Like poetry, like art, like a dance, they create the Universe!

It is a well known fact that Shiva is honoured as a great dancer. In fact the ancient rishis of southern India named Him Nataraja, King of the dance. And till today, we find beautiful depictions of Shiva Nataraja in the chola bronze statues of Tamil Nadu.
It's interesting to know that up in the North, the Shaivite rishis of Kashmir also have a very interesting understanding:
They do not believe that God creates the world like a mathematician, out of a calculation,
rather He creates it like poetry, like art, with his Shakti, out of Divine ecstasy.
God creates not because He has a need to create , but because He is overflowing with aesthetic rapture, He is Overflowing with Ananda, and now He wishes to scatter this around an entire Universe. And that is the art of His great dance. We know that in a dance, there is a whole sequence,and this sequence is made up of steps. Step by step we move into a higher crescendo of the dance.
If you take a look at this beautiful pic,you will get the feel of that same understanding: Lord Shiva and Devi Parvati  dance out the rhythm of the entire Universe. They are the creators, the parents of all life. His is the robust Tandava whilst hers is the gentle lasya. Incidentally the Tandava is also of several types.This one, which generates the Universe out of Shiva's Ananda, is called simply 'Ananda Tandava'
Aum namah Shivaya! Jai Jag Janani!
Read more in  SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller.
Available on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B017ECI6CU
and for INDIA exclusively:
https://www.amazon.in/dp/B017ECI6CU