Shiva as Nataraja: A Potent Symbol of Regeneration

This morning, I landed in the South Indian city of Chennai.

At the Chennai airport, I saw this beautiful bronze statue of Nataraja — Lord Shiva performing the Cosmic Dance known as Tandava.

What a coincidence: I am in Chennai to talk about my new book The Frugal Economy.

In this book, I use Shiva as Nataraja performing the Tandava as a metaphor to explain what the concept of Regeneration is all about.

My book might the first Economics book in the world that uses Shiva as a metaphor of Regenerative Development !

Here are excerpts from my book where I make the connection between Nataraja and regeneration:

“This majestic statue (at CERN) depicts Shiva as Nataraja, or “Lord of the Dance” in Sanskrit, blissfully performing tandava, the “cosmic dance” of creation and destruction.

In this dynamic pose, Shiva symbolizes and expresses Shakti, the life force or the primal energy that animates everything in our universe down to the subatomic particles.

This rhythm of creation and destruction is symbolized by the damaru, a two-headed hand drum in the shape of a horizontal hourglass (⧑) that you see Shiva carrying in his upper right hand in this statue.

The drum’s two heads symbolize the outward duality in nature while the handle signifies the underlying unity of existence.

By vibrating the damaru, you harness the creative tension between its two heads, which produce dissimilar sounds, to generate a unified sound, which echoes AUM, the primordial sound that created and sustains the universe.

This vibrant pulsation called Spanda has two alternating phases: expansion and contraction.

Spanda is the pulse of life: we inhale and exhale and our heart beats rhythmically.

The Tandava that Shiva performs attuned to Spanda symbolically represents the spiritual essence of regeneration.”

If India wants to become Viksit Bharat (Developed Nation), it must eschew the unbridled Western growth model which excludes people and depletes natural resources, and instead espouse the graceful Regenerative Development dynamics embodied by Nataraja.

The Chapter 9 in my book expounds Regenerative Development.

Read my article on Regeneration — a concept and practice that goes beyond sustainability.

OM NAMAH SHIVAYA !