Ananda Tandava Murti in relation to Integral Yoga

The stance of Nataraja in Ananda Tandava is a very unique one and is widely worshipped. The same stance of Nataraja, if analysed, can be seen to be in harmony with Integral Yoga. 

For starters, the murti is Ananda roopam. Sri Aurobindo Ghosh in the chapter Gnostic Being, in his book The Evolution of Man says, “In the body-consciousness, this demand takes shape as a need of bodily happiness, in our life parts as a yearning for life happiness, a keen vibrant response to joy and rapture of many kinds and to all surprise of satisfaction; in the mind, it shapes into a ready reception of all forms of mental delight; on the higher level it becomes apparent in the spiritual mind’s call for peace and divine ecstasy. This trend is found in the truth of the being; for Ananda is the very essence of the Brahman, it is the supreme nature of the omnipresent Reality.  The supermind itself in the descending degrees of the manifestation emerges from the Ananda and in the evolutionary ascent merges into the Ananda.” This is the core essence of the Ananda Tandava roopam. 

This dance of Shiva is the dance of creation and not of destruction. This is what Divine bliss feels like when manifested in physical form. 

Another thing to note is the posture of Nataraja. He stands on apasmara with his right leg. The right side of the body dominated by Ida (sun channel) shows the conscious aspiration of the Yogi to progress. The Ida dominant human is always active and aspiring for progress.  Apasmara is the physical embodiment of unawareness,  lethargy and forgetfulness. Shiva eternally dominates apasmara. 

His torso is straight. That shows the alignment of the psychic and the spiritual being. In the book,  Life Divine Sri Aurobindo says, “The ordinary restricted personality can be grasped by the description of the characters stamped on its life and thought and action, its very definite surface building and expression of self. But such a description would be pitifully inadequate to express the Person when its Power of Self within manifests more amply and puts forward its hidden daemonic force in the surface composition and life. We feel ourselves in presence of the light of consciousness, a potency, a sea of energy, can distinguish and describe its free waves of action and quality, but not fix itself; and yet there is an impression of personality, the presence of a powerful being, a strong, high or beautiful recognisable Someone, a Person, not a limited creature of Nature but a Self or Soul, a Purusha.  The gnostic Individual would be such an inner Person unveiled, occupying both the depths, — no longer self-hidden, — and the surface in a unified self-awareness; he would not be a surface personality partly expressive of a larger secret being, he would be not the wave but the ocean: he would be the Purusha, the inner conscious Existence self-revealed, and would have no need of a carved expressive mask or persona.”

Nataraja has four hands, i.e the hand holding Agni shows knowledge. The hand holding Sarpa shows Power of Kundalini. The Gajahasta pointing down shows descent of Shakti from above. The hand holding Damaru shows the harmony of breaths in a human to attain peace. 

As per Sri Guru Rohit Arya, the left leg is through what the shakti flows. So the left leg in motion denotes active and persistent Sharanagati. On Sharanagati Sri Aurobindo said “I want the Divine and nothing else. I want to give myself entirely to him and since my soul wants that, it cannot be but that I shall meet and realise him. I ask nothing but that and his action in me to bring me to him, his action secret or open, veiled or manifest. I do not insist on my own time and way; let him do all in his own time and way; I shall believe in him, accept his will, aspire steadily for his light and presence and joy, go through all difficulties and delays, relying on him and never giving up. All for him and myself for him. Whatever happens, I will keep to this aspiration and self-giving and go on in perfect reliance that it will be done,” in his book Letters on Yoga, p. 587. 

If we focus on the Alankara of Nataraja he wears the makara kundala on his right ear. The crocodile represents Greed of some kind. Nataraja wearing this represents that he is aware of what is desired by the Yogi who approaches him. Also, a crocodile takes only four breaths in a minute and lives for hundreds of years denoting that whatever is asked to Nataraja reaches the highest possible consciousness – will not be forgotten even if the human being forgets what he/she asked for.  

The left ear of Nataraja has what is known as a Tandaka. This shows the feminine aspect of decoration and beauty. This is perhaps one of the reasons why Ananda Tandava murti is given haldi abhishek too.

Sri Aurobindo in his book, Synthesis of Yoga,  Chapter: The threefold life says “The spiritual life also can return upon the material and use it as a means of its own greater fullness. Refusing to be blinded by the dualities, the appearances, it can seek in all appearances whatsoever the vision of the same Lord, the same eternal Truth, Beauty, Love, Delight. The Vedantic formula of the Self in all things, all things in the Self and all things as becomings of the Self is the key to this richer and all-embracing Yoga.” It denotes that Nataraja is a deity whose sadhana is effective on this human of the plane of existence. 

Thus it can be rightly said that Ananda Tandava murti of Shiva represents Integral Yoga in physical manifestation.