O Omnipresent, the embodiment of all virtues, the creator of this cosmic universe, the king of dancers, who dances the Ananda Tandava in the twilight, I salute thee.

Sri Adi Sankara, Sivanandalahari 56

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Nataraja (Shiva), Photograph by Wojciech Zabolotny, CERN, Meyrin, Switzerland, 2004.
2. Capra, Fritjof. The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels Between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism. Shambhala Publications, 1975.
   • Modern physics has shown that the rhythm of creation and destruction is not only manifest in the turn of the seasons and in the birth and death of all living creatures, butis also the very essence of inorganic matter. According to quantum field theory, all interactions between the constituents of matter take place through the emission and absorption of virtual particles. More than that, the dance of creation and destruction is the basis of the very existence of matter, since all material particles ‘self-interact’ by emitting and reabsorbing virtual particles. Modern physics has thus revealed that every subatomic particle not only performs an energy dance, but also is an energy dance; a pulsating process of creation and destruction (Capra 244).
3. Coomaraswamy, Ananda K. The Dance of Śiva: Fourteen Indian Essays. Sunwise Turn, 1918.
   • Amongst the greatest of the names of Siva is Nataraja, Lord of Dancers, or King of Actors. The cosmos is His theatre, there are many different steps in His repertory, He Himself is actor and audience —When the Actor beateth the drum. Everybody cometh to see the show; When the Actor collecteth the stage properties He abideth alone in His happiness.