You know about the cultural diversities among the Aryans and the non-Aryans. In the land of the non-Aryans, the instrument by which paddy and other such grains are threshed is called dheṋki in Bengali. According to the system of Aryan civilization, that which is used for threshing is called udukhala.⁽¹⁾ In Hindi, it is kupri. There is no Sanskrit equivalent of dheṋki. Dheṋki is an indigenous expression.

So the Aryans used the term udukhala. One has to strain oneself more while using the udukhala. One has to exert the strength of the hand for threshing. This is not done while using the dheṋki, only the leg is used. In udukhala, one has to thresh using the hands. Particles jump up while the dheṋki is used; so is the case with the udukhala. The rice granules bounce about, and in the course of this jumping, rice is prepared. Rice cannot come out of the paddy without this jumping. So, that whose nature is to jump is called tańd́ula in Sanskrit. Tańd́u + la + da become tańd́ula. The Bengali equivalent of tańd́ula is cául. In contemporary Bengali, it is cál. Cául used to be sold [in the market] during the period of the Mauṋgalkávya.⁽²⁾

In the Mauṋgalkávya, there is a description: One day at noon, on returning from the cremation ground, Shiva said to Párvatii, “Give me rice.” What did Párvatii reply? “Do you ever care to keep track of the supplies? There is nothing, the earthen pot is empty.” Then what did Shiva say?

“Shák nái, shukta nái, vyáiṋjana yadi nái
Cáulo váŕanta tabe phen bhát cái.”

[“Well, if there are no vegetables or other dishes,
And if there is no rice, then give me only rice gruel.”]

Then Párvatii observed, “If there is no rice grain, how can there be cooked rice?” Indeed, how can there be rice gruel (phen bhát) without rice (cául). Shiva retorted, “What is the matter? I received so much rice and pulse as alms; is everything exhausted already?” Then Párvatii explained the reality –

“Bhándárete rákhá chilo páli chay dhán,
Gańesher muśáte karilo jalpán.”

[“We had some six measures of rice in our storeroom,
But the mouse of Gańesha ate them for breakfast.”]

The Bengali word [for dhán, uncooked rice] is cául. How is cául derived? As “that which has been cálá [winnowed] >by a súrpa or kulo [a winnowing basket].” How is it winnowed? First the chaff is separated out, then the khud [small fragments], then the husk; then only does one get cául or cál [uncooked rice]. The word khud is derived from the Sanskrit word kśudra. So, that which is left after being sifted is called cául. In old Bengali it is cául. Anything which has been winnowed [cálá] is called cául. It may not necessarily be rice grains.

Táńd́ava is that which is related to jumping (lamphan). Táńd́ava involves ullamphan. What is the difference between lamphan and ullamphan? Lamphan involves jumping while remaining connected with the earth. One can jump while standing and touching the earth. However, when jumping high, there must be separation from the earth. This is called ́ullamphan’ (ut-lamphan = ullamphan). So what is the táńd́ava dance? Is it ullamphan or lamphan? It is ullamphan.

Sadáshiva introduced the táńd́ava dance. Why did He do that? How did He do it? There are many lymphatic glands and endocrine glands in our body. Hormones secreted from these glands permeate the entire body. The hormones secreted through táńd́ava generate greater manliness and courage in the person. That is why hormones are secreted from the lymphatic glands and greater manliness is produced in those who practise táńd́ava.

Since the practice of táńd́ava stimulates manliness, it is prohibited for women. What are other results that follow? The pineal gland (sahasrára cakra) and pituitary gland (ájiṋácakra) are activated. As a result of this, the memory is enhanced and the brain is strengthened. Cells in the brain are also strengthened. There is no specific exercise for the brain. Táńd́ava is the only exercise for the brain. So considering all these, táńd́ava dance was introduced.

But what do the dancers carry in their hands? Completeness in human life is brought about through struggles and clashes. One who loves struggle, will have to wade through struggles, and one who does not like it, will also have to pass through struggle. One cannot afford to avoid struggle. If someone says, “I do not want to struggle,” it is an impossibility. What shall such a person do when one is hit by a hammer? Then, they will go to those who love struggle and say, “Save me, brother, save me.” Is it not better that while bearing the blows, one prepares oneself to counter the challenges ahead?

If a person has the potential to give a strong counter-blow, what is the point in shying away from encounters? Now, what is the significance of objects which the dancers carry in their hands while doing táńd́ava? They signify, “I am moving ahead, wading through clashes and counter-clashes.” Force can be applied for the collective welfare as and when it is necessary.

There are three pathways in Tantra – dakśiń márga [rightward path], váma márga [leftward path] and madhyama márga [middle path]. In Buddhist philosophy there is neither right nor left path. There is only the middle path (madhyamá márga or madhyam márga). What are the things that find a place in the dancer’s hands? The dancer, may, for instance, hold a human skull in the left hand and a dagger in the right hand. Or in the daytime one may, if one wishes, hold a snake in the left hand. [At night] one may hold a d́ambaru [a small drum shaped like an hourglass] or a mashál [torch] in the right hand. One can recognize everything by the light of a torch and can understand by the sound of a drum. Otherwise at night, neither a skull nor a snake can be recognized. In the left hand, there is the symbol of destruction and death.

How does the individual move ahead? There is Hari on one side and Hara on the other. On the one side there is progress; on the other side there is destruction. While Hara symbolizes destruction, Hari symbolizes creation. The world moves on through the clash of Hari and Hara (Hariharátmaka). A small and beautiful bud appears on a plant.The flower blooms, unfolds itself completely. Till now, there is the sport of Hari. Thereafter the play of Hara begins. The petals wither and fall off, one after the other. As there is creation on the one hand, destruction awaits on the other. Sometimes we die and sometimes we live. The individual has to move ahead through struggles. One has nothing to fear. Why should one fear death? People have to attain immortality by waging war against death. This is our sadhana. Humanity is moving ahead with great speed, with the vigour and power of the Supreme Entity. Why should one yield to any obstruction? Nothing should awaken fear. Even if fear stares one in the face, one must not fear. Having been defeated, the fear will rapidly recede. The God of struggle, Sadáshiva, is the death of death. That is to say, He is as dreadful as death, for death itself.

So the individual has to keep on fighting. A person must continue to fight without any respite. The dagger is the functional symbol of struggle. So wage a vigorous struggle against obstacles that have come or shall come on the path of progress. And what should one have as one’s garment? The tiger skin or a red garment. The tiger skin (vyághracarma) in actuality means mrgacarma [forest-animal skin]. In Sanskrit, mrga means animals that live in the forest. Many think that mrga means only deer. But this is not so. All those animals that live in the forest are called mrga. Monkeys are called shákhámrga because they live on the shákhá [branches] of trees. In olden days kings used to visit the forest for hunting (mrgayá), but not only to hunt the deer. So the animal skin or the red garment means, “I am using it as my cloth by annihilating the brute force.” A red garment means that I am sitting on the mutative force and I am using the mutative quality as my outer clothing. The red colour is indicative of the mutative quality.⁽³⁾

Mrtyu tore dive háná
Váre váre pábi máná,
Ei tor nava varśer ashiirvád
Ei tor rudrer prasád.

[Death will ever haunt you,
You will be forbidden again and again,
For you, let this be the New Year’s blessing,
Let this be the grace of Lord Rudra.]

Footnotes

(1) A mortar used for grinding or husking corn. – Trans.

(2) Poetic works by various thirteenth and fourteenth century poets in Bengal such as Dharmamauṋgal, Candimauṋgal, Annadámauṋgal. – Trans.

(3) The reference about tiger skin has come here in connection with the author’s explanation of a shloka, and in that context he also explained the true meaning of the word mrga. His own teaching regarding garments for táńd́ava dance is to wear an orange garment. –Trans.