Do not be afraid

One hand beats the drum whose sound is creation; one hand holds the fire that ends the world; and one hand is raised, palm out, in abhaya, the gesture that means: do not be afraid.

The Nataraja is one of the strangest objects in religious art. Shiva dances the tandava, the dance that ends the universe, ringed in flame, on the back of the demon of ignorance. And one hand, the one that should be most terrifying, is held up in the gesture every Indian child knows: abhaya. Fear not.

That is the joke, and it is a kind one. The reassurance is built into the act of destruction itself, not offered afterwards. Watts adds the last turn: as Shiva leaves the stage with the world in ruin, the scene changes with his turning, and everything is remade under cover of its destruction. Read this with Kali from the fifth course in mind. She was the dark, faced. This is the dark, dancing, and telling you with one hand not to be afraid of the other two.