Concept of Nataraja explained by Mahaperiyava Below is the gist of Swamigal’s speech at Chennai on 20-10-1932 on Nataraja’s cosmic dance: “Nataraja is another name of Parameswara. Amongst Natan, Vitan and Kayan, Natan is the dancer. The king of all the Natans is Nataraja. It means that nobody can dance better than him. He is also called Mahanatan. In the Tamil language, he is also called “Ambala Koothaduvan”. Nataraja is a very big actor. He is playing the act that we all should have taken upon us. The hair in the Nataraja idol appears to be stretched out. These days, when a photo is shot, a snap shot is taken. It is a sudden capture of an object in motion. When Nataraja is dancing fast and stops for a second, his hair is stretched out. The sculpture had taken a snap shot of this image and created the idol. He has an udukkai also known as damarugam or dakka in one of his hands. The beat of the damarugam will match the beat of the feet. There are three types of instruments – Sarma vadyam (Instruments made with skin), Thanthri vadyam (string instruments) and Vayurendra Vadyam ( instruments with holes). The Sarma vadyam are played using sticks of hands and when the beat stops is the indication for begin of a new cycle (Chappu). The chappu in Nataraja’s damarugam appears when there is a pause in the dance. Nataraja is dancing while Sanakar, Patanjali, Vyagrapadhar and other rishis are standing around him. As they were saints, they were able to comprehend the cosmic dance via their Gnana Eyes. There is something called lens in our eyes. Our sight depends on the power of the lens. The older we grow, we are unable to see that clearly and substitute with another lens. Hence, what we see is not the real sight. Sanakadhis witnessed the dance with their real eyes. Vishnu played the mathalam while Brahma put the beat for the music. During the end of the dance, there arose fourteen different sounds from the damarugam in line with the fourteen different types of arts. The sounds seemed to be enjoying the Siva swaroopam. Nandikeswarer considered the sounds to be Siva Bhakthi Stotram and wrote Bhashyam for them. Amongst those gathered to witness the cosmic dance was Panini who wrote the Panini Vyakaran Suktam starting with ‘A’ and ending with ‘I’. All languages have their alphabets starting with Akaram. (Middle eastern language has Alif as the first letter, while Greek language has Alpha as the first letter). Both the letters came from the sound ‘al’ and so is the word ‘Alphabet’ start with the letter ‘al’. The basis of the Vyakaranam is the Mahesa Sutrams that came from Parameswara’s damarugam. Patanjali and Vyagrapadar are next to Nataraja and their idols can be seen behind Nataraj’s idol. Patanjali wrote Bhashyam for Panini Vyakarana Sutram that was generated from Parameswara’s damarugam. Patanjali is also considered to be incarnation of Adi Sesha who also is found under the feet of Parameswara. From this, it can be surmised that Parameswara is the main author of Vyakarana Shastra.” (Courtesy: Pujya Sri Mahaswamy Divya Charitram)
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 02:05:11 +0000
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