Many people know the image of Lord Shiva dancing: poised on one leg, the other leg lifted and bent, the body turned in a subtle spiral, four arms extended, hair flying wildly and surrounded by a circle of fire. Most importantly, his right foot is planted solidly on a small, helpless demon. But since many of the stories of Lord Shiva tell of him sitting in profound meditation for long years at a time, we could ask, how did this image arise?

It came about when the demon beneath Shiva’s foot dared to make Shiva angry. The demon is called Apasmara, a name that means ‘ignorance,’ or ‘forgetfulness’ but a more insightful interpretation of the name is that he is ‘the maker of the ego,’ or in other words, the one who forgets spiritual truth. And it happened that once Apasmara, in his ignorance, molested Shiva and Parvati, sending poisonous snakes to attack them. Shiva, who is also a warrior, destroyed the snakes, and filled with anger, challenged Apasmara to confront hm. When the demon appeared, Shiva transformed into his Nataraja or ‘Lord of the Dance’ Avatar, and whirling in divine fury, showed the way to defeat ignorance by crushing the powerless demon beneath his feet.

But it was decreed that Apasmara should not be killed, for his elimination would have made an imbalance in the world between knowledge and ignorance. Therefore, in this Tandav form Shiva upholds spiritual wisdom through his sacred dance and subjugates the ignorance of the ego for eternity.