dwarf demon Apasmara
E477471
The dwarf demon Apasmara is a mythological figure in Hindu art symbolizing ignorance and spiritual forgetfulness, often depicted being trampled underfoot by the dancing god Shiva in his Nataraja form.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| dwarf demon Apasmara canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T4870899 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: dwarf demon Apasmara Context triple: [Nataraja sculptures, hasKeyElement, dwarf demon Apasmara]
-
A.
Goblin
Goblin is the dark, experimental debut studio album by American rapper and producer Tyler, the Creator, known for its abrasive production and confessional, controversial lyrics.
-
B.
Fiend
Fiend is an American rapper and producer known for his work with No Limit Records in the late 1990s and collaborations with artists like Snoop Dogg.
-
C.
Smargadus
Smargadus was the exarch of Ravenna who commissioned the Column of Phocas in the Roman Forum in the early 7th century.
-
D.
Damballa
Damballa is a major serpent deity in Haitian Vodou, revered as a primordial creator spirit associated with purity, wisdom, and the life-giving forces of water and fertility.
-
E.
Shatana
Shatana is a character from the Nart sagas, the traditional epic cycle of the North Caucasus peoples.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: dwarf demon Apasmara Target entity description: The dwarf demon Apasmara is a mythological figure in Hindu art symbolizing ignorance and spiritual forgetfulness, often depicted being trampled underfoot by the dancing god Shiva in his Nataraja form.
-
A.
Goblin
Goblin is the dark, experimental debut studio album by American rapper and producer Tyler, the Creator, known for its abrasive production and confessional, controversial lyrics.
-
B.
Fiend
Fiend is an American rapper and producer known for his work with No Limit Records in the late 1990s and collaborations with artists like Snoop Dogg.
-
C.
Smargadus
Smargadus was the exarch of Ravenna who commissioned the Column of Phocas in the Roman Forum in the early 7th century.
-
D.
Damballa
Damballa is a major serpent deity in Haitian Vodou, revered as a primordial creator spirit associated with purity, wisdom, and the life-giving forces of water and fertility.
-
E.
Shatana
Shatana is a character from the Nart sagas, the traditional epic cycle of the North Caucasus peoples.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Hindu mythological character
ⓘ
demon ⓘ mythological figure ⓘ |
| appearsIn |
Nataraja iconography
ⓘ
Shaiva temple sculpture ⓘ South Indian bronze images ⓘ |
| artHistoricalPeriod |
Chola bronzes
ⓘ
linked to:
Nataraja sculptures
|
| artHistoricalRegion | Tamil Nadu ⓘ |
| associatedWithDeity | Shiva ⓘ |
| associatedWithFormOfShiva |
Nataraja
ⓘ
linked to:
Nataraja sculptures
|
| bodyPartTrampling | right foot of Shiva ⓘ |
| category |
Hindu legendary creature
ⓘ
demon in Hindu art ⓘ |
| culture | Indian ⓘ |
| depictedAs |
dwarf
ⓘ
dwarf demon ⓘ |
| depictedWithBodyFeatures |
dwarfish body
ⓘ
short limbs ⓘ |
| depictedWithExpression |
contorted face
ⓘ
fear or pain ⓘ |
| didacticMeaning | spiritual practice must keep ignorance underfoot ⓘ |
| etymology |
Sanskrit term connoting epilepsy or fits
ⓘ
Sanskrit term related to loss of memory ⓘ |
| functionInMyth | to show triumph of knowledge over ignorance ⓘ |
| functionInRitualContext | didactic symbol rather than worshipped deity ⓘ |
| hasGender | male ⓘ |
| iconographicLocation | beneath Shiva’s dancing foot ⓘ |
| opposedBy |
Shiva’s cosmic dance
ⓘ
linked to:
Ananda Tandava Stotra
|
| portrayedInMedium |
metal sculpture
ⓘ
paintings ⓘ stone sculpture ⓘ temple reliefs ⓘ |
| relatedConcept |
avidya
ⓘ
maya ⓘ |
| relationshipToShiva | subjugated foe ⓘ |
| religion | Hinduism ⓘ |
| roleInIconography |
obstacle to spiritual knowledge
ⓘ
personification of ignorance ⓘ subdued ego ⓘ |
| statusInMyth | eternally subdued but not annihilated ⓘ |
| symbolizes |
ignorance
ⓘ
nescience ⓘ oblivion of the true Self ⓘ spiritual forgetfulness ⓘ |
| trampledBy |
Nataraja
ⓘ
linked to:
Nataraja sculptures
Shiva ⓘ |
| typicalPoseInArt | lying under the foot of Shiva ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: dwarf demon Apasmara Description of subject: The dwarf demon Apasmara is a mythological figure in Hindu art symbolizing ignorance and spiritual forgetfulness, often depicted being trampled underfoot by the dancing god Shiva in his Nataraja form.
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.