Devdutt Pattanayak9 hours ago
- copy link
‘Ema Dharmaraja Temple’ located in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. It is considered to be one of the oldest temples of Lord Yama.
According to historians of nature, till three hundred million years ago there were only non-living elements on the earth. Therefore they did not fight to survive. Living beings fighting for their lives came into existence only after this.
The fear of death has existed in living beings since the beginning, due to which they have always struggled to survive. Fearing death, plants move towards sunlight and water for nutrition. Due to this fear, animals run towards pasture, hunting and away from predatory animals. In Hindu mythology, this fear became associated with the god of death i.e. Yama.
Then something changed a million years ago. A mutation occurred in a type of ape. His brain began to grow in comparison to his body. Because of this he started standing on his feet. But this was risky, because their stomach and their genitals were no longer protected. It became easier for them to be preyed upon by predatory creatures. Naturally their fear increased.
Unlike other monkeys, mainly due to the enlargement of the front part of the brain, the power of imagination was created in these monkeys. This aroused further fear: they could imagine violent creatures that were not actually there. But the power of imagination also aroused joy: even when food items were not there, they could imagine them. These monkeys could cry or laugh without any external stimulation.
The most amazing thing was that each monkey could imagine a world completely different and more beautiful than the natural world around him. Therefore the monkey wished for that imaginary world; He loved it more than the real world. In Hinduism, this desire has been associated with Kamadeva, who encourages us to desire a life different from that given by nature.
One monkey could not see the imaginary world of another monkey. Therefore, he had a strong desire to share his imaginary world with other monkeys. Suddenly there arose a need for language through which imagined worlds could be transmitted. Now life became more interesting than just surviving or reproducing. Communication began through language. This communication took the form of conversations and cave paintings. Thus, this communication was very different from the communication of birds and insects, which communicate only to survive. In Hinduism, linguistic communication was linked to the goddess of speech, Vak.
All the monkeys soon learned that everyone’s imagined world was very different. Therefore, conflicts began to arise among them regarding whose imagined world was true and which imagined world was better. Imagination and conversation gave rise to ideas. The greatest success of the monkeys was that they learned to control fire and water.
These apes could make sharp tools to protect themselves and to cut tough meat or other foods. They could domesticate plants and animals, so that they could get regular food and drink. They could conserve food grains and thus were not dependent on nature. Instead, they now started imagining controlling nature.
The influence of sex aroused in the monkeys both the ability to control and the fear of losing that ability. The monkeys started considering themselves helpless. Thoughts arose in him about the source of imagination and his relationship with nature. These questions awakened the idea of civilization and the concepts of Satyam, Shivam and Sundaram. By expanding their minds, monkeys transformed into humans. In Indian mythology, this expansion has been given the form of the flowering of the lotus on which Brahma sits.
According to natural science, we have had the ability to imagine for a million years. It enables us to both transcend fear and increase it. But most of the times we become more fearful because we like to be fearful. Our mind, which could expand, begins to contract. The word ‘Brahman’ comes from the root word of expansion ‘Brah’ and the root word of mind is ‘Manas’. This word symbolizes the human capacity to transcend fear by expanding our imagination.
Most of the times we become Brahma and create a creature rooted in fear. These are the sons of Brahma – the gods, demons, yakshas and demons of the Puranas. They want to be free from all fears. But everyone thinks salvation will come from wealth. In reality, liberation will come from thoughts that expand the narrow mind.