One of the most interesting, mysterious and rich mythologies of the world is Indian. The myths and legends of ancient India are very diverse. In addition, they are doubly interesting to Russian people who are interested in the origins of Russian spiritual culture, its beginnings in the pre-Christian era. Aryans (Aryans) came to the territory of the Indian Peninsula around the second millennium BC. e. from the lands of modern Russia. Their myths and legends have preserved many common motifs that unite our peoples in a huge Indo-European language family. Their mythology has come down to our days, albeit embellished, but alive, and ours has been largely destroyed, gone into the "subconscious".
Creation of life
Once our world was shrouded in darkness without light, and everywhere there was only water. The ocean ruled the planet, the earth was only at its bottom. The ocean was formidable and possessed great powers, hiding within itself fire and light, and many other gifts for the future life.
And the Golden Egg arose in space, in its innermost core the Embryo was hidden. For a long time it slowly grew, its power grew. One day the Germ broke the shell, split it in two, and came out. It was the first god - Brahma. From one part of the shell, he created the sky, and sent the other down to become the earth's firmament. Brahma filled the expanse from heaven to earth with pure air, and then devoted his thought and his spirit to the great work of creation. The First God created everything that should be in the water, on the earth, in the sky. He created the year and became the progenitor of time.
By the power of his spirit, he gave birth to sons and appointed them to become lords of various creatures, gods, demons, all good and evil forces. From his brow, he produced the mighty, domineering god Rudra (Sanskrit "furious, roaring, red", its Slavic counterpart Perun - the furious lord of the storm, the patron of hunters and the military principle).
From the toes of his right and left feet, Brahma gave birth to the god of light and the goddess of the night. They were combined in an indestructible marriage, because there is no light without darkness. At the behest of Brahma, the sun and moon, myriads of stars, lit up in the sky. From the many descendants of Brahma, other gods arose, and in total there were thirty-three thousand, thirty-three hundred and thirty-three more. At the same time, the enemies of the gods were born - asuras and demons, which predetermined future battles between the forces of light and darkness.
Brahma felt that it was hard for the earth to lie at the bottom of the ocean, and in the form of a boar he plunged into the abyss and lifted the earth from the water depths on his powerful fangs. The land was adorned with mountains, rivers and lakes, forests and fields. Inhabited by many creatures: from the strongest giants to weak creatures, those who swim, crawl or settle in tree crowns. The whitest of the birds - the wild northern goose (swan), Brahma chose as an inseparable friend and driver. Since then, they have been together - Brahma in bright clothes and a snow-white strong goose carrying a god. It should be noted that the swan, the goose is the oldest image of the Indo-Europeans, including the Slavic-Russians.
Created Brahma and people. Brahmins were created from the mouth, who were supposed to speak on his behalf, to keep the law among the people. From mighty hands, God created kshatriyas - warriors and managers. They were to keep the divine order through action. From the hips of Brahma, the third varna-estate was created - vaishyas (farmers, cattle breeders, artisans), they were the class on which the whole society rests, the unshakable foundation of the world order. And from the feet of Brahma, the Shudras were created, a caste of servants (like wandering actors), they had to do dirty work, amuse people, etc.
Immortality
A distant ocean stretched on the edge of the earth (the Milky Ocean, apparently the Arctic Ocean), in its waters a great secret was kept - amrita, the drink of immortality. Both the gods and the asuras (demonic creatures) hostile to them longed for immortality, as the greatest of blessings, which would save them from illnesses and old age, from going into darkness.
One day, the all-light god Vishnu told them to stop fighting and go to the distant ocean to get amrita. Agree to share the drink equally. Mount Mandara was used for a huge whorl, and Shesha snakes (or Vasuki, the king among the Nagas, semi-divine snake-like creatures) as a rope.
The ocean was asked for permission for his churning (churning), he gave it, asking for a particle of amrita. For hundreds of years, the churning went on, after a certain period the ocean became milky, butter was churned out of the milk. The milky waters gave birth to the month, the goddess Lakshmi in snow-white clothes (the goddess of abundance, prosperity, wealth, good luck and happiness, she became the wife of Vishnu). A white horse and many other magical creatures were also born. A jewel shining like a rainbow appeared from the ocean, it became a sign of Vishnu, decorating his chest.
Finally, a healer god (Dhanvantari) arose from the waters of the Milky Ocean, in his hands was a vessel full of amrita. Immediately there was an argument, a cry arose. Everyone wanted to take possession of the vessel. Vishnu took the vessel and wanted to drink the gods, the asuras did not take it down and rushed into battle. An unprecedented battle broke out near the ocean, Vishnu put an end to it - he threw a solar disk (sudarshan-chakra) at the asuras, they retreated and disappeared underground. So the gods became immortal and could at all times reward the righteous and punish sinners.
Vishnu (“penetrating, all-penetrating”, “one who penetrates everywhere”, the embodiment of the One God, in Russian it can be called “The Supreme”) and his wife Lakshmi are a divine couple, giving joy, help in all good undertakings, invariably help those who believe and pray.
Samsonov Alexander
When Brahma created the sky, and the earth, and the airspace, and all living beings in the universe descended from his sons, he himself, tired of creation, retired to rest under the canopy of the shalmali tree, and handed over power over the worlds to his descendants - the gods and asuras . Asuras were the elder brothers of the gods. They were powerful and wise and knew the secrets of magic - the Maya, they could take on various forms or become invisible. They owned innumerable treasures, which they kept in their strongholds in mountain caves. And they had three fortified cities, first in heaven, then on earth: one of iron, another of silver, the third of gold; afterwards they united these three cities into one, towering above the earth; and they built themselves cities in the underworld.
Eight brilliant gods were born at the end of creation. They are known by the name Vasu, which means Beneficent. They are said to have come from the navel of Brahma. The name of the eldest of them - Ahan, Day, the second - Dhruva - he became the lord of the North Star, the third was Soma, who became the god of the moon, the fourth of Vasu - Dhara, the Support of the Earth, the fifth - the beautiful Anila, also called Vayu, the Wind, the sixth - Anala, he is Agni, Fire, the seventh is Pratyusha, Dawn, the eighth is Dyaus, Sky, he is Prabhasa, Radiance. Agni was the most powerful of them, and he became their leader; but they are all reputed to be the retinue of Indra, the king of the gods, who is often called Vasava, the Lord of Vasu.
Indra was the seventh son of Aditi, the eighth was Vivasvat. But when he was born, he was not recognized as equal to the seven elder brothers, the gods. For the eighth son of Aditi was born ugly - without arms and without legs, smooth on all sides, and his height was equal to his thickness. The older brothers - Mitra, Varuna, Bhaga and others - said: “He is not like us, he is of a different nature - and this is bad. Let's redo it." And they remade it: they cut off everything superfluous; thus man was born. Vivasvat became the progenitor of mortals on earth; only he himself then became equal to the gods. He became the god of the sun; and as the god of the sun he is called Surya. And from the pieces of his body, cut off by the gods, an elephant arose.
When in ancient times countless living beings multiplied, the Earth was exhausted under the burden of mountains and forests and the creatures that bred on it. She could not bear this burden and, falling into the bowels of Patala, plunged into the water there. Then, in order to save her, Vishnu turned into a huge boar, with a body like a dark thundercloud, and eyes that sparkled like stars. He descended to Patala and, prying the earth with his fang, pulled it out of the water and lifted it up. The mighty asura Hiranyaksha, the son of Diti, was at that time in Patala; he saw a giant boar carrying earth on its tusk, from which streams of water flowed down, flooding the underground halls of asuras and nagas. And Hiranyaksha attacked the boar in order to take away the land from him and take possession of it. Vishnu in the form of a boar slew the great asura in battle. Then he brought the earth out of Patala and established it in the midst of the ocean so that it would never fall through again.
The elder children of Kashyapa, the grandson of Brahma, were asuras and gods, born of his three elder wives. The other ten of his wives gave birth to various and diverse creatures that inhabited the earth, and the heavens, and the underworlds. Surasa gave birth to huge monstrous dragons, Arishta became the progenitor of crows and owls, hawks and kites, parrots and other birds, Vinata gave birth to giant solar birds - suparnas, Surabhi - cows and horses, and many more divine and demonic creatures descended from other wives of Kashyapa daughters of Daksha. Kadru became the mother of the Nagas, and Muni became the mother of the Gandharvas.
Five centuries have passed since the dispute between the sisters, and from the second egg, the gigantic eagle Garuda was born to Vinata, who was destined to become a slayer of snakes - in revenge for the slavery of his mother. He himself broke the egg shell with his beak and, barely born, soared into the skies in search of prey. All living beings and the gods themselves were dismayed when they saw a huge bird in the sky, eclipsing the sun with its brilliance. Brahma, the Progenitor of the worlds, called to her and commanded her to do his will.
Indra was the favorite son of Aditi, the mother of the gods, the most powerful of her sons. They say that he was born not in the same way as her other children, but in an unusual way, at birth he almost killed his mother. As soon as he was born, he grabbed his weapon. Frightened by the unusual birth of her son and his formidable appearance, Aditi hid Indra; but he appeared before everyone in golden armor immediately after birth, filling the universe with himself; and the mother was filled with pride for the mighty son. And he became a great, irresistible warrior, before whom both gods and asuras trembled. While still very young, he defeated the insidious demon Emushu. This demon, in the form of a boar, once stole from the gods the grain destined for sacrifice, and hid it among the treasures of the asuras, which were stored three times seven mountains. Emusha had already begun to cook porridge from the stolen grain, when Indra pulled his bow, pierced twenty-one mountains with an arrow and killed the boar Emusha. Vishnu, the youngest of the Adityas, took the sacrificial food from the possessions of the asuras and returned it to the gods.
In the ancient books of sacred Knowledge - the Vedas - it is said that the universe arose from the body of Purusha - the Primordial Man, whom the gods sacrificed at the beginning of the world. They cut him into pieces. Brahmins - priests - arose from his mouth, his hands became kshatriyas - warriors, vaishya farmers were created from his thighs, and from his feet were born shudras - the lower class, which was determined to serve the highest. From Purusha's mind arose the moon, from the eye the sun, fire was born from his mouth, and from his breath the wind.
The ancient myths of India are in no way inferior to the legends of Greece, Egypt and Rome. They were just as carefully accumulated and systematized in order to save for the next generation. This process did not stop for a very long time, due to which the myths were firmly woven into the religion, culture and daily life of the country.
And only thanks to the careful attitude to our history of the Hindus today we can enjoy their traditions.
Indian mythology
If we consider the legends of different peoples about gods, natural phenomena and the creation of the world, one can easily draw a parallel between them in order to understand how similar they are. Only names and minor facts have been replaced for easier perception.
Mythology is strongly connected with the teachings about the civilization on which the philosophy of the inhabitants of this country was nurtured. In ancient times, this information was transmitted only by word of mouth, and it was considered unacceptable to omit any element or remake it in your own way. Everything had to retain its original meaning.
Indian mythology often acts as a basis for spiritual practices and even the ethical side of life. It is rooted in the teachings of Hinduism, which were created based on treatises on the Vedic religion. Surprisingly, some of them cited mechanisms that describe the scientific theories of modernity regarding the origin of human life.
Nevertheless, the ancient myths of India tell of many different variations of the origin of a particular phenomenon, which will be discussed below.
Briefly about the creation of the world
According to the most common version, life originated from the Golden Egg. Its halves became heaven and earth, and from the inside, Brahma, the Progenitor, was born. He initiated the flow of time, created countries and other gods, so as not to experience loneliness anymore.
Those, in turn, contributed to the creation of the universe: they populated the earth with creatures of various nature, became the progenitors of human sages, and even allowed asuras to be born.
Rudra and the sacrifice of Daksha
Shiva is one of the oldest offspring of Brahma. He carries within himself the flame of anger and cruelty, but helps those who regularly offer prayers to him.
Previously, this god had a different name - Rudra - and was in the guise of a hunter, to whom all animals obeyed. He did not bypass any of the human wars, sending various misfortunes to the human race. His son-in-law was Dakshi, the lord and parent of all creatures on earth.
However, this union did not bind the gods with friendly ties, so Rudra refused to honor the father of his wife. This led to events that describe the ancient myths of India in different ways.
But the most popular version is as follows: Daksha, at the behest of the gods, first created a cleansing sacrifice, to which he called everyone except Rudra, harboring a grudge against him. The wife of the angry Shiva, having learned about such a blatant disrespect for her husband, threw herself into the fire in despair. Rudra, on the other hand, was beside himself with rage and came to the place of the ceremony to take revenge.
The formidable hunter pierced the ritual victim with an arrow, and it soared into the sky, forever imprinted with a constellation in the form of an antelope. Several gods also fell under the hot hand of Rudra and were seriously mutilated. Only after the persuasion of the wise priest, Shiva agreed to let go of his anger and heal the wounded.
However, since then, at the behest of Brahma, all gods and asuras must honor Rudra and offer sacrifices to him.
Aditi children's enemies
Initially, the asuras - the elder brothers of the gods - were pure and virtuous. They knew the secrets of the world, were famous for their wisdom and power, and knew how to change their appearance. In those days, the asuras were submissive to the will of Brahma and carefully performed all the rituals, and therefore did not know troubles and grief.
But powerful beings became proud and decided to compete with the gods - the sons of Aditi. Because of this, they not only lost a happy life, but also lost their home. Now the word "asura" is something akin to the concept of "demon" and means a bloodthirsty insane creature that can only kill.
Immortal life
Previously, no one in the world knew that life could end. People were immortal, lived without sin, so peace and order reigned on earth. But the flow of births did not decrease, and there were fewer and fewer places.
When people flooded every corner of the world, the Earth, as the ancient myths of India say, turned to Brahma with a request to help her and remove such a heavy burden from her. But the Great Progenitor did not know how to help. He blazed with anger, and feelings escaped from him with annihilating fire, fell upon all living things. There would have been no peace if Rudra had not suggested a solution. And it was like this...
End of immortality
Rudra admonished Brahma, asked not to destroy the world that was created with such difficulty, and not to blame his creatures for the way they are arranged. Shiva offered to make people mortal, and the Progenitor obeyed his words. He took the anger back into his heart so that Death would be born from it.
She incarnated as a young girl with black eyes and a wreath of lotuses on her head, dressed in a dark red dress. As the legend about the origin of Death says, this woman was neither cruel nor heartless. She did not take over the anger from which she was created, and she did not like such a burden.
Death in tears begged Brahma not to put this burden on her, but he remained adamant. And only as a reward for her experiences did he allow him not to kill people with his own hands, but to take the lives of those who were overtaken by an incurable disease, destructive vices and obscuring passions.
So Death remained beyond the bounds of human hatred, which at least slightly brightens up its heavy burden.
First "harvest"
All people are descendants of Vivasvat. Since he himself was mortal from birth, his older children were born as ordinary people. Two of them are twins of opposite sexes, they were given almost the same names: Yami and Yama.
They were the first people, so their mission was to populate the earth. However, according to one version, Yama refused the sinful incestuous marriage with his sister. To avoid this fate, the young man went on a journey, where, after some time, Death overtook him.
So he became the first "harvest" that the offspring of Brahma managed to collect. However, his story did not end there. Since Yama's father had by then become the god of the Sun, his son also received a place in the Indian pantheon.
However, his fate turned out to be unenviable - he was destined to become an analogue of the Greek Hades, that is, to command the world of the dead. Since then, Yama has been considered the one who collects souls and judges by earthly deeds, deciding where a person will go. Later, Yami joined him - she embodies the dark energy of the world and manages that part of the underworld where women serve their punishment.
Where did the night come from
"The legend of the creation of the night" is a very short myth in Russian presentation. He tells how the sister of the first person who was taken by Death could not cope with her grief.
Since there was no time of day, the day dragged on endlessly. To all persuasions and attempts to alleviate her grief, the girl always answered in the same way that Yama died only today and it was not worth it to forget about him so early.
And then, in order to finally end the day, the gods created the night. The next day, the girl's grief subsided, and Yami was able to let her brother go. Since then, an expression has appeared, the meaning of which is identical to the usual for us "time heals".
If we put together all the ancient chronological systems and look at the creation of the world, we will find two general patterns.
First. According to most ancient traditions or legends, the creation of the world occurred after the supreme deity sacrificed some other creature, stabbing it, setting it on fire or cutting it into pieces. At the same time, a world was formed from the body parts of this victim.
Second. For many nations, the creation of the world begins approximately 5500 years before the birth of Christ:
- the Byzantine system of chronology begins on September 1, 5509 BC,
- Old Russian - from March 1, 5508 BC,
- Alexandrian - from August 29, 5493 BC,
- Antiochian era from the creation of the world - September 1, 5969 BC,
- Jewish, or reckoning from Adam - from October 7, 3761 BC.
In total, there are more than a hundred different dates for the creation of the world and the time interval from the creation of the world to the birth of Christ is from 3483 to 6984 years.
A distinctive feature of traditional Indian culture is that it does not know chronology. It is dominated by the cyclicity of everything that exists, the "circle of eternal return." In Indian mythology, this "timelessness" manifested itself in the fact that it lacks a single myth about the creation of the world.
Vedas about the creation of the world
Already in the Vedas there are several equal versions of the cosmogonic myth, and the Brahmans, Upanishads and Puranas add to them their own versions, no less equal. Upon careful study and comparison of these versions, they reveal a common feature - the idea of the initial chaos, from which, as a result of the actions of various divine "agents", an ordered world arose.
Therefore, according to the "temporal hierarchy", the first are the versions of the cosmogonic myth found in the Vedas, then the versions of the Brahmanas, Upanishads and Puranas, and then the versions "canonized" by the Vishnuites and Shaivites.
In the Rigveda, as in other ancient texts, myths are extremely rare, set forth in their entirety. Most often, we come across fragments of myths and even isolated mythological motifs, as a result of which myths have to be restored and reconstructed. The reconstructed Vedic myths include:
- the myth of Indra killing the demonic serpent Vritra;
- about the eagle stealing from the sky the wonderful drink of soma,
- about the flight of the god Agni; who did not want to be a priest;
- about three mortal Ribhu artisan brothers who received immortality;
- about the sage Agastya, who reconciled Indra and the Marut gods, as well as cosmogonic myths involving Indra and Vishnu.
Then there was neither non-existence nor existence; there was no realm of space, no sky beyond. What is in motion? Where? By whose command? Were there bottomless deep waters? Then there was neither death nor immortality. There was no sign of night or day. Only the One breathed without raising the wind, on his own impulse. Other than that, there was nothing.
In the beginning, darkness was hidden in darkness; and all this was water without boundaries. The life force was covered with emptiness, and the One stirred it with the power of heat. And desire came to the One; and that was the first seed of intelligence. Wise poets seek in their hearts the bonds of existence in non-existence.
Was there a bottom then? Was there a top then? Then there were the sowers; then there were forces. Then there was an impulse from below; then there was an announcement from above. Who knows what really happened? Who will claim it here? When did it start? When did creation take place? The gods came after when the universe was created. So who knows when she rose from the waters? When creation began - perhaps it created itself, or perhaps not - the one who looks down on her, the one who is in the highest of heavens, only he knows this - or maybe he does not know.
In the beginning there was nothing but the Great Self, Brahman. In other words, only Brahman existed. And when people offer sacrifices to this or that god or goddess, in reality they worship only Brahman. After all, he is behind all things in this world.
So Brahman looked around and saw no one. And he felt fear. What was he afraid of? After all, there was nothing but him! Brahman was completely alone, and in order to be afraid, one must have something to be afraid of. But Brahman was alone. And today there are lonely people whose only companion is fear, even if they have no one to fear.
Then Brahman assumed the form of Brahma, the Creator. Brahma was not happy: what can be joyful in solitude?
Brahma created the world many, many times over and over again. No one knows how many worlds existed before ours and how many will come after it. Four eras or yugas together make up one kalpa (eon). At the end of each kalpa, the world collapses and returns to a state of watery chaos.
While Brahma was meditating, beings began to emerge from his mind. He took on a body made of darkness, and winds came out of his anus - thus the demons were born. Then Brahma rejected this body from darkness, and the rejected body became night.
He then assumed a new body, made mostly of goodness and light. From his mouth came shining gods - devas. He also dropped this body, which became day. And now people visit temples and worship the gods during the day, not at night.
Then Brahma took a third body, which consisted entirely of satva [goodness]. Brahma had the most beautiful thoughts about fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, and thus the "spirits of ancestors" arose. These spirits appear at dusk, dawn and dusk, when night and day meet.
Brahma then discarded this body as well and took on a fourth body, which consisted of the energy that had emanated from his mind. The thoughts of this body created people, thinking beings. Brahma threw away this body as well, and it became the moon. To this day, people dance, sing and make love in the moonlight.
Creating people, Brahma divided his temporary body into two halves by the power of thought, just as an oyster shell splits. One half was male, the other half female. They looked at each other lovingly. And since then, happy spouses are like two halves of a single being, and Brahma lives in both.
So Brahma realized that these first people needed fire to live comfortably. And Brahma took fire from his mouth. This fire burned the hair that was growing in his mouth. And since then, hair has been growing on the cheeks only on the outside.
The man and the woman looked at each other and, having learned that they are two halves of a single being, they united and fell in love with each other. Thus was the beginning of the human race.
But the woman thought: "How can we love each other if we are parts of one being?" And she tried to run away from the man by turning into a cow. But the man turned into a bull, and they gave rise to all livestock. Then the woman turned into a mare; the man became a stallion, and they conceived a foal. This continued until the smallest of living beings was created.
After that, Brahma took the fifth body, consisting of energy and darkness, and gave birth to terrible creatures who wanted to devour the primeval ocean of chaos; they were giants and monsters.
This last creation upset Brahma so much that he lost all the hair on his head in grief. These hairs turned into creatures crawling on their belly - snakes and other reptiles. They hide in damp and dark places, in swamps, under stones and rocks.
But Brahma continued to worry about the fact that he had created monsters, and from his gloomy thoughts, terrible Gandharva ghouls were born.
Finally, Brahma managed to control himself, and he again turned to pleasant thoughts. He remembered the peaceful and happy times of his youth. He was happy, and out of that happiness birds were born. And then new creations emerged from the body of Brahma: animals, plants and other forms of life.
All the qualities with which living beings are now endowed come from the thoughts of Brahma and remain unchanged as long as this world exists. All living beings inhabiting the Earth were created through the act of Brahma, who gave them names and divided them into male and female. Brahma lives in every being, for they all arose from him.
Loading...