A Deity Dances; A Girl Sallies Forth: Sanskrit verses on the

Tāṇḍava dances of Śiva and Heruka, and on the Abhisārikā

Harunaga Isaacson
December 6th, 2018

The Tāṇḍava (1): Mountains Fall …

Śiva’s wild, cosmically destructive, yet auspicious, dance, the Tāṇḍava, is de-
scribed in many Sanskrit verses. They often use long compounds and harsh/sharp
sounds to help to convey the tremendous explosion of power of this dance.

uccairuttālakheladbhujavanapavanoddhūtaśailaughapāta-
sphārodañcatpayodhiprakaṭitamakuṭasvardhunīsaṃgamāni |
jīyāsus tāṇḍavāni sphuṭavikaṭajaṭākoṭisaṃghaṭṭabhūri-
bhraśyannakṣatracakravyavahitasumanovṛṣṭipātāni śambhoḥ k 11 1
Sūktimuktāvalī namaskārapaddhati
13, attributed to Bherībhāṅkāra; for
Many of the Buddhist Yoginītantras, increasingly popular from around the sec- other sources see Mahāsubhāṣitasaṃraha
6338. The verb jīyāsus is a so-called
ond half of the ninth century CE, teach, and are supposed to be taught by, Bud- precative, or benedictive, third person
dhas who resemble the fierce forms of Śiva/Bhairava, and who are depicted as plural; the two super-long compounds
dancing the Tāṇḍava. Here is a pair of verses by the great early eleventh-century are bahuvrīhis qualifying the subject,
tāṇḍavāni (śambhoḥ.
master Ratnākaraśānti: the first is the opening verse of his Muktāvalī , a commen-
tary on the Hevajratantra, and the second the opening verse of his Bhramahara, a
sādhana of the (utpattikrama) practice of Hevajra.

pādanyāsaiḥ pṛthivyā vihitavighaṭanaṃ bhūbhṛtām aṭṭahāsair

dṛktejaḥketughaṇṭādhvanibhir api nayan nāśasṛṣṭīr jaganti |
bibhrāṇasyāvaliptapraśamanavidhaye bhīṣaṇān abhyupāyān
pāyād vo jainaguhyatrayahṛdayahṛdas tāṇḍavaṃ herukasya k 22 2
In the first pāda the bahuvrīhi adjec-
tive vihitavighaṭanam, which qualifies
padabharanamitorvīvegavikṣiptasindhu the subject of the verse, tāṇḍavam, is to
be connected with both the genitives
pralayaghanasamānair ānanair muktanādam | pṛthivyāḥ and bhūbhṛtām. Those genitives
bhujavanapavanāstaprasthabandhaṃ girīṇāṃ tells us what is shattered (the noun
bhavatu bhayaharaṃ vas tāṇḍavaṃ herukasya k 3 vighaṭana can be taken as ‘the shatter-
ing’). The instrumentals pādanyāsaiḥ and
aṭṭahāsaiḥ tell us what does, or what is
The ‘forest of arms’ in these verses is already found in the verse referring to Śiva’s
the means of, the shattering. Note the
Tāṇḍava in Kālidāsa’s Meghadūta, that poem which seems somehow to contain in ‘pearl-necklace’ structure of this first
its one hundred odd verses everything of importance. quarter!

paścād uccairbhujataruvanaṃ maṇḍalenābhilīnaḥ

sāṃdhyaṃ tejaḥ pratinavajapāpuṣparaktaṃ dadhānaḥ |
nṛttārambhe hara paśupater ārdranāgājinecchāṃ
śāntodvegastimitanayanaṃ dṛṣṭabhaktir bhavānyā k 43 3
Meghadūta 36, in the numbering and
with the readings of the earliest extant
commentator, the Kashmirian Vallab-
hadeva. Note—is it a coincidence?—that
the very next verse of the Meghadūta,
beginning gacchantīnāṃ ramaṇavasatiṃ,
is the verse in which the Abhisārikās of
Ujjayinī are evoked…
 a deity dances; a girl sallies forth 2

The Abhisārikā (1): Preparing and Practice

The Abhisārikā is most commonly, in poetry and in art, an unmarried young girl
going without companion to meet her lover at night, either in his dwelling-place
or in some other agreed upon spot, which may be (in) a building or in the open
air. Numerous variants may be found on this, for instance she may have a female
friend accompanying her instead of being alone, and she may be married instead
of unmarried. In any case it is assumed that she must avoid being seen/identified
on the road, lest she be stopped or lest rumours start to spread concerning her.
The obstacles to the Abhisārikā’s endeavour include the watchful and suspicious
eyes of others, her own possible mental agitation, physical weakness, inexpe-
rience, the darkness of the road, and the inclemency of the weather (it is often
pouring with rain, thundering, and lightning).
In view of the well-known obstacles, it may be wise for a beginning Abhisārikā
to practice, as in the following old Prakrit verse:

ajja mae gaṃtavvaṃ ghaṇaṃdhayāre vi tassa suhaassa |

ajjā ṇimīliacchī paaparivāḍiṃ ghare kuṇaï k 54 4
Sattasaī Weber 249. A literal Sanskrit
chāyā would be: adya mayā gantavyaṃ
This is well-known also to the nāyikās of later Sanskrit poetry: ghanāndhakāre ’pi tasya subhagasya (tasmai
subhagāya) | āryā nimīlitākṣī padaparipāṭiṃ
mārge paṅkini toyadāndhatamase niḥśabdasaṃcārakaṃ gṛhe karoti k

gantavyā dayitasya me ’dya vasatir mugdheti kṛtvā matim |

ājānūddhṛtanūpurā karatalenāchādya netre bhṛśaṃ
kṛcchrāl labdhapadasthitiḥ svabhavane panthānam abhyasyati k 65 5
Subhāṣitaratnakoṣa 826 (Asatīvrajyā!),
Sūktimuktāvalī Abhisārikā 2, Subhāṣitā-
A friend often advises the Abhisārikā and warns her of the dangers. valī 1948 (Abhisārikā).

mandaṃ nidhehi caraṇau paridhehi vāso

nīlaṃ pidhehi valayāvalim aṃśukena |
mā jalpa sāhasini śāradacandrakānta-
dantāṃśavas tava tamāṃsi samāpayanti k 76 6
Saduktikarṇāmṛta 777, Sūktimuktāvalī
abhisārikāpaddhati 8, Padyāvalī 194.
However this friend, in warning of obstacles, may herself become an obstacle.
Two dialogue verses:

chidrānveṣaṇatatparaḥ priyasakhi prāyeṇa loko ’dhunā

rātriś cāpi ghanāndhakārabahulā gantuṃ na te yujyate |
mā maivaṃ sakhi vallabhaḥ priyatamas tasyotsukā darśane
yuktāyuktavicāraṇā yadi bhavet snehāya dattaṃ jalam k 87 7
Sūktimuktāvalī Abhisārikā 5.

tamaḥ śāntaṃ śāmyatv ayam udita evendur udiyāt

mayā gamyaṃ tatra priyasakhi sa yatra priyatamaḥ |
gṛhagrāhotsaṅge śatam iva yugānāṃ gatam aho
niśā ced evaṃ syād ayi kathaya ko mṛtyur aparaḥ k 98 8
Sūktimuktāvalī Abhisārikā 6.

It is not so easy, therefore, to set out, and some Abhisārikās may long hesitate
between ‘to go or not to go’.
 a deity dances; a girl sallies forth 3

patir durvañco ’yaṃ vidhur amalino vartma viṣamaṃ

janaś chidrānveṣī praṇayivacanaṃ duṣpariharam |
ataḥ kācit tanvī rativihitasaṃketagataye
gṛhād vāraṃ vāraṃ nirasarad atha prāviśad atha k 109 9
In all three of the great old anthologies,
without attribution: Subhāṣitaratnakoṣa
830, Saduktikarṇāmṛta 776, Sūktimuktāvalī
The Tāṇḍava (2): Cause and Effect abhisārikāpaddhati 4. The last of these
switches the positions of patiḥ and janaḥ,
and reads kulam amalinaṃ, a rather
Śiva’s household includes not only his wife Pārvatī, whom we saw witnessing attractive reading, instead of vidhur
her husband’s Tāṇḍava in the verse from the Meghadūta, but also, for instance, amalino.
their children Gaṇeśa and Skanda, and Śiva’s attendant/chamberlain Nandin (not
identified in old literature with Śiva’s bull). The following verse by Bhavabhūti,
the auspicious opening of his great play Mālatīmādhava, shows the effect on the
household of Śiva’s dance.
sānandaṃ nandihastāhatamurajaravāhūtakaumārabarhi-
trāsān nāsāgrarandhraṃ viśati phaṇipatau bhogasaṃkocabhāji |
gaṇḍoḍḍīnālimālāmukharitakakubhas tāṇḍave śūlapāṇer
vaināyakyaś ciraṃ vo vadanavidhutayaḥ pāntu cītkāravatyaḥ k 1110 10
Bhavabhūti Mālatīmādhava 1.1, with
the readings known to the oldest com-
mentator, Harihara.
The Abhisārikā (2): On the Path

Kāma, the God of Love, may be felt to be the Abhisārikā’s companion and protec-
tor on the road. She is sometimes observed, and sometimes spoken to (usually,
apparently, by a friendly lady, who may offer her advice).
kva prasthitāsi karabhoru ghane niśīthe
prāṇādhiko vasati yatra nijaḥ priyo me |
ekākinī vada kathaṃ na bibheṣi bāle
nanv asti puṅkhitaśaro madanaḥ sahāyaḥ k 1211 11
Subhāṣitaratnakoṣa 816 (Asatīvra-
jyā), Subhāṣitāvalī 1946; Amaruśataka
A very common motif is of snakes encountered on the path, and their resem- Arjunavarmadeva recension 71 =
blance to the Abhisārikā’s anklets (nūpura) is often alluded to. Vemabhūpāla recension 68.

abhisaraṇarasaḥ kṛśāṅgayaṣṭer
ayam aparatra na vīkṣitaḥ śruto vā |
ahim api yad iyam nirāsa nāṅghrer
nibiḍitanūpuram ātmanīnabuddhyā k 1312 Saduktikarṇāmṛta 782 (attributed to
12

Dhūrjaṭi), Sūktimuktāvalī abhisārikāpad-

This is also a theme in paintings of the Abhisārikā (cf., e.g.,
https://arthistoryproject.
dhati 9.
com/artists/nainsukh/heroine-rushing-to-her-lover-abhisarika-nayika/,
where a nūpura, fallen from the Abhisārikā’s ankle, can be seen between the two
white snakes; note that the lightning above also is a parallel to the forms of snake
and anklet).

The Tāṇḍava (3): Like Father, Like Son?

The dance so strongly associated with Śiva is also not infrequently danced by
his elephant-headed son Gaṇeśa. The feeling is a little different, when Gaṇeśa
 a deity dances; a girl sallies forth 4

dances, though. (Śiva’s other son, the war-god Skanda, Kumāra, does not dance
the Tāṇḍava—though his peacock sometimes does its own Tāṇḍava-like dance…)
Three verses from Somadeva’s Kathāsaritsāgara; note how in the first one in-
stead of a violent pressing down, almost a shattering, of the earth, as in, e.g.,
padabharanamitorvī° in verse 3 above, the same word namita, combined with unna-
mita, gives the feeling rather of a gentle swaying of the worlds in harmony with
the dance.

sa vo vighneśvaraḥ pāyān namitonnamiteva yam |

anunṛtyati nṛtyantaṃ saṃdhyāsu bhuvanāvalī k 1413 13
Kathāsaritsāgara 13.1.1.

And in the next two a spotlight is placed on the feature Gaṇeśa has which his
father does not, and which he can make special use of in dancing.

niśi vighnajito vo ’vyāt tāṇḍavoddaṇḍitaḥ karaḥ |

śoṇaś candrātapatrasya tanvan vidrumadaṇḍatām k 1514 14
Kathāsaritsāgara 14.1.2.

niśāsu tāṇḍavoddaṇḍaśuṇḍāsītkāraśīkaraiḥ |
jyotīṃṣi puṣṇann iva vas tamo muṣṇātu vighnajit k 1615 15
Kathāsaritsāgara 15.1.1.

The Abhisārikā (3): The Tryst

Having reached the meeting place successfully, the final and insurmountable ob-
stacle may be that the man does not show up. In the following verse it is not yet
certain whether he will come or not; the Abhisārikā has safely reached the meet-
ing place in a park, but her beloved is late. She falls asleep; the description in the
second half of the verse of what happens then is a striking image which not only
is meant to show how beautiful she is but also has a symbolic meaning/implica-
tion.

ambhojākṣyāḥ puravanalatādhāmni saṃketabhājaś

cetonāthe cirayati bhṛśaṃ mohanidrāṃ gatāyāḥ |
svacchaṃ nābhihradavalayitaṃ kāntaratnāṃśujālaṃ
toyabhrāntyā pibati hariṇī vismayaṃ ca prayāti k 17.16 16
Sūktimuktāvalī abhisārikāpaddhati 13.

And if he does not come at all?

uttiṣṭha dūti yāmo yāmo yātas tathāpi nāyātaḥ |

yātaḥ param api tiṣṭhej jīvitanāśo bhavet tasyāḥ k 1817 17
Sūktimuktāvalī Abhisārikā 15, Sub-
hāṣitāvalī 1940 (Abhisārikā), Padyāvalī
Note that the Subhāṣitāvalī and Padyāvalī transmit the reading jīvitanātho instead of 215 (with attribution to Kaṅka).
jīvitanāśo, and that reading is also known to some Alaṃkāraśāstra authors. It too
is beautiful, giving the verse a different effect.