routine and fervent chanting. And in times of need and fear, these came to be passed off as prayer to Shiva Himself.

A prayer to Shiva , was the description of Shiva, repeated to Him. With the passage of time, they became longer and more speculative, and, somehow , fear showed a greater propensity to grow, than love. So, while He was accredited with dance, it was a dance of death, while He lived on mountains, it was a hidden abode of a warlord, if He was strong, it was a strength you must be defeated by, always, not to forget that He was The Lord of the cremation ground where, at the end of one’s life, His portals only just began.
Ultimately, that Shiva was the God of destruction , became a label that found itself stuck in the majority of minds.

There were other, less opinionated and therefore more open minded seers ,who ,after a great deal of research and meditation, comparison of notes and deliberation, declared simply,
” only Shiva knows what He is really” , thus affording Him the opportunity to express His own truth and pass it on, from time to time.
Those to whom these revelations came , were completely transformed .They became confident and trusting of life, shifting to a mode bubbling with high self esteem.
They were always at ease and seemed to know their place in the plan of things.
Those to whom the darsana’ happened’ came to be called Rsis.
These seers prayed differently.
They spoke of Shiva in endearing terms as Natraja, the King of the cosmic dance.

{From the forthcoming book SHIVA by Shail Gulhati: Shiva and Mysticism.}