Shikandi

Shikandi, who became a man to satisfy her wife

Amba

Bhisma taking the three princes of Kashi
after Swayamvara

       There was once a princess called Amba, who wanted to marry a man called Shalva.  But on the day she was to select him as her husband, a warrior called Bhisma abducted her and her sisters and took them to his city of Hastinapur where they were told they would have to marry his younger and far less competent half-brother, Vichitravirya.

       Amba begged that she be allowed to marry the man of her choice and Vichitravirya let her go, as the idea of having to satisfy two wives was stressful enough.

       Unfortunately for Amba, Shalva refused to accept her as his wife as she had been tainted, touched by another man.  So Amba returned to Vichitravirya.  He too refused to accept her, as 'a "gift" given away,' he said, 'cannot be taken back'.

Bhishma

       Amba then went to Bhisma and begged him to marry her.  He said he could not as he had taken the vow of celibacy.  'Go back to your father,' he said, 'Or stay in the palace as a maid.'

       A furious Amba prayed to Kartikeya, god of war, killer of men, who gave her a garland of ever fresh lotuses.  Anyone who accepted this garland would kill Bhisma.  Unfortunately, no man on earth accepted it, celestial grace notwithstanding.

       When even Drupada, powerful king of Panchala, turned his back on her, a frustrated Amba flung the garland and it landed up hanging from a pillar in Drupada's palace.

Sage Parashuram

Sage Narada and God stops Bhishma's battle
with Parasuram

       Amba then approached Parashuram, a sage who was expert in the martial arts, and who was renowned for his hatred or warriors.  She requested him to be her champion and punish Bhisma, who had ruined her life. Parashuram tried, but failed, 'His vow of celibacy has granted him the power to choose the time of his death.  I cannot defeat him,' he said.

Death of Amba

       A desperate Amba invoked Shiva, the destroyer.  Shiva  appeared, pleased with her intense austerities, and said rather cryptically that she would be the cause of Bhisma's death but only in her next life. To hasten her next life, Amba leapt into the fire and died.

Appearance of Shiva

       She was reborn as Drupada's daughter.  But Drupada wanted a son and had been promised one by Shiva.  Convinced that Shiva would not lie to him, Drupada claimed his daughter was actually his son and ordered her to be raised as one.

Birth of Shikhandi

       The girl, named Shikhandi, was taught all the skills reserved for men.  She grew up believing she was a warrior.  She was even given a wife.  But on the wedding night, when the bride discovered that her husband was a woman, Shikhandini not Shikandi, she ran to her father in a state of shock.  

King Hiranyavarna

       Determined to avenge this insult, the bride's father, King Hianyavarna of Dasarna, raised an army and threatened to invade Panchala.  Drupada knew that the only way to save his kingdom was to prove that his 'son' was truly a man.  He also knew that this was impossible.

Sthuna raksha

       Confronted with her femininity for the first time in her life, Shikhandi felt responsible for this calamity.  Resolving to kill herself, she went to the forest.  But a yaksha called Sthuna saved her. Was it a woman he saved or a man?  For the girl thought like a man and felt like a man and had always been treated as a man.  But that body of hers was certainly not a man's.

       On hearing Shikhandi's story, Sthuna lent her his manhood for one night.  Thus equipped. Shikhandi could prove his masculinity to anyone who cared to test it.  Hiranyavarna sent his courtesans who sent back a satisfactory report.  Concluding that his daughter had made a mistake, Hiranyavarna apologized to Drupada and sent his daughter back.  Shikhandi then performed his husbandly duties to the satisfaction of his newly wedded wife.

Kubera

       Kubera, king of yakshas, was very angry with Sthuna for lending out his manhood; such things are not to be done.  But when Shikhandi, true to his promise, came to the yaksha to return the borrowed organ, Kubera was so pleased with his integrity that he allowed Shikhandi use of the yasha's manhood as long as he lived. It would return to Sthuna only after Shikhandi died.

     Drupada was happy to finally get a son, but then, to his dismay, Shikhandi in a rather cavalier moment placed around his neck Amba's garland of ever-fresh lotus flower that for years had been hanging on a pillar of his palace. 'He will kill Bhisma,' moaned Drupada.  'But I need a son who will kill Drona.'  

Drona

Dronacharya, as commander-in-chief of
Kaurava army.

       Drona was a teacher of the Kuru princes.  And the Kuru princes were Vichitravirya's grandsons. They included the five Pandavas, sons of Pandu, and the hundred Kauravas, the sons of Dhritarashtra. Bhisma had asked Drona to tutor the Kuru princes, and as tuition fee, Drona had asked the Kuru princes to give him one half of Panchala.  Accordingly, after a period of intense training, the boys had invaded Drupada's kingdom and claimed half of it for their teacher.

       Drupada wanted a son who would kill Drona and a daughter who would divide the Kuru household that had supported Drona.  Shikhandi could be neither one nor the other.  He was useless. So Drupada conducted a yagna that would give him the children he wanted.  The fire yielded Draupadi, the perfect woman and Dhristadhyumn, the perfect man.  

Draupadi

       Draupadi became the common wife of the five Pandava brothers who demanded a kingdom of their own as the hundred Kauravas refused to share Hastinapur with them.  Bhisma gave them the forest of Khandavprastha on which they built the very impressive city of Indraprastha, rivaling the old city of Hastinapur.  Thus did Drupada's daughter fulfill her father's wish.

       The jealous Kauravas invited the Pandavas to a game of dice during which the Pandavas were lured into wagering their kingdom.  Foolishly they gambled and lost their kingdom.  Control over it could only be regained after thirteen years of forest exile.

       When the Pandavas returned from exile, the Kauravas refused to return even a needlepoint of Indraprastha.  The only way to get back what was theirs was by declaring war.  Drupada offered his army, led by Dhristadhyumna to his sons-in-law, knowing well that Drona would join the Kaurava side, giving his son the chance to fulfill his wish.

Kurukshetra war

       Unfortunately, the war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas reached no conclusion despite nine days of fighting.  Bhisma led the Kaurava forces.  Though old, he was still formidable force in battle.  'As long as I hold the bow, my children, no arrow will get past me.  Besides no one can kill me as I can choose the time of my death,' declared Bhishma. 

       This was the clue Krishna was looking for Krishna, cousin of the Pandavas and friend to Draupadi, said, 'He cannot be killed but he can be pinned to the ground by arrows.  For that we have to get him to lower his bow.  He will lower his bow not before a man but certainly before a woman. But how do we get a woman into the battlefield?  That is not permitted by law.'

Death of Bhishma 

Bhishma refuses to fight with Shikandi

       Drupada then offered his eldest child Shikhandi who was born a woman and had become a man.  'Bhisma will see him as a woman.  But we will contest his view, for now he is a man with a wife who no longer doubts his masculinity.

       On the tenth day, Shikhandi rode into battle on Krishna's chariot.  Behind him was Arjuna, the third Pandava, greatest archer in the world.  Sure enough Bhisma refused to raise his bow against him declaring, 'Born a woman you are always a woman.'  Taking advantage of this Arjuna released a volley of arrows and pinned the old man to the ground.

Death of Drupada 

       Following this incident, Drona was made commander of the Kaurava armies.  He managed to kill Drupada.  Dhristadhyumna avenged his father's death and fulfilled his destiny by eventually beheading Drona, something no one dared do as Drona was a brahmin.

Drishtadyumna as Commander in Chief
of Pandava army.

       Eventually all the Kauravas were killed and the kingdoms of Hastinapur and Indraprastha came under Pandava control.  But it was no happy ending.

Death of Shikhandi

       On the night of victory, Drona's son attached the Pandava camp when all the soldiers were sleeping and killed everyone there.  Draupadi's sons were beheaded, her twin brother Dhristadhyumna was strangulated and her elder brother Shikhandi was found split in two.

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Source: Excerpts from the book "SHIKHANDI and other talents they don't tell you" written by Devdutt Pattnaik.

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Sita versus Draupadi

       Sita and Draupadi are the two great heroines of India and they are as different from each other as the Ramayana is from the Mahabharata.  A comparison of these two legendary female characters reveals to us much about human personality as it does about human society.

Birth

       Both Sita and Draupadi are princes.  Both have unnatural or supernatural births.  But while Sita is born of earth.  Draupadi of fire.  

Father

       Sita's father Janaka, King of Videha finds her accidentally while he is ploughing a field and decides to adopt her.  Sita also addressed as her father's name Jnaka's Janaki.  Janaki is another name of Sita.

King Janaka - Sita's father

       Draupadi's father Drupada, king of Panchala, creates her with the sole purpose of destroying the Kuru household that patronized Drona, who used his students, the Pandavas and the Kauravas, to conquer and then divide Panchala.  

       Thus while Sita is born an infant.  Draupadi is born an adult, with no appreciation of childhood or parenting.

Upyaz showing his elder brother to Drupada

      And while Sita is raised in love.  Draupadi is raised in hatred, designed for destroying a family. Curiously, mothers play little or no role in their upbringing.  They are always addressed as their father's daughters.  Janaka's Janaki and Drupada's Draupadi.  

Marriage

       Both Sita and Draupadi are trophies in an archery contest.  Ram breaks a mighty bow that he was supposed to string to win Sita's hand while Arjuna strikes the eye of a fish rotating on a wheel hanging from the ceiling to win Draupadi's hand.  

Romance

       Some Ramayana retellings tels us of how Sita met Ram in a garden before marriage and it was love at her first sight, there is no such romance in Draupadi's life.  In fact, she prevents Karna from participating in the archery contest as he is of low caste and ends up marrying a brahmin who turns out to be Arjuna disguised.  

       Sita's sister and cousins are given in marriage to Ram's brothers.  Draupadi is shared by Arjuna's four brothers, all of whom have many other wives.  Thus, while Sita experiences monogomy, Draupadi experiences polyandry and polygamy.  

Vengeance

Shurpanakha after her nose was cut by Lakshmana 

       Sita pays dearly for the actions of her husband and brother-in-law.  She is abducted by the Rakshasa-king, Ravana, on grounds that her husband had mutilated his sister Surpankha.  

Duryodhana slips into water

       Draupadi pays disproportionately for her own actions.  She insults her husbands' cousin Duryodhana, the eldest Kaurava, when he falls in a pool of water calling him the blind son of a blind man, not realizing how oversensitive he was.  As a result Duryodhana goes out of her way to publicly humiliate her, getting her husbands to wage her in a gambling match and having lost her, watch helplessly while he gets her dragged in front of in full of the court and proceeds to disrobe her. 

       Both Sita and Draupadi are feared by their abusers.  Ravan fears forcing himself on Sita as there is talk of him losing his life if he touches an unwilling chaste woman.  Duryodhana's father, the blind Dhirtarashtra, warned by Vidura, gives back to the Pandavas all that they have lost to the Kauravas in the gambling match when he hears Draupadi swear that she will not tie her hair until she washes it with the blood of her abusers.

       Sita never screams vengeance but displays silent stoic confidence that her husband will rescue her.  Draupadi Screams vengeance but doubts if her five husband will avenge her insult.  She has reason to doubt them.  They do not kill Jayadharata, the husband of her sister-in-law, even though he drags her out of her house onto his chariot determined to make her his concubine.  They hesitate to kill Kichaka for fear of making their secret identities public when he abuses her in the final year of their exile when they all live as servants in the palace of king Virata.

       When Ram finally rescues Sita, he reveals rather heartlessly that he is more worried about his family honor, and not her person, forcing her to prove her chastity while in captivity in Ravana's house by undergoing a trial by fire.  There is never talk of Draupadi's chastity;but that she has five husbands often leads to accusations that she is public woman and not a queen.

       In the final chapter, Sita is abandoned in the forest, banished from her husband's house as the public feels she is stain on royal reputation and unfit to be queen.  She suffers silently.  Ram however, never remarries, thus declaring his love for her.  Draupadi gets her vengeance; her abusers are massacred and she washes her hair in their blood.  But the joy of vengeance is short-lived.

Children

       Sita  gets the pleasure of raising her children and they do inherit Ram's kingdom.  Draupadi, however, does not get the pleasure of raising her children; they are sent to the house of Krishna while she lives in exile in the forest with her husbands.  All five are murdered by Drona's son who refuses to take defeat lying down.  The kingdom of the Pandavas is passed on to the grandson of one of Arjuna's other wives.  

Death

       When Sita finally disappears under the earth refusing to rejoin her husband on his throne.  Ram weeps and decides he cannot live on earth without her.  He enters the river Sarayu and does not rise again.  Draupadi; by contrast, dies a lonely death when she slips and falls down the slopes of the Himalayas; not one of her five husbands come to her rescue as her first husband, Yudhishtira, feels that having renounced the world they have to let go of all bondage.

Goddesses

Deities of Sita (far right), Sri Rama (Center), Lakshmana (far left)
and Hanuman (below seated) at the Bhaktivedanta Manor in Watford, England. 

       Both Sita and Draupadi are enshrined as Goddesses.  Sita is more familiar sight in temples.  She is the graceful Lakshmi, without whom Ram is never worshipped.  Draupadi worship is popular in some parts of India as in North Tamil Nadu.  There she is Amman, the mother-goddess, worshipped alone without any of her husbands, the fearsome Kali who drinks blood of her abusers.  

Draupadi Amman Idol in Udappu, Sri Lanka.

       It is interesting to note that modern writers tend to project Sita more as a silent suffering victim and Draupadi more as a outspoken demanding heroine while traditional story tellers saw Sita as a person full of love, wisdom and patience and Draupadi as a glamorous intimidating diva.  What everyone agrees with is that there can be no two characters more different from each other. 

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Source:  An article by Dr Devdutt Pattnaik

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7 Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art - Narayana's Secret

Image 2.6 - Baby on a banyan leaf

The peacock feather links Vishnu to Krishna, who usually sports the feather.

The lotus flower indicates renewal.

The peacock feather informs the devotee not to distinguish between Vishnu & Krishna.

The banyan leaf indicates permanence.

The Waters indicate destruction as it dissolves all things material when their time is up.

Baby on a banyan leaf

       Image 2.6 shows a newborn child on a banyan leaf.  Once, a sage called Markandeya was granted a glimpse of Pralaya, the end of the world.  This vision was marked by heavy rains and waves rising to consume the earth, until everything was submerged Water, especially the sea, represents formlessness.  It is the symbol of entropy, dissolution.  How does one visualise nothingness in art?  Which form represents formlessness?  One does it by showing the sea.  A stormy sea shows the process of destruction while a still sea shows the moment before rebirth.

       The sight of the dying world filled Markandeya with dread and despair.  It was then he heard a gurgling happy sound.  He turned around and found a baby lying on a banyan leaf, cradled by the waves of destruction.  A baby is the symbol of rebirth or renewal of life.  Markandeya saw the baby and realised that what one considers the end is actually just a phase, a part of the process; after the end comes the beginning.  This is fundamentally different from Greek and Biblical worldview, where death is a full-stop.  In the Hindu world view, death is a comma; there is no full-stop.

       That the baby is lying on the leaf of a banyan tree is significant.  The banyan tree is believed to be immortal; it represents that which cannot be destroyed.  What cannot be destroyed even when all forms dissolve to become formless?  It is the soul.  Thus the baby is cradled by the soul.  Markandeya is being told that the indestructible soul is witnessing the end of the world dispassionately.  It may seem cruel and uncaring as it whips up the malignant storm, but when the waters calm, the soul will rest and re-merge in innocence like a gurgling baby.

       The banyan leaf lies within a lotus.  The flower is the lotus of Brahma, that which blooms when Narayana awakens.  Thus, the image simultaneously captures death (water) and rebirth (leaf and flower).

Image 2.7 Baby Narayan sucking his right toe

The right side indicates spiritual stillness, as against the left side with the beating heart, which symbolises material restlessness.

The sucking of the right toe indicates the value given to things spiritual (right side) and to things material (lower body)

The lower body represents matter while the upper body represents the spirit.

       The baby in the image 2.7 holds a flute in his right hand and his right big toe with his left hand.  The right side in Indian art represents the soul and intellect because the left side, with the beating heart, represents movement, hence matter and emotions.  By holding the right toe with the left hand, God is connecting the spiritual with the material, the intellectual with the emotional, all the while making music with the flute, indicating a playful approach to life.  The world exists to be enjoyed and explored by the soul in the spirit of play.  The infant form of God conveys both innocence and the idea of material renewal.

      In Hindu belief, the soul is permanent and ever present.  But, it is beyond form; how then does one represent it in art?  One has no choice but to take recourse to form.  Any form will be imperfect and incomplete.  Typically, the soul is visualised as male, and in Images 2.6 and 2.7, as a baby.  Both these forms are inherently flawed.  However, we have no choice but to use imperfect forms to communicate a perfect truth.

Image 2.8 - Death of HIranakashipu

God as a man-lion disemboweling the Asura who thought he could outwit death.

Death of Hiranakashipu

       Image 2.8 is based on a story that draws attention to the nature of the soul.  The story comes from the Vishnu Purana, the lore of Vishnu, and speaks of a conflict between father and son.  The father, whose name is Hirankashipu, believes he is immortal because he has secured a boon that prevents him from being killed by any human or any animal, any god or any demon, by a weapon or a tool, inside any dwelling or outside, above the ground of under it, during the day or the night.  Since he considers himself immortal, Hiranakashipu is convinced he is a God, worthy of worship.  But his son, Prahalad, believes his father is mortal; he insists that he will only worship Narayan, the formless, timeless, omnipresence God.

       'Where is this Narayan present?' asks the father.

       'Every where, ' says the son, 'even in the pillars of your palace.'

       To prove his son wrong once and for all, Hiranakashipu breaks down a palace pillar.  We can see it in the background - a vertically split pillar.

      From this pillar emerges a fantastic creature called Narasimha, part lion and part human.  This creature crosses the boundary between the animal and the human world.  It emerges from the realm of impossibility, breaking all boundaries, challenging our notions of what is normal and what is not.  Narasimha is God, he is a form of Narayan.  One is being told that what is impossible for the human mind to conceive exists in the mind of God.  Hiranakashipu is blinded by power and assumes he knows the ends of the world.  But God makes the impossible possible.  God appears as a creature that Hiranakashipu believes is unnatural, hence non-existent.  Narasimha is supposed to be a god but evokes fear like a monster, hence seems demonic.  He is neither god nor demon, or both, may be, for father and son.

       This creature, neither man nor animal, or perhaps one who is both, drags Hiranakashipu to the threshold of the palace - neither inside a dwelling or outside.  There, at a twilight, which is neither day nor night, he places Hiranakashipu on his lap, which is neither under the ground nor on the ground nor above the ground, and tears him apart with his fangs, which are neither weapons nor tools.  Thus Hiranakashipu, who thought he was immortal, is killed, his arrogance shattered.

Image 2.9 - Narasimha with Lakshmi 

Vishnu as neither man nor lion indicates divinity makes room for creatures who cannot be easily classified.

Narasimha is a fearsome and bloodthirsty form of Vishnu, whose violence is tamed by the presence of his gentle consort, Lakshmi.

The upraised palm means do not be afraid.

The consort is always placed on the left, the side close to the heart.

The downward palm means, 'I will give what is destined or desired.

Narasimha with Lakshmi

       The son adores Narayan but also fears this creature who drinks his father's blood.  image 2.9 shows a more gentle form of Narasimha.  One fears that Narasimha in his violent form will destroy the world; so Goddess Lakshmi appears before Narasimha and reminds him of his responsibility to protect her and calms him down.  This image shows Narasimha with Lakshmi, the guardian and his ward, God and Goddess, adored by Prahalad and four gods who perhaps represent the four books of Vedic wisdom, or perhaps the four goals of worldly life: dharma, artha, kama and moksha.

       Prahalad's father is described as a demon, but the son is not considered one.  Both are Asuras, but contrary to popular belief, all Asuras are not demons.  It is intent and behaviour that can make anyone a demon.  Hiranakashipu is arrogant and this arrogance comes from power.  In arrogance, he assumes that he has knowledge of all possibilities.  He knows everything.  But the wise know that the human mind is finite and cannot hold the infinite expressions of the cosmos.  Like Narasimha, who is neither this nor that, or perhaps both, there is much in the world awaiting discovery.

Narasimha sits on the coiled serpent

       Narasimha sits on the coiled serpent, representing the stillness that is required to sense the presence of consciousness.  Here, God is united with the Goddess, spirit and matter are together.  Behind them is the split pillar, the split of matter and spirit, the split between our flesh and our soul.

Image 2.10 - Arjuna seeking Krishna's advice

Krishna, visualised here as Vishnu, represents the wise soul, that is witness to our confusions.

Arjuna represents our confused mind.

Arjuna seeking Krishna's advice

      Image 2.10 is a visualisation of a scene prior to the narration of the Bhagavad Gita, one of Hinduism's most popular religious texts.  Literally translated, 'Bhagavd Gita,'  means the Song of God.  Here God takes the form of Krishna, who serves as a charioteer to Arjuna, a great archer who is suddenly confronted with the awesome reality before him - he is about to begin a war over property and principles in which he will be expected to kill family and friends.  And God is asking him to do it.  How can he?  Why?  He refuses to fight.  He turns to Krishna for guidance and, in response, Krishna speaks to him words that enlighten and empower him.

       Krishna explains to Arjuna the nature of the world.  He draws attention to the soul that is imperishable and matter that is ever-transforming, hence giving the impression of birth and death.  Things die only to be born again.  What then is the purpose of life?  The Gita reveals that matter exists to draw our attention to the soul to make us aware of that permanent, unchanging principle.  And to realise it, we have to negotiate our way through life, through society.  We have to function as members of society, do our duties, fight for what we believe is right, and surrender to the wisdom of the cosmos.  Life is about living, about participating, and escape is not an option.  Actions born of desire, we are told, entrap us in a never-ending wheel of birth and death.  Escape is possible if one is willing to discipline the mind, rein in desire and act dispassionately, doing one's duty, stripped of any desire to dominate the world or indulge the ego.

The presence of all gods and goddess in one body indicates that the whole cosmos is ultimately a single organism - everything is contained within God.

Multiple heads indicate multiple manifestations of the divine.

Image 2.11 - The Cosmic form of Krishna

The calm and youthful face indicates wisdom that helps overpower any calamity.

Multiple hands indicate the many forces that govern the cosmos.

Fire emerging from the many mouths indicates destruction, thus suggesting that even the worst of events have their roots in God.

The presence of several weapons indicates the many tools available to overcome primal insecurity.

Cosmic form of Krishna

      Enlightened by Krishna, Arjuna asks him to show his true form, for it is a very evident that Krishna is no ordinary mortal.  Krishna then shows his viswarupa or cosmic form also known as the all-inclusive expansive being that he is.  This is depicted in Image 2.11.  Arjuna observes that within Krishna are all the gods and all the demons and all the sages and all the hermits.  He is the sun and the moon, he is the stars and the planets, he is the rivers and the fires.  He is what was, is and will be.  He is all forms.  He is all directions.  He is all that is possible and all that is impossible.  Arjuna sees Krishna exhaling life and inhaling death.  Whole worlds emerge from his mouth and are ground by his teeth.

      This is the Hindu idea of God.  God is all things.  He is in all things.  He is outside all things.  He is She.  He and She are also it.  That which is animate and that which is inanimate - everything is God.  The human, the subhuman, the superhuman -- all are God.  God is formless and is expressed through all forms.  All that we see is God.  All that we sense is God.  God is not out there.  He is within us and around us.  He is all there is.  We are the observers who create the observation that is life.  We are thus not separate from our lives.  We and our world are the same.  This is Advaita or non-duality of being.

       We are God too -- we just have not discovered the truth of ourselves.  We are limited by our egos, our imperfect understanding of the world, our prejudices and our memories.  We need to break free from all this, from ourselves.  And, according to the Bhagavad Gita, this is possible only when we live life, struggle with the rules, the moralities and the ethics that the world subscribes to.

Image 2.12

Ayyappa a guardian god from Kerala, was created when Shiva united with Vishnu, the latter having taken the form of woman, Mohini.  He represents the union of hermit and householder traditions.  So while he is celibate like Shiva and demands celibacy from his worshippers, he also protects the world of householders just like Vishnu.

Krishna, a mortal incarnation of Vishnu, who walks the earth as kingmaker in the third quarter of the world's lifecycle.

Asuras and Rakshas also adore Narayan,  indicating that in Hindu lore they may be villains but they still play a valid and vital role in the cosmos.

The four Sanatana Kumars are pre-pubescent boys symbolising the mind that is pure and uncorrupted by experiences and memories.

VISHNU, the awakened Narayan, with his two wives, Bhu-devi and Sri-devi, who represents the tangible and intangible forms of wealth.

JAY & VIJAY are the ferocious door keepers of Vishnu's abode who turn away the unworthy.

RAM, a mortal incarnation of Vishnu, who walks the earth as King in the second quarter of the world's life cycle.

      And when w die, we should know that we will be reborn.  There will be another life, another chance to open our eyes and look at a new world with a new set of eyes.  With this new set of eyes will come a new way of looking at things, new rule and new prejudices.  Once again the lotus of Brahma will rise from Narayan's navel as in Image 2.12.  Once again, Lakshmi will demand attention and protection.  Once again Narad and Tumburu will fight to process her and Narad will stir us into jealousy and outrage.  We will struggle to maintain order, flying around on Garuda and disciplining ourselves like Hanuman: a new awakening and a new world order, another chance to get it right.

      Since the Hindu world is going through cycles of life and death, this life is but one of the many lives to lead.  There is therefore no dominant urge to be a hero.  There is a no sense of urgency.  And since all things depend on points of view, there is a lack of certainty in all things.  All things are relative and contextual and impermanent.  One yearns for that which is absolute, permanent and independent of all contexts.  That is the soul -- the soul whose sleep leads to destruction and whose awakening leads to creation, whose observation gives shape to the world.  The discovery of the one who creates the world, that observer, is the purpose of life.

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Source: Excerpts from the book on 7 Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art by Devdutt Pattnaik.
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7 Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art - Narayana's Secret

Image 2.1 Reawakening of Narayan

Introduction

       Hindu mythology abounds with fascinating gods, goddesses and characters whose visual representations - through calendar art - are equally colourful.  Hindu calendar art may seem fantastic and kitsch, but it is in fact the most democratic expression of mythic imagery that was once restricted to temple walls and palm leaf manuscripts.

      These portraits of Hindu pantheon of gods and the stories that surround them can be found on the walls and puja rooms of almost every Hindu household in India.  Rich in symbols, each image is a piece of an ancient metaphysical jigsaw puzzle.  In  his on "7 Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art", Dr Devdutt Pattanaik, India's renowned mythologists, decodes these symbols to reveal a wisdom that has nourished India for thousands of years.  Some of the excerpts from the book is reproduced below.

Image 2.1 Reawakening of Narayan

The coiled serpent indicates stillnesss while its multiple heads indicate vast wisdom.

The sea here is the ocean of milk that extends to infinity and in which all things are dissolved when the world comes to an end.

The scriptures state that Narayan is all alone when he awakens.

Brahma, who emerges when Narayan awakens, is the curious and confused mind seeking answers.
When Brahma emerges from the Lotus, he feels he is all alone, and that scares him.
Narayan, the sleeping Vishnu is pure consciousness.
The Lotus emerges from Vishnu's navel, suggeting that Vishnu is as much nurtured by Brahma as Brahma is nurtured by Vishnu.

Since this picture focuses on God as Narayan, all other forms of God such as Shiva bow to him.

Bhu-devi, the earth-cow, is another form of Lakshmi who comes to Vishnu seeking his protection.

Lakshmi, Goddess of Wealth and fortune, as Sri-devi takes care of Vishnu as he is her guardian.

Flying damsels showering flowers indicate the importance of this event.

Horse-headed musicians are sometimes called Kinnara.

Narad-muni showed no interest in the material world and so was cursed that he would wander in the material world from the moment Naryan awoke till the time he went back to sleep.

Hanuman, a monkey, is popular guardian god renowned for his celibacy, intelligence and strength.

Garuda, a hawk, is a popular guardian god who is associated with the Sun.

Image 2.1 - Re awakening of Narayan

The coiled serpent indicates stillness while its multiple heads indicate vast wisdom.

The sea here is the ocean of milk that extends to infinity and in which all things are dissolved when the world comes to an end.

The scriptures state that Narayan is all alone when he awakens.

Brahma, who emerges when Narayan awakens, is the curious and confused mind seeking answers.

When Brahma emerges from the Lotus, he feels he is all alone, and that scares him.

Narayan, the sleeping Vishnu is pure consciousness.

The Lotus emerges from Vishnu's navel, suggeting that Vishnu is as much nurtured by Brahma as Brahma is nurtured by Vishnu.

Narayan's Secret

       Image 2.1 shows Narayan waking up.  It is the moment the world comes into being.  Just as our world does not exist when we sleep, the whole universe does not exist when God is in deep slumber.  Narayan is God.  His deep slumber marks the dissolution of the world.  Before he slept, he must have been awake and the world must have existed then.  Thus, image 2.1 marks the rebirth of the world exists and ceases to exist cyclically, with Narayan's waking and sleeping states.

       The Greeks did not believe in rebirth.  Neither do Christians and Muslims.  There is only one life and hence the sense of urgency for the Greeks to be heroes, for the Christians to be saved y God and for the Muslims to surrender to God.  It;s an urgency that does not exist for Hindus.  This life is one of the many lives we are supposed to live.  This world is one of the many worlds that have come and gone.

Narayan sleeps on an ocean of milk

       Narayan sleeps on an ocean of milk.  This ocean has no shore.  It is made of milk, but the milk is still, without ripples or waves.  All things will emerge from it when Narayan awakes, just as butter can be drawn out when milk is churned.  The ocean of milk thus represents possibility.  When Narayan is asleep, the world entropies; there is no form, no identity -- just a homogeneous mass of matter, waiting to be churned.

     The serpent on whom Narayan is sleeping is called Sesha, the remainder, that which remains when all else is destroyed.  Some say that makes him a representation of time.  No one is sure, for when one is in deep slumber, how does one know what is left behind?  Time moves.  But Sesha is hooded and coiled, indicating he is static.  Narayan sleeps on the coils of Sesha; in other words when Narayan sleeps, time is still.  One is not clear when happened first -- the stilling of Sesha or the sleeping of Narayan -- or if they both occurred together?

       Sesha is either called Adi Sesha, the primal remainder, or Ananta Sesha, the endless remainder.  The name draws attention to the fact that while Narayan is asleep, the world still exists around him.  But no one is aware of it; hence, for all practical purposes, it does not exist.  

       According to Vedanta, without the observer, there is no observation.  Narayan is the observer.  When he is asleep, he observes nothing.  He is in deep slumber.  He does not dream.  He has no sense of either the real world or the dream world.  Without the observer observing, the observation cannot exist.  Hence, no world exists when Narayan is asleep.  This is the end of the world.

       The best way to understand this idea is to ask ourselves does our world exist when we are in deep slumber?  Yes, it does.  But do we experience it?  No, we don't.  Thus, the world exists but not my world. Without us, our world does not exist.  Without the observer, there is no observation.

Image 2.2  The Rebirth of Brahma

Brahma, who emerges when Narayan awakens, is the curious and confused mind seeking answers.

When Brahma emerges from the Lotus, he feels he is all alone, and that scares him.

Narayan, the sleeping Vishnu is pure consciousness.

The Lotus emerges from Vishnu's navel, suggeting that Vishnu is as much nurtured by Brahma as Brahma is nurtured by Vishnu.

       Image 2.2 shows the awakening, or the re-awakening of Narayan.  This is creation.  The artist is visualising this as the moment when he wake-up -- become conscious -- but have not gotten up from the bed.  When Narayan's eyes open, his senses become sensitive to the world around.  Inputs rush in from the eyes, the nose, the ears, the tongue and the skin.  What is sensed is identified and classified and even judged based on memories.  Consciousness, which was like an uncreased piece of paper, has now started to crumple.  The world ceases to be pure: it has colour and shape and value, some things we like, some things we don't.  This crumpled consciousness, not as pure as Narayan, is visualised as Brahma, seated on a lotus that has sprouted out of Narayan's navel.

       Rising from the navel, with a lotus stalk for an umbilical cord, Brahma's lotus is like a placenta that nourishes an unborn child in the mother's womb.  So one wonders: who is the creator?  Did Narayan create Brahma, or is Brahma the womb that nourishes Narayan?  Does the observation create the observer? or is it the observer who creates the observation?  Are we constructs of the world around us or is the world constructed by us?

Creation of the World

       Narayan's awakening is a moment of celebration.  It marks the creation of the world just as our world comes into being when we awaken and become aware of our world.  Angels, visualised as flying women, shower flowers.  From an academic point of view, it is interesting to keep in mind that the notion of flying heraldic angels came to India only after exposure to European culture in the sixteenth century.

Image 2.1 Reawakening of Narayan

       At Narayan's feet in Image 2.1 is his consort, Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth shown in more detail in Images 2.3.

Image 2.3 - Sri-devi, Bhu-devi and Shiva's family

Since this picture focuses on God as Narayan, all other forms of God such as Shiva bow to him.

Bhu-devi, the earth-cow, is another form of Lakshmi who comes to Vishnu seeking his protection.

Lakshmi, Goddess of Wealth and fortune, as Sri-devi takes care of Vishnu as he is her guardian.

She nourishes mankind.  She is also portrayed as a cow.  She is Go-mata, the cosmic cow who contains the whole world within her.  Narayan is her cowherd.  Hence, when awake, Narayan is called as Gopala, the keeper of the cow.  The cow is the world and whenever the world is in trouble Narayan rushes to her rescue.  Narayan awake is called Vishnu, the guardian, the protector, the preserver.

       Also seen in this picture is Shiva, the hermit who destroys the world by shutting his eyes to it.  But Shiva here is not a destroyer.  His eyes are open.  And with him are his two sons, the six-headed Karthikeya and the elephant-headed Ganesha, representing physical and intellectual capability respectively.  Thus, the waking of Narayan and the resulting creation of the world are associated with Shiva, the indifferent hermit opening his eyes, marrying and producing children to become Shankara, the attentive householder.

       In Image 2.1, there are two men holding lutes on either side of Narayan, shown in greater detail in Image 2.4.   The one at his feet is Narad and the other, with the head of a horse, is Tamburu.  The two men are rial musicians.  Narad is a Rishi or sage, while Tumburu is a Kinnara or a celestial musician.  They often vie to marry the same girl in several mythological stories, and turn to Vishnu for help.  Vishnu does help, but in such a way that the girl -- always an avatar of Lakshmi -- ends up marrying him.  Narad and Tumburu yearn for the earth-goddess but do not get her.  They want to possess her like a prize and are unworthy suitors; Vishnu loves, adores and protects her and is, thus worthy suitor.

Image 2.4 - Narad muni

Narad-muni showed no interest in the material world and so was cursed that he would wander in the material world from the moment Narayan awoke till the time he went back to sleep.

       Narad was created from the mind by Brahma.  On his birth, he had no interest in the world and encouraged all creatures not to marry or reproduce.  The world, thus,did not grow.  The angered Brahma, who cursed Narad that he would move around the world restlessly and live till it was time for Vishnu to sleep once more.  A restless Narad, therefore, is the cause of many troubles.  He constantly compares people and thus spreads anger and ignites quarrels.  He fills the mind with jealousy and insecurity.

Image 2.5 - Guardian gods

Hanuman, the monkey, is a popular guardian god renowned for his celibacy, intelligence and strength.
Garuda, a hawk, is a popular guardian of god who is associated with the Sun.

Guardian gods

       Crouching on either side of Narayan are the monkey Hanuman at his head and the hawk Garuda at his foot, shown in greater detail in Image 2.5.  Whenever possessiveness, restlessness, insecurity and jealousy threatens the world, Vishnu goes about setting things right.  Gardua serves as his mount and carries him to the troubled spot.

Garuda, a hawk, is popular guardian god who is associated with the Sun.

Gardua

       Hawks and serpents are natural enemies.  In the presence of a Hawk, a serpent cannot afford to be still.  It uncoils itself and starts to slither and slip away.  Thus Gardua provokes the world to move.  Vishnu's association with both serpent and hawk, the still Sesha and the flying Garuda, represents consciousness in both sleeping and waking states.

Ram and Hanuman

       Sometimes Vishnu transforms into a human to set things right.  In one of his avatars, he was Ram, lord of Ayodhya and it was at this point that Hanuman became his companion, helping him regain his lost queen, Sita.  Hanuman is called sankat-mochan, the trouble-shooter.  His presence implies that when the world awakens, troubles also begins, but it is possible for the mind that creates the problem to come-up with the solution as well.

       When Narayan awakens to become Vishnu, the mind starts organising the world (Brahma) using definitions, classifications and judgements.  Withdrawal (Shiva) gives way to participation using one's physical capability (Kartikeya) and intellectual capacity (Ganesha).  There is the desire to enjoy and possess the world (Tumburu).  There are also negative emotions like restlessness and envy (Narada).  But  all these problems can be solved by the mind when it is willing to fly like Garuda and be disciplined like Hanuman.

       Thus Image 2.1 is rich in symbols and attempts to capture creation.  Hindu scriptures repeatedly refer to creation as the result of awareness.  Things are born when we become aware of them.  Thus creation is not an objective construction -- it is a subjective realisation.  Thing are created every second and, with each creation, something is destroyed.  Creation is like a wave.  Hence destruction is visualised as a stormy ocean where ideas collapse and dissolve as new things struggle to churn their way out.

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Source excerpts from the book on "7 Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art" by Devadutt Pattanaik.

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