Apasmara

Apasmara, clutching a cobra and trampled beneath the foot of Nataraja (Shiva as lord of dance).

Apasmara (Sanskrit: अपस्मार, IAST: Apasmāra) is a dwarf who represents spiritual ignorance and nonsensical speech in Hindu mythology. He is also known as Muyalaka or Muyalakan.

Etymology and medical application of name

The suffix smāra (from smaranam – 'utterances' or 'memorization') signifies 'memory', not 'speech'. The compound apasmāra means 'loss of memory/dementia/amnesia', 'gibberish', that is, nonsensical or unintelligible speech or ego (Ahamkara). The Ayurvedic disease concept 'Apasmara' (see below) referred to certain neurological disorders having such memory loss (not speech) as a symptom, but, given the absence, at the time, of such modern adjuncts to diagnosis as brain-scanning, it is hard now to determine with any exactitude what all these may have been.

Hinduism

Nataraja dancing the cosmic dance of creation, destruction and moksha (ultimate liberation) upon the prone body of Apasmara, the dwarf demon of avidya (ignorance or lack of spiritual insight) – Chola bronze, Musée Guimet.

To preserve knowledge in the world, Apasmara must be subdued, not killed, as to do so would disturb the necessary balance between spiritual knowledge and ignorance. Killing Apasmara would symbolise the attainment of knowledge without the (essential) effort, dedication and hard work involved, and this would lead to the devaluing of knowledge in all its forms. To subdue Apasmara, Shiva adopted the form of Nataraja – the Lord of Dance – and performed the cosmic dance of tāṇḍava. During this dance, Nataraja suppressed Apasmara by crushing him with his right foot. As Apasmara is one of the few demons destined to immortality, it is believed that Shiva forever remains in his Nataraja form suppressing Apasmara for eternity.

Nataraja's right foot is planted squarely on a horrible little subhuman creature - the demon, Muyalaka. A dwarf, but immensely powerful in his malignity, Muyalaka is the embodiment of ignorance, the manifestation of greedy, possessive selfhood. Stamp on him, break his back! And that's precisely what Nataraja is doing. Trampling the little monster down under his right foot. But notice that it isn't at this trampling foot that he points his finger; it's at the left foot, the foot that, as he dances, he's in the act of raising from the ground. And why does he point at it? Why? That lifted foot, that dancing defiance of the force of gravity - it's the symbol of release, of moksha, of liberation.

This mythological dwarf is generally depicted with his hand in the Añjali Mudrā. He is often depicted in this posture in depictions of Nataraja.

Apasmara is also visible in depictions of Dakshinamurti, another form of Shiva as a guru who imparts wisdom of the shastras to sages. The representation of Apasmara with Dakshinamurti is very similar to that of it being associated with Nataraja, with it being crushed by the right foot and having to be subdued.

Disease concept in Ayurveda

The concept of Apasmara in Āyurveda relates to a group of neurological disorders, one of which may be identified as epilepsy: according to Maharṣi Caraka, there are 4 types of apasmāra. These 4 types of apasmara are Vataja, Pitaja, Kapahaja and Sannipataja.These can be related to conditions associated with loss of memory like amnesia and dementia or temporal lobe epilepsy with fugue states or hysteria. Charakhas instituted this classification depending upon the different doshas of the body.

See also

• Ātman (Hinduism)
• Hindu philosophy
• Mysticism
• Temporal lobe epilepsy
• Geschwind syndrome

Sources

• Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend (ISBN 0-500-51088-1) by Anna Dallapiccola