10-16-2006, 03:48 PM
Pioneer, 15 Otc., 2006
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Decoding the divine truth
The book is a laudable effort to provide meaning and psychological explanations to Hindu rituals and myths through the journey of Lord Shiva from a hermit to a householder, writes MV Kamath
Shiva to Shankara, Devdutt Pattanaik; Indus Source Books, Rs 225
Every Hindu is - or should be - aware of the Trinity, Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwar. Brahma, the creator; Vishnu, the preserver; and, Shiva, the destroyer. For a creator, Brahma has few followers. Most Hindus are either Shaivites or Vaishnavites and it is a toss-up between the two as to who is more popular: Vishnu or Shiva.
There are innumerable myths about the three. Thus, it is said of Vishnu that in the beginning, on the ocean of milk, within the coils of the serpent of time, Vishnu stirred from his dreamless slumber. From his navel rose a lotus in which sat Brahma. Lonely, confused and frightened, he wondered who he was and why he existed. In his quest for answers he went about creating the world. What is significant about this work is that it seeks to understand the meaning of such events.
Thus, says Devdutt Pattanaik, the waking up of Vishnu, the blooming of the lotus, the birth of Brahma, his first set of four sons and his second set of 10 sons represent the quickening of the consciousness and the evolution of the mind. The mind evolves because Brahma seeks to understand his true nature. In his attempt to explain the significance of all these myths, the author goes to great lengths. Thus, he says, the awakening of Vishnu is pre-determined by the fact that he did go to sleep and what followed seems orchestrated, lacking spontaneity.
Brahma has first four mind-born children, indicating the four aspects of the primal mind - the discriminating intellect and the three containers of experience, desire and learning. He then has 10 more mind-born sons, representing the five sense organs (eye, ear, nose, tongue and skin) and the five response organs (face, hands, legs, anus and genitals). Then comes the girl child Ushas, the source of stimuli, the destination of responses, the fountainhead of experience, desire and learning. If we accept this explanatory characterisation, it should be possible for the reader to understand and accept what Shiva stands for or represents.
Shiva, as we all know, is represented by a sexual symbol, the lingam, placed within the reproductive female organ. Why? Says the author: "The quest for the answer has made me write this book" In the early Vedic scriptures, Shiva was known as Rudra, the much-feared god. In the Shatarudriya hymn of the Yajur Veda, he is considered highly potent and dangerous. In the Brahmanas, one is told never to the speak his name. In due course, the Vedic gods such as Indra and Agni get sidelined and the Middle Ages see the great rivalry between Shiva and Vishnu worshippers. In the Shiva Purana and Linga Purana, Shiva is often shown as the real force behind the power of Vishnu. The theme gets reversed in the Vishnu Purana and Matsya Purana.
What the author has done is to give meaning and psychological explanations to rituals and myths. He traces the god's journey from Shiva to Shankara, from being a hermit to being a householder. Everything of significance is imbued with meaning. Shiva is Tripurankata, destroyer of the three worlds. But one should not take them literally for the three worlds are the microcosm (the private world), the mesocosm (the social world) and the macrocosm (the rest of the world). Shiva dances, doesn't he? But that dance has deeper meaning.
Shiva's dance, says the author, represents Uttara Mimansa, the new school that looked at the meaning beyond the hymn and the ritual, inaugurating a revolution that brought cosmic wisdom from the classes to the masses. The rattle of the drum produced the music of life. Through his dance, says the writer, Shiva was telling the observer not to be afraid of the ever-turbulent material world and to focus on the still soul.
Pattanaik describes Sati, the youngest daughter of Dakhsha, as the embodiment of the material world who is determined to draw the indifferent Shiva into worldly life. Pattanaik debunks the belief that Shiva is a 'destroyer'. What Shiva really does, he says, is to destroy illusion and to bring peace, shanti, which in turn leads to sat-chit-ananda, the state of tranquillity when the mind is purged of all delusions. In that sense, Shiva is the real liberator of all beings from the fetters of karma. When Shiva marries Parvati, he becomes Shankara, the source of joy, Shambhu, the abode of joy and Ashutosh, the one who is easy to please.
In narratives, Saraswati is supposed to be Brahma's consort, Lakshmi is Vishnu's consort while Shiva's consort is Shakti. As the author puts it, "The inner subjective world cannot exist without the outer objective world." Brahma cannot create anything without Saraswati, who is knowledge. Vishnu cannot sustain anything without Lakshmi, who is wealth; and, Shiva cannot destroy anything without Shakti, who is power.
What distinguishes this book from several others that deal with myths is the meaning that the author endows to everything. The damaru, or rattle drum, is described as an artefact modelled on two triangles, one representing man and the other woman, inner and outer reality, soul and matter, subject and object. When separated from each other, there is destruction. Even Shiva's linga, according to the author, represents matter drawing consciousness into the world. Shiva is outside. The goddess brings him inside. By engaging with the goddess, by observing the world, he will known who he truly is. It is a fascinating concept.
The author recalls scores of stories like the birth of Matsyendranath, the birth and beheading of Brahma, the seduction of Shiva, the boon for Taraka, the charm of Menaka, the birth of Skanda and Ganesh and how Parvati become Annapoorna.
Reading this book is like travelling through realms known and unknown. What this book does is to strip the Shiva-linga of all sexual significance. The author argues, "If Shiva were simply a fertility god, would his abode not be a sylvan retreat rather than a snow-clad mountain? Would he not be associated with romance and delight, rather than meditation and austerity? Would he not be called creator rather than destroyer?" Good questions. But the point is that the author provides luminous answers. Which is why this book is particularly relevant to our times.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Decoding the divine truth
The book is a laudable effort to provide meaning and psychological explanations to Hindu rituals and myths through the journey of Lord Shiva from a hermit to a householder, writes MV Kamath
Shiva to Shankara, Devdutt Pattanaik; Indus Source Books, Rs 225
Every Hindu is - or should be - aware of the Trinity, Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwar. Brahma, the creator; Vishnu, the preserver; and, Shiva, the destroyer. For a creator, Brahma has few followers. Most Hindus are either Shaivites or Vaishnavites and it is a toss-up between the two as to who is more popular: Vishnu or Shiva.
There are innumerable myths about the three. Thus, it is said of Vishnu that in the beginning, on the ocean of milk, within the coils of the serpent of time, Vishnu stirred from his dreamless slumber. From his navel rose a lotus in which sat Brahma. Lonely, confused and frightened, he wondered who he was and why he existed. In his quest for answers he went about creating the world. What is significant about this work is that it seeks to understand the meaning of such events.
Thus, says Devdutt Pattanaik, the waking up of Vishnu, the blooming of the lotus, the birth of Brahma, his first set of four sons and his second set of 10 sons represent the quickening of the consciousness and the evolution of the mind. The mind evolves because Brahma seeks to understand his true nature. In his attempt to explain the significance of all these myths, the author goes to great lengths. Thus, he says, the awakening of Vishnu is pre-determined by the fact that he did go to sleep and what followed seems orchestrated, lacking spontaneity.
Brahma has first four mind-born children, indicating the four aspects of the primal mind - the discriminating intellect and the three containers of experience, desire and learning. He then has 10 more mind-born sons, representing the five sense organs (eye, ear, nose, tongue and skin) and the five response organs (face, hands, legs, anus and genitals). Then comes the girl child Ushas, the source of stimuli, the destination of responses, the fountainhead of experience, desire and learning. If we accept this explanatory characterisation, it should be possible for the reader to understand and accept what Shiva stands for or represents.
Shiva, as we all know, is represented by a sexual symbol, the lingam, placed within the reproductive female organ. Why? Says the author: "The quest for the answer has made me write this book" In the early Vedic scriptures, Shiva was known as Rudra, the much-feared god. In the Shatarudriya hymn of the Yajur Veda, he is considered highly potent and dangerous. In the Brahmanas, one is told never to the speak his name. In due course, the Vedic gods such as Indra and Agni get sidelined and the Middle Ages see the great rivalry between Shiva and Vishnu worshippers. In the Shiva Purana and Linga Purana, Shiva is often shown as the real force behind the power of Vishnu. The theme gets reversed in the Vishnu Purana and Matsya Purana.
What the author has done is to give meaning and psychological explanations to rituals and myths. He traces the god's journey from Shiva to Shankara, from being a hermit to being a householder. Everything of significance is imbued with meaning. Shiva is Tripurankata, destroyer of the three worlds. But one should not take them literally for the three worlds are the microcosm (the private world), the mesocosm (the social world) and the macrocosm (the rest of the world). Shiva dances, doesn't he? But that dance has deeper meaning.
Shiva's dance, says the author, represents Uttara Mimansa, the new school that looked at the meaning beyond the hymn and the ritual, inaugurating a revolution that brought cosmic wisdom from the classes to the masses. The rattle of the drum produced the music of life. Through his dance, says the writer, Shiva was telling the observer not to be afraid of the ever-turbulent material world and to focus on the still soul.
Pattanaik describes Sati, the youngest daughter of Dakhsha, as the embodiment of the material world who is determined to draw the indifferent Shiva into worldly life. Pattanaik debunks the belief that Shiva is a 'destroyer'. What Shiva really does, he says, is to destroy illusion and to bring peace, shanti, which in turn leads to sat-chit-ananda, the state of tranquillity when the mind is purged of all delusions. In that sense, Shiva is the real liberator of all beings from the fetters of karma. When Shiva marries Parvati, he becomes Shankara, the source of joy, Shambhu, the abode of joy and Ashutosh, the one who is easy to please.
In narratives, Saraswati is supposed to be Brahma's consort, Lakshmi is Vishnu's consort while Shiva's consort is Shakti. As the author puts it, "The inner subjective world cannot exist without the outer objective world." Brahma cannot create anything without Saraswati, who is knowledge. Vishnu cannot sustain anything without Lakshmi, who is wealth; and, Shiva cannot destroy anything without Shakti, who is power.
What distinguishes this book from several others that deal with myths is the meaning that the author endows to everything. The damaru, or rattle drum, is described as an artefact modelled on two triangles, one representing man and the other woman, inner and outer reality, soul and matter, subject and object. When separated from each other, there is destruction. Even Shiva's linga, according to the author, represents matter drawing consciousness into the world. Shiva is outside. The goddess brings him inside. By engaging with the goddess, by observing the world, he will known who he truly is. It is a fascinating concept.
The author recalls scores of stories like the birth of Matsyendranath, the birth and beheading of Brahma, the seduction of Shiva, the boon for Taraka, the charm of Menaka, the birth of Skanda and Ganesh and how Parvati become Annapoorna.
Reading this book is like travelling through realms known and unknown. What this book does is to strip the Shiva-linga of all sexual significance. The author argues, "If Shiva were simply a fertility god, would his abode not be a sylvan retreat rather than a snow-clad mountain? Would he not be associated with romance and delight, rather than meditation and austerity? Would he not be called creator rather than destroyer?" Good questions. But the point is that the author provides luminous answers. Which is why this book is particularly relevant to our times.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->