0 Bewertungen0% fanden dieses Dokument nützlich (0 Abstimmungen)
10 Ansichten10 Seiten
A Research Paper from Vol 1, Folklore Studies in the Current Globalisation, Felicitation Volume to Prof. Bhakthavathsala Reddy, Edited by Prof P. Chenna Reddy, M. Sarat Babu. 2018.
A Research Paper from Vol 1, Folklore Studies in the Current Globalisation, Felicitation Volume to Prof. Bhakthavathsala Reddy, Edited by Prof P. Chenna Reddy, M. Sarat Babu. 2018.
A Research Paper from Vol 1, Folklore Studies in the Current Globalisation, Felicitation Volume to Prof. Bhakthavathsala Reddy, Edited by Prof P. Chenna Reddy, M. Sarat Babu. 2018.
10
MYTH: METHODOLOGY AND INTERPRETATIONS
Ms. Kanika Gupta
Inarthistory mythshave usually been studied to identify images. Allacrossthe Indian subcontinent
‘one comes across depictions of various scenes from mythology. Identifying a sculpture usually involves
beingable to decipher its iconography or the particular myth depicted. This however is justthe starting
point ofthe study ofthe mythas wellas hesculptural depiction and itmay beseenthatifanew methodology
{sapplied,itcan enrich our existing ideas and understanding of notjust the depiction but also the socio
political milieuin which the myth grew.
Levi-Strauss—Structuralism and myth
___Levi-Strausinhis Structural Anthropology uses structuralism to study myths, his opinionthe
individual elements ofa myth are not important; itisthe way they are connected or linked together that
isimportant, He studies these links to formulate a process through which he analysis a myth,
LLevi-Strauss observes that myth, “.. should be placed in the gamut of linguistic expressionsatthe
‘end opposite to that of poetry, in spite of the claims which have been made to prove the contrary. Poetry
isa kind of speech which cannot be translated except at the cost of serious distortions: whereas the
‘mythical value ofthe myth is preserved even through the worst translations. Whatever our ignorance of
the language and the culture of the people where it originated, amythis still feltas a myth by any reader
anywhere in the world Itssubstance does ntlieinitsstyle, its original music orits syntax, butin the story
‘which ttells Mythis language, functioning onan especially high level where meaning succeeds practically
at“taking off” from the linguistic ground on which itkeeps on rolling.”
He goes onto ay, “Ifthere sa meaning tobe found in mythology, teannot reside inthe {isolated
clements wich enter inte the composition ofamyth, butonly in the way those elements are combined."
Inhis opinion meaning does not reside in the individual elements ofa myth butin the way these
elements are put together. He takes the example of Oedipus myth and analysis it.
-Thesamemethodology may be used incase ofthe myth of Ganesha. Inthe many myths associated
with Ganesha along with their variations patterns can be traced.190 Folklore Studies in the Current Globalization
The first myth to be considered is that ofthe birth of Ganesha. Once when Shiva has gone out
‘of Kailashamountain, Parvati wishes o bathe. However she fears that someone might come and see her.
“Thus she creates a small image from the mud ofher body and puts life init. The child thus born is told
tokeep guard on the door. After some time when Shiva arrivesand tries to enter the door tomeet Parvati
heisstopped from doing so by the child. Atthis Shiva gets extremely angry and cuts the head offthe child's
body. Parvatiis shocked to see this and demands the life ofthe child back. Realising what he had done
Shiva gets the head of an clephant and attaches ito the body of the child thus bringing life into him again
‘The child therefore comes to be called Ganesha.
‘The myth can be broken into the following links -
Parvatimakesherehild
fromthe mud/dirtonher
bod’
Shiva kills the child
by beheading him,
Shiva kills an elephant to
take its head,
‘Shivaputs the elephant
hhead on the body of the
child thus bringing his
lifeback.
‘The second column may be referred to as—control overthe act of killing; one is able to kill (animal
orhuman); death isnot mysterious.
‘The third column shows that the society from which this myth comes has overpowered animals.
‘The first column in this case has a feature which can be described as— the mysterious power of
If these observations are followed, it means that the myth depicts a society which though has
overpowered animals like elephants but is yet to deal with the mysteries: of origin of life or giving life.
Yaska’s Nirukta
‘Another methodology was proposed by Yaska, who wrotean ancient Indian texton etymology
called Nirukta, The date of Yaska yet remains debatable; however, he may be placed in the bracket of
200 BCE—200 CE. Yaska suggests three ways of interpreting a myth. Firstly amythmay be understood
literally ormay be taken atits face value. Secondly it may be understood historically. For example, Indra
the Vedic god may have been atribal hero who was extremely popular and eventually came to be deified.
Thispossibility has been called aithasika’, which means mythsmay have traces ofhistoryinthem. Thirty,
‘amythmaybe understood metaphorically. This way of interpreting has been called ‘Nairukta’. For example,
therivalry between Indra and Vrtra (son of Twashta) may be understood ata metaphorical level. Indra
isseenas the one who brings rain and a vajra is his epithet. The root ‘vru’ of Vrtra means “to cover or
‘to conceal”; in this case Vrtra may be understood as representing rain borne clouds. Therrivalry between
Indra and Vrtra can thus be understood to represent thunder striking the clouds to bring rain. In literature
itis seen that Indra defeats Vrtra, The entire myth in this case can be interpreted as anatural phenomenon’,
‘Sun god is usually seen with two special guards. Metaphorically seen these guards can be seen
_asrepresenting a basic concept of kundalini yoga. In kundalin practise the three main channels ofenergyE a
Myth: Methodology and Interpretations 191
(oflife)in the body are considered tobe ida, pingala and sushumnanadi, Sun being the su ‘energy
Biving force may have been symbolised in sculptures (Konark temple) ssthcnprenoenay
The oldest of myths of the so called, heavenly father-mother earth’ as found in Vedic literature
ean be seen as anatural phenomenon of rain germinating the earth and makingit fertile, Here again the
‘Nainukta approach of Yaska has been used, To take this further, according to Norman Brown, Indra's
parents may have been Earth and Sky*. This only goes to say that lightening was the child of clouds and
Earth coming together which makes perfect sense inthe whole metaphorand rather completes it
Balarama, in mostof the myths has been represented as astrong, arrogant young fellow who is
extremely fond of drinking. Once he is heavily drunk and wishes to bathe butis unable to walk up to river
‘Yamuna. So he orders the river Goddess to change her course and come towards him. When Yamuna
refuses, the myth describes that Balarama dragged Yamuna with her hairand forcibly made her change
her course. Undoubtedly, Balarama must have been the god ofa patriarchal society where display of such
“masculinity’was looked up to, Butalso, this may have traces of ahistorical event where theriver Yamuna
‘changed its course and the myth was created to explain the phenomenon. This interpretation corresponds
tothe aitihasika methodology of Yaska, Rivers do change their course and sometimes there is no trace
ofsuch changes left. This may well have been the case with river Yamuna.
Vedic literature refers to an incident where Indra fights Goddess Usha, defeats her and chases her
‘away till the end of horizon, He in fact overpowers her physically and rapes her. Usha seems tohave been
significant Goddess whose importance declines withthe coming of patriarchy and thus Indra takes over.
Thus the myth was created to establish Indra as the stronger and overpowering God. Seen with the
aitihasika approach, the myth again may representa historical event where in an actual war Indra defeated
the lady head of a community and took over them.
tis a well-known that the ancient cults of yakshas, yakshis and nagas were subjugated and
amalgamated with the new more powerful religious order time and again, Be it Buddhism, Jainism or
Brahamanical cults, this can be seen in sculptural depictions in abundance‘. Thus in many cases Garuda
defeating snakes or Vaishnavite deities subjugating snake gods can easily be seen metaphorically as
representing actual history.
Kosambi’s Myth and Reali
DDKosambiinterpres variousmyths and attempts o search fr social eality in them’, Discussing
the myth of Urvashi and Pururava in Rig Veda, he interprets itasa transition phase between matriarchy
and patriarchy. His approach isto look atthe mode of food production. His approach can be understood
with his concluding remarks in his remarkable essay ‘Urvashi and Pururavas” which say-
i il fe \ddesses of the later
“The Urvashis faded away, butthey are responsible nevertheless forthe go
‘pantheon that are married peacefully to the major gods. Their living representatives developed what became
with the rise of a trading society and cash economy before the Mauryan period — commercialized
oe
‘Thushis focus clearly remains the economy of the society and the eventual shift of authority and
powerwith changing economic factors.
‘Peter Muns and the Study of Myth
Peter Munz*; vi famyth
« another methodology for understanding myths. He studies variations ofa
% andaccordingtohimamythmay notjustnecessariy develop overtime, itmay also have variations