Hey there, I’m Mike Rugnetta and this is
Crashcourse mythology. Today, we’re going to tackle one of the
most difficult and fascinating pantheons in all of mythology. It’s got dancing dwarves, buffalo demons,
and some many armed folks. Yessir there’s a lot going on in this pantheon! Maybe even more than in the Egyptian pantheon. Sorry Thoth. In this episode, we’ll talk about the pantheon
of deities in Indian myths. Unlike myths from Egypt and the Ancient Near
East, there are living people for whom these stories have deep, personal, religious meaning. Remember how it got a little uncomfortable
when we discussed the Bible’s creation story? Well, it’s gonna be a bit like that. But we’re gonna try to minimize the awkwardness. Just ask--wait, there’s no god of awkwardness?! Ruh roh. INTRO Discussing the Indian pantheon is tricky for
two reasons: first because it remains a living belief system for about a billion people. And second because Indian religious and mythic
traditions are not only abundant but also ancient. As in Egypt, there are different sets of gods
and goddesses that were worshipped at different points in time. But unlike Egypt, India was and is home to
many different languages, which means we have a lot of different stories, each with many
different versions. We are going to focus mostly on stories that
have been written in Sanskrit, the sacred language of Hinduism. Sanskrit first appears in written form around
150 CE in a series of rock inscriptions that look much more complex than what I’ve inscribed
on rocks. This probably doesn’t say “Parvati wuz
here! Vishnu + Lakshmi 5eva.” Let’s remember that Sanskrit is a complex
language and its poetry may sound unusual to English ears. But we can handle it. Lead the way, Bragi, Norse God of poetry. In the earliest Indian traditions, Dyaus the
sky father, and Prithvi the earth mother were central. Hey, sky dad and earth mom! Nice to see you over here, too! Do you mind if I drop off some cosmic laundry? Later, however, Surya the sun god, Agni the
fire god and Indra the warrior king of the gods took top God Billing from mom and dad,
who were arguing all the time! Sky dad, earth mom, knock it off! Just stop the fighting! We can all get along. Indra was the child of the sky and the earth,
and was responsible for keeping them separate, but had his own beef with another god, Varuna,
who may once have been the ruler of the gods, but was supplanted by Indra. Hey, even god’s got beef, right? Wonder if one of them recorded a diss track... Anyway, the most well-known myth about Indra
is about his battle with Vritra, a giant serpent or dragon, whom Indra kills, thus creating
the sun, the dawn, and they sky. (Yeah, I know – you thought we had sky covered
but, mythology is tricky.) The death of Vritra also gave form to chaos. Which is nice. So yup, it’s our old friend the creation
story, but with violence instead of sex. In a number of stories, Indra is described
as battling and destroying hostile minor deities and demons. I mean, someone has to, right? And so maybe, you’re thinking yay, Indra. He fights the good fight. But… he also breaks oaths,kills family members
and commits adultery with Ahalya, the wife of the sage Gvautama. For which he lost his testicles. Cherries emoji. Scissors emoji. Face Screaming in emoji. But hey wait, it’s OK. in another myth he
has them replaced with those of a ram. Emoji. So...um...guess that worked out. Indra’s weapon of choice is a thunderbolt,
similar to Zeus, and by India’s classical age he becomes a god of rain. And this changing function over time is generally
emblematic of Indian myth. Like the Egyptian pantheon, it’s difficult
to pin down one canonical set of myths or characters because they appear in so many
forms, often with multiple names. Here’s another version of how things get
going: In the Vedas, which are the most ancient Hindu scriptures, Prajapati was the creator
god, but over time, and especially in the Upanishads, another collection of important
Sanskrit texts, the less anthropomorphic concept of Brahman developed. Brahman isn’t a GOD so much as the all-encompassing
essence of reality, the supreme cosmic spirit. Pretty cool, right Thoth? It’s not something you can easily represent
on a sandstone relief, but then again it’s not that dissimilar from “god” in monotheistic
religious traditions. Brahman has sometimes been translated as the
“world soul” and all individual souls are one with it. Don’t get too comfortable, though, because
Brahman, in later classical Hindu mythology and religion, is embodied and personified
as three deities: Brahma, the creator, Vishnu, the preserver, and Shiva, the destroyer. They are all distinct, with their own stories,
and yet also represent aspects of the more esoteric and universal idea of Brahman. This triumvirate? Trifecta? Divine Hat Trick? Hindus call it the trimurti and Vishnu and
Shiva loom largest in Indian myths. So then, why is Brahma third banana? Well, once the universe is created, the work
of the creator is done. True, The concept of cyclical existence is
central to the Hindu and Buddhist worldview, so you’d think a creator would be considered
among the most important gods. Still, Brahma’s significance declined in
comparison with that of Vishnu and Shiva, perhaps because, according to John Brockington:
Essentially he is a fusion of a creator deity with the impersonal Brahman propounded in
the Upanishads, which see the goal of religious endeavor as some kind of union with the absolute,
whereas the popular forms of religion attested to in the epics prefer a more personal and
devotional approach. In other words, Brahma doesn’t really get
involved in the juicy stuff-- battles and quests and adultery. So let’s turn to Vishnu, the preserver. Stories of Vishnu often involve his consort
Shri, also called Lakshmi, a goddess of prosperity and good fortune, which is pretty terrific
as dowries go. Vishnu protects the world from evil, and he
often appears in different forms called “avatars”. Avatars are the human or animal form of a
god on earth and they are very, very rad. By the classical period, Vishnu had 10 or
so avatars: Matsya, the fish, who we’ll hear more about
when we talk about floods Kurma the tortoise, who played a role similar
to the tortoise in the earth diver myth that we saw
Varaha, the boar who is a boar and does boar stuff
Narasimha the man-lion who kills the demon Hiranyakashipu
Vamana, the dwarf who defeats the demon Bai through trickery
Parashurama who kills the hundred-armed Arjuna with an ax and probably has amazing biceps
Rama and Krishna who are central to the Mahabaratha,
one of the great Sanskrit epics The Buddha who is the Buddha. You know. From Buddhism. Kalkin who is a future avatar and a millennial
figure that will establish a new era. But not like, a millennial millennial. Kalkin is not on Snapchat. Shiva, the destroyer, had his origins in the
Vedic era as a storm god who was a “wrathful avenger” and a “herdsman of souls,”
which definitely sounds trickier than sheep. Shiva is also associated with yoga, asceticism
and erotic love. Which definitely sounds contradictory. Or maybe just flexible. This erotic aspect manifests most concretely
in Shiva’s symbolic form as a linga, which is self-explanatory if you look at it, and
might explain why Shiva has numerous female deities as either wives or consorts, including
Sati and Parvati, and sometimes Durga and Kali. Basically, Shiva has game. One of the best known images of Shiva is his
depiction asl the lord of the dance–no, definitely not, yes. According to one scholar:
“His steps are intended to relieve by enlightenment the suffrage of his devotees: hence he balances
on the back of a dwarf who symbolizes ignorance. His gestures and the attributes he is holding
symbolize aspects of his divinity; the drum in his back right hand [symbolizes creation],
the tongue of flame in his back left hand [symbolizes destruction], the gesture of protection
[of his front right hand symbolizes] protection and his raised leg symboliz[es] release.” Has Michael Flatley ever balanced on the back
of a dwarf? I rest my case. Now we’ve spent most of the episode discussing
the three key gods of the trimurti and their amazing dance moves, but Indian pantheons
feature goddesses, too, who usually have qualities that complement their husband’s powers. I mentioned Parvati and Uma and Sati, the
wives of Shiva, and Laskshmi, who is married to Vishnu. But other traditions describe the goddess
Devi, which translates to “goddess” or Mahadevi, the great goddess, who is occasionally
associated with these other consorts and sometimes seen as a world creator in her own right. In some traditions Devi is essentially the
same as Brahman. Like many of the deities we discuss, Devi
can be many things to many people. We haven’t seen too many female warrior
goddesses yet. So let’s wrap up with a story that features
one: Durga, also known as Kali, who is unapproachable to her suitors and invincible in battle. Also she rides a lion. So clearly - no one is cool enough to date
her. Thoughtbubble, do your thing. One of the main stories about Durga is that
of her killing the buffalo demon Mahisha. Mahisha conquered the other lesser gods, the
Devas, and then the Devas went to Vishnu and Shiva for help, who listened and grew angry. And you wouldn’t like Vishnu and Shiva when
they’re angry, because their anger takes the form of Durga, who confronted Mahisha
and the other demons. “The demons rushed towards the goddess who
killed them in hundreds, felling some with her club, catching others in her noose, slicing
others with her sword, and piercing others with her trident. Meanwhile, Mahisha himself, in buffalo form,
terrorized her troops. Then he attacked her lion, and Durga became
furious. She caught him in her noose, whereupon he
quitted his buffalo shape and became a lion himself. She cut off its head and he emerged as a man,
sword in hand. As she pierced the man, he became a great
elephant, seizing her lion with its trunk, but she cut off his trunk with her sword as
he resumed his buffalo form. Lightly tossing aside the mountains he hurled
at her, she leaped on him, pinned his neck with one foot and pierced him with her trident. Then she cut off his head with her mighty
sword.” Thanks, Thoughtbubble, that was... harrowing? I guess it’s always the second beheading
that sticks. CONCLUSION
This episode could only scratch the surface of the complexity of Indian mythology. Not only does it come from so many sources,
but for many people these are living myths, unlike the deeds of Egyptian gods that we
saw last week. These stories are complex because people associate
one god with one or two attributes or phenomena, like wisdom or storms. And these gods take many forms and are often
seen as versions of each other, or maybe of a single universal god. Hinduism is a fascinating religion and a rich
source of myths, but it’s also quite the web. Emoji. Thanks for watching. We'll see you next week.
Why can't Indians teach their own culture as impassionately as this video, instead of lionizing nonsense and refusing to question everything.
eastern philosophy in a nutshell:
Why we need god? because we are all stuck in a repetitive loop called 'samsara'
why? because karma=bill.
is karma real? slap your local police man.
who dies after death? only annamaya kosha aka food body/humanbody out of 5 kosha. consciousness can never die because it's infinite.
wow,that means we all are infinite beings?
yes, but no, you have to clean karmas with meditation.
why i am in samsara? because you are a gamer who decided to jump into this evolutionary cosmic game.
does heaven/hell exist? yeah kind of but they are mental states where karma is applied aka no freedom.this is why yo go beyond heaven/hell(dream state)
does that mean heaven is an illusion/maya? YEAH, you fall back on earth state of mind after consuming heaven karma.they have 'maha maya'
what is all this about? basically you are in playing this game GTA. but everything is owned by BRAHMAN rockstar games co. you can not escape BRAHMAN because you are 'THAT' god!
wow really i am? yes everything is 'BRAHMAN'
then why we have bad people? well it's a game/dance of BRAHMAN where every character plays their dance in 'DUALITY' BRAHMAN is non-duality.BRAHMAN is visible universe and other infinite universe.
basically brahman is cosmos? Yeah but beyond cosmos.
i never get anything about BRAHMAN why? because your mind is designed to act in limited area.
how should i go beyond my mind's limitation? meditation
that's it? yeah but you need an experienced teacher
why teacher? because enlightened gurus are living BRAHMAN!
wow really? why i can't see them? because you are judging from your limited database and you have to clear some karma to have 'DARSHAN of living BRAHMAN'
What is the message of BRAHMAN? get out of loop, love everybody and serve everybody and do sadhna.
why everybody is not experiencing BRAHMAN? beliefs
what BRAHMAN has given me? unconditional love
how can i access that unconditional love? drop your beliefs.
why humans are suffering? karma.karma is collective and individual. karma starts from thought.
what are these wars of devis and devas why i can't see them? because these beings are made of 3 bhutas/elements while humans are made of 5 elements.your 5 senses can not perceve which is beyond 5 sense. it's a common sense. you can not sense dark matter and dark energy. can you?
what gurus experience? infinite blissful samadhi
wait a sec, samadhi means death right? no, there are 6 types of samadhi. only jiva samadhi means death. does drugs give you access to the samadhi?
yeah but not permanent and often damage human body. example? LSD,DMT etc
why people act weird after taking drugs? 'yoga maya' the illusion of mind.
wow so my mind can destroy me technically? yeah and no if you have a guru
why indians people put that red dot in the forehead? people who are 'spiritually awaken'. red dot=ajna chakra.
what is a chakra? chakra=energy wheel doorway google it.
how can i learn about chakra? kundalini yoga.
what is kundalini? powerful energy which helps your spiritual body go faster.
why people don't know all these stuffs? because people like to stay dumb and know about hinduism from random youtube video,news articles and movies.
but i am an atheist it's your choice keep reincarnating with your beliefs. BRAHMAN will still love you unconditionally
why? because that's the nature of 'BRAHMAN'
how can i experience supreme consciousness? yoga,
those postures right? no, yoga=union with your pure consciousness
vasudhiva kutumbkam is a myth right? no it's a living reality in the state of 'samadhi'
this is why we don't harm other animals and bugs right? yeah but you destroy them if they causing danger to your life.
Most Hindus never read any scriptures except for some popular prayers and are only familiar with some of these stories thanks to the TV serials. And when they do read the scriptures it is not with the intent to understand the text but with the intent to please the gods by their reading. Popular Hinduism is about Idol Worship not about studying the scriptures. Yet idol worship is entirely absent in all the classic Hindu scriptures.
God of Awkwardness here.
Are all religions mythology? Or just Hinduism
This was really informative.
FYI, there're a few errors in what is described in the video. I'd treat it as nothing more than a very basic starting point for delving deeper into these things. That's really all that most of CrashCourses is.
In case anybody's curious, the Sanskrit text at 1:30-1:40 is most likely from the Banteay Srei Shiva temple in Cambodia.
They talk about all the "gods" but don't even talk about what exactly they represent and how hindus can be everything from henotheistic to atheistic.
It was 'ight.