Shiva, Lord of the Dance

Shiva, Lord of the Dance

Shiva, the destroyer, is depicted as a family man, as a holy man with matted hair and his body covered in ashes; as Bhuteswara, lord of spirits, wearing a necklace of skulls; and as in this case, as lord of the Tandava, the universal dance in which the creation and destruction of the world are danced out, trampling upon the dwarf of human ignorance. Through the fierce power of his dance, Shiva reveals the cosmic truth. He dances within a circle of flames, carrying in one hand the flame of destruction and in the other the drum of creation.

The holy men who saw him dance cried out:

"We behold you dancing,

source of the world,

we hold you in our hearts!"

By you this wheel of Brahma turns.

You, sole guardian of the world,

are filled with Maya.

We take refuge in you.

We worship you.

You are the soul of Yoga,

lord of consciousnesses,

who dances the divine dance."

The Family of Shiva: Ganesh and Skanda

The god Shiva lived on Mount Kailasa with his gentle goddess Parvati, and with their two sons, Skanda (or Kartikeya) and Ganesh.

Skanda was the eldest of six other sons fathered by Shiva. One day Parvati embraced all the children together with such force that they merged into a single body with six heads. Skanda, who was the god of war in Hinduism, became a handsome young man, the opposite of his little brother Ganesh, with his elephant head.

Skanda, when he was old enough, slew the demon Taraka, who had been subjugating the gods.

Ganesh, in a different manner, had been born from the dirt of Parvati’s bath.

There are various versions regarding the way in which he acquires his elephant head: in one of them, it is said that Parvati asks him to prevent anyone from disturbing her while she bathes, and when he blocks Shiva’s passage, Shiva burns off his head with his third eye. In another, Shiva, who had been absent, does not recognize his son and burns off his head because he thinks he was courting Parvati; finally, in a third version, the planet Saturn, while caring for the baby Ganesh, forgets the power of his gaze and accidentally burns off his head.

In all versions, Ganesh’s head is subsequently replaced by that of an elephant.