Shiva and the Cosmic Dance

CERN

The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN is a research organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, the organization is based out of Geneva, Switzerland. Many activities at CERN involve the world renowned ‘Large Hadron Collider’ (LHC). In July 2012, CERN scientists announced the discovery of a new sub-atomic particle known as the ‘Higgs boson’. CERN incidentally is also the birthplace of Internet (World Wide Web).

On June 18, 2004, an unusual landmark was unveiled at CERN — a 2m tall statue of Nataraja, the Lord of Dance. The statue, symbolizing Lord Shiva’s cosmic dance was gifted to CERN by the Indian government to celebrate CERN’s long association with India. This deity was chosen by the Indian government as a metaphor that relates the cosmic dance of Nataraja to the modern study of  ‘cosmic dance’ of subatomic particles.

The Lord of Dance

Nataraja is a depiction of Lord Shiva as the cosmic ecstatic dancer. His dance is called Thandavam and the energetic dance is depicted with his whirling hair spreading out in thin strands like a fan behind his head. The two most common forms of Shiva’s dance are the Lasya (the gentle form , associated with the creation of the world, and the Thandava (the vigorous form), associated with the destruction of it. In essence, the Lasya and the Thandava are two aspects of Shiva’s nature – for he destroys in order to create and tears it down to build again.

In choosing the image of Shiva Nataraja, the Indian government acknowledged the profound significance of the metaphor of Shiva’s dance for the cosmic dance of subatomic particles. A special plaque next to the statue explains the significance of this metaphor through quotes from the physicist, Fritjof Capra:

“Hundreds of years ago, Indian artists created visual images of dancing Shivas in a beautiful series of bronzes. In our time, physicists have used the most advanced technology to portray the patterns of the cosmic dance. The metaphor of the cosmic dance thus unifies ancient mythology, religious art and modern physics.”

The Dance

The parallel between Shiva’s dance and the dance of subatomic particles was first discussed by Capra in an article titled “The Dance of Shiva: The Hindu View of Matter in the Light of Modern Physics,” published in 1972. Shiva’s cosmic dance then became a central metaphor in his international bestseller, “The Tao of Physics“, which draws striking parallels between Vedic mythology and modern physics. Present research shows that subatomic particles interact continuously with each other resulting in a flow of energy. Endless energy patterns cause creation and destruction of these particles. Thus, the whole universe is in a constant state of motion or activity – a continuous cosmic dance of energy. From a Hinduism standpoint, the Cosmic Dance of Shiva would mean the ceaseless change and flow of energy throughout the universe thus drawing parallels between religious philosophy and modern science.

Quotes from other Scientists

Not just Capra, but a whole lot of eminent scientists have lent credence to the similarities between science and mystic beliefs when it comes to the interaction of subatomic particles. Some are listed below:

1. Carl Sagan drew the metaphor between the cosmic dance of  Nataraja and the modern study of the ‘cosmic dance’ of subatomic particles.
2.  Heisenberg states, ‘Quantum theory will not look ridiculous to people who have read Vedanta.’
3. Schrodinger in his book, ‘Meine Weltansicht’ quotes a verse from Mundaka Upanishad regarding the Vedic understanding of the interconnectivity of the living entities in the fourth-dimensional continuum.
4. There is an uncanny resemblance of the following quote by Oppenheimer based on Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle to the Bhagavad Gita: 

“If we ask, for instance, whether the position of the electron remains the same, we must say “no”; if we ask whether the position of the electron changes with time, we must say “no”; if we ask whether the electron is at rest, we must say “no”; if we ask whether it is in motion, we must say “no.”

बहिरन्तश्च भूतानामचरं चरमेव च |
सूक्ष्मत्वात्तदविज्ञेयं दूरस्थं चान्तिके च तत् ||13.16||

bahir antaśh cha bhūtānām acharaṁ charam eva cha
sūkṣhmatvāt tad avijñeyaṁ dūra-sthaṁ chāntike cha tat

“He exists outside and inside all living beings, those that are moving and not moving. He is subtle, and hence He is incomprehensible. He is very far, but He is also very near.”

 5. In his book, ‘The World of Elementary particles’, Kenneth Ford says that every subatomic particle goes through this dance of creation and destruction. The term used by Ford is ‘dance’ as the ideas of rhythm and dance automatically come into one’s mind while imagining the flow of energy going through the patterns that make up the modern-world, involving in a continual cosmic dance.

Conclusion

Lord Shiva reminds us of the transient and illusory nature of the universe (Maya) and as he keeps creating and dissolving it in a ceaseless flow of dance just as modern physics which has established that every subatomic particle performs an energy dance that causes a pulsating process of creation and destruction. It is my humble belief that the interaction of science and religion can bring stability to this world which can be free of divisive forces and thus bringing total harmony.

Om Shanthi!

References

https://www.fritjofcapra.net/shivas-cosmic-dance-at-cern/ https://detechter.com/the-scientific-symbolism-of-the-statue-of-shiva-nataraja-at-cern-switzerland/