Week 7 Reading Diary: Epified Mahabharata

reading: part B of the Epified Mahabharata

Watching over what I've read in The Mahabharata, I'm starting to find it humorous how really abnormal things are treated as perfectly normal in the world of the epic. It's stated so straightforwardly that Karna was found as a baby, floating in a basket in the river, complete with armor and jewelry that grew to fit him as he aged. Or how a passing sage conveniently knew Draupadi's past-life story. Perfectly normal, right?

One again, I'm appreciating the details in this series that aren't mentioned in great depth in Narayan's version. I think some of them were at least glanced over, but I didn't get much sense of the backstory. One episode went into Karna's teacher killing all the Kshatriyas, over twenty times. It's a good reminder to me that Narayan is giving a very much abridged version of the epic, and also that stories about characters in The Mahabharata and other epics extend past only a single text and are found in multiple sources.

Arjuna draws the bow, from the Epified Mahabharata, episode 20

Then there's the bow test again. Is there any other way to decide royal marriages in these tales?? On the other hand, it makes it much simpler to find the perfect match by taking any question out of it! If only life were so simple now... Characters dealing with fate is an interesting recurring theme across these tales, like I've noted before. This time, what struck me is that major characters will insist on going into exile, even when those also involved with the rules beg them not to, because they personally feel like they must abide by the rules. That's dedication to proper behavior.

Week 7 Storytelling: A New God in Brindaban

I was nine when I first became aware of Hari. There had been talk, sure, of a strange child in our small town of Brindaban, and I’d sometimes overhear tales of miracles as well as tricks and tomfoolery. Krishna must have been ten or so years older than me, though, so I’d mostly just paid attention to friends my own age and not observed what else was going on around me. Those older folks had a world to themselves, and I wasn’t yet part of it.

But when I was nine, I started paying more attention. Talk of Hari increased as well. People were really dissatisfied with our ruler, Kansa, a tyrant whose greed and harsh laws were destroying the kingdom of Mathura from the inside out. People wished for a major change. Times were hard, and not even our religion seemed to offer much hope anymore. Could this supernaturally strong, wise, kind Hari be the answer to everyone’s prayers?

I began following reports of Hari with interest. He was said to have defeated the Demon-Sheep that had long plagued our pastures. He rescued our cowherds and their cattle from a monster cave. He brought back to life his comrades after they were killed by Kaliya Snake. One could not help but love him; his charisma enveloped all in a sense of contentment and communion. Even our people’s leader, Radha, pined for him at the same time that she raised this simple cowherder to an intellectual and spiritual companionship with her.

Hari’s influence increased. People sought his advice, his company, his aid. We told each other we would do anything he said – and so we did. When Hari told us to cease worship of Indra and the other old gods to follow him, we did it. And when Indra, angered, sent great rains and floods upon us, we ran to Hari and he saved us. This solidified our worship of Hari. Surely someone who could accomplish such feats was a powerful god.

 Krishna holding up the mountain to protect against Indra's rains and floods

But Hari did not just want to be worshiped; he wanted to rule. He challenged Kansa and won, to our great joy. We finally had a righteous and just king! We were disappointed that he chose not to return to Brindaban, but he had many larger concerns now than our little community. We took great pride in his being from our town. We were warmly welcomed whenever we made pilgrimages to visit Hari, and that recognition was enough for us.

We watched with happiness as word of his exploits and wisdom reached across India. Much of this we spread ourselves, but the more people who learned of Hari, the more his fame spread. We cannot tell for sure what the future may bring, but it is our hope that worship of this god, incarnated on earth and raised right here in our humble hometown, will live on far beyond our own lives and region.

Author's Note: When I was reading more about Krishna's life in Sister Nivedita's book, I was struck by the time he calls for the end of worship of Indra and other older gods. It struck me that this story could be read as that of a revitalization or new religious movement, according to Anthony F.C. Wallace's five stages of revitalization movements. The first "steady state" stage is skipped, as the community is already under stress (the second stage) from Kansa's tyranny.  There's also not really a third-stage "period of cultural distortion" where the rules break down, but there is a "revitalization" period (fourth stage) where a prophet -- Krishna, known in his home region as Hari -- rises up with a new set of beliefs and practices. He gains power and his influence spreads, leading to the fifth stage of routinization and a new steady state.

So when I was retelling Krishna's life for this week, I tried to focus on his story as seen by an early follower if Hari is viewed as a prophet who revitalizes his culture. The prophet's fame rises through his works and words, and he makes major religious changes. These then spread beyond just the initial impact area. The details of my story, such as names, places, miracles, and other events, as well as the visit of Brindabandans to Hari once he has defeated Kansa, are all drawn directly from Sister Nivedita's book of tales.

Bibliography: 

Sister Nivedita, Cradle Tales of Hinduism (1907). 

Mola Ram, attr., Krishna Holding Mount Govardhan, c1790 (Wikipedia).

Week 7 Reading Diary, cont.: Nivedita's Krishna

reading: Part B of the Krishna chapters from Cradle Tales of Hinduism by Sister Nivedita (1907)

Once again, I'm struck by how much Krishna resembles a hero rather than a god. There's the enumeration of the challenges set for him, much like the testing of heroes in other tales. He's also able to be cursed by a mortal, his family doomed to self-destruction the same as any non-divine group found in the epics.

The motif of the bow pops up again! Rama breaks the bow in The Ramayana, Arjuna in The Mahabharata, and even the divine Krishna in Nivedita's tale! It reminds me of the sword in the stone found in Arthurian legend, and I wonder how often this kind of test occurs for culture heroes in world epics.

Where Krishna does seem to differ from other culture heroes, however, is his view on life and fate. Unlike Kansa and other characters in the epics, Krishna never tries to avert his fate. Instead, he encourages others to go along with whatever life is supposed to bring them, as expressed in his conversation with Arjuna that becomes the Bhagavad Gita. Perhaps this is one way that he is characterized as a god rather than simply a mortal hero?

Krishna reveals his universal form as revealed to Arjuna

statue in Singapore (Wikipedia)

For storytelling this week: I find New Religious Movements and revitalization movements fascinating, and it occurred to me that Krishna's rise to influence and replacement of Indra in the tales I read this week can perhaps be matched with Anthony F.C. Wallace's stages of revitalization. Anyway, I thought telling of his ascendancy through the eyes of a devotee and according to the religious movement model might be interesting. I find it particularly interesting that Krishna never returns to Brindaban, but that his "peasant friends" make a pilgrimage to see him at the harvest sacrifice

And an interesting sidenote: on page 230, Nivedita uses "kine" to refer to cows, which is a very antiquated term drawn from Old English originally -- does this have anything to do with her dialect of English?

Week 7 Reading Diary: Nivedita's Krishna

reading: Part A of the Krishna chapters from Cradle Tales of Hinduism by Sister Nivedita (1907)

Again, as I read this week I'm primarily noting similarities between these stories and others from mythology and folklore. There's the theme of major characters fighting against tyrants or ultimately being their downfalls, with the attendant motif of the king killing rivals (particularly through the method of simply murdering all newborn children/boys) so that the prophecy can't be fulfilled.
Of course, this never works -- divine plans will always win out in the end!

 Krishna with his foster mother Yashoda

Tamil Nadu, early 12th cent. (Wikipedia)

Other common motifs I picked up on were the drinking of poisoned or enchanted water, particularly from a lake controlled by some kind of supernatural being. This happened to the Pandava brothers in The Mahabharata and also to Krishna's companions in one story this week. It seems a popular way to test characters or otherwise set up obstacles they must overcome. The description of the lake area in this week's reading also reminded me of the Waste Land theme again.

I find the idea of Krishna as a deity interesting as well. He seems like a mixture of hero and god; his earthly exploits are the primary focus of these stories, and they read much like Odysseus's adventures and those of other culture heroes worldwide. Yet at the same time, he is a deity (or at least the incarnation of one) to be worshiped. Sister Nivedita presents a very idealized version of him, where the Gopis are completely enamored of him as a person. I'm wondering how this portrayal plays into trends and changes in Hindu religion, especially when Krishna tries to end the worship of Indra and other older gods! This last part reminds me of how dynamic religion is, where even such seemingly codified religions and mythologies can change to privilege certain beliefs and practices over others.