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through the power of the omnipresent God, the unseen Lord of the stage. He represents the teacher or guru whose one of the most important functions is, to enforce his teachings by example; and this idea is the key-note to the Nataraja symbol. The legend teaches that He subdues and wraps round Him, like a girdle, the feline fury of human passion. The guile and malice of mankind He transmutes into His necklace. One of His feet is planted over and crushes the giant the endless illusion or monster of human depravity, while the other is raised upward to aid and comfort those who are shrouded in Maya, and enable them to realise His eternal fellowship. The little drum in one of His right hands, expresses the idea of His being the Preceptor or Guru, and means also to indicate that He holds in the hollow of His hand the dispensation of the entire Prapancha, the cause of all the world, to be folded or unfolded at His own will. The deer on one side is the mind, because the latter leaps and jumps from one thing to another as unsteadily as that animal. On His head, He wears the Ganges, that is to say, the Chit-Sakti or Wisdom which is most cool and refreshing; the Moon representing the ethereal light and blissfulness of the Atman or Self. The second right hand representing the idea of Peace, indicates the blessed calmness of Wisdom. In one of the left hands is held Agni (fire), which represents the idea that the truth of the Gurus teachings can only be fully understood on practical realisation in ones inner experience. The place of the dance the theatre is the Tillaivanam (=Daruka-vana); in other words, the body is spoken of as the Vanam (forest), because of the multitude of its components. The platform (=boards) in that theatre, is the cremation-ground, the place where all passions, and the names and forms that constitute the vision of the world, are dissolved pure consciousness devoid of attachment to anything outside, and free from all taint of illusion. The above are some of the leading features of the symbol*. [* The allegory, as interpreted
above, cannot be said to be on the track of correct solution. Yet, as an attempt, it is commendable, although for real light, one should search the Agamantic classics. Ed. L. T.] The Guru teaches that Maya the
illusion of the world should be crushed down, that the deer-like mind should be left behind, and ahankara (egoism) destroyed, and that man should ascend to the regions of pure consciousness, free from passion and deception, and enjoy the true bliss. Viewed in the light of this inner meaning, Sri Nataraja is no more a meaningless idol, an effigy in stone or copper, but a symbol of the highest import, an incentive to pure inspiration and elevation. J. M. S.