Nataraj

Nataraj Nataraja Jay Shiva Shankara Nataraja
Shivaraj Shivaraja Shambo Shankara Shivaraja
Om Namah Shivaya Namah Shivaya

Lord Shiva - is the cosmic energy of change and transformation, the fire that burns away all that stands between us and freedom. He is the absolute pure consciousness, the embodiment of auspiciousness. He is know as the Lord of time, of dreams, of the unconscious mind, of ghosts, of death. He is the exhale that creates room for the inhale. He is destruction that opens up the way for rebirth. Creation, preservation, and destruction happening every moment ... When we sing to Shiva, we offer ourselves to Him to be cleansed, purified, transformed, liberated. We offer our sense of separateness, our ego driven self-will to the will of the divine.

Nataraj/Nataraja - means Lord or King (raja) of the dance (nata). This is an epithet of Shiva, referring to his tandava, his ferocious dance of fury which causes the entire world to crumble to dust. This is the auspicious and sometimes frightening clearing away of the old to make way for the creation of the new.

Shivaraj/Shivaraja - means Lord or King Shiva.

Shankara - is the epithet of Shiva, meaning "the annihilator."

Shambo - is another epithet of Shiva.

Om - is the cosmic sound, the scared syllable, the core sound of creation, preservation, and destruction.

Namah Shivaya - is translated as: I bow to; I surrender to, I honor; I offer myself unto Shiva, the great Lord of yogis and of transformation; the indwelling higher Self.

(Written by Jai Uttal)