THE MODERN INTERPRETATION OF INDIAN MYTHOLOGY
In modern times when digital proficiency has become the most important skill, more so than the understandings of right and wrong, ethical and non-ethical actions and the considerations of humanity as a whole, mythology has taken a backseat. They have come to be regarded only as stories for children with no bearing on the modern human life. But what if these mythological tales are more than just folklore? What if understanding the local mythology can give us an innate understanding of human nature and the philosophical questions of life and death? With the modern generation barely taking into account the importance of Indian mythology, there's a high chance that children being born at this time will be very removed from the tales that give an idea of the root of their culture. Mythology tells a people how they should see the world. For example, Islamic mythology speaks of how one God created the world and laid down rules of good conduct while Jain mythology speaks of how the world has no creator and that is goes through cycles of degeneration and regeneration. There is no one mythology for the world today or for the future. Different people will have their own mythology, reframing old ones or creating new ones and that is the major relevance of mythology in shaping the societies of the world today or in the future. “Concepts like nation , patriotism, divinity , liberation ,salvation , achievement ,heaven ,hell ,right ,wrong ,are essentially established based on these myths� – Bhagvad gita. Understanding mythology has nothing to do with age. It is part of being human. Unlike plants and animals, humans seek meaning, purpose and value in life. This comes to us only from stories. Science cannot do that. Logic cannot do that. We need to feel we matter. Concepts like nation, patriotism, divinity, liberation, salvation, achievement, heaven, hell, right, wrong, are essentially established through stories. The idea 'you have to make the world a better place' is a human myth; animals have no such urge. We need the myth to feel good about ourselves. Every culture creates these myths and transmits it through stories, symbols and rituals. In the last 100 years, nations were established based on these myths. National 'borders' are just human myths. Scholars are not sure if ideas come first or language. Did we first communicate using gestures which became rituals, then symbols which became art, or words which eventually we put down in texts? The earliest myths related to what happens after we die. And so the earliest proof which shows we told each other stories about the afterlife is found in the various funeral practices discovered from the Stone Age, burials with various goods, funeral and the ash placed in an ornate pot, special dolmens where bodies were kept. Myths have nothing to do with 'history'. History is timebound. Myth is timeless. History tells us how people lived in the past. Myth tells us how heroes and gods live all the time. Mythology is very symbolic and it can be interpreted in different ways by different people. Myths a part of the religion or are they spiritual texts that help humans connect better with their origin and their true nature.
It depends on the mythology. Islamic and Christian mythology is uncomfortable with multiple interpretations. Buddhist mythology splits into different schools as multiple ideas evolved. Hindu mythology thrives on multiple readings. The notion of 'origin' and 'true nature' are all myths, with different mythologies offering different explanations. Islam believes in God creating man. Jains do not think that is so. Buddhists don't believe in an essential soul. Christians do. So what is 'true' for one tribe or community is not so for others.
Indian mythology, if interpreted without any bias, teach people to be more accepting of other cultures than Abrahamic mythologies. That sounds like an 'Arnab' question designed to create conflict between people and communities by projecting one as better than the other. Every mythology brings different kinds of value to the community. Abrahamic mythologies seek singularity, hence collective efficiency. Indian mythologies seek plurality, hence diverse effectiveness. The worldview depicted by Indian mythology is very different from the West and calls for introspection, accommodates for diversity, and inspires a person to work for the benefit of humanity as a whole, Indians can be made to realise the immense potential for understanding life that Indian mythology provides Western mythology is far more glamorous as it establishes 'villains' and 'victims' and calls for 'heroes' to act. That is the model that is even part of many Indian mythologies. But Indian mythology is not just that. It expands the scope and speaks in terms of infinity that is more wisdom driven and less glamorous. By its very nature, Indian mythologies cannot be 'sold' or 'propagated'. It is like water, waiting for the thirsty to come and drink. But the thirsty has to pick up the bottle. No one can force it down people's throat. understanding Indian mythology can help people connect better with themselves and the outside world. Children should or those reading the mythology for the first time go about understanding this interpretation. Children should see the stories as reflections of their own mind, emotions, ideas, and conflicts. There is no god and demon outside us, no hero or villain in the past. It's all here and now, in our heart and mind, and in the hearts and minds of people around us. We should be able to see how Ram and Sita and Ravana and Hanuman are located within us and wonder when one character appears, and when another disappears. Its about how we can induce the positive characteristics of the mythical characters in our lives and hey away the negative ones. Now talking about What are the main tenets where myths overlap modern scientific findings. Science is about measurement and experimentation and evidence and majorly finding the unknown and myths are about faith and the guides to find the unknown. They are two very different worlds. Science is best when dealing with matter. Myth is best when dealing with mind, especially emotions and imagination. But in an already told or recited manner.
One of the major problems to be eradicated from India is the concept of division which is well explained in the epics like Ramayana and Mahabharat which glorifies the fact that divisions only lead to sufferings and pains and bloodshed. Secularism is just mythology without God or gods. It is a mythology that seeks to harmonise different belief systems or a mythology that seeks to create a “rational” belief system independent of religious belief systems, through consensus. Like all myths, it assumes it is logical and fair. If monotheism respects only one god, modern secularism respects no god. Ancient Indian secularism meant respecting all gods and so the ancient kings of India always respected people of every faith and contributed to the well-being of Buddhists and Jains and Brahmins, and contributed to all local deities. This is secularism through plurality. Incidentally, modern secularism was created by Protestant Christians who “protested” against the Catholic Church’s control of the state.
Subjectivity is problematic in a world that values objectivity. We are told the truth is greater than my truth. But who knows the truth? The priest? The scientist? The academician? The journalist? The activist? The writer? Not you or me, but someone else! We live in a world that has room only for one truth, the truth. Hence we doubt everything we hear and are always arguing. We think argument is good because it leads us to truth. We don’t listen to other people’s truth because we are convinced they are falsehood. Religious people say the truth comes from the book. Scientist says the truth comes from measurement. Mythology says your truth comes from your own stories. You are Brahma and your stories create your world – your egg, your Brahmanda. The power of myth is that it is a game changer. It allows you to enjoy your truth and other people’s truth and move towards greater truth. A world of plural truths which are constantly shifting and expanding. A world where we are sensitive and caring. In science, only that which can be measured is truth. Matter can be measured not the mind. So physics, chemistry and biology is pure science, while psychology is pseudo-science. Politics and economics may follow scientific principles but most conclusions cannot be measured; they are assumptions based on the subjectivity of the scholar. Science says this is the only life because it cannot measure anything else. Western myth also believes this is the only one life. Thus Western myth is very closely aligned to science. However, science does not bother with truth; it focuses on logic and mathematics and facts, or data. Truth is a religious
word; not a scientific one. It comes from Abrahamic myth which speaks of one true God and rejects false gods. How does one live this one and only life? Science gives no answer. Greek myth says we have to live this life our way. Abrahamic myth disagrees; it says we have to live our life the right way. And what is the right way? That which is given by God, or determined by the people. Thus Abrahamic myth values the collective over the individual, while Greek myth values the individual over the collective. All activists and liberals think like Greek heroes who challenge the might of the gods and refuse to be contained by them. Likewise, all nationalists, religious folk and corporations think like Abrahamic prophets, forcing the will of God on the people for their own good. The two – Greek and Abrahamic thought – will always argue. That is the Western way. It is not the Indian way. Before we appreciate the Indian way, let us take a detour and appreciate the Chinese way. Neither Greek nor Abrahamic myths valued nature. The Chinese did. Taoist Chinese, popular in rural areas, spoke of the individual as part of nature; the point was to be one with nature for the sake of harmony and not impose the individual will upon it. The Taoist sage was challenged by the Confucian myth that spoke of the collective within nature and saw culture as order. Here it was important for the subjects to submit to the king, the young to the elders, the women to the men, the children to the parents. It also valued friendship as the fifth key relationship. Harmony was maintained by the Jade Emperor and the Emperor of the Forbidden city had to simply mimic him ritually for order. There was no need for God in this worldview. Only ancestors. This was practical here and now worldview. It was not interested in Elysium or Promised Land. Both these, the Western and Chinese mythologies, are different from Indian mythology. Indian mythology speaks of infinity and impermanence. Everything changes. Nothing lasts forever, not even death. This was the mythology of rebirth. In a world where this life is not the only life, death is seen very differently. The gods kill demons but demons are always reborn. Quest for immortality is not about avoiding death, but about recognising continuity despite change. Buddha withdraws from society in the prime of his youth, Shiva withdraws from the world but the Goddess brings him back to be a householder. It is all about going to the forest, and then returning. It is the world of action and reaction, of karma, that humans judge as fact and fiction, truth and falsehood, in order to cope with their fear. Nature remains silent and we wonder what is the truth. We seek frameworks to make sense of life and so we land up with myth. Humans will always fight which myth is better: Greek myth of resistance or Abrahamic myth of compliance; Taoist myth which values nature or Confucian myth which values culture; the Buddhist myth that life is suffering or the Hindu myth that life is good. This is timeless. As long as there are
humans there will be subjectivity and every human will insist his truth is the truth. But if we value mythology, then we will value subjectivity, pay attention to other truths and expand our own truth. This is the power of myth and learnings from the mythology.
ADYASHA MISHRA _________________________________________________________________________________
