seem to have been made by experts in Hindu religion. In Shiva's main right hand, extended farthest right, is a drum, which is symbolic of the rhythm that represents the passage of time (Zimmer 151). According to Zimmer, this representation of time is consistent with the principle of creation. In the farthest left hand is a flame, which is representative of the destructive principle.
Now it might seem that two opposing forces thus appears to define the whole of experience projected into the world. But the expert interpretations do not stop there. The interior left and right hands appear to represent, not movement pre se, but rather a principle of divine providence. Zimmer (155) interprets the palm-perpendicular right hand as a "fear not" gesture and the palm-down interior left hand as a gesture of the "elephant," or power to make its way through the world according to a divine guidance. It is not clear whether the elephant refers to human or divine power, but the power of the hand, palm down rather than palm up, in supplication, is surely divine and not human.
In the positioning of the feet of Shiva, too, there is symbolic significance. First of all there is the shocking image of the right foot of Shiva crushing a baby. However, it turns out that this "baby" is really a "demon" of inchoate understanding (Coomaraswamy 58ff), which the right foot is attached to just as human material experience is attached to a lack of knowledge. On the other hand (foot), the left foot is projected into the air, which appears to represent the antithesis of humanity's lack of knowledge, or the potentiality for immaterial knowledge, possessed by the soul (Coomaraswamy 59f). The configuration of the left foot and the interior left hand in the restricted space of the statue is undoubtedly consistent with the idea of a connection between divine guidance and the potentiality of the soul. Then there is the sheer muscular control conveyed by the legs, which ...