Symbolism in Mythology – Part 1

A myth is the integration of many (sometimes religious) symbols into a narrative form. Myths not only provide a comprehensive view of the world, but they also provide the tools for deciphering the world. Symbols act as a rallying point for meaning and through it the mind links together several meanings.

Human being is considered to be a symbol making animal. In this sense a cultural system is basically the nexus between the various ways of symbolising. This makes it important for a sociologist to identify symbolic elements in human activities. In myths we see symbols as means of communicating something significant. The communicative role of symbol is very important for studying religion and at times through it, mythology.

Mythology is a complex study of symbolism and each myth when shorn off its fantastic elements and magical texts gives a meaning or a conclusion which is so real and at times factual. The symbolism is inherent in each myth and it is for the reader to decipher that.

To illustrate my point, I intend to analyse a lesser known myth of the Kayopo tribe of the Red Indians taken from Claude Levi Strauss’s collection of the Kayopo tribe of the Red Indians.

An Indian takes his younger brother-in-law to catch parrots up a cliff; they quarrel and the boy is left stranded in the forest. He is there for several days and is rescued by a jaguar who is walking past carrying a bow and arrow. (It is important to mention here that these tales are set in the period when man and animals lived together and some of the animals had both human and superhuman qualities). The jaguar takes him home for a ‘cooked-dinner’, for it was only the jaguar who had the gift of fire and cooking at this stage.

The jaguar’s human (!) wife does not like the boy and the boy is eventually forced to murder her with the bow and arrow; he then runs back to his village, taking with him a piece of cooked meat. There he shows the villagers the jaguar’s lair from where they capture an ember and thus learn about fire and the art of cooking, but the jaguar becomes man’s enemy for the betrayal.

Shorn of fiction, the story is full of symbolism. It is symbolic of mans move towards culture (from a raw existence) by the discovery of domestic fire and cooking, the jaguar’s (i.e. the animals) move away from culture and becomes the embodiment of raw nature. Extending this to the Greek myth of Prometheus’s stealing of fire for man, man there had to pay for the gift of fire by the loss of automatic agriculture, and here he pays for it by the hostility of animal life in the jungle. At this stage I would also hazard another symbolism. Doesn’t it symbolise man’s inherent nature of not being trustworthy? But I would resist from getting into ethical symbolism of myths, which by itself could be a subject of controversial debate!

The Myth of the Durva grass.

We have all seen a set of grass (better known as Durva) being offered to gods. Let me tell you a myth associated with it.

As per the myth, once Garuda (the eagle faced bird, also the carrier of Lord Vishnu) got some nectar from the moon for the Nagas (the serpent gods) as a price for releasing Garuda’s mother who was forcefully serving the serpents (why, is a different story). On seeing this, Indra tried to convince Garuda not to give it them, lest the Nagas become immortal.

Garuda was not agreeable to this as he had to get his mothers release, but suggested to Indra, that once he gave it to the Nagas, Indra could go and steal the nectar from them. Garuda placed the vessel on the grass and while the Nagas were bathing in the river, Indra stole the vessel.

The Nagas thinking that the nectar was on the grass, licked it, and the sharp spikes of the grass slit their tongues. Since then the serpents are said to have forked tongues and the grass which had touched the nectar is considered to be holy! That is the Durva grass.

A lesser known myth related to Draupadi.

All of us know the popular myth that it was Lord Krishna who came to the rescue of Draupadi when she was being disrobed by Dushhasana, after she was lost in the dice game, by Yudhishtir. The famous vastra-haran scene of tons of sarees unfolding from Draupadi’s body, till Dushhasana giving up the effort, is etched in everybody’s mind.

However, there seems to be a very different version of this aid to Draupadi.

It is said that the unfolding of sarees was not an act of Lord Krishna, but it was due to a boon by Sage Durvasa (yes, the famous sage better known for his curses!).

The myth says that once Sage Durvasa was taking a bath in the Ganga and suddenly his loin-cloth slipped away due to the gush of the water. It went off, down-stream in full view of the people, which embarrassed the sage to no end. Draupadi who was having a bath upstream noticed it. She immediately tore a strip from her garment and let it reach the sage, who immediately grabbed the strip. This saved the day for sage Durvasa.

The sage then gave a boon to Draupadi that her garment would increase on her body in case she ever needs it. The boon came to her aid, when Dushhasana was disrobing her!

[This is according to Shiv Purana (III.19.63-66)]

Fair-skinned Draupadi.

A recent newspaper article mentioned that Prakash Jha after the success of his recent Rajneeti was thinking of making Draupadi with Angelina Jolie as Draupadi. Angelina Jolie as Draupadi? A fair-skinned Draupadi?

Let me tell you the story of Draupadi’s birth.

King Drupad had no son and he desired a son to punish and kill the strong Dronacharya. So a sacrifice was arranged for the great purpose of getting a son. At the end of the sacrifice, the queen was called for to partake the offering, (which was to beget twins), but she was not ready at that very moment to come out in the open. The offering, could not wait, so it was cast in the fire. No sooner was the offering cast in the fire, out came a son of the colour of flames, ready to fight.

After him came a very beautiful girl, dark-skinned and black-haired (as described in Mahabharat). The priests named the son Dhristadyumna, and the girl, Krishne. In Mahabharat, one can find Lord Krishna referring to Draupadi, as Krishne many a times. By the way, Krishne also means dark, which was also the meaning of Lord Krishna’s name, who too was dark.

Birth from fire and the very name implying dark – how can there be a fair-skinned Draupadi? Even with the objective of “reaching out to the international mass…”?

The case of the missing river, Saraswati

We have all heard about the famous Triveni Sangam – the confluence of the rivers Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati. Obviously, there is no river Saraswati. Why?

It is said that the river Saraswati was the most famous river during the Vedic period (some say it was the tributary of the Bhagirathi River). As times changed, due to a poor flow, Saraswati began to reduce into lakes and ponds. Though the river began to lose its prominence as a river, it slowly started gaining importance as the Goddess of Speech, due to the practice of sacrifices being offered at the banks of the river and the necessary recitation of mantras, also soon became the basis of her being associated with the Goddess of Learning, and as an obvious progression, as the wife of Brahma.

Around the same time, the river Ganga was gaining prominence as it was an absolute contrast to the river Saraswati in its ability to flow constantly, though she never attained the status that the elevated Saraswati did. But soon the river was nearly wiped out and all the practices and the rituals associated with the river Saraswati, got associated with the Ganga.

The importance of Saraswati as a river is still seen in the famous Triveni Sangam, where though there is no river Saraswati, the place hasn’t lost the name and the significance.