7 Secrets of Vishnu

Book review

Pattanaik, Dr. Devdutt. 2011. 7 Secrets of Vishnu. Westland. Chennai. Pages xii + 219. Rs 250.

Hinduism's beliefs and values, rites and rituals have always mystified and intrigued people within and outside the faith. While common people within the faith have accepted them as divine ordinances and eternal, those outside have either tried to decipher their meanings or ridicule them. Christian evangelical interests tried to dismiss them as pagan practices not worthy of a civilised world.

This makes us wonder, ‘what is civilised?’ The words ‘civilisation’ and ‘culture’ are often used synonymously. Thus,  ‘civilisation’  is defined as the ‘advanced state of intellectual, cultural, and material development in human society, marked by progress in the arts and sciences, the extensive use of record-keeping, including writing, and the appearance of complex political and social institutions’. Hinduism stands the test of this definition without doubt in view of its highest attainments in philosophical thought. In point of fact, for Hindu sages arts and sciences were a mere means of philosophical pursuit rather than material progress. This is the reason why they did not keep records of their achievements, the only aspect of the above definition which they fail. And,  ‘culture’  is defined as ‘the totality of socially transmitted behaviour patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought’.

Hindu sages realised early on that attainment of higher philosophical goals is a long drawn process which may be daunting for the laity. They felt that rigorous self-discipline and years of pursuit without any material goals in sight, is not for every one. Therefore they devised a series of pyramidal processes in which the aim is to reach a plateau and then aim for a higher one, thus reaching the ultimate goal one step at a time. The principle behind the thematic was to lead the individual from understanding simple practices to grasping abstract concepts.

The sages also felt that for society to advance it should first create an atmosphere in which there was love for fellow human beings and the temptation for crime, lust and other vices was absent. The society they envisaged was a society steeped in righteousness and virtuosity, a society in which good triumphed over evil. They termed the atmosphere the ‘Dharma’ which ‘others’ came to term as Hinduism, which simply means the practice of ‘Dharma’. As the ‘Dharma’ defined by the sages is eternal, it is the ‘Sanatana Dharma’. The rituals and practices of Hinduism are designed keeping these objectives in mind and form the first plateau of the pyramid mentioned above. 
  

Critics of Hinduism find its caste-structure a convenient stick to beat it with. We, ‘who know’ do not point out that God’s incarnations were not into the highest social order, the Brahmans but as Yadav (Krishna the cowherd) or Kshatriya (Rama the prince). We also do not pause to think that the scriptures themselves were written by sages who moved from the lowest social order to the highest, viz. Brahmans. Sage Valmiki who wrote the Ramayana and Sage Veda Vyasa who wrote the Mahabharata were born into the tribal community of hunters but graduated into Brahmans, by their learning and practice. In other words the caste-structure was originally not based on birth but merely a division of labour. There was both upward and downward mobility in the social order. 

According to Hindu scriptures being born dark was not a curse, as was presumably the case with the Abrahamic faiths. Sri Rama was blue and Sri Krishna was black. In fact the word ‘Krishna’ means black. In the epic Mahabharata, on occasion, Krishna addresses the Pandava queen Draupadi as Krishna, meaning she was dark skinned! If western ignorance describes the Siva Linga and Vinayaka’s elephant-trunk as phallic symbols why should we tamely acquiesce and accept it as ‘divine wisdom’?

Devdutt Pattanaik’s book, ‘7 Secrets of Vishnu’ aims to unravel the symbolism behind the practices and rituals of Hinduism in simple language to enable everyone to understand them. In the process it clarifies certain misconceptions behind the symbolism that the critics of Hinduism avidly seek to criticise it. For example in metaphysics, material reality is Prakriti and spiritual reality is Purusha. Critics of Hinduism might argue that this amounts to gender discrimination. Why not the other way round? The reason for this is less to do with gender discrimination and more to do with the nature of the creative process. The male creates life outside the body but a female creates life inside the body and both are equally important for creation. One can’t say one is more important and the other is less important. It must be understood that in mythology all forms are symbolic. Vishnu himself incarnates as Mohini and Siva as artha-narishwara (half male and half female).

Similarly the Hindu sages worshipped nay celebrated all life forms, humans, animals, birds and plants and all of them had a place in Hindu mythology. Thus we have a Suka Maharishi (parrot sage) and the most familiar elephant-headed god, Vinayaka. If Garuda is Vishnu’s vehicle, a Peacock is Subrahmanya’s chariot.

Why does god incarnate as a human being (Rama or Krishna), animal (Varaha or wild boar), amphibian (Kurma or turtle), and a fish (Matsya or fish)? What is the significance of worshipping the Hindu trinity, Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara? What is the symbolism behind the sacred mark of Vishnu (Sri Namam) which Vishnu devotees wear on their forehead? What is the symbolism behind intimate postures of gods and goddesses in temple sculptures? To find out answers for all these questions, please read ‘7 Secrets of Vishnu’. It is a must read. And at Rs 250 it is inexpensive!

This review is a part of the Book Reviews programme at http://www.blogadda.com