Hindu Mythology
In simple terms, the study of myths can be defined as the Mythology but in common parlance, the term all encompasses the tales and narratives usually associated with the supernatural powers, gods and goddesses, prophets, and even the legendary kings, warriors and saints, etc. in the ancient literature of civilizations, associated with their cultures and religions. They usually cater to explain certain natural phenomenon, beliefs, morality and ethics essentially to educate and apprise people about their age-old culture and traditions. Myth as such is usually explained as a genre of oral storytelling, folklore or recorded text, which have a fundamental role in the shaping and regulating socio-cultural and socio-religious conduct of the society concerned. The character or events associated described in the mythology may not necessarily be true although they are closely linked with the concerned culture and religion, and so often equally endorsed by both the influential religious as well as temporal authorities
Mythology is an important part of all cultures and religions, including those that came in existence much later with a history of just two millennia or less, and are essentially monotheistic in nature. Some scholars also explain mythology as the science that investigates myths and fables, or even legends, associated with the tales and narratives of the past events. Traditionally, mythical events are mixed up with the history in many cases, at times rendering the latter unbelievable over a period of time as it becomes a difficult task to differentiate the actual history from the mythology. In Indian civilization, currently recognized as the oldest surviving culture and religion, the high subtle ideas and abstract moral teachings have been more popularly imparted to the common people through the ancient texts of Hindu Puranas and Epics by means of the stories, fables, parables, allegories and narratives.
In fact, the sublime and abstract philosophical concepts and ideals of the scriptures like Vedas and Upanishads in Hinduism are best explained through such narratives and tales in the Puranas, Epics and some secular literature. The author intends to briefly explore the mythological part from the long history of the Hinduism.
Myths, Legends and Fables
Traditionally, this genre of literature has been popularly used since ancient times not only to depict Hindu culture and religion but also in all other parts of the world largely illustrating and glorifying the cultural and socio-religious legacy as well as moral and ethical ethos. It exists in both the verse and prose forms as succinct real or fictional stories chiefly featuring legendary deities, kings, supernatural creatures, animals, plants, and even inanimate objects or forces of nature generally carrying universal moral or even specific philosophical appeal and inference at the end. Hindu myths and legends usually represent stories and beliefs comprising of human and/or divine characters often with a teller and listener(s) encompassing certain span of the human history while fables mostly carry the narratives of animals and birds, at times in combination with human beings, invariably with ethical overtone deriving a moral lesson.
While there is a general tendency to interchangeably use these terms in the same context but there seems to be a fine distinction between them. Myths and legends represent tales that have been passed down through ages and generations via oral storytelling and recorded at some point of time in the human history. On the other hand, the fables may feature animals or even other animate and inanimate objects of nature including humans, more essentially in the latter’s speech. A legend is usually an illustrated account of the real people, places, and incidents of the past although with no means to verify or judge their authenticity in many cases. Legends often contain narratives to an extent that the concerned characters or events take a ‘larger than life’ shape with or without any explicit lesson. In contrast, fables are essentially imaginary with inclination to derive a certain moral or ethical lesson at the end in a simple manner.
As already mentioned in the opening paras, in contrast, the characters or events associated with the animate objects may not necessarily be true, and are so often fictional, despite their close link with the relevant culture and religion, and endorsement by the influential religious as well as temporal authorities. In common parlance, people tend to mix up legends and myths and loosely use the same jargon to describe both genre of literature. However, in stricter sense myths and legends do not fall on the same footings, and have a fine distinction between the two. To sum it up, the legends are mostly real-life characters and events that indeed existed or occurred but owing to interpolations, addition of Adbhut Rasa, and distortion of facts leading to exaggerations with the passage of time, they appear incredible to individuals or category of people. On the contrary, the mythical characters or events are purely fictional and do not represent real life characters and events, though it may appear so in literature due to the plot, storyline and events.
Mythology in Hindu Scriptures and Secular Texts
Being the world’s oldest surviving culture and religion, Hinduism is particularly rich in scriptures and other literary treasures, of which Puranas and Epics particularly contain many mythical tales as main story. As a matter of fact, the ancient India has been richest in so far its literature on myths, legends and fables is concerned with numerous scriptural and secular texts created and composed since the post-Vedic age. Mythical tales traditionally relate to certain entity or a set of entities involving hero(es) or event(s), with or without a determinable basis of facts or a natural explanation, often depicting supernatural entities like deities, demigods or even bizarre creatures like demons, ghosts and creature mix of man-animals. The genre of fables and parables in the ancient Indian literature is distinct in that the conversation and dialogues are often found longish and usually the humans are not shown superior to other actors (i.e. animals, plants and inanimate objects) and they are often found taking their guidance and assistance for achieving their objective.
In mythical stories of Puranas and Epics, heroes, both men and divine, often engage in fierce conflicts and wars with the evil forces with the former prevailing upon the latter symbolizing both corporeal and moral victory for the good over the evil. Nonetheless such tales are not merely restricted to the aforesaid genre of the Hindu texts; instead, a lot of literature in the secular category too falls under the mythical or fictional category. The common and popular ancient tales like the “Vetala Panchavimshati or Betal Pachisi”, “Singhasan Battisi”, etc., and books on ancient mythical themes of the Ramayana era and Mahabharata era, and even previous age, have been written by authors in the modern age. Among the wide range of fictional tales, the fables and parables too play an important role and the mention of this genre of vintage literature would remain incomplete if Vishnu Sharma’s Panchatantra, Narayan Sharma’s Hitopadesh, and Jataka Tales (Buddhist literature) are not specifically acknowledged, which are far more elaborate and likely of the old BCE vintage.
Unlike fables and parables, which are mostly simple short fictional stories, deriving moral lesson at the end, the mythical and legendary tales are often created at much larger canvas with many characters and events. Such mythical tales are often characterized with extraordinary beings and extraordinary challenges with the protagonists to think creative with strategic planning, and face great challenges and tasks to defeat the evil force(s) thereby providing readers a sense of justice, satisfaction and moral victory of good in the natural world. Needless to say, they serve much more purpose than being mere stories in material, moral and spiritual sense, and probably this is the reason why people in all parts of the world and irrespective of their age, love to read the literature depicting the stories of supernatural strength in the face of adversity and tend to follow or even adore such heroes, fictional or real. Sometimes, such supernatural strength and extraordinary characters are mixed with the real historical and legendary characters rendering such legends incredible and two all time greatest Indian epics viz. Sage Valmiki’s Ramayana and Sage Vedavyasa’s Mahabharata fall under this category.
The ancient Indian texts comprising of the Puranas and Epics largely represent historical literature giving illustrated and ample account of the chronology and genealogy of the Hindu civilization including its cultural and religious traditions. There are 18 Major Puranas (Mukhya Puranas) and 18 Minor Puranas, which together with 2 Major Epics (the Ramayana & Mahabharata) constitute the ancient Indian history mixed with inter-mixed mythical elements on the diverse subjects such as the cosmology, cosmogony, genealogy of the kings, queens, sages (male & females), gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines, as also including such topics as the folktales, temples, pilgrimage, astronomy, medicine, theology, philosophy, grammar, minerology, love stories, humour, etc. Due to many interpolations and exaggerations in the narratives of literature of this genre in the later period have contributed to the perceptions of the historical legends as being the historico-mythological legends. Hence typically the Western historians and Indologists since the colonial period tend to dismiss almost entire Hindu history of pre-Christ era as a fictional account, which is also so endorsed by many Indian leftist historians with the Marxist leanings.
The legends of King Sri Ramchandra of the Solar Dynasty (Raghu or Surya Vansh) and Yadava King Shree Krishna of Lunar Dynasty (Chandra Vansh) are brilliant examples of the historico-mythological legends. From the available literary, archaeological and other evidences, it is pretty clear that these iconic kings indeed existed in the pedigree of the ancient Indian Solar and Lunar dynasties respectively despite difference of opinion among the historians and scholars about their exact chronology. In this context, it is worthwhile to briefly mention Sri Ramchandra’s (also referred to as Raghava, Sri Ram, Rama etc.) legacy for illustration. The Western historians, Indian leftists and a small section of people treat him as a mythical entity. On the other hand, the Indian traditional historians & scholars, and a large section of Hindu populace worldwide accept him as a real entity and an incarnation of the god Vishnu.
The original account of Sri Ram’s birth and life events have been described in Sage Valmiki’s Ramayana, many Puranas including the Vishnu Purana and Bhagvata Purana, and dozens of other texts, including the contemporary Buddhist and Jain literature, albeit with some variation. The Hindu masses worship him and his birth Ram Navami worldwide, falling on the 9th day of Shukla Paksha of the lunar cycle of Chaitra of Hindu Calendaryear. The cultural and religious influence of Sri Ram is not limited to South Asia but it is widespread and acknowledged in larger part of the Southeast Asia too, including the countries of Java, Bali, Malaya, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. It’s obvious, that extraordinary features and events have been added in different Ramayanas and related tales of the historical legend King Sri Ramchandra rendering it incredible to appear like a historico-mythological legend or a mythical icon. For illustration, his army is depicted as comprised of Vanaras (apes & monkeys) in war with the Lanka King Ravana in many accounts, which, it’s more likely, might have been raised out of the tribal population known as Vanaras with the support of their King Sugriva. Similarly, the alleged ten heads of Ravana are explained as his ten major negative attributes by many scholars.
The Puranas and Epics are a sort of encyclopedic texts of the ancient Indian literature encompassing wide range of subjects including the theology, philosophy, genealogy of gods, heroes, sages and kings of solar and lunar dynasties, cosmogony, cosmology, mythology, Manvantaras (cosmic cycle), astronomy, and many other subjects. The eighteen Mahapuranas are the Vishnu Purana, Bhagavata Purana, Naradeya Purana, Garuda Purana, Padma Purana, Varaha Purana, Brahmanda Purana, Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Markandeya Purana, Vayu Purana, Vamana Purana, Brahma Purana, Matsya Purana, Kurma Purana, Linga Purana, Shiva Purana, Skanda Purana and Agni Purana. Of them, the Bhagvata and Vishnu Puranas are among the most ancient and more followed texts, which among other things attach great significance to the religion through Bhakti-yoga. Then, there are a large number of secondary puranic texts categorized as Upapuranas (Minor Puranas) comprised of somewhat similar historico-mythological content too. Of them, a list of eighteen more important Upapuranas has been drawn by the historians & scholars describing the legendary and mythical tales of the Vedic and post-Vedic age. The other important scriptural texts include Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Upavedas, Vedangas, Darshana Shastras, etc., mostly composed in the post-Vedic age.
Apart from the foregoing literature on scripture and Itihasa categories, the ancient Hindu literature is also comprised of a rich legacy of variety texts falling under the nomenclatures of Prakarana Granthas (secular scriptures), Subhashitas, Kavyas, Natakas and Alankaras, which also serve as a rich source of both legendary and mythical tales. The Prakarana Granthas serve as the primers for the spiritual studies and experiences, and the representative examples of such classical writings are Atma Bodha and Bhaja Govindam. The Subhashitas are a category of secular literature in Hinduism in the form of stories, instructions and sayings. Bhartrihari’s Satakatraya, Somadeva Bhatta’s Katha-Sarit-Sagara and Kshemendra’s Brihat-Katha-Manjari fall in this category. Then Kavyas are scholarly compositions by several ancient writers in India. The classical examples of Kavyas are Kumara-sambhava, Raghuvamsha and Meghadutam composed by Kalidasa; of these first two are categorized as Mahakavyas.
Good illustrations of famous prose Kavyas are Banabhatta’s Kadambari and Harshacharita. Among the best known Natakas (Dramas) are Abhijnana-Shakuntalam written by Kalidasa, Uttara-Rama-Charita by Bhavabhuti and Mudrarakshasa by Visakhadatta. In Sanskrit literature, the Alankaras were the compositions of great eloquence and elegance containing ornamental language both in poetry and prose, and the Kavyaprakasa by Mammata and Rasagangadhara by Jagannatha could be cited amongst the best Alankara Granthas ever written. Many of the aforesaid literary pieces fall under either under historico-mythological or mythological literature.
Actually, there is a long list of scholars and authors belonging to the ancient India and it is not possible to draw out a complete list of authors and their works/books here. However, just to further give a feel of richness of the ancient (Sanskrit) literature, few important authors and their one representative work is cited here: Bharat Muni (Natyashastra), Bhasa (Svapnavasavadattam), Vishnu Sharma (Panchatantra), Narayan Sharma (Hitopdesha), Vilhana (Vikramankadeva Charita), Dandi (Dashakumaracharita), Ashvaghosa (Sharikaputraprakaran ), Bhavabhuti (Malatimadhava ), Shri Harsha (Ratnavali), Rajashekhara (Baal Ramayana), Krishnamishra (Pravodha Chandradaya ), Vishakhadutta (Mudrarakshasa ), Bhattanarayana (Veni Sanhar), Shudraka (Mudrarakshasa; his real name was Indranigupta), Shaktibhadra (Ashcharya Chudamani), Vatsa Raj (Tripurdah), Damodara Mishra (Mahanataka), Gunadya (Brihatakatha), Vallal Sen (Bhoja Pravanddha), Buddhasvami (Vrihat Katha Sholka Sangraha), Ashvaghosa (Buddha Charita), Kshemendra (Ramayanamanjari), Hemchandra (Kumarpal Charita), Jaydeva (Gitagovinda), Dhoyi (Pavandoot), Vatsyayana (Kamasutra), Bharavi (Kiratarjuniya), Varahamihira (Surya Siddhanta), Trivikrambhatta (Nalchampu), Narayana (Subhadraharana), etc.
The majority of ancient Hindu literary works are written in Sanskrit language. According to Swami Shivananda, Divine Life Society, Rishikesh, the most of literature falls into six orthodox and four secular sections. Of this, the orthodox section constitutes the authoritative scriptures of the Hindus while the secular section embodies the later writings in the classical Sanskrit literature. The six orthodox scriptural literatures are Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, Itihasas, Agamas and Darsanas while four secular writings are represented by Subhashitas, Kavyas, Natakas and Alankaras; the examples of which are illustrated in the foregoing paragraphs. During the centuries of Islamic rule in major parts of India in previous millennium, repeated attempts were made to destroy thousands of manuscripts in the public and institutional libraries and Hindu homes. Similarly, during the colonial British rule, systematic attempts were made for the promotion of McCauley’s education by constantly ignoring and dismissing ancient Hindu writing as being full of ignorance and untruth. Many traditional Indian historians have systematically tried to revisit and reinvent historical jewels as recorded in the Vedic corpus, Itihasa texts (Epics, Puranas), Buddhist and Jain literature, Sanskrit and Prakrit poetic literature, regional accounts, inscriptions, Vamsavalis, monastic chronicles, traditional myths and legends, etc.
Chief Elements of the Hindu Mythology
Broadly, the mythology incorporates deeply valued accounts explaining the civilizational existence in the world order which inter alia includes narratives and tales of the creation, origins and foundations, their deities (gods and goddesses), super-human and human heroes (kings, sages and warriors) as well as mankind’s relation to the “divine”, including the narrative or concept of the life after death. The Hindu mythology too broadly conforms to the aforesaid standards with several sacred and remarkable tales and narratives in the scriptural and secular texts. Here the author proposes to briefly outline such important elements of the Hindu mythology under the headings of the cosmogony & cosmology, deities and afterlife.
1. Hindu Cosmogony and Cosmology
The two terms under reference derived from the Greek words kosmos (world), logia (study of) and gonos (creation), relate to the study of universe with different focus. In a nutshell, the cosmology includes the study of its origin, evolution, structure, historical aspects and future while the cosmogony addresses only the origin and evolution, or even only a particular part such as the solar system or the earth-moon relation. So far as the origin and creation of the world is concerned, scientifically, this author has not encountered a better explanation elsewhere than what is given in the Nasadiya Sukta (Rigveda 10:129), also known as the Hymn of Creation, which while narrating the plausibility of the sequence of events of the origin of world, so rightly concludes that probably no one knows about the reality of this great cosmic mystery.
However, in the Puranic text Brahma is described as the creator god associated with the creation, who actually propagated life within the world. God Brahma is part of the Trimurti of gods, the other two being god Vishnu and god Shiva associated with the preservation and withdrawal (destruction) respectively. In a story in Garuda Purana, initially, the universe was nothing but the formless Brahman and an expanse of water, in which Vishnu emerged from the Hiranyagarbha (golden egg), or universal womb, and created Brahma with four faces, corresponding to four vedas. Brahma then created devas and asuras followed by manushas (humans). All other creatures and vegetation were created in due course from his various body parts. Some other Puranas too narrate similar incredible narratives with some variations, some with the story of Manu (king, husband), Shatarupa (also Shatarupta as queen, wife), and the rishi Kashyapa.
Like most of the civilizations, lost and surviving, of the world, the Hindu mythology too suggests that the cosmos is divided into multiple realms or lokas, the three chief lokas being the Svarga loka, Bhumi or Prithvi loka and Patala loka, corresponding to the living realms of the Devas (gods), humans & other mortals, and Asuras (demons) respectively. Unlike the other main religions or belief systems in the world, the Hinduism is neither prophetic nor dogmatic; instead, it is like an ocean of scriptural and secular knowledge and concepts. Accordingly, the main difference between the Indian mythological tales and narratives in contrast to other mythologies around the world stems from the fact that here generally such tales and narratives are not linear in nature. Therefore, many characters, including key players, feature in different texts with varying description and timelines thereby culminating to a complex and interconnected series or web of tales and narratives. However, one commonality is observed in all ancient and later age cultures and religions that mythology and history are invariably mixed making the latter’s credibility pretty difficult and doubtful.
Within the overall scope and reach of three realms of Svarga (heaven), Bhumi (earth) and Patala (netherworld), a few more popular terms of the Hindu cosmology are briefly mentioned as follows:
- Satyaloka is the abode of the creator god Brahma
- Vaikuntha is the abode of the preserver or sustainer god Vishnu and goddess Lakshmi
- Kailasha is the abode of the destroyer god Shiva, goddess Parvati, and their family including sons god Kartikeya and god Ganesha
- Goloka is the final abode of the god Krishna and beloved Radha
- Bhumi is the Hindu (in Sanskrit) name of the earth
- Hiranyagarbha is the golden egg or universal womb, an original source of creation.
- Svarga (heaven) and Naraka (hell), each with several layers within, are also used in the context of afterlife for the karma-based reward and damnation of the soul respectively.
2. Hindu Deities
In Hinduism, different scholars and schools of philosophy have put forth varying concepts of the God and His connection with the living and non-living world, the most popular with greater acceptance one is that of the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta which endorses the monotheism with monism. Formless God is described as Brahman in the very first and oldest Hindu scripture Rigveda with His attributes as absolute, eternal, indescribable, inexhaustible, incorporeal, omniscient, omnipresent, original, both transcendent and immanent, infinite in existence, and the ultimate entity without a beginning and end. In Hinduism, Brahman is also addressed with the names like Bhagwan, Ishvara, Parameshvara, Parmatama, Sachchidananda, and so on. During the Vedic age, Hindus worshipped essentially 33 natural deities, considered as various aspects of Brahman only, for their safety and well-being.
Some of these important deities (gods and goddesses) of the Hindu mythology are briefly listed here.
- Vishnu is the god of preservation with Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, as his consort. One of the major sects of Hinduism, Vaishnavas, has a large following among Hindus, known for his Dashavatara, of which Sri Ramchandra and Shree Krishna (historico-mythological entities) are considered as 7th and 8th avatars. Both the aforesaid deities have a large following among Hindus worldwide.
- Shiva is the god of withdrawal (destruction) with goddess Parvati (representing Shakti) as his consort, and their sons Ganesha as the god of auspiciousness and Kartikeya (Murugan) as the god of victory & war. Shaivite is another major sect of Hinduism with a large following of the god Shiva.
- Brahma is the god of creation with Saraswati goddess of wisdom as his consort.
- Mahadevi or Shakti is the chief deity of the adherents of Shaktism. She is the goddess of power and war, worshipped and remembered in various names, including Durga, Devi, Kali, Bhairvi, etc.
- Hanuman – the monkey god, known as highest devotee of Sri Ram and venerated for his ability to remove all obstacles and difficulties of devotees, and who also wards off the evil spirits and omen.
Apart from the aforesaid gods and goddess, a host of other devas and deities include Indra, the king of devas and svarga; Agni – the god of fire; Rudra – the god of storms; Varuna – the god of ocean & water; Vayu – the god of wind; Bhudevi – goddess of earth; Radha as Krishna’s consort and goddess of love; Ashvins – twin gods of medicine; Kuber – god of wealth; Yama – god of death, justice & ruler of the netherworld; Chandra – moon god; Parshuram – the 6th incarnation of god Vishnu; Kamadeva & Rati – god & goddess of love and desire; Kalki – prophesied final incarnation of god Vishnu; Mariamman – Dravidian mother goddess; Ayyanar – Dravidian guardian deity; Ayyappan – Dravidian god of Dharma; and many more not mentioned.
Apart from the different devas as deities, the Hindu mythology has stories of many prominent and powerful Asuras (demons) who posed existential threat to devas, manavas and/or the world itself. Worth mentioning names of some such demons are Bali, Hiranyaksha, Hiranyakashipu, Mayasura, Mitra, Rahu, Ketu, Tarakasur, Mahishasur, Raktabija, Jalandhar, Ravana, Kansa, and so on. Some mythical species finding mention in mythological stories are Yaksha, Kinner, Naga, Gandharva, Apsara, Martaya, Vanara, Yajata, etc.
Dashavtar of the god Vishnu is among the most popular tales of Hindu mythology, which in the chronological order are Matsya (Fish), Kurma (Tortoise), Varaha (Boar), Narsimha (Man-Lion), Vamana (Dwarf), Parasuram, Ram, Krishna, Buddha and Kalki (yet to come). Almost all religions refer to a great deluge (The Great Flood), which almost wiped out life on earth at one point of time. In Matsya Purana and some other Hindu text, a mythological tale exists regarding the god Vishnu incarnating as Matsya (Fish) to ensure that the minimum representative life (seeds) of all living creatures is saved following the great deluge. According to this legendary tale, the god Vishnu chose his devotee and righteous King Vaivasvata Manu, who initially reared the tiny fish (Vishnu incarnate) to grow into a mega fish, which, later on through the deluge, sailed Manu and his family along with representative seeds of all animals, herbs, plants, and seven legendary sages in a huge ark to safety anchoring it with the highest mountain peak using the legendary serpent Vasuki as rope. When the rains storm subsided after many days and the water retreated, Manu became the progenitor of life on the earth again.
3. Afterlife (Cycle of Karma and Reincarnation)
The philosophical concept of the afterlife in Hinduism is remarkably different from the other world religions, with its unique and essential elements of Karma, reincarnation and Moksha (liberation). According to this, the law of Karma essentially applies to all human souls based on the principle of the cause and effect. Every single soul is responsible for each deed of own life, and resultant joy and pain. The fruit of actions is called karma-phala, effects of which extend beyond one’s present life to all past and future lives until the end goal i.e. liberation is achieved. Those who do not attain Karma based Moksha continue in the cycle of life-death-rebirth (reincarnation). Many Hindu texts refer to the concept of the heaven and hell, which serve as the temporary abode of the soul depending on the accumulated karma-phala i.e. of good and bad actions. After the merits and/or demerits of the Karma is exhausted, one is born again into the earth plane. This cycle of the birth, death and rebirth (Karma & reincarnation) is repeated till the attainment of Moksha by the soul.
Accordingly, the Hindu mythology has narratives and tales of the Svarga (heaven) and Naraka (hell), particularly in the Puranas and Epics. Svarga is variously also spelled as Swarga, Indraloka and Svargaloka, and is considered as the permanent celestial abode of devas with god Indra as king and goddess Indrani as his consort. This celestial loka is said to be located above the (mythical) Mount Meru, where the righteous souls with their accumulated good deeds find a place as temporary abode to enjoy bliss until their next birth on earth. On the other hand, Naraka is a damned place where souls are sent for the expiation of their accumulated sins after the death. It finds mention in several Puranas, the Dharmashastras, Itihasa texts, and even in some Upanishads. Some Puranas such as Bhagavata Purana, Vishnu Purana and Garuda Purana contain elaborate description of the Naraka with associated narratives and stories. The god of death and justice, Yama, administers Naraka assisted by his divine registrar Chitragupta, who maintains complete record of the individual soul’s good and bad deeds. The Bhagavata Purana, Vishnu Purana and Devi Bhagavata Purana describe 28 different kinds of Narakas where sinners are tormented depending upon the nature and gravity of their sins. Following the death, the soul is directed to Svarga or Naraka depending upon their righteous and sinful deeds, after the exhaustion of which one is reborn on earth in the human or bestial bodies.
In the Katha Upanishad (also Kathopanishad), the Hindu spiritual and metaphysical mysteries have been explained through an allegorical dialogue between the boy Nachiketa and the god of death Yama. As the story goes, teenage Nachiketa’s father sage Vajashravas got irritated with innocent queries of the son while the latter was engaged in yajna and sage’s utterance to dispatch the former to Yama became an imminent curse. Yama felt sorry for Nachiketa’s unscheduled arrival in yamaloka, so he asked him to seek three boons before sending back to Mrityuloka (earth). Nachiketa’s first two boons were rather mundane about his father’s acceptance of him on return and learning the ritual of the fire sacrifice respectively but the third and last about revealing the mystery of the afterlife (i.e. life beyond death) posed a serious dilemma and Yama tried to discourage the boy offering many worldly pleasures in lieu. However, Nachiketa refused to change his mind persisting with his question, and consequently, what followed was about the revelation of the eternal truth of Brahman, Atman (soul) and Maya (illusion), and their complex interplay, including the desirability to get riddance of illusions in seeking the path of liberation (Moksha).
Epilogue
Not only Hinduism but also other Indian and world religions have their own mythology, which is found so often mixed with history. Also, such Hindu mythical narratives and tales invariably convey some moral and ethical message, or even philosophical precepts for the guidance of humanity in their endeavour to achieve perfection and higher ideals in society. The Hindu mythology successfully conveys the sublime and abstract philosophical and spiritual concepts as well as universal ideals of Hinduism through these historico-mythological legends and mythical tales, fables, parables, allegories and narratives. In a nutshell, if Hindu philosophy is essence of its culture and religion delineating fundamental doctrines and tenets, the mythology expands and illustrates it through the real and mythical legendary lives of great men, divine and other supernatural beings, which are ultimately practiced and reflected through various rituals.
As mentioned earlier, the traditional of mythical and historico-mythical narratives and tales in scriptural and secular writings is not something unique to Hinduism; instead, it’s a part all old and new civilizations of the world. Traditionally, the biased western historians since the colonial era and some self-proclaimed secular-liberal Indian intellectuals have systematically attempted to discredit and dismiss the relevance of the ancient Indian scriptural and secular literature (mostly in Sanskrit, Pali, Tamil, etc.) as being full of untruth and ignorance, while in reality the same is incredibly rich in the material and spiritual knowledge both in content and volume, like an ocean, with the universal appeal and application. Just to illustrate, the mythical yet allegorical story of the teenage boy Nachiketa and the god of death Yama referred to in the last para of previous section in essence reveals the largest mystery of universe through a far more logical and acceptable concept of the Advaita Vedanta, originally mentioned in the Rigveda and explained in many later Hindu scriptures and texts, including the Katha Upanishad, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, and Srimad Bhagavad Gita.
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