Hinduism's Mythological Stories

Consequently, man is invariably tear between the necessities of the material foundation and the desire to become maven with the spiritual forces or fields in the world. This creates a certain(prenominal) tension between two conflicting sets of aspirations, resolved on through a karmic cycle of birth, death and rebirth (Murthy, 1998). As the Bhagavad Gita hellionstrates, said Murthy (1998), a r come out of the closetine existence, bogged down in every-dayness, rusts the musical theme and robs the spark of livelihood. By turning to the myths of deities such as Visnu and shibah, and by understanding the symbolic meaning of those stories, man finds paths toward enlightenment and out of the "every-dayness" of his material existence (Eck, 1985; Murthy, 1998).

shibah is a many-faced and faceted reflection of the attributeless supreme deity. According to Fisher (1999), in older systems, Siva along with Brahma (Creation) and Visnu (Preserver) represented the three major aspects of the perfectionhead. Siva is "the unmanifest; he is creator, preserver, destroyer, personal Lord, friend, primal Soul" (Fisher, 1999, p. 107). Siva is oft depicted dancing above the body of a demon that he has killed, demonstrating his capacity to reconcile light and darkness, satisfactory and evil, presentation and destruction, rest and activity in the eternal dance of life (Singh, 1990).

Siva is also depicted in mythology as the divinity fudge of Yogis, seen sitting in isolation on Mount Kailas wearing only a tiger skin. In this depiction, Siva wears a snake around his nec

sexual love deity. In one myth, a intelligent was sent to watch out who was the greatest of all the gods by trying their tempers. Siva and Brahmma were spiteed and whence abused the sage in their own turn. When the sage came upon Visnu, the god was asleep; knowing of Visnu's good nature, the sage increased the insult by kicking him awake. Instead of reacting with anger, Visnu tenderly massaged the foot of the sage, c at a timern that he may have hurt it. This led to sage to proclaim Visnu the greatest and mightiest of the gods, because he over springed all by actor of goodness and generosity (Fisher, 1999).

Murthy, B. S. (1998). Editor/Translator. The Bhagavad Gita.

Lopez, D. S. Ed. (1995). Religions of India in Practice.

Fisher (1999) notes that in his incarnation in the epic Ramayana, Visnu is human, confronting the eternal play of good and evil symbolized by battles. Visnu incarnates as the virtuous Prince Rama in revise to kill Ravana, the ten-headed demon king of Sri Lanka. As Rama, a position of morality, Visnu exemplifies the filial duty of a son and the necessity of an austere life (Fisher, 1999). Rama is the innate principle of goodness with Ravana the dark ramp or ego which tends to greed, jealousy, and selfishness. By confronting the demons of these human characteristics, Rama or Visnu once more provides a way of moving beyond excessive engagement in the world and toward renunciation of those aspects of the world that argon inhibiting to spiritual growth (Radhakrishnan & Moore, 1989).

In one story, Siva swallows a poison that threatens the whole world with darkness, neutralizing the poison by the power of his meditation. Symbolically, this myth emphasizes the capacity of Siva to simultaneously protect the world while urging that its inhabitants remove themselves from its influence (Fisher, 1999).

Princeton, N.J. Princeton University Press.

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