Indian Myth and Legend

by Donald A. Mackenzie

The gods went in pursuit of Garuda. Indra flung his thunderbolt, but the bird suffered no pain and dropped but a single feather. When he delivered the amrita to the demons his mother was released, but ere the demons could drink Indra snatched up the golden moon-goblet and wended back to the heavens. The demon snakes licked the grass where the goblet had been placed by Garuda, and their tongues were divided. From that day all the snakes have had divided tongues.... Garuda became afterwards the vehicle of Vishnu; he has ever “mocked the wind with his fleetness”.

Shiva, as we have indicated, developed from Rudra, the storm god. He is first mentioned as Mahadeva, “the great god”, in the Yajurveda, and in the Mahábhárata he is sometimes exalted above Vishnu. In one part he is worshipped by Krishna. He is the “blue-necked, three-eyed trident-bearing lord of all creatures”. The trident is a lightning symbol which appears to have developed from the three wriggling flashes held in the left hand of hammer-gods like Tarku and Rammon. Shiva's third eye was on his forehead, and from it issued on occasion a flame of fire which could consume an enemy; once he slew Kamadeva, the love god, who wounded him with flowery arrows, by causing the flame to spring forth.

Balor, the night god of Irish mythology, had similarly a destroying eye; “its gaze withered all who stood before it”;[181] he was the god of lightning and death, the “eye-flame” being the thunderbolt.

Shiva's dwelling is on the Himalayan mount Kaila´sa[182]. He is Girisha, “the lord of the hills”, and Chandra-Shekara, “the moon crested”, Bhuteswara, “lord of goblins”, and Sri Kanta, “beautiful throated”. When he is depicted with five heads, he is regarded as the source of the five sacred rivers flowing from the mountains. As the god with snow-white face, he is the spirit of asceticism (Maha-Yogi) adored by Brahmans performing penances. In the Mahábhárata Arjuna, the warrior, invoked him by engaging in austerities until smoke issued from the earth. Then Shiva, “the illustrious Hara”, appeared in huge and stalwart form and wrestled with him. Arjuna's limbs were bruised and he was deprived of his senses. When he recovered he hailed the god, saying: “Thou art Shiva in the form of Vishnu and Vishnu in the form of Shiva....[183] O Hari, O Rudra, I bow to thee. Thou hast a (red) eye on thy forehead.... Thou art the source of universal blessing, the cause of the cause of the Universe.... Thou art worshipped of all the worlds. I worship thee to obtain thy grace.... This combat in which I was engaged with thee (arose) from ignorance.... I seek thy protection. Pardon me all I have done.”

Shiva, whose sign is the bull, embraced Arjuna and said, “I have pardoned thee.”

The god was invoked by another warrior, Ashwattaman, son of Drona. Having naught else to sacrifice, the worshipper flung himself upon the altar fire; Shiva accepted him and entered his body so as to assist him in slaughtering his sleeping enemies. Bloody rites were at one time associated with Shiva worship. As the Destroyer of the Hindu Trinity, he is armed with a discus, a sword, a bow, and a club; but his most terrible weapon is the trident. Sometimes he is clad in the skin of an elephant and sometimes in that of a leopard, the tail dangling behind. A serpent, coiled on his head, rears itself to strike; another serpent darts from his right shoulder against an enemy.

The bull symbol, Nandi, the moon crescent on his forehead, and the serpent girdle, indicate that Shiva is a god of fertility. A phallic symbol is associated with his worship. In localities he is adored at the present day in the form of a great boulder painted red which usually stands below a tree. Offerings are made to this stone, and women visit it during the period of the moon's increase to pray for offspring.

As Natesa, the dancer, Shiva dances triumphantly on the body of a slain Asura. A fine bronze in the Madras Museum depicts him with four arms, and a beaming, benevolent face, wearing a tiara, and surrounded by a halo of fire; he absorbed the attributes of Agni as well as those of Rudra. He is the destroyer of evil and disease, the giver of long life and the god of medicine, and is accordingly invoked to cure sickness. Victims of epilepsy are believed to be possessed by Shiva.

In early Puranic times, when Brahmanism was revived and reformed, the worship of goddesses came into prominence. This was one of the most pronounced features of the anti-Buddhist movement, and was due probably to the influence of Great Mother worshippers. In the Vedic Age, as we have seen, the goddesses were vague and shadowy; as wives of the gods they were strictly subordinate, reflecting, no doubt, the social customs which prevailed among the Aryans. Ushas, the dawn, and Ratri, the night, were mainly poetic conceptions. Even Prithivi, the Earth Mother, who was symbolized as a cow, played no prominent part in Vedic religion: a magical influence was exercised by water goddesses. The male origin of life appears to have been an accepted tenet of Vedic belief. Aditi, mother of the Adityas, is believed to be of more recent origin than her sons. Indra seems to have similarly had existence before his mother, like the other hammer gods, and especially P'an Ku and Ptah.

Female water spirits are invariably regarded as givers of boons, inspiration and wisdom; holy wells have from remote times been regarded as sources of luck; by performing ceremonial acts those who visit them obtain what they wish for in silence; their waters have, withal, curative properties, or they may be used for purposes of divination. The name of the goddess Saraswati signifies “waters”; she was originally the spirit of the Saraswati river, and was probably identical with Bharati, the goddess of the Vedic Bharata tribe. In Puranic times she became the wife of Brahma and the Minerva of the Hindu Pantheon. She is identical with Vach, “Mother of the Vedas”, the goddess of poetry and eloquence, and Viraj, the female form of Purusha, who divided himself to give origin to the gods and demons and all living creatures. When Brahma took for a second wife Gayatri, the milkmaid, she cursed him so that he could only be worshipped once a year.