Hindu Mythology:
The World of Sacred Fantasies 

      Hindu mythology is fascinating, but it is also intricate and difficult to comprehend. It is basically an art form through which various aspects of religion are expressed. By its very definition, it is not a factual presentation; it is in the design and arrangement of allegories and symbols. The myths act as a bridge between that which we perceive and what we cannot know.122 To the believer, however, a myth is as real as it can be. There is a vast scope of variations in interpretation and understanding of this medium. There are also many presentations of sexual and other activities, which are far removed from reality. In fact, as in any other art, the artist often displays a vigorous expression of feelings of the subconscious and unconscious, which may otherwise remain quite restrained in society.

       One of the earliest mythological figures is that of Lord Vishnu, the god of preservation. His skin is blue. He has four hands. In one, he holds a conch trumpet; in another, a discus-shaped boomerang. The other two hold a lotus and a mace. He reclines on the coils of a serpent, named as Adi Shesh (Adi means the beginning, and Shesh means the end). His image in temples is adorned with silks, gold, pearls, perfumes, sandal paste, peacock feathers, and bright flowers. His rituals are associated with beautiful music, communal dance, and sweet food cooked in clarified butter. His blue color represents the  ether that pervades all space. The serpent he rests on represents time, coiling and uncoiling itself with unfailing regularity. His vehicle is the sun itself. With the trumpet, he blows the breath of life and warns wrongdoers to return to the path of dharma, or the orderly conduct of righteousness. With the mace, he would strike those who do not listen and obey.123
     Lord Vishnu in the Hindu pantheon is emblematic of complete evolution. He has been presented to take ten incarnations. In each incarnation, he has acted as a savior of the world. The ten incarnations of Vishnu, described earlier in the chapter on Trimurti, present an amazing account of the evolutionary phases in the Creation.
     There is an interesting myth of creation associated with Lord Vishnu in the form of a fish avtara as the first of the ten incarnations. Once a small fish approached sage Manu with a request to protect it from a larger fish. Manu took the fish and placed it in a pot. Soon, the fish grew and was transferred to a larger pot, one after the other, until finally it was placed in the holy River Ganges. The fish, which was an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, then advised sage Manu to procure a boat and protect himself from the great deluge, which would soon come. Manu gathered the seven Rishis, the Satapatha Brahmana, and along with the Vedas, jumped into the boat. The water level rose and all the earth drowned. Manu then tied the boat to the peak of the mountain, which had not been submerged in the water. This mountain would become the Himalayas. The myth goes that the seven Rishis are eternally wandering in the Himalayan Mountains, guiding posterity in the Vedic knowledge. It must be a very strange coincidence that thousands of years after the sages wrote this myth, modern science has now discovered that there was an ocean where there the Himalayas now stand. They even have found fish fossils on the rocks of the mountains there. Incidentally, the fish fable is also mentioned in other ancient cultures, such as in Zoroastrian and Sumerian mythology, giving a clue to how closely human society is intertwined!

       In Hindu mythology, the earth is represented as a cow. When tired of being exploited, she takes her woes to Lord Vishnu, who reassures her, “I  will descend on Earth and relieve you of your burden.” Thus, the Lord came down as Rama, Krishna, and in other forms to mitigate the sufferings on Earth. To Hindus, this narration and presentation has always inspired beyond limits. They feel enriched and empowered. The cow is the earth itself, whose milk sustains life. In exchange, she must be taken care of. The practice of cow worship, the taboo against beef, and eventually, vegetarianism may have roots in these beliefs.124

       One of the most important considerations in Hindu mythology is the status of man and woman. The ancient seers tried to relate natural phenomena to this relationship. Man was presented as the spiritual being and the woman as his earthly complement. Man would not be able to manifest without the partnership and alliance of woman. Woman, too, was incomplete without the man. In Hindu temples, therefore, God is often accompanied with the goddess. The man and woman in Hindu society became aspects of one another. In Shiva temples it is Parvati; in Vishnu temples, it is Lakshmi; in Krishna temples, one finds Radha; in Rama’s temples, there is Sita. Thus the inseparable pairing of male and female became established in Hindu philosophy. So much was the force of this cohabitation of the male and female that Lord Rama had to make use of a golden effigy of Sita to conduct the rituals of a yagna, when the Lord abandoned her, after returning to Ayodha.

      There are thousands of mythological tales in Hindu scriptures, especially in the Bhagvat Purana. Often, these are symbolic representations of the Divine and its many manifestations, which have been given animate characteristics to make them live and tangible to the common person.

       The sacred River Ganges is known as a consort of Lord Shiva. She is also the mother of the war hero of Mahabharata, Bhishma Pitamaha. According to the legend, she was brought down from the heavens, passing through the hair of Lord Shiva, by King Bhagiratha to purify the ashes of his ancestors. Ever since, Hindus always consider the Ganges as a holy river and immerse the ashes of their ancestors into it. The Ganges and other rivers are often worshipped as a divine mother because of their enormous contribution toward the prosperity of the land, especially for the sake of agriculture produce. The mythological representations have cultivated mammoth devotion in Hindu society; these representations have become the icons of the Divine in full measure.

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