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| Pashu by Devdutt Pattanaik Image from Indian Epics: Reading Guides |
Surasa's Children, Who Are Different :)
So, dragons? Dinosaurs? Do we get Dragons here?
Immediately, we're treated to a story about Arjuna about to shoot a monster he happens upon, with all different parts of its body from different parts of an animal. It has one human arm though, and it raises its hand in blesses, asking Arjuna not to shoot. Arjuna decides not to shoot the monster, because just because it can't be imagined in a human mind, doesn't mean it couldn't have been imagined in the mind of god. Basically, the point is: CREATIVITY WINS.
Makaradhvaja
- That name seems made up, but oh well. Again, a very interesting story of how pregnancy happens. This time, Hanuman unknowingly begets a son when he is flying over Ocean to Lanka to rescue Sita for Ram. He drops a bead of sweat into the Ocean, and a fish swallows it and gets pregnant, bearing a 1/2 monkey 1/2 fish son. The son is appointed gate keeper of Patala, and no one is a match for him, except his father. And old monkey visits the land near the end of his life, and they wrestle, and neither can beat each other. It is then that Makaradhvaja knows that this is the father he has always longed for.
- These bizarre pregnancy stories are definitely going to be used when my kids ask where babies come from. Cranes? Nah, kid, just don't get close enough to sweat on a girl, otherwise she'll become pregnant.
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| Satyr image from GoodFreePhotos public domain |
Parushmamriga
- Ok, I vaguely remember hearing this term before, so I'm curious to find out what it is.
- 1/2 human above the waist, deer below the waist..... So, a centaur? No, that's a horse's body. A Satyr.... Like from A Lion, A Witch, and a Wadrobe... super interesting lores getting around the world here.
Sarabha
- This is Shiva in the form of a terrifying beast: lion-like head with 8 legs, sharp claws, a pair of wings, and a very long tail. Shiva took on this form to challenge Vishnu, because Vishnu so enjoyed taking on the form of terrifying animals, that he would forget or neglect to go back to his original form. Shiva agreed to challenge his animal form, and he won, which reminded Vishnu to go back to his original form and to his abode on the Ocean of Milk.
Hanuman
- Hanuman has another form that is worshipped... wait, what? Yep, apparently, he has 5 heads in this other form. He got trapped in the underworld of Patala (isn't that where his son, the 1/2 monkey 1/2 fish lives? I think so...) and to escape, he had to blow out five candles at once. In order to do this, he sprouted 4 more heads: a lion, a boar, an eagle, and a horse. This form is worthy of worship.
Ganesha
- Ganesha, Ganapati, Gajanan, Vinayaka, maybe with the head of Airavata, Indra's white elephant mount -- He has a lot of names, this is confusing
- I love the story of Ganesha... his mom was lonely, so she anointed herself with Turmeric paste (love me some turmeric), and when it dried, she moulded a figure and breathed life into it. Hell yeah! Women making babies! Except Shiva got jealous, and lopped his head off, and then felt bad, and promised his wife to make her child better, so he just gave the kid the first alive head he saw... an elephant. Poor kid, lazy husband. Oh well, everyone loves Ganesha and his adorable trunk and belly.
Finally, Human VS Animals
- Ooooohhhh, interesting! Was Ram a Vegetarian or a Carnivore during his exile? Some say he only foraged berries and plants, but others say as a prince, he knew how to hunt deer, and ate their flesh, and wore their skin, and used their bones and horns for weapons.
- The Pandavas, however, during their exile, definitely hunted animals and ate them
- The pain of animals does not go unnoticed. Yama records it in his great book where he records every action. "He who causes pain to animals has to pay for it, in one life or another."
- End times warning that the earth will be destroyed by a fire breathing mare who lives under the ocean. She makes the waters of the sea evaporate and turn into clouds, and then rain. If man does not protect the natural balance, then she will erupt in volcanic lava and destroy all of the earth, submerging the mountains and all humanity in the fire-lava.
- Some say this mare will be the mount, or ride of Vishnu's final avatar, Kalki.
- Eerily similar to Judeo-Christian end-times warnings and predictions.
