What's the thing with mythology?Whatever it is ,there seems to be a certain kind of fascination with it.Whether it is Sea churning (samudra mathan)by the Gods or luminously appearing in front of the 'sadhu' immersed in meditation and granting them boon;however unrealistic ,people just dont seem stop liking it.Incidentally,person who plays Lord Shiva in hit TV series Devo Ke Dev Mahadev,has won awards and has a nationwide(even age wide from 18-80 year old ladies :p)fan-following.
Out of many instances in that TV series(some funny),two such come to my mind now.First,when Lord Vishnu sleeps for one night with wife of tyrant Jalandhar to disempower him to wreak havoc in the heavens .Jalandhar has an armour that is made extremely powerful by his wife's fidelity to him (pati vrata) and so Vishnu makes the armour impotent as the wife is no longer 'faithful' to her husband,Jalandhar.
Or when Goddess Ganga becomes love-lorn when her love for Lord Shiva is unreciprocated.
Or Dont we know how notorious and greedy is Lord Indra(the Lord of heavens,ironically :p)
So,this brings me back.What's the thing with mythology?Why are Gods(even the Trilogy) depicted so humanely at one hand and all-knowing and powerful ,on the other hand.One plausible explanation could come if we consider how old these myths are and the time and circumstances under which they were fabricated.Apart from entertainment,they also served a little more profound purpose,at least.And I won't be wrong if I'd say they some of them illustrate morals.I think our sages thought the best way to bring home the morals is by making everyday man connect to the stories(thus,human-like Gods) and by making them retain (thus, stories are about higher powers,so 'better be serious about them' :p) .And considering that mythology is inseparable from religion,the genesis of organised religion comes from morality.Indeed it is,as per evolutionary psychologists.
Even non-human primates seem to have a vague feeling about morals,although the evidence is non-conclusive.Homo neanderthalensis may have buried their dead.Moreover,dolphins and even whales are known to exhibit pre-moral traits.The genesis of morality comes from sociality 'living in a society' where one is expected to act in such-and-such way.Living in groups has been a survival tactic.The chances of finding food and defence from predators is more.A team working as a whole,each member doing their part and all proceeding to the same goal.Coming together makes a community evolved(a lot more to be written about this,though in another blogpost someday:)).In essence,what I am trying to say,better the social order,better the chances of survival.
and morality is the one that brings about social order,at least thought by the early man and thus civilizations developed.
In the human scenario,with high intelligence and tremendous capacity for symbolic communication,in order to maintain social order and thus morality, organised religion developed when people were coming together more and more ,forming larger communities and greater social control,conflict resolution and group solidarity was required.
However,full-fledged organised religion could only develop when supernatural powers(Gods) were created to scrunitize individuals ,powers that were omnipresent and will give boon or bane to those aligning with or against the moral code,says psychologist Matt J. Rosanno.Indeed,many scholars have suggested that religion is "genetically hardwired" into the human condition.
For more:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_origin_of_religions
However,being religious(societal) is very different from being spiritual(individualistic).Any comments on that?Here,it is worth exploring your own definition of spirituality.
Do read the book review ,"CASE FOR GOD"http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jul/04/case-for-god-karen-armstrong
"We come out of the art gallery or concert hall enriched and braced, elevated and tranquil, and may even fancy ourselves better people, though the change may or may not be noticed by those around us.
Watch the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsxqT4OpHoU
"religion was born to give a meaning to reality,Our five senses have limited reach and what if the creator instead of lying above us ,lies within us,What if humanity is god multiplying itself through particles of experience..What if God is experiencing the world thru us just like we experience the world thru our five senses."
Do give me your feedback on the book review and the video.
Coming to my friends Svake's,Geek Speak's comment that the intent of religion my be peace ,but the purpose has got diluted as it's passed down the ages,and how people choose elements of religion to believe and not believe.In Svake's ticket-counter analogy,where the first guy buys a ticket ,makes loads of copies,adds his additions(as per his convenience and belief systems) and sells the copies to the next one in line and so on..As Kyro said it,"if today's laws are open to wide interpretations,I can only imagine how they interpret milennia-old texts." In essence,People believe what they want to believe,not what they need to.We can come up with ten reasons why Muslims are bad and they can come up with 10 others reasons why Hindus are bad.They are biased according to their personal experiences.
For more,visit
In the homosexuality context,people who are homophobic will try to suppress homosexuals,taking quotes from religious texts that homesexuality is immoral.Actually,they want to believe homesexuals are immorals,and that's why they conveniently choose to ignore the circumstances under which millenia-old religious quotes were written(when societies were developing).They have also chosen to ignore,in the same religious texts, that for a society to develop there should be mutual acceptance and respect for diversity.
In light of this,it is understandable why religion is used to discriminate(like being prejudiced about learning a Muslim language or having meal in a Muslim's house) to wreaking "misuse,havoc,slaughter and fear" in Forby's comment.
For more info on the type of bias(confirmation and hindsight),visit
Out of many instances in that TV series(some funny),two such come to my mind now.First,when Lord Vishnu sleeps for one night with wife of tyrant Jalandhar to disempower him to wreak havoc in the heavens .Jalandhar has an armour that is made extremely powerful by his wife's fidelity to him (pati vrata) and so Vishnu makes the armour impotent as the wife is no longer 'faithful' to her husband,Jalandhar.
Or when Goddess Ganga becomes love-lorn when her love for Lord Shiva is unreciprocated.
Or Dont we know how notorious and greedy is Lord Indra(the Lord of heavens,ironically :p)
So,this brings me back.What's the thing with mythology?Why are Gods(even the Trilogy) depicted so humanely at one hand and all-knowing and powerful ,on the other hand.One plausible explanation could come if we consider how old these myths are and the time and circumstances under which they were fabricated.Apart from entertainment,they also served a little more profound purpose,at least.And I won't be wrong if I'd say they some of them illustrate morals.I think our sages thought the best way to bring home the morals is by making everyday man connect to the stories(thus,human-like Gods) and by making them retain (thus, stories are about higher powers,so 'better be serious about them' :p) .And considering that mythology is inseparable from religion,the genesis of organised religion comes from morality.Indeed it is,as per evolutionary psychologists.
Even non-human primates seem to have a vague feeling about morals,although the evidence is non-conclusive.Homo neanderthalensis may have buried their dead.Moreover,dolphins and even whales are known to exhibit pre-moral traits.The genesis of morality comes from sociality 'living in a society' where one is expected to act in such-and-such way.Living in groups has been a survival tactic.The chances of finding food and defence from predators is more.A team working as a whole,each member doing their part and all proceeding to the same goal.Coming together makes a community evolved(a lot more to be written about this,though in another blogpost someday:)).In essence,what I am trying to say,better the social order,better the chances of survival.
and morality is the one that brings about social order,at least thought by the early man and thus civilizations developed.
In the human scenario,with high intelligence and tremendous capacity for symbolic communication,in order to maintain social order and thus morality, organised religion developed when people were coming together more and more ,forming larger communities and greater social control,conflict resolution and group solidarity was required.
However,full-fledged organised religion could only develop when supernatural powers(Gods) were created to scrunitize individuals ,powers that were omnipresent and will give boon or bane to those aligning with or against the moral code,says psychologist Matt J. Rosanno.Indeed,many scholars have suggested that religion is "genetically hardwired" into the human condition.
For more:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_origin_of_religions
However,being religious(societal) is very different from being spiritual(individualistic).Any comments on that?Here,it is worth exploring your own definition of spirituality.
Do read the book review ,"CASE FOR GOD"http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jul/04/case-for-god-karen-armstrong
"We come out of the art gallery or concert hall enriched and braced, elevated and tranquil, and may even fancy ourselves better people, though the change may or may not be noticed by those around us.
the folly lies in intellectualising
the religious practice.
The
mystery at the heart of religious practice is ineffable, unapproachable by
reason and by language. Silence is its truest expression. The right kind of
silence
in terms
of awareness and truth. an inner
process stands in need of outward criteria. You can feel good without being
good, and be good without stretching your understanding beyond words.
Jabberwocky": "Somehow it seems to fill my head with ideas - only I
don't exactly know what they are."
Watch the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsxqT4OpHoU
"religion was born to give a meaning to reality,Our five senses have limited reach and what if the creator instead of lying above us ,lies within us,What if humanity is god multiplying itself through particles of experience..What if God is experiencing the world thru us just like we experience the world thru our five senses."
Do give me your feedback on the book review and the video.
Coming to my friends Svake's,Geek Speak's comment that the intent of religion my be peace ,but the purpose has got diluted as it's passed down the ages,and how people choose elements of religion to believe and not believe.In Svake's ticket-counter analogy,where the first guy buys a ticket ,makes loads of copies,adds his additions(as per his convenience and belief systems) and sells the copies to the next one in line and so on..As Kyro said it,"if today's laws are open to wide interpretations,I can only imagine how they interpret milennia-old texts." In essence,People believe what they want to believe,not what they need to.We can come up with ten reasons why Muslims are bad and they can come up with 10 others reasons why Hindus are bad.They are biased according to their personal experiences.
For more,visit
In the homosexuality context,people who are homophobic will try to suppress homosexuals,taking quotes from religious texts that homesexuality is immoral.Actually,they want to believe homesexuals are immorals,and that's why they conveniently choose to ignore the circumstances under which millenia-old religious quotes were written(when societies were developing).They have also chosen to ignore,in the same religious texts, that for a society to develop there should be mutual acceptance and respect for diversity.
In light of this,it is understandable why religion is used to discriminate(like being prejudiced about learning a Muslim language or having meal in a Muslim's house) to wreaking "misuse,havoc,slaughter and fear" in Forby's comment.
For more info on the type of bias(confirmation and hindsight),visit
