Pleased by the piety of an Asura*, Shiva* offered him a boon. The Asura asked that any creature he touched would be reduced to ashes. No sooner did Shiva give this power than the Asura decided to try his power on Shiva himself.
Fearing for his life Shiva ran. The Asura pursued him. Desperate and frightened Shiva begged Vishnu* to help him.
Vishnu took the form of Mohini, ‘the enchantress’ and presented a female form of himself to the Asura. Enchanted by Mohini’s ravishing form, the Asura stopped chasing Shiva.
“Marry me”, he told Mohini.
“Only if you can dance the way I do”.
The Asura agreed.
He observed Mohini’s dance carefully and began imitating her movements. He moved his hands, feet, waist and face just the way Mohini did.
At one point Mohini touched her head. The Asura did the same and was reduced to ashes.
Asura: subterranean being who hoards wealth
Shiva: one of the three primary gods from the Hindu pantheon; God of destruction; very easy to please
Vishnu: One of the three primary gods from the Hindu pantheon; God of preservation; can take various forms
Story from Mithya, Dr. Devdutt Patnaik
Asura
Asuras are commonly defined as demons. They live under the earth in cities made of gold. They are generators and keepers of wealth
· Shiva
Since Shiva is not worldly, he lacks the dexterity to even protect himself.
Shiva smears himself with ash, wraps himself in animal skins, matts his hair and lets a serpent slither round his neck. He is associated with a virile yet untamed bull. He is associated with snow capped mountains, caves and cremation grounds. Shiva is surrounded by all things inauspicious and undesirable, such as ghosts and dogs. Shiva is the eternal outsider refusing to discriminate between gods and demons. Shiva is content with water, raw unboiled milk of flowers from poisonous plants.
· Vishnu
Vishnu bedecks himself with ornaments and silks and sandal paste and flowers. Vishnu is associated with domestic fertile cows. Vishnu is associated with the ocean of milk and is surrounded by symbols of power and prosperity. Vishnu is a member of the society distinguishing between appropriate and the inappropriate. For Vishnu devotees bring bright fragrant flowers, processed milk products like butter and sweet.
· Mohini
Mohini means the one who can enchant. Vishnu often takes the form of Mohini.
Text from Mithya, Dr. Devdutt Patnaik
-Select a story, fable that you are most familiar with (maybe a story from childhood)
Narrate the story or write it down.
-We will the pick out the characters from these stories accompanied by their characteristics.
-We will then draw out these characters and place them collectively like a pantheon of characters.
-Lets observe if we find similar characters or common characters
-Exchange the characters and try to create a new narrative by asking questions, being more curious, following the story after it finishes, creating new situations, bringing in contemporary behaviour patterns, events and spaces. It would also be a good idea to change the look (facial expression, body language, clothes, shoes, props) of these characters.
The behaviour, qualities, look can undergo changes or can remain the same. You may add props, places, situations, news update to build a new narrative.
Folklore is a study of traditional beliefs, stories, events and customs of common people. It is a never ending process, as this store of traditions from the past is still being added to today. For as time goes on what is normal part of life for us now will gradually change and be forgotten or become a distant memory.
Bringing it out here and sharing these stories from mythology and folklore will enable us to refresh the stories in our minds long with an addition of stories unheard.
The form of drawings adds interest value, ways of exploring the characters and makes them well registered in our memory.
The exercise of exchanging these characters and trying to build a new narrative on its basis could give rise to connections that are colourful, fanciful and create a new tradition. It is also an involvement where we acknowledge, accept and include the other into our weaving of stories that we will carry on from here.
(reference from Folklore of Northamptonshire, Peter Hill)
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