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| Home > Hatha Yoga and Shiva Shakti > Various forms of Shiva
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| | Various forms of Shiva and shakti
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Natraj
 One of the most popular iconographic representations of Shiva, in which he takes on the roles of all three facets of Trimurti, is that of the Natraj, the `Lord of the dance` or `Dancing king`. As such, he is shown posing in mid-dance with a ring of fire encircling his elegant, and decidedly androgynous form.
His left foot is raised, and his right foot stands upon a demon named Apasmara-purusa, an embodiment of avidya (nescience)." Siva`s matted locks of hair fan out like wings from behind his head, and each of his four arms is deliberately positioned to signify a controlled and benevolent attitude.
In this form, Shiva is the dancer and the universe is his dance (Tandava). He spins the web of existence through the rhythm of his movements and the oscillating beat of the small drum (damaru) held in his uppermost right hand, yet only those who have attained yogic insight can know the dancer himself.
"I am the originator, the god of abiding bliss", Siva announces in the Karma Purana. He is manifested as the yogi dancing the dance of eternity. The dance is both creative and destructive. It brings the universe into existence, maintains that existence, and then, as one evolutionary cycle comes to a close, the dance becomes frenzied, thereby providing the mechanism of dissolution.
"The stamping of his foot, the gyrations of his body, his flailing arms toss the mountains into the air; the ocean rises, the stars are lashed and scattered by Shiva`s matted hair."
Within this devastating display, however, lie the seeds of renewal, as the mirthful and reveling deity liberally disperses potent ash from his body. From his flowing hair the rivers will flow again into existence...and the rays of sun and moon will be seen again for what they are, the hair of Shiva`.
The use of dance as a metaphor for the perpetual unfolding and crumpling up of the cosmic fabric is a uniquely evocative one. Dance is organised movement rhythmic, pulsating, passionate and the universe and everything in it is pictured as an expression of that movement, a sequence of infinite complexity derived from a single source. At the close of each dancing cycle, Siva is said to retire to his quiet home, symbolized in the mountains of the Himalaya, but, even in the stillness of the great god`s deep self-contemplation, the impulse towards activity is harbored.
Bhairava
 Another of the many forms in which Siva appears in the rich fabric of myth woven in the Puranas is that of Bhairava emaciated and malodorous mendicant whose name means `fierce`, `ferocious`, or `frightful`.
In one tale associated with Bhairava, Rudra is the son of Brahma, and, while perched upon his father`s shoulder, he cuts off Brahma`s head (or the uppermost of Brahma`s five heads), and the skull sticks to Rudra`s left hand. Rudra is then obliged to take the kapalika vow, the penance for murdering a brahmana. Kapalika meaning `bearer of skulls`. He subsequently wanders through the cosmos as Kapalin (`Skull-bearer`), also named Bhikshatana (`Supreme beggar`), using Brahma`s skull as a begging bowl. During this ceaseless pilgrimage he enters the forest of Deodar, wherein he happens upon a group of rishis engaged in the performance of austerities and ritual fire worship. The rishis have become so enrapt in the external accoutrements of spiritual discipline, however, that they fail to recognise the Lord, Siva, in his form as a bedraggled vagrant. This can be read as a warning not only about the dangers of over-ritualisation, but also against seeking the spirit in beautiful things alone, all things, no matter how ostensibly ugly, being considered to have their origin in the Divine.
Bhairava is also portrayed as a dancer, frolicking in the macabre environment of the crematory. Wearing a garland of skulls, and scattering the bones and ashes of burnt corpses, he embodies the paradox of joy in the midst of gloom and decay. His reveling displays a transcendence of mortality and worldly fears.
As though to inject an extra layer of complexity into the form of Bhairava, in other Puranic myths, the same name is attached to one of two sons (the other being Vetala) who were born to Taravati (an incarnation of Parvati) after her being ravished by Siva.
According to another version, the sons emerge from drops of Siva`s seed, spilt when his and Parvati`s love-making is interrupted by `the gods`.
Other forms in which Siva is represented include Daksinamurti, Haryardhamurti, and Ardhanareeshvara.
Daksinamurti, literally translates as `south-facing`, and derives from the fact that, in this form, Siva is portrayed as a `universal teacher...[who] was seated facing south...when he taught the sages in a secluded spot on the Himalayas`. He symbolizes the perfect guru, epitomizing the qualities of poise, strength, self-control, wisdom and benevolence.
Haryardhamurti means `half Hari face`, Hari being a common name for Vishnu. In this form, which is also known as Harihara or Sankaranarayana, the divine principle is depicted as Siva and Visnu merged together, the right side of the body being adomed with Saiva symbols, the left with those of Visnu. It is a clear attempt to present potentially rival deities as merely two aspects of the same principle, emphasising that personalised gods are ways of envisioning the Divine. They should not be interpreted too rigidly or dogmatically.
 Ardhanareeshvara is another image of the human form composed of two distinct halves, Shiva again being the right side, but this time Parvati is the left. Here the ultimate identity of the static `masculine` pole and the-dynamic `feminine` pole, described in Saiva philosophy, is emphasised.
This favourite deity of India is fondly called by innumerable names amongst the masses. Each depicting some or the other aspect of his being (in nature and in appearance). Some of the examples are: Bhola (`Fool`), Mahadeva (`Great deity`), Mahakala (`Mighty time`), Mahayogi (`Great yogi`), Shambhu (`Beneficent`), Sarikara (`Auspicious`), Sthanu (`Standing firmly, motionless`), Tryambaka or Trilocana (`Three-eyed`) and so on. As Mahayogi, he has also been called Pashupati, `Lord of animals`, which term denotes control over the so-called `animal passions`. The aim of the yogi being to master his instincts, feelings, senses and emotions, as opposed to remaining their slave.
It is important to know that Shiva`s partner, wife or consort is also represented in a variety of forms, and is referred to by many names and epithets. In her placid and beneficent aspect, she is known as Parvati (`Daughter of the mountains` or `Mountain stream`), or as Uma (`Child`), Gauri (`Golden, shining one`), or Sati (`True`, `Faithful`). As the last of these, she is sometimes characterised as being a faithful wife to the point of burning herself on her husband`s funeral pyre, an act which has, unfortunately, been interpreted in a literal fashion by a small minority of families in India, who exert a subtle (or, on rare occasions, not so subtle) pressure upon widows to follow Sati`s example. Sati`s sacrifice is, however, symbolic. She, as the personification of the manifest universe, is `burnt up` in the process of yoga, as she unites with Shiva and is reabsorbed into her source.
In her other aspects, the Goddess (Devi) can be more active, and even fearsome and violent. In relation to Shiva in his aspect as sub consciousness. Devi is Shakti, the personification of power and energy.
As potential force, she is the `coiled one` or serpent known as Kundalini-Shakti. She is also represented as Durga, whose name literally means `difficult`, `inaccessible` or `hard to reach`. Under this title, she is usually depicted as a slayer of demons (i.e. the dark or detrimental aspects of human nature), riding a tiger or lion and wielding various weapons with her eight arms.
Another of her fearsome form is that of goddess Kali, the epitome of destructiveness, with her drooling blood-red tongue, necklace of skulls, belt of severed arms, three glaring eyes and multiple weapons. The name Kali may mean `black` or `the black one`, but it can also mean `time` (kali being the feminine form of Kala), which `is all destroying, all devouring. She tramples upon the corpse of Siva, but Siva is also her foundation, and Kali is nothing apart from him.
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