Hindu Mythology

Lesson 8: Purposes of Mythology

Justify a Culture's Activities

“Myths justify a culture's activities. Through their authoritativeness and the respected characters within them, myths establish a culture's customs, rituals, religious tenets, laws, social structures, power hierarchies, territorial claims, arts and crafts, holidays and other recurring events, and technical tips for hunting, warfare, and other endeavors.”

Hindu culture places a lot of emphasis on proper care of guests. In fact the most quoted dictum in this regard is “A guest is God”. Hindu mythology is peppered with instances that reveal various facets of the guest-host relationship.

During Yudhishthir’s coronation, Krishna took up the task of receiving the guests. He personally washed their feet as they arrived at Indraprastha. Years later when Sudama, a childhood friend and now a pauper, came to Dwarka, Krishna made his wives attend to him in order to make them appreciate the importance of this task. A guest is a guest whether a king or a pauper.

Some times Gods or demi-Gods would disguise themselves and appear as guests in order to test the host. This happened to Anasuya, the wife of sage Atri. The Gods, Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma waited till Atri went on a long journey and approached Anasuya's home disguised as mendicants. They said that they were brahmins from out of town in need of food and were directed to her house. Just as Anasuya was about to offer food to them one of them said that they do not accept donations from anyone who is clothed. Hence she would have to disrobe before giving the offerings. Anasuya immediately realised that she was being tested by someone powerful. If she refused she would incur the sin of sending brahmins away from her home empty-handed. She summoned all the merits that she had accumulated and chanted a mantra. Immediately the three Gods were turned into crawling infants. One by one she suckled them. She had met the condition without harming her fidelity.

The sage Durvasa was a much-feared guest. He had a violent temper and was quick to throw curses. Hence when he turned up at Draupadi’s door during the Pandavas' exile, she was troubled. Draupadi at that time had a magic vessel that would produce as much food as required till it was washed. It would then produce food at the next mealtime.

Unfortunately when Durvasa arrived Draupadi had just washed the vessel. Durvasa told her that he was going to bathe in the river and on his return he expected a full meal. To turn away a guest and that too a brahmin was unthinkable, and when the brahmin was Durvasa it made things worse. As usual Krishna came to the rescue. He called for the vessel and noticed that a grain of rice was still sticking to it. He ate the grain and immediately Durvasa’s stomach was full. The sage quickly finished bathing and went his way without saying a word to Draupadi.

The guest also had certain obligations towards the host. Madri’s brother, the maternal uncle of the two younger Pandavas, was coming to Kurukshetra to join the Pandavas in the war. Inadvertently he availed of Duryodhana’s hospitality on the way. He thanked Duryodhana and asked how he could return the favour. Duryodhana asked him to fight on his side. In order to fulfil his obligations as a guest, Madri’s brother fought against the Pandavas who were very dear to him.

Optional Exercises

4a. Read about Sudama from Krishna: The Beautiful Legend of God on page 338.

4b. Read about Anasuya at the following site.
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/myth...

4c. Proper courtesy to guests is not unique to Hindu mythology. Can you locate instances from other mythologies/cultures?

4d. Browse through the texts and web sites and locate other examples that demonstrate that Hindu mythology fulfils this purpose.

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