Arjun's dilemma

The myth:

Arjuna stands on the Kurukshetra battle field and looks at the huge armies of both sides gathering. He sees his guru - Drona, his family elder - Bhishma, his blind uncle and his cousins and he begins to doubt the decision to battle. Krishna reminds him that he is not just any Kshatriya but a Kshatriya prince and it is his duty to rule. He asks him to look at the enemy lines as those that are preventing him from doing his duty and not through the bonds of relationships. He recites the Gita and finally Arjuna gathers the courage to do right and fights the battle.

The philosophy:

I love this story. All of us have duties of different forms - to ourselves, to our family, to our jobs but in one way or the other we pause when we have to dispense it. Everytime i read this incident, i wonder at how i ought to identify and remove the obstacles that are in my way towards my doing my duty. The funny part is, some of the obstacles are other duties. All of us face this and that is when we need to take a call and prioritize our different duties

Ashta Lakshmi - the 8 different forms of Lakshmi

The myth :

The Ashtalakshmis are pretty popular down south. The eight are :

1. AdiLakshmi - or the Lakshmi for beginnings
2. Dhana Lakshmi - the Lakshmi for wealth
3. DhanyaLakshmi - the Lakshmi for food
4. GajaLakshmi - the Lakshmi for animal/cattle wealth
5. SantanaLakshmi - the Lakshmi for children/progeny
6. VijayaLakshmi - the Lakshmi for victory
7. Vidya Lakshmi - the Lakshmi for education
8. Veera Lakshmi - the Lakshmi for bravery

The ashtalakshmi stotram is recited for the blessings of these 8.

The philosophy :

I love the concept of the 8 lakshmis for it shows how women can represent all the different forms of wealth that is necessary for humanity.

Also, the 8 lakshmis remind me time and again that just one of the various symbols of prosperity (money) is not sufficient at all and we need to think about the other things which make up life as well. 

Hayagrivar - the horse faced avatar

One of the lesser known avatars of Vishnu (not the top 10 ) is his avatar as a horse faced God or Hayagrivar.

The myth:

"Haya" was a horse faced demon who was terrorizing the world (as usual). He hid the Vedas, had a boon of invincibility from Brahma and was plain horrible to say the least. Vishnu, on behalf of the devas fights with him. The battle is fierce and the whole world just watches astounded. It goes on for quite a long time and Haya is still undefeated. Both of them are tired and Vishnu decides to take a break.

He places a sword near his neck (upright), rests his head on it and concentrates and meditates. He reaches a state of deep meditation and does not stir. The devas are worried because Haya takes this as a sign of victory for himself and goes around effortlessly destroying the world and preparing for a battle with the devas.

They request Lakshmi to do something about it and she tries to remove the sword in the hope that the movement will stir the Lord out of his dhyana. The sword ends up cutting his head and the devas are scared. They hear an aakashavani (divine voice) telling them , "This was intended. Haya has a boon from Brahma by which only another horse faced person can slay him. Find the head of a horse and fix it on the Lord's head."

They fix the head of a horse and Vishnu in the form of a Hayagrivar defeats Haya and restores balance in the world.

The philosophy :

Another famous necessity to co-exist with animals story. This reminds us yet again of how important co-existence with nature is.
That being said, we pray to Hayagrivar for intelligence and education. Considering he is a God with a face of a horse, this ritual is interesting as anyone who can rid the world of evil and lead towards enlightenment is someone worth praying to.

More to come on him.

Parasurama - the kshatriya brahmin

The myth : 


He is one of the seven immortals and you see references to him in the Ramayana and he plays a crucial role in Mahabharatha (maybe in another post)

How Parasurama came to be the way he was ( a sage who has the fighting spirit and the skills of a kshatriya is interesting. )

Jamadagni was one of the famed Saptharishis (depending on which purana you refer to) and the father of Parasurama. Legend has it that Jamadagni's father fell in love with a princess from the Chandravamsam and her father asked for a thousand horses which are pure white with a single black ear as dowry. The sage manages to get it with the help of the god Varuna and takes his wife home. They are without progeny for a while and even the princess's kingdom lacks a heir. So the sage through his powers gets two potions. One for his wife to deliver a wise sage and another for his mom in law to deliver a brave Kshatriya. The untrusting mil changes the two potions and the wife is now pregnant with the Kshatriya. She does not want her son to be a warrior and wants him to be a pious sage like his father and begs her husband to do something about it. The sage divines his grandson to be the Kshatriya and his son to be the saint. Thus Jamadagni is born a saint and Parasurama is born a Kshatriya in a Brahmin family as the fifth son of Jamadagni and Renuka.

He gets the "Parasu" or bow from Shiva after his tapasya and his name stems from the same. His name like that of the next avatar is actually Rama.

Parasurama is famed for his mass genocide of the Kshatriyas. Jamadagni had a divine cow that bestowed plenty upon the sage and his family. A powerful and ruthless king vied for the cow and takes it away by force when Parasurama is out in the forest. The funny part of the story is that, he is fed by the cow when he is in the sage's ashram and he covets for his hosts wealth rather than being thankful. Parasurama is enraged on his return and he kills the king and gets the calf back. His father is angry as he feels that the way of a sage is forgiveness and not force. He orders his obedient son to go on a pilgrimage around the country. While Parasurama is away, the sons of the king raid the ashram and tie Jamadagni to a pole and shoot him to death like a deer. He is devastated and goes on a killing spree massacring Kshatriyas mean or nice.

In the Mahabharatha, he tries to fight Bhishma but gives up when his father's soul requests him to not do so (Why is another story). Then, he gives away his kingdom and wealth and starts meditating to find peace.

The philosophy

The legend of Jamadagni's father is interesting as it shows marriage across castes - a princess marries a sage. In a world where India is mocked at for its caste system, legends like these which highlight the intermarriage between castes speak about a system which was misused by the powerful just like today

The king coveting the cow which a subject of his has highlights how greedy and crazy some of the kings we had were. The sage losing the cow highlights the helplessness of the subjects. Parasurama to me is the common man who rebelled. 

Jamadagni's advice to his angry son is also reassuring and comforting - that forgiveness outweighs revenge. However it proves futile, for there is a bigger universal truth - " Once you pick a weapon to destroy, it will in one way or the other destroy things which matter to you." Parasurama's victory against the king costs him his father. 

The warrior priest is also interesting because he by himself rids the world of Kshatriyas - men in power who were abusing it. It is said that when the time for the final avatar comes, Parasurama is the one who will teach Kalki about the divine weapons.

Narasimha - half man and half lion the fourth avatar

The myth:

Hiranyakshan from the previous avatar had a brother - Hiranyakashipu. Hiranyakashipu hates Vishnu for the injustice he meted out to his brother and decides to become  God himself. He performs a severe penance and Brahma comes in front of him. He asks Brahma for immortality. Brahma tells him that he cannot grant him immortality as that is restricted for the devas and the Gods. Hiranyakashipu is upset and continues to pray. Brahma comes again and he asks him what he wants. He asks for the following boon - " I should not die of old age or sickness, i should not be killed by man or animal, i should not die in daylight or in the night, i should not be killed inside or outside, I should not be killed in land or in the skies, I should not be killed by any weapon made of iron or wood. " Brahma grants him his boon which Hiranyakshan deems is immortality.

He chases the devas away from their abode, rules over heaven, earth and the netherworld. He tells everyone that he is God for nobody can vanquish him. He makes the sages chant his name, he gets temples built for himself and he prevents the worship of Lord Vishnu, the man who killed his brother.

Hiranyakashipu has a beautiful wife who was pregnant when he was performing penance. She is coveted by Indira and so she hides in the ashram of Narada who tells her the story of Lord Vishnu. Hiranyakashipu takes her home from the hermitage when he gains power and spares Narada for he cared for his wife. A son is born to them - a boy by the name of Prahlad. Prahlad had listened to the glories of the Lord when he was in his mother's womb and he is born a Vishnu devotee. This is initially kept a secret from his dad who is busy harassing sages who do not pray to him and mortals who refuse to bow down. He is effectively the most powerful creature/man in the whole world now. He realizes his sons loyalties don't lie with him and he tries to convert the boy. The cheeky boy says that Vishnu is everywhere and sings praises of his God.

Initially tolerant of his son's whim, Hiranyakashipu loses it when the boy refuses to worship him. He orders the boy to be whipped. The whip becomes a rope of flowers when it hits the boy. He tries to kill the boy by drowning, the boy survives. He tries to poison the boy, the boy survives and he finally tries to get an elephant to trample the boy but the elephant runs away on seeing Prahlada. An angry Hiranyakashipu then asks Prahlad, "Where is this god of yours? How come i have never seen him when I was busy wrecking the lives of his devotees?" Prahlad replies that the Lord, "Is there in every pillar, every small atom in the world and is in the heart of his every devotee."
Hiranyakshan takes his mace and swings it on a pillar and an angry looking lion faced man steps out of the pillar. He is half man, half animal and not a god. He fights with Hiranyakshan who is not able to combat the ferocity of the creature. It is twilight (neither daylight or night) and Narasimha catches Hiranyakshan, sits in the steps of his palace (neither inside nor outside) and puts him in his lap (neither land or sky) and tears him to pieces (no weapon). This angry Narasimha is the Ugranarasimha who is not able to cool down as he is still seething with the injustice meted out to his devotees by the crazy demon. He finally calms when Prahlada prays to him and crowns Prahlada king.

The philosophy :

No matter how smart you deem you are, there is someone much smarter out there. This to me is the favorite thought that crosses my mind every time i hear this story.

No matter how impossible following your ideal/dream is (in Prahlada's case, glimpsing the lord) and no matter how difficult it is to stick to your faith, you have to do it for that is what defines you. Prahlada to me is the man who sticks to his guns no matter what and i deeply admire him for it.

Narasimha is also my favorite god for there is no niceness here when he is killing. He steps out of the pillar and does what has to be done without bothering about the gore. He calms down at the sight of his devotee but his anger is righteous and strong enough to destroy. The angry God is there to remind you not to fear anything for there is something or someone much bigger than all of us.

Varaha avatar - the fourlegged avatar

The myth:

Vishnu has two Dwara palakas who guard the entrance to his abode. They are very loyal to him and take utmost care to prevent the Lords slumber from being disturbed. A powerful rishi once comes to meet Vishnu and these two refuse to let him in. The angry rishi curses them to be born as mortals. Hearing the commotion, Vishnu comes out and this cools the rishi down. He offers the Dwara palakas options - they could either be born for a lot of centuries as mortals who adore the lord (his bhaktas) or they will be born thrice and hate the lord in all three births and will finally become one with him after the three births. Both of them unanimously pick the second option for they will come back earlier than later. Their three births are - Hiranyakshan & Hiranyakasipu (who feature prominently in this avatar and the next), Ravanan and Kumbhakarnan (Ramayana), Kamsan and Sishubalan (Krishnavatara)

Hiranyakshan is powerful asura who like his other counterparts wrecks havoc in heaven and earth. He steals the Vedas and hides them in the water. Brahma is upset as without the Vedas, there is no structure in the society. The asura also catches a glimpse of bhooma devi and takes her away to his abode under the water. Once bhoomadevi (mother earth) is gone, the whole world is lost and there is a lot of turmoil. Vishnu takes the form of a boar and goes under water to find his consort. A gory battle ensues and Varaha is finally able to subdue Hiranyakshan and rescue Bhooma devi and the vedas.

The philosophy :

The two dwarapalakas mean no harm and they are only dispensing their duty. However, no matter how right what you are doing is, if you prevent a just man from finding the divine, you are performing an injustice.

Another interesting part in the Dwarapalakas incident is how they manage to opt for coming back in three births for to them their devotion to the lord outweighs the hardships and the ill name they have to endure as demons to get back to him.

Any body who chooses to hide knowledge from the world is a demon by his own right. For without knowledge and awareness, the world will plunge into a darkness from which nothing can save it. Anybody who restores that knowledge, even if it is a boar, is divine for knowledge is power supreme.

Kurma Avatar - the amphibian second avatar :

The myth:

The devas, the immortal demigods who live in the world above us once became very complacent and incurred the displeasure of a sage who cursed them to lose the immortality which was the root cause of their complacency. They began to weaken and scared out of their wits, prayed for deliverance. Vishnu reminded them of the nectar or Amurtha which was there in the paarkadal or the divine Ocean in which the lord rests. The devas knew that they could not find the nectar on their own as the ocean had to be churned. The sought the help of Mount Meru to churn the ocean. They also sought out Adhisesha, the divine serpent of the Lord to act as a rope that can be used with the mountain to churn the ocean. The Lord himself took the form of a tortoise, (Kurmam) and served as a solid foundation for the mountain to rest on.

The weak devas also sought out their mortal enemies the asuras for more man power to churn the ocean. The asuras agreed on the condition that they get a portion of the Amurtha that is churned out. The devas and the asuras set about the task of churning the ocean. The asuras were tricked into getting hold of the head of the snake, whose poisonous fumes made them lose their skin color and also weakened them. The devas used the tail. The churning of the ocean gave out a lot of interesting things ( ill deal with it in a separate post) which the devas and the asuras took turns claiming. There was a very potent poison that emerged and all of them dread it. Shiva ate it and Parvati caught his throat to prevent him from completely consuming it. That is why he is known as Neelkant - the man with the blue throat. Finally the Amurtha came out and there was an argument among the two groups as to who could have it first. The kurmam disappears from this scene on with the mountain and the snake as their task is over.

Narayana/Vishnu foresaw the destruction that could follow if the asuras all became immortal. So he took the form of a beautiful maiden - Mohini and bewitched the asuras and the devas alike with his beauty. Mohini volunteers to distribute the amurtha and the devas and the asuras agree. She seats the devas first and distributes it to them. Two asuras Rahu and Ketu realize that there is something off and take the form of devas and consume the amurtha. The nectar is over by the time it reaches the other asuras and a huge battle follows. The devas strengthened by the nectar are able to vanquish the asuras and regain their kingdom.

Rahu and Ketu's heads are severed from their bodies but they are still immortal and continue to exist. Their stories will follow soon in another post.

Mohini is followed around by Basmasura - a very powerful demon who has the power to turn anything he touches to ash. He is also a talented dancer and Mohini tells him she would be his if he can dance as well as her. The two dance around and she finally touches her head with her hand. Basmasura is reduced to ashes the moment he touches his head and after vanquishing a strong asura, Mohini disappears.

The philosophy :

In a way, I dislike this story as the devas are so cunning and cheat the asuras after letting them labor for days on end. On the other hand, I love the way the mountain, snake and the tortoise play such an integral role in helping the two groups complete an arduous task. The philosophy for me is that with the lords help and with the right resources, even the oceans can be churned to get what we need.

Also, when our enemies reach out to us for help, we ought to be careful and understand their ulterior motives even if they are supposed to be wonderful in their own ways.

The bewitching beauty of a woman is not without its dangers and no matter how powerful you are, you can be vanquished with wit like Mohini does Basmasura. A man, strong enough to reduce anybody to ashes loses it all when he lusts.

Matsya avatar - the aquatic first avatar

The myth:

Manu was a sage of renown. While the world around him was immoral and lacked the practice of dharma, he continued to be wise and just. When he was bathing in the river one day, a tiny fish came into his hands in the water he took from the river. He took pity on it and put it in the kooja (or the small tea pot like pot) he had and took it home. He let it thrive in a pot. The strange fish continued to grow each day and much to Manu's surprise overgrew each vessel he had in his house. The sage decided to move the fish back to where it came from but realized that it could potentially outgrow that as well. The sage was quite confused and in a moment of clarity saw that what he had with him was no ordinary fish, but the Lord himself in the form of a fish.

He heard a divine voice tell him that the world as he knew it was going to come to an end and since he proved that he was a man who genuinely cared about life around him, he was the chosen one to save the life in the world. He was instructed to build a boat and bring two animals of different species on board in it. People mocked at him when he was constructing the boat for the only water body was the river but Manu persevered. He finally finished the construction and collected the different animal pairs. I can only wonder how big the boat must have been and how strange it would have looked with different animals in it.

Soon, it started pouring cats and dogs and people could not venture outside their houses without being greeted by waves of water. The sage and his wife got into the boat which was now the only possible transport mode. The boat rocked and rolled about the unforgiving waves and finally the fish appeared and offered to guide the boat to safety. A long rope was bought and tied to the ship and the fish and it guided them to shore once the rains stopped after ages. The life in this world around us is supposed to have descended from Manu.

The philosophy :

Different versions of this story exist - one in which he is a king, one in which the fish disappears and there is no such storm, one in which he tries to save more people and so on. I chose this version as I like the drama in it.

Every creature, no matter how small deserves mercy. Even through the smallest creature, deliverance can be found. No matter what happens, life will go on in one form or the other. I know a lot of you might not agree with this, for if you are not the life which goes on, what is the point? But every time i read this story, i am happy - for life in some form will sustain either through divine or human or animal intervention.

Dasavatharam - when god walks among mortals

There are numerous stories around the Trimurthi of Hinduism - Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer. Of those around Vishnu, the Dasavatharam is perhaps the most renowned. Vishnu has incarnated on earth to save mortals in multiple avatars. While there are 42 avatars in total, the 10 most powerful ones, which symbolize the end of one age and the beginning of another are not just popular but also full of symbols, myths and lessons. They follow the evolution of life in the world as we know it.

1. Matsya - the fish which lives in the water

2. Kurma - the amphibian that can live on water and land

3. Varaha - the boar a fourlegged animal which lives on land

4. Narasimha - half man half lion, savage and unforgiving

5. Vamana - the dwarf

6. Parasurama - the man who has mastery on weapons

7. Rama - the man who lives in a community

8. Balarama - the man who farms

9. Krishna - the cowherd

10. Kalki - the man who will ride a horse (yet to come)

I will write a lot more stories around the avatars in this blog.

Why a Golu

The golu or bomma golu (court of dolls) is an integral part of the navrathri celebrations in a lot of south indian homes. There are numerous dolls depicting scenes from Indian mythology or everyday life arranged in different steps. Friends and neighbors are invited to look at the display and served delicious food and the stories are discussed with a lot of gusto.

How the golu came about to be displayed is also interesting.

During the time of Krishnadevaraya, there was a lot of de-silting of rivers going on and dams being constructed. The king wanted to revive pottery in his kingdom and asked the potters to make dolls from the clay available. The dolls represented a lot of things - gods, incidents from mythology, everyday life in the kingdom etc. The subjects then displayed the dolls in their houses - which the king and queen visited later. The dolls were arranged in multiple steps.

The first step had the kalash - a pot filled with rice and grains, covered with a coconut and mango leaves to symbolise prosperity and to hope for that prosperity to sustain through the next year. The wooden carvings of the king and queen, (marapachi bommai) were placed there. The next step had dolls of the numerous gods and demigods and the third depicted scenes from everyday life. The number of steps varied from 3 to as much as 11 depending on the prosperity of the subject. The golu tradition was revived by the Mysore Wodeyars and the devis statue is taken out in procession by the majestic elephants each year.

I love the golu dolls for they make it so easy for me to narrate the stories i grew up with and it serves as a constant reminder of my rich and lovely culture which is filled with powerful myths and lessons for life. I will spend some time writing about my dolls in the posts to come.

Navrathri - the nine days

Navrathri or Dusshera is perhaps my most favorite festival now as i fell in love with it as an adult. In the south, the 9 days of the festival are split into 3 days each for the three goddesses - Lakshmi, Saraswati and Parvati(Durga) and we revere them each day in different forms.

While there are numerous myths surrounding the festival and why we celebrate it with so much ado, I choose the stick to the story of Mahishasuramardini - the goddess who killed a demon no God could.

The myth :

The story goes that once there was a powerful demon called Mahisha who was half human and half buffalo. He had performed severe penance and Brahma had granted him a boon - he could not be vanquished by mortals or gods and for every drop of his blood split, he could give birth to another asura as powerful. Needless to say, after getting this boon, the man was uncontrollable. He wrecked havoc in heaven and earth and the gods hoped for deliverance. Shiva and Vishnu decided to go to a battle with the demon and they managed to destroy his forces. However, for every drop of his blood split, there were new Mahishas cropping up and for every drop of their blood, other Mahishas and so on. The battle went on for days and they finally prayed to the Mother for deliverance. Durga comes into the picture now, riding a lion. She fights with Mahisha and is able to kill him but she is not able to prevent the rebirth of the others through his blood. She calls for Kali who drinks every drop of blood that spills and Durga finally vanquishes the asura, the one who had underestimated the power of the mother goddess.

The philosophy :

This is one of my favorite stories as it shows the power of a woman who did what men couldn't. I also love it for she goes to a war, a man's war and still battles it out with wit and spirit. The physical prowess which women are not credited with, is what this goddess possesses. She doesn't charm him to death - she kills him in a battle.

Mahisha like a lot of men, so easily underestimated women - he sought for protection from men and gods but still conveniently ignored women. Gender bias aside, i think this story tells us never to underestimate the power of those we consider weak and never to think we are invincible - we are but human and we are mortal. A common cold can hurt us and make us take to our beds, no matter how allergy proof our houses are and how much we draw each month.

Another beautiful philosophy in this story is the role Kali plays. She does what ought to be done to stop him, even if it means stooping down to drink his blood. Gore aside, that deserves an applause.