Dr Karan Singh’s ‘Shiva — Lord of The Cosmic Dance’, a collection of poetry and prose

Purushottam Agrawal

SHIVA is the most fascinating figure in the Hindu pantheon. Unlike Rama and Krishna, the avatars of Vishnu, Shiva “was neither born, nor will he ever pass away. He first appears appropriately enough as a pillar of light”, as pointed out by Dr Karan Singh in his erudite introduction to this excellent anthology that mainly focuses on the Natraja (Lord of the cosmic dance) aspect of Shiva. Inclusion of numerous plates depicting images of Shiva dancing (also in static poses and with members of his family and entourage) taken from various periods has immensely added to the value of this volume.

Shiva’s conception evolved over millennia, starting from the Indus civilisation. His Natraja persona embodies a “synthesis of science, religion and art” (Ananda Coomaraswamy). His story underlines the enlightened middle path as the crux of Indian cultural experience. Starting as the ultimate renouncer, in fact a ferocious rebel against social norms, Shiva is won over by Sati’s dedicated love. He becomes a doting husband madly in love with his wife, carrying her corpse over his shoulders till it is cut into pieces by Vishnu, leading to the establishment of the various Shaktipeeths (seats of cosmic creative power). With Sati’s reincarnation as Parvati, Shiva actually becomes the moody yet benevolent head of a wandering family. Mahashivaratri is a celebration of his marriage with Parvati, of coming together of the basic creative principles as well as that of centrality of grihastha (householder) in the social structure.

In his Ardhanarishwara persona, Shiva signifies the union of Prakriti and Purusha (female and male principles) through which the essential unity manifests itself into endless diversity of existence.

He is the most plebeian god, anyone can relate with him; he is Ashutosh, so easy to please. But, he is also the metaphor for the most subtle reflections on the complexities of existence. Pratyabhijna, one of the most sophisticated schools in Indian philosophy, identifies Shiva as representing the absolute consciousness. Shiva the carefree mendicant is also credited with having given (through his ecstatic dance) the world’s first systematic exposition of rules of language — grammar — to Panini. How one wishes that this part of Shiva’s persona was also covered here.

The editor has carefully put together philosophical reflections and artistic and poetic compositions about Shiva. Here are excerpts from Adi-Shankara and Acharya Abhinavagupta as well as Vivekananda and Aurobindo; Kalidasa and ‘Shiva Purana’ along with Basavanna and Allama Prabhu; Akka Mahadevi and Lal Ded. There’s also TS Eliot and Aldous Huxley, plus some stories from folklore and ‘Puranas’; and, of course, reflections by scholars and writers of our own times.

Inclusion of portions of Nazir Akbarabadi’s ‘Mahadev ji ka Byah’ (Mahadev’s marriage) underlines the defining characteristic of Indian civilisation — dialogue leading to the syncretic concept of civilisation, a powerful antidote to the clash of civilisations’ ideology. Here, one misses Tulsidas’ description of Shiva’s marriage procession, which, if included, would have further enriched the anthology with an added element of humour soaked in bhakti.

The editor has done well to reproduce the story of Ghantakarn, the bell-eared demon in Vivekananda’s retelling. This enthusiastic Shiva bhakta could not even hear the name of any other god. He tied two little bells onto his ears; whenever the name of Vishnu was mentioned, Ghantakarn moved his head, ringing the bells, blocking the disliked name from reaching his ears. Shiva himself got so disgusted with this attitude that he turned Ghantakarn into a demon. This bhakt, in Vivekananda’s words, is “the father of all fanatics who hate all other gods except their own”.

Hopefully, this story will ring some bell in our times. Maybe, it will dawn upon the Ghantakarns of our times that bhakti for your favourite god is not synonymous with fanatic intolerance of other manifestations of the divine; loving your way of worship does not entail blind hatred for other forms of prayer.

People with such traits consider themselves bhaktas, but Shiva ‘the beneficent’ sees them only as demons.

Dr Karan Singh, the editor, and Speaking Tiger, the publisher, deserve our gratitude for the insightful selection and beautiful production.