| abstract | - Shiva Tandava Stotra (शिवताण्डवस्तोत्रम्) is a hymn of praise in the Hindu tradition that describes Shiva's power and beauty. It was sung by the son of Rishi Vishrawas (aka Vishrava), Ravana whose brother is kuber. Both the fourth and fifth quatrains of this hymn conclude with lists of Shiva's epithets as destroyer, even the destroyer of death itself. Alliteration and onomatopoeia create roiling waves of resounding beauty in this example of Hindu devotional poetry. In the final quatrain of the poem, after tiring of rampaging across the Earth, Ravana asks, "When will I be happy?" Because of the intensity of his prayers and ascetic meditation, of which this hymn was an example, Ravana received from Shiva the boon of indestructibility by all powers on heaven and earth — except by a human being. Disdaining the seeming weakness of humans, Ravana abducted the wife of Rama, Lord Vishnu incarnate. India's great epic, the Ramayana, tells the story of this abduction and of the battle between Lord Rama and Ravana which shook the universe.
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