Apasmara
अपस्मार apasmāraThe dwarf who personifies ignorance and forgetfulness, shown crushed beneath the foot of Shiva. Nataraja dances upon him in the ring of fire; Dakshinamurti merely rests a foot on him, ignorance held down while the silent teaching does its work. Also called Muyalaka in the Tamil tradition.
Where this term appears
- Who is Shiva? Deities
The dwarf is Apasmāra in Sanskrit, Muyalaka in Tamil, the same figure under two names, often read as ignorance or forgetfulness trodden underfoot.
- The Chola Age and the Temple as Institution History
He dances on the back of a small crushed demon, Apasmara, who is ignorance and forgetfulness, and the whole figure stands within a circle of flame that is the universe itself.
- Dakshinamurti: Shiva as the silent guru Deities
This is Apasmara , the demon of forgetfulness, the personification of ignorance itself.