From our childhood days we would often hear various stories, some were moral based, and some were based on Gods and Goddesses, Victory of good over evil, Epics, so on. As we grow up, the struggles of life teach us that goodness is just a myth, making these mythological stories recede far away from our minds. Hence these mythologies become nothing but bedtime stories intended only for children. What we do not realize is that these mythologies are just not unrealistic fantasies but they give way to a deep, rich philosophical insight that revolves around our lives.
In India, Epics, stories in Vedas, Mythologies, they form the structure of Hindu worship. The pivot characters are worshiped and their stories narrated and celebrated. If we start from the Mythology of lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati (Shakti), we will notice that their love story revolves around many philosophies that might govern domestic life, spiritual sphere and also nature. What echoes throughout their story is, union. The first perspective of union is the ‘Purush’ ‘Prakriti’ union. Lord Shiva, who is the perfect ‘Purush’, the prime masculine force, lives in the solitude of the mountain called Kailash with spirits and his favorite abode Nandi (A white Bull). Goddess Parvati, who is Shakti and the reincarnation of Sati, often associated with ‘Prakriti’ (i.e Nature), is the prime feminine force. Goddess Parvati falls in love with Lord Shiva and resiliently performs sadhana to get him as her husband. After years of performing strict austerities she finally gets her boon and marries Lord Shiva. Through the union of these two distinct forces, creation evolved. A literal symbol of this union is the shiva lingam, which is basically shiva’s linga and parvati’s yoni getting united.
If we dive a little deeper we will get another layer of perspective, which is the union of soul and God. The first interpretation is that of kundalini, that recoils in the lowest part of our spine. The chakras in the body symbolically represents the trimurti (Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh). The lower chakras of the body symbolizes the creator, Lord Brahma , the middle chakras symbolizes the preserver, Lord Vishnu and the highest chakras of the body constituting the mind, symbolizes the destroyer, Lord Shiva. The kundalini when unleashed, goes up, hits the mind, destroying ego. Hence this union of Kundalini (Shakti) with Shiva (The state of realizing the soul) forms another basis behind the story. To put it simply, when the soul (Shiva, that is within all of us), unites with Prakriti (Nature), then we realize our higher selves and see the ultimate truth.
Yes! Simple stories with profound philosophies…..
To talk about the controversial Epic, Ramayana, we are often enraged by the injustice done to the female characters in the story, specially the ever loyal Sita. It echoes a feministic angle, highlighting the position of women then, as viewed by the orthodox society. On the other side, if we try to observe another intent the epic plays, then we will witness the role of a perfect king. Ram, a perfect man, makes his subjects his first priority and forgoes his most dearest person, Sita. As a righteous king he puts his duty as a ruler first from his personal wish of having a happy domestic life. In this epic the society and their mentality forms the main villain, which we face even now.
Mahabharata, forms a complicated epic with stories within a story. Here Krishna becomes the pivot of the epic, rescuing and protecting women. The insults made to Draupadi results in a massive war led by Lord Krishna himself. This epic generated the Bhagawat Gita, which gives insight to how the battle of life could be led and truth seen.
Mythologies are a set of embellished stories, if read and understood directly they seem to be simple stories with typical characters but as we delve further into it, we see a more complicated structure of characterization, incidents that is relatable even to this day, moreover, lessons and a type of understanding that teaches us to accept life.