The Purest Hero written by Jasper illustrations and layout by Nick Griffin Author’s Note: Most people hear a single story about India’s repressive politics towards LGBTQ+ issues, causing them to generalize the views of all of South Asian societies and cultures as queerphobic. This view neglects to mention that British colonizers in India, and their enforcement of adherence to Western gender and sexuality norms, are a primary reason for the queerphobia that exists in India today. The following is an interpretative retelling of a story drawn from Hindu mythology found in ancient religious texts. This retelling uses historical information compiled in an essay by Ruth Vanita.
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oday, the river Ganges flows through India and Bangladesh. Ganges, symbolized by the goddess Ganga, is deeply sacred to Hindus, who live off of her waters, using them for bathing, sustenance, and rituals. Just as Indian culture changes over time, the Ganges is ever-flowing, yet constantly a symbol of India. The reasons why Ganga came to Earth in the form of the Ganges can be explained by numerous stories. One such myth begins with a king. King Sagara had two wives, but no children. He deeply desired to sire children, particularly motivated by the need for an heir to the throne. Thus, for years, he practiced a severe penance to the Hindu gods, and prayed for sons. Finally, one of the gods answered his prayers, and allowed one of King Sagara’s wives to become pregnant. After nine months, she gave birth to a gourd. The king and his wives were deeply perplexed, but proceeded to split open the gourd and preserve each seed in a separate jar. With time, thousands of sons emerged from the jars. Thanks to his prayers and penance, King Sagara bore a total of sixty thousand sons, who all grew up to become brave, strong men. As is traditional in the Hindu religion, King Sagara and his sons regularly engaged in ritual spiritual practices to please the gods and convince them of their undying devotion. In one such ritual, King Sagara decided to sacrifice one hundred horses to the gods. As the sacrifice proceeded, the gods were pleased with the king and his heirs. However, one resentful god was unhappy, believing that this sacrifice would increase King Sagara’s power until
it was too great for a mortal man. The god snuck to the sacrificial courtyard and stole one of the horses and flew away. He placed the horse at an ashram1 he saw in the middle of the forest. Upon discovering this theft, King Sagara was dismayed that sacrifice was disrupted, ordering his sixty-thousand sons to retrieve the horse. The sons searched and searched, and eventually came upon the horse. Unbeknownst to them, a powerful sage resided at the ashram. Deep in meditation, he did not notice the presence of the horse or the sons. The sons saw the old sage sitting on the spiritual residence of the sage
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the ground, and hastily assumed that he was the thief. They immediately defaulted to violence, and as they launched their attack, the sage became aware of their presence and opened his eyes. Due to his sheer power, as soon as his eyes opened, all sixty thousand sons instantly burned to ashes. Meanwhile, King Sagara grew concerned about the disappearance of all of his sons. He sent his grandson, Anshuman, to investigate. Anshuman followed the path of his uncles, and discovered their ashes at the ashram of the sage. The sage informed that, instead of calmly asking him for the horse, the men
