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Hindu mythology

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File:Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva seated on lotuses with their consorts, ca1770.jpg
The Trimurti (Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva) seated on lotuses with their consorts, the Tridevi (Saraswati, Lakshmi, and Parvati).

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File:Krishna and Rukmini as Groom and Bride in a Celestial Chariot Driven by Ganesha LACMA M.74.13.jpg
Krishna elopes with Princess Rukmini
File:1150 CE Hoysaleswara temple Halebidu Karnataka, Gajasurasamhara Shiva.jpg
Shiva slays Gajasura
File:Matsya Avatar, ca 1870.jpg
Vishnu's Matsya avatar, a prominent Hindu myth.

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Hindu mythology refers to the collection of mythsTemplate:Efn associated with Hinduism, derived from various Hindu texts and traditions. These myths are found in sacred texts such as the Vedas,Template:Sfn the Itihasas (the Mahabharata and the Ramayana),Template:Sfn and the Puranas.Template:Sfn They also appear in regional and ethnolinguistic texts, including the Bengali Mangal Kavya and the Tamil Periya Puranam and Divya Prabandham. Additionally, Hindu myths are also found in widely translated fables like the Panchatantra and the Hitopadesha, as well as in Southeast Asian texts influenced by Hindu traditions.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Meaning of "myth"

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Myth is a genre of folklore or theology consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. For folklorists, historians, philosophers or theologians this is very different from the use of "myth" simply indicating that something is not true. Instead, the truth value of a myth is not a defining criterion.<ref>Deretic, Irina. “Why are myths true: Plato on the veracity of myths.” Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Philosophy and Conflict Studies (2020): vol. 36, issue 3, pp. 441–451.</ref> Hindus see this as not just tales, but their proud history and tradition told in great literary form.

Hindu myths can be found in the Vedas, the itihasa (Ramayana and Mahabharata), and the major Puranas. Other sources include the Bengali literature, such as Mangal-Kāvya, and the Tamil literature, such as Divya Prabandham, Tirumurai and the Five Great Epics. These narratives play a crucial role in the Hindu tradition and are considered real and significant within their cultural and spiritual context, offering profound insights into the beliefs and values of Hinduism.

Origins and development

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Indus Valley Civilisation

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According to Joseph Campbell, the Indus Valley (2600–1900 BCE) may have left traces in the beliefs and traditions of Hinduism. Artefacts have revealed motifs that are also employed and revered by Hindus today, such as primary male deities worshipped by a ruling elite, mother goddesses, nature spirits, snake worship, as well as the reverence of other theriomorphic (animal-shaped) beings.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> These themes would be maintained by the Dravidian folk religion even after the decline of its parent civilisation around 1800 BCE.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Vedic Period

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A major factor in the development of Hinduism was the Vedic religion. The Indo-Aryan migration brought their distinct beliefs to the Indian subcontinent, where the Vedas were composed around 1500 BCE. The Indo-Aryans Vedic pantheon of deities included the chief god Indra, the sun deity Surya, Ushas, as well as Agni.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Brahmanical Period

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Template:Main articles This period saw the composition of commentaries referred to as the Brahmanas.Template:Sfn

Upanishad Period

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Template:See also According to Williams, from 900 to 600 BCE, the protests of the populace against sacrifices made towards the Vedic gods and rebellions against the Brahmin class led to the embrace of reform by the latter and the composition of the fourth Veda and the Vedanta texts. About half of the Upanishads were mystical and unitive, speaking of experiencing the divine as the one (ekam), while the other half promoted devotion to one or more deities. New gods and goddesses were celebrated, and devotional practices began to be introduced.<ref name=":0"/>

Sramanic movements

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Elements such as those emerging from Buddhism and Jainism made their "heteroprax" contributions to later Hindu mythology, such as temples, indoor shrines, and rituals modeled after service to a divine king. Renunciate traditions contributed elements that questioned sacrifices and the killing of animals, and promoted asceticism and vegetarianism. All of these themes would be incorporated by the Brahmin classes into the later Hindu synthesis, which developed in response to the sramanic movements between ca. 500–300 BCE and 500 CE, and also found their way into Hindu mythology.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref>

Epic Period

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Template:Main articles The era from 400 BCE to 400 CE was the period of the compilation of India’s great epics, the Mahabharata and Ramayana. These were central manifestations of the newly developing Hindu synthesis, contributing to a specific Hindu mythology, emphasising divine action on earth in Vishnu's incarnations and other divine manifestations. The lore of the devas and the asuras expanded. Epic mythology foreshadowed the rich polytheism of the next two periods. The Mahabharata contained two appendices that were extremely important sources for later mythological development, the Bhagavad Gîta and the Harivamsa.

Puranic Period

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According to Williams, the mythology of the Puranas can be broken into three periods (300–500; 500–1000; 1000–1800), or the whole period may simply be referred to as the Hindu Middle Ages. This age saw the composition of the major Puranic texts of the faith, along with the rise of sectarianism, with followers amassing around the cults of Vishnu, Shiva, or Devi. The three denominations within this period help locate in time historical developments within the sectarian communities, the rise and decline of Tantrism and its influence on mainstream mythology, the tendencies in Puranic mythologising of subordinating Vedic gods and past heroes to ever-increasing moral weaknesses, going on to be identified as a period of exuberant polytheism. However, this was also accompanied with the belief in monotheism, the idea that all paths lead to the Ultimate Reality, Brahman.<ref name=":0" />

Tantric Period

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According to Williams, during the Tantric period from 900 to 1600 CE, the mythology of Tantra and Shaktism revived and enriched blood sacrifice and the pursuit of pleasure as central themes. Tantra’s stories differed radically in meaning from those of epic mythology, which favored devotion, asceticism, and duty. There was either a revival or emphasis that was placed on the shakti or the cosmic energy of goddesses, a concept that had emerged during the Indus Valley Civilisation.<ref name=":0" />

Modern Period

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In the contemporary era, the mythologies of the dominant traditions of Vaishnavism, Shaivism, and Shaktism prevail.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> Several myths were found or invented to make tribals or former "outcastes" Hindus and bring them within the cultural whole of a reconstructed Hindu mythological community.

Mythical themes and types

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File:Depictions of episodes from Hindu mythology.jpg
Depictions of episodes from Hindu mythology

Academic studies of mythology often define mythology as deeply valued stories that explain a society's existence and world order: those narratives of a society's creation, the society's origins and foundations, their god(s), their original heroes, mankind's connection to the "divine", and their narratives of eschatology (what happens in the "after-life"). This is a very general outline of some of the basic sacred stories with those themes. In its broadest academic sense, the word myth simply means a traditional story. However, many scholars restrict the term "myth" to sacred stories.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Folklorists often go further, defining myths as "tales believed as true, usually sacred, set in the distant past or other worlds or parts of the world, and with extra-human, inhuman, or heroic characters".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In classical Greek, muthos, from which the English word myth derives, meant "story, narrative." Hindu mythology does not often have a consistent, monolithic structure. The same myth typically appears in various versions, and can be represented differently across different regional and socio-religious traditions.Template:Sfn Many of these legends evolve across these texts, where the character names change or the story is embellished with greater details.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn According to Suthren Hirst, these myths have been given a complex range of interpretations.Template:Sfn While according to Doniger O'Flaherty, the central message and moral values remain the same.Template:Sfn They have been modified by various philosophical schools over time, and are taken to have deeper, often symbolic, meaning.Template:Sfn

Cosmology

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  • Brahman The Ultimate Reality in Hinduism
  • Satyaloka The abode of Brahma
  • Hiranyagarbha The golden egg from which creation emerges
  • Vaikuntha The abode of Vishnu
  • Goloka The abode of Radha Krishna
  • Kailasa The abode of Shiva
  • Bhumi The Hindu name for Earth.
  • Patala The netherworld
  • Svarga The Hindu concept of "heaven", but not strictly related to afterlife, but more like "utopia" in real world.
  • Naraka The Hindu concept of "hell", but not a site of permanent damnation

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Deities

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Template:Expand section Pantheism

Vaishnavism (Vishnu-centric)

Shaivism (Shiva-centric)

Shaktism (Goddess-centric)


Henotheism and Polytheism

Dravidian folk religion' (Indigenous Dravidian faith)

Connections to other belief systems

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Template:Expand section Hinduism shares mythemes with Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism.

See also

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Notes

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Citations

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General sources

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Further reading

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