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Hindu mythology is the body of myths^[a] attributed to, and espoused by, the adherents of the Hindu religion, found in Hindu texts such as the Vedas,^[1] the itihasa (the epics of the Mahabharata and Ramayana,^[2]) the Puranas,^[3] and mythological stories specific to a particular ethnolinguistic group like the Tamil Periya Puranam and Divya Prabandham, and the Mangal Kavya of Bengal. Hindu myths are also found in widely translated popular texts such as the fables of the Panchatantra and the Hitopadesha, as well as in Southeast Asian texts.^[4]^[5]

Meaning of "myth"

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.^[6]

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

Indus Valley Civilisation

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.^[7] These themes would be maintained by the Dravidian folk religion even after the decline of its parent civilisation around 1800 BCE.^[8]

Vedic Period

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.^[9]^[10]

Brahmanical Period

This period saw the composition of commentaries referred to as the Brahmanas.^[11]

Upanishad Period

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.^[12]

Sramanic movements

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.^[12]

Epic Period

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

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.^[12]

Tantric Period

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.^[12]

Modern Period

In the contemporary era, the mythologies of the dominant traditions of Vaishnavism, Shaivism, and Shaktism prevail.^[13] 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

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.^[14] 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".^[15]

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.^[16] Many of these legends evolve across these texts, where the character names change or the story is embellished with greater details.^[16]^[17] According to Suthren Hirst, these myths have been given a complex range of interpretations.^[16] While according to Doniger O'Flaherty, the central message and moral values remain the same.^[17] They have been modified by various philosophical schools over time, and are taken to have deeper, often symbolic, meaning.^[16]

Cosmology

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

Deities

Pantheism

Brahman The Ultimate Reality

Vaishnavism (Vishnu-centric)

Vishnu The God of Preservation
Lakshmi The Goddess of Prosperity
Dashavatara Ten incarnations of Vishnu, chiefly Krishna and Rama

Shaivism (Shiva-centric)

Shiva The God of Destruction
Parvati The Goddess of Power
Ganesha The God of Auspiciousness
Kartikeya The God of Victory and War

Shaktism (Goddess-centric)

Mahadevi Supreme Goddess
Saraswati Goddess of Wisdom
Lakshmi Goddess of Prosperity
Parvati Goddess of Power
Durga Goddess of War
Kali Goddess of time and destruction

Henotheism and Polytheism

Brahma The God of Creation
Vishnu The God of Preservation
Shiva The God of Destruction
Indra The King of the Devas and Svarga
Saraswati The Goddess of Wisdom
Lakshmi The Goddess of Prosperity
Parvati The Goddess of Power
Ganesha The God of Auspiciousness
Krishna The God of love and protection
Radha The goddess of love, chief consort of Krishna
Rukmini The first queen consort and principal wife of Krishna^[18]
Satyabhama The third queen consort of Krishna
Yamuna one of the main sacred river goddesses in Hinduism and the fourth queen consort of Krishna
Bhudevi Goddess of the Earth
Kartikeya (Murugan) God of Victory and War
Rama The seventh incarnation of Vishnu
Kali A terrible aspect of Parvati
Durga A principal aspect of Mahadevi
Ashvins Twin gods of medicine
Agni God of Fire
Rudra God of the storm
Shakti Personification of power
Vayu God of the wind
Surya God of the Sun
Varuna God of the oceans
Lakshmana Younger Brother of Rama
Hanuman Highest devotee of Rama
Sita Consort of Rama and incarnation of Lakshmi
Sati An incarnation of the goddess Shakti
Kubera God of Wealth
Parshurama The sixth incarnation of Vishnu
Yama God of Death and the Underworld
Chandra God of the Moon
Balarama incarnation of Shesha and in some traditions an avatar of Vishnu
Prajapati Creator deity
Kalki Prophesied final incarnation of Vishnu
Dashavatara (Ten Incarnations of Vishnu)
Narada Divine sage, messenger of gods
Sundaravalli Daughter of Vishnu, consort of Murugan
Devasena Daughter of Vishnu, consort of Murugan
Kamadeva The God of love and desire
Rati The Goddess of love and desire
Shani Divine Personification of the planet saturn

Dravidian folk religion' (Indigenous Dravidian faith)

Mariamman Mother goddess
Ayyanar Guardian deity
Ayyappan God of Dharma

Connections to other belief systems

Hinduism shares mythemes with Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism.

Notes

^ The term myth is used here in its academic sense, meaning "a traditional story consisting of events that are ostensibly historical, though often supernatural, explaining the origins of a cultural practice or natural phenomenon." It is not being used to mean "something that is false".

Citations

^ Macdonell 1978, p. 1–9.
^ Washburn Hopkins 1986, pp. 1–3.
^ Bonnefoy 1993, p. 90–101.
^ Olivelle 1999, p. xii–xiii.
^ Waldau & Patton 2009, p. 186, 680.
^ 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.
^ Opler, Morris E.; Campbell, Joseph (January 1962). "The Masks of God: Primitive Mythology". The Journal of American Folklore. 75 (295): 82. doi:10.2307/537862. ISSN 0021-8715. JSTOR 537862.
^ "Decline of the Indus River Valley Civilization (c. 3300–1300 BCE)". Climate in Arts and History. Archived from the original on 31 July 2022. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
^ Williams 2003, pp. 6–7.
^ Macdonell, Arthur Anthony (1974). Vedic mythology (Reprint, 1995 ed.). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 0-8426-0674-2. OCLC 1951729.
^ Williams 2003, p. 7.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Handbook of Hindu mythology. 1 May 2004. p. 10.
^ Bishara, Azmi (1 August 2021), "Ibn Khaldun's 'Asabiyya and Sects", Sectarianism without Sects, Oxford University Press, pp. 199–220, doi:10.1093/oso/9780197602744.003.0007, ISBN 978-0-19-760274-4
^ "What is a Myth?". Archived from the original on 7 August 2007. Retrieved 17 June 2007.
^ "Defining myth". Archived from the original on 7 August 2007. Retrieved 17 June 2007.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Suthren Hirst 1998.
^ ^a ^b Doniger O'Flaherty 1975, p. 11, 21–22.
^ Vemsani, Lavanya (13 June 2016). Krishna in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Hindu Lord of Many Names: An Encyclopedia of the Hindu Lord of Many Names. ABC-CLIO. p. 91. ISBN 978-1-61069-211-3. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2023.

General sources

Bonnefoy, Yves (1993). Asian Mythologies. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-06456-7. Archived from the original on 24 April 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
Doniger O'Flaherty, Wendy (1975), Hindu epics: A Sourcebook translated from the Sanskrit, Penguin, ISBN 978-0140449907
Washburn Hopkins, Edward (1986). Epic Mythology. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-0227-8. Archived from the original on 24 April 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
Macdonell, Arthur Anthony (1978). Vedic Mythology ((reprint) ed.). Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-1113-3. Archived from the original on 24 April 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
Olivelle, Patrick (1999). Pañcatantra: The Book of India's Folk Wisdom. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-283988-6.
Suthren Hirst, Jacqueline (1998), "Myth and history", in Bowen, Paul (ed.), Themes and Issues in Hinduism, Cassell
Waldau, Paul; Patton, Kimberley (2009). A Communion of Subjects: Animals in Religion, Science, and Ethics. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-13643-3.
Williams, George M. (2003). Handbook of Hindu Mythology. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-533261-2.

External links

Clay Sanskrit Library publishes classical Indian literature, including the Mahabharata and Ramayana, with facing-page text and translation. Also offers searchable corpus and downloadable materials.
Sanskrit Documents Collection: Documents in ITX format of Upanishads, Stotras etc.
Hindu Mythology Stories from Ancient India