Hindu mythology is rich in color and drama. It is described as smriti in contrast with sacred texts that are considered shruti.  While the Vedas and the Gita are shruti or words heard from God, myths and legends are smriti or recollections. Smriti consists of stories about gods, demons, strange creatures, and about great heroes who combat evildoers.

The grand epics, The Mahabharata authored by Vyasa and The Ramayana authored by Valmiki are the crown jewels of Hindu tales. These stories have galvanized audiences over centuries. The tales were told by traveling storytellers, repeated from generation to generation, and were made into television series that were watched throughout India on Sunday mornings for years. The Gita is inserted into the Mahabharata at the onset of the Great Mahabharata War. It is preached by Lord Krishna to Arjun who feels despondent because he believes that killing is a sin. Krishna explains to Arjun that he must fulfill his destiny by carrying out actions that were set into motion by events beyond his control and convinces him that it is his duty to fight for his honor.

Stories relating to the ten avatars of Lord Vishnu, the Preserver, are among the most intriguing of Hindu myths. The order of Lord Vishnu’s incarnations parallels the sequence of Darwin’s theory of evolution. Vishnu first appears a as fish, then as a tortoise or reptile, then as a boar, and then as a man-lion symbolizing the emergency of humans from the animal kingdom. His further appearances occur in the stone age, the iron age, and then in a society ruled by kings. His last two appearances are as Lord Krishna and as Lord Buddha. However, Krishna is predicted to descend to earth again in his tenth and final incarnation as Kalki, the phenomenal savior who will amaze the world and deliver it from evil and darkness.

Curious events occurred in India that bring her legends to modern day life. Perhaps the most striking happened when throughout the world statues of Ganpati, the beloved god with the elephant head, began drinking offerings of milk. Early on September 21, 1995, a teaspoon of milk symbolically placed at Ganpati’s trunk disappeared. The news spread and by mid morning reports of milk drinking statues abounded. The World Hindu Council declared this happening to be a miracle. It lasted for several days and then it stopped as abruptly as it had started.

Then on January 26, 2001, an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter shook Gujarat and surrounding regions in India. The quake brought about the surfacing of the Saraswati River in the dry desert known as Raan of Kutch. This river is honored in Hindu scripture as the mother and the goddess of knowledge, music, and the arts.

So, we have seen the past coming to life and bringing both questions and answers into the panorama of Hindu philosophy and belief.

See Chapter 5, Myths and Legends in On Hinduism by Irina Gajjar