SOME INDIAN MYTHOLOGICAL DOUBTS

I have been reading these days  major Indian mythological classics including the Bhagvata Puran. Earlier my knowledge about these great books and stories therein was based on the discourses of the  Baba Log. Now I have developed my own perception and no such element can lead me to the garden path though I cannot claim to have attained scholarship on those highly spiritual subjects. Since I have been a history student, I see the incidents from that angle as well. A few discrepancies are discussed below.

Take the names of major Sanskrit scriptures including the Ramayana (Valmiki), Mahabharata, Durga Shaptshati, Geeta, Bhagvata etc, you will find that they are all written in a similar style. If I say something, nobody will listen. If I say that it is something told by the Prime Minister to the President of India, everybody will be inquisitive to listen. Similarly, the authors of our criptures have cleverly given the stories a shape of  narratives of the saints and gods given out to the people for their spiritual betterment so that after death they could go to heaven. No logic can accept that both the armies, ready to fight in the Kurukshetra, waited for hours together so that Krishna could finish the knowlwdge, enshrined in the Geeta to Arjuna. Besides this, one can also see the similarity in the language of these great books which follows the Panini grammar, meaning thereby that they were written in post 6^th century BC. Some scholars argue that they all were written during Gupta period.

Unfortunately, Sanskrit authors have, by tradition avoided to write their names as well as period which does not help the historians to fix historycity of events. Often they are contradictory as well. Manu was the mental son(manas putra) of Brahma. Manu’s son was Uttanpad and his son was Dhruva. Thus the story appears to have belonged to Satyauga. We believe that with the end of the Bharat War and demise of Krishna, Dwapar ended and Kaliyuga started. However, if you refer to the Shloka No. 38 of chapter twelve, Skand iv of the Bhagvata, you will see that Dhruva was totally devoted to Krishna. Additionally, there are innumerable references to a king ruling for several thousand years and sages penancing for yet longer periods. 

If all the creatures are created by God, how He will be happy to see animals being sacrificed in yajnas. Gods become satisfied with offerings in those yajnas. Once again it is beyond comprehension that we shall love to kill our own children. Could Shiva put on tiger or deer hides without killing these animals? If the supreme Lord could create the universe, why could not He manage some other innocent material for covering the body? Under the Cruelty to Animal Act, today He could have been charged.

 In the modern world of women empowerment, another godly practice appears quite objectionable. If you  see a photograph of Lord Vishnu, resting on the Sheshnag in the Milky Ocean, you will not miss the scene that His consort, Lakshmi is very loyally massaging His feet. Such photographs also indicate that this practice was common with other gods as well. Even in the scriptures, referred to above we get such descriptions. Perhaps it is this practice which has given the licence to the modern males also to compel their betterhalves to massage them. Even the mothers-in-law take it as their born right to get their body regularly massaged by their daughters-in-law. If the young ladies object, they are asked to copy Lakshmi, Parvati etc.

According to me, eventhough nobody should raise any finger against other’s faith, but there is no harm in testing the practicality of some age-old practices. A bit of doubt, a bit of logic and a bit of reasonable discussion may help us to accept the cream of our faith which is in consonance with the changing time. By mustering courage to do so, we shall save them from remaining a laughing stock for the new generations.