Hindu Mythology

Lesson 8: Purposes of Mythology

Meaning to Life

“Myths give meaning to life. We transcend our common life into a world in which deities interact with humans, and we can believe that our daily actions are part of the deities' grand schemes. In our difficulties, the pain is more bearable because we believe that the trials have meaning; we are suffering for a bigger cause rather than being battered randomly. And when we read that a particular deity experienced something which we are now enduring -- perhaps a struggle against "evil forces" -- we can feel that our own struggle might have a similar cosmic or archetypal significance, though on a smaller scale.”

If one looks at an individual’s life in isolation it appears to be devoid of any long-term significance. Even the continuous activity of procreation seems devoid of a divine or philosophical basis. Couples have children because it gives them pleasure to look after someone as their parents looked after them. Each society has tried to infuse meaning to life in its own way. Hindu philosophy has advocated the Law of Karma discussed earlier and mythology has exemplified it. Some instances were discussed earlier but I have saved my favourite for the last.

Once upon a time there was a brahmin who was well read and well respected in society. He had accumulated sufficient wealth and was happy in all respects. Then he got infatuated with a prostitute. He began to spend more time with her, neglecting his work and family. When he had squandered all his wealth on her, the woman turned him away. He was not only destitute but also diseased. His wife, who had stayed with him all along, began to nurse him back to health. He however could not forget the prostitute and hated his wife. One day he bit off her finger and choked to death on it.

Because of his bad karma the man was born in a family of thieves in his next life. He grew up to be a highway robber. One day he accosted a brahmin and took from him everything he had except for the dhoti the brahmin wore around his waist. The ground was hot and the brahmin begged for his sandals but the robber refused. After going a short distance the brahmin could no longer bear the heat and took off his dhoti and wrapped it around his feet. The robber who was watching the brahmin rushed to him and returned the sandals. In his previous life, before meeting the prostitute, the man had done many good deeds and those deeds manifested themselves in his act of returning the footwear.

In the next life the man was abandoned at birth and brought up by a hunter. As a brahmin he had failed to do what was expected of him hence there was a sharp drop in his position. But as a thief he did what was expected of him, with an occasional good deed thrown in. This occasional good deed earned him a slightly better position of a hunter. For a long time he subsisted by hunting. After marriage his family grew very fast – eight children and the ninth on the way. Hunting no longer provided him with the required means. Hence he took up highway robbery. One day he met the seven sages and asked them to hand over all their valuables. On being asked he told the sages that he was doing all this for his family. The sages asked him whether his family would share his sins as well. The robber went to his family and to his surprise he found that they were not prepared to share his sins. On advise of the sages this man performed sever penances and we today know him as sage Valmiki, the author of the Ramayana.

The isolated lives of the brahmin and the thief and the hunter (till he met the seven sages) do not amount to much, but the conjunction of the three points to a grand design. There undoubtedly will be unanswered questions but a picture, even if nebulous, is beginning to emerge.

Optional Exercises

5a. Read about Valmiki from ‘The Indian Epics Retold’ on page 509.

5b. Browse through the texts and web sites and locate other examples that demonstrate that Hindu mythology fulfils this purpose.

  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8