| Part of a series on |
| Hindu mythology |
|---|
 |
| Sources |
| Cosmology |
| Deities |
| Personalities of the Epics |
| Hinduism Portal |
Hindu mythology refers to the collection ofmyths[a] associated withHinduism, derived from variousHindu texts and traditions. These myths are found in sacred texts such as theVedas,[1] theItihasas (theMahabharata and theRamayana),[2] and thePuranas.[3] They also appear in regional and ethnolinguistic texts, including theBengaliMangal Kavya and theTamilPeriya Puranam andDivya Prabandham. Additionally, Hindu myths are also found in widely translatedfables like thePanchatantra and theHitopadesha, as well as inSoutheast Asian texts influenced by Hindu traditions.[4][5]
Myth is agenre offolklore ortheology consisting primarily ofnarratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales ororigin 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] Hindus see this as not just tales, but their proud history and tradition told in great literary form.
Hindu myths can be found in theVedas, theitihasa (Ramayana andMahabharata), and the majorPuranas. Other sources include the Bengali literature, such asMangal-Kāvya, and theTamil literature, such asDivya Prabandham,Tirumurai and theFive 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.
According toJoseph Campbell, theIndus 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 theDravidian folk religion even after the decline of its parent civilisation around 1800 BCE.[8]
A major factor in the development of Hinduism was the Vedic religion. TheIndo-Aryan migration brought their distinct beliefs to the Indian subcontinent, where theVedas were composed around 1500 BCE. The Indo-AryansVedic pantheon of deities included the chief godIndra, the sun deitySurya,Ushas, as well asAgni.[9][10]
This period saw the composition of commentaries referred to as theBrahmanas.[11]
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 thefourth Veda and theVedanta 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]
Elements such as those emerging fromBuddhism andJainism 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 laterHindu 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]
The era from 400 BCE to 400 CE was the period of the compilation of India’s great epics, theMahabharata andRamayana. These were central manifestations of the newly developing Hindu synthesis, contributing to a specific Hindu mythology, emphasising divine action on earth inVishnu's incarnations and other divine manifestations. The lore of thedevas and theasuras 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, theBhagavad Gîta and theHarivamsa.
According to Williams, the mythology of thePuranas 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 ofVishnu,Shiva, orDevi. 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]
According to Williams, during the Tantric period from 900 to 1600 CE, the mythology ofTantra andShaktism 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]
In the contemporary era, the mythologies of the dominant traditions ofVaishnavism,Shaivism, andShaktism 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.
Academic studies ofmythology 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 ofeschatology (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 wordmyth 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]
Inclassical Greek,muthos, from which the English wordmyth 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]
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) |
|
Vaishnavism (Vishnu-centric)
Shaivism (Shiva-centric)
Shaktism (Goddess-centric)
Dravidian folk religion' (Indigenous Dravidian faith)
|
Hinduism sharesmythemes withBuddhism,Jainism, andSikhism.
| Gods |
|  | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goddesses |
| |||||||||||
| Other deities | ||||||||||||
| Texts (list) | ||||||||||||
| Philosophy |
|  | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texts |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Deities |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Practices |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Related | |||||||||||||||||||
