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Myths of India about the creation of the world. About what happened in the beginning

myths ancient india

The myths of the Indians have come down to us as part of the Rigveda (collection of religious hymns). There are more than 3,000 gods in the Rig Veda, who were spiritualized natural forces and phenomena. The Indians represented the gods like people, but the gods have not yet acquired pronounced individual differences. This was partly due to the fact that deities, like natural phenomena, had something in common. For example, such gods as Indra are similar ( chief god Ved, representing a storm and a thunderstorm), Rudra (the god of thunder), Agni (the god of fire), Parjanya (a rain cloud), Maruts (the gods of wind and storm).

The gods were fighting demons, the main of which was Vritra (an evil deity who personified drought). Chief among all the gods was considered Varuna, whom people identified with the sky. At a later time, he personified the element of water and maintained order and justice. The son of heaven and earth was the god Indra. He was a formidable warrior and managed to defeat Vritra and become the chief of the gods. According to the myths, from the belly of the slain Vritra, the waters of the world poured out, which created the Sun. The waters fell from the sky as rain on the Earth and watered it, and the Sun warmed it. Thus the earth became fertile. The sun was personified by several deities - Savitar, Surya, Pushan, Mitra, Vishnu.

In Indian myths, the symbol of time is a wheel with 12 spokes, which correspond to the 12 months of the year. Time for gods and people is infinite, but it goes differently. The gods can look at the whole life of a person at once.

In one of the Indian myths, it is told that at first there was Asat (non-existence), then Sat (existence) appeared from it. Sat consists of earth, airspace and the solid sky. He appeared at the time of the birth of Indra. Increasing Indra divided the heaven and earth that gave birth to him. Air space became the abode for Indra and other gods.

In it, the gods were born and lived, enjoying all the benefits that rich people have. Between the gods and people there was an intermediary - Agni. He gave the gods from the people of the victim.

Another great god was Soma. He was credited with the action of a ritual intoxicating drink and the Moon.

According to myths, Asat is located below the surface of the earth. It is inhabited by demons that can take on any form. These demons are like evil spirits and people are everywhere.

According to myths, the ancient Indians believed that the universe is located on the backs of elephants. The earth, according to their ideas, was like a lotus flower that floats in the ocean. The seven petals of this flower represent the seven continents, one of which is India. In the central part of the earth, in their opinion, Mount Meru was located and the sun moves around it.

At the beginning of the first millennium BC. e. Brahmanism originated in India. Since that time, the Indians had three main gods: the creator, personifying and creating the Universe - Brahma, as well as Shiva and Vishnu. The last two represented eternal life in nature and fertility. At the same time, Shiva was described as formidable and intimidating, and Vishnu as benevolent to people. Indra was still a powerful god, but was relegated to the category of minor ones. Some important Vedic gods have lost their significance.

Mythology during the period of Brahminism was diverse and in many ways contradictory. This is due to the fact that the deities of various tribes and communities were preserved and entered into submission to the cult of the main gods.

A large number of myths are dedicated to Vishnu, who appeared on Earth many times, reincarnated in various creatures. He did this in order to destroy the evil forces and help people and gods. The myths tell about 10 major and 22 less significant reincarnations of Vishnu. During the Middle Ages, Vishnu acquired the image of Rama and Krishna.

Shiva was often described as an ascetic who dances in a state of religious ecstasy or engages in contemplation. Among the main gods was the goddess Uma (Durga, Kali). She was the wife of Shiva and embodied the image of the Great Mother.

In Brahmanistic mythology, there was a doctrine of samsara (reincarnation of the soul) and karma (retribution, retribution). People in ancient India were sure that the reincarnation of the soul is possible. Before that, the soul of a person, depending on his earthly life, goes to heaven or hell. It was believed that there are more than twenty hells.

Lord underworld dead was considered Yama. He, along with his twin sister, was born by the Sun (the god Surya). Since birth, Yama has never parted with his sister Yami. When they reached a certain age, they became husband and wife. They were immensely happy, never parted, and all the gods rejoiced in their love.

At a time when the gods revered marriage and considered it the meaning of life, the opportunity to continue the race, one of them unexpectedly betrayed a righteous cause. For this he received the name Lawless - Adharma. There were sons in his family, to whom the sinfulness of their father passed. The sons were called Great Fear and Death (Mrityu). Mrityu took the ax and decided to kill everyone who shows signs of life.

Yama and Yami were the children of a god, but they themselves were not deities and were not immortal. Surya created them as the first people, and his third son, Manu, as the progenitor of all people.

Mrityu took Yama's life. Thus, he showed people their mortality for many generations to come. Yama left the realm of immortals forever and at the same time deprived people eternal life, he contributed to the separation of their soul from the body at a certain hour.

Yami, who loves her husband and brother, found herself in anguish, she shed bitter tears and searched for Yama. All the gods consoled Yami, advised her to forget her husband, but nothing could help her grief. It was still light in heaven, and the gods did their work without stopping.

Then the god of heavenly light decided to temporarily stop the heavenly radiance and calm Yami. Thus he created the night, which comes to replace the day. Yami's grief eased a little in surprise after dark. Since then, the day has always been replaced by night to give people sleep and reduce their anxiety.

Yama revived and became immortal. However, his life did not continue in heaven, but in the underground depths. He became the king of the monastery dead souls. He sits on a throne in a palace in the underground city of Yamapura, which is the capital in the realm of death. The souls of living people who are in a dying state due to old age, illness or combat wounds also fell into the power of Yama. Yama also keeps track of what people do in earthly life.

The souls of the dead with humility began to come to Yama for judgment. Everything done by each person is recorded by Yama's assistant, the scribe Chitragupta, who is the Master of Cryptography. Four-eyed spotted dogs, who are subjects of Yama, also roam the land. They follow people, find sinners by smell and take their lives. Souls humbly stand before Yama, who determines for them the measure of praise or punishment. Praiseworthy souls after the judgment ascend to the heavenly world and live there forever as the spirits of the ancestors, who are worshiped by the descendants on Earth. Sinful souls are punished. In the twenty-first hell of the underworld, these souls are tormented. They are tormented by the subjects of Yama, who do not know compassion, for earthly unrighteous deeds.

Sometimes Yama himself rushes across the Earth in a chariot. His charioteer is Mritya, who sows death among people. In one hand he holds a rod from which deadly fire erupts, and in the other a noose for trapping souls. Yama appears on a black buffalo. He looks intimidating in his red clothes and with a fiery gaze that sees everything. No one can escape his judgment. Only he takes possession of the souls of the dead.

People are trying to propitiate the great and terrible Yama with prayers and sacrifices. Not only the souls of the dead fall into the realm of Yama, but also those whose bodies are burned at the stake. The souls of animals that were sacrificed to God also go there. The two gods, Yama (devourer of souls, guardian of order) and Agni (god of fire and devourer of flesh), are almost inseparable.

In ancient times, when the gods had just created Time, human life was long - up to 100 years. However, Mrityu overtook people with a noose ahead of time, sometimes even in his youth. Some of the dead people were buried in the ground, and some were burned at the stake. Merciful gods allowed people to conduct both funeral rites.

The bodies of the dead were first washed with water or sour milk (a sacred product). Then the dead were wrapped in cloth, precious jewelry and weapons were placed nearby. People believed that these things would be useful to the dead in life after death. The grave was sprinkled with oil and at the same time they prayed, asking the earth to hospitably accept the deceased.

While burying the bodies in the grave, people recited prayers and sang hymns. Thus, they turned to the gods and asked to extend their life on Earth.

If the deceased was prepared for burning at the stake, then his body was smeared with fat. It was believed that this would be pleasant for Agni and would help to quickly separate the soul and the dead body.

This text is an introductory piece.

The sources of Vedic mythology are the Vedas - four collections of the most ancient scriptures Hinduism in Sanskrit.

Vedic mythology - a set of mythological representations of the Vedic Aryans, who invaded in the 2nd millennium BC. e. to northwestern India and gradually settled in eastern and southern directions. Usually, Vedic mythology is understood as the mythological representations of the Aryans of the period of the creation of the Vedas, and sometimes the period of the creation of the Brahmanas (prose commentaries on the Vedas), and the Upanishads, secret teachings of a philosophical and religious nature, genetically related to the Vedas, but reflecting, in fact, a different cultural background. tradition.

Chronologically, Vedic mythology refers to the era between the middle of the second and the middle of the first millennium BC, when the primitive communal structure of the Vedic society was already at the stage of decomposition and a way was gradually formed that was characteristic of military democracy.

But the very origins of Vedic mythology lie in the mythological and religious ideas of the Indo-European tribes of an earlier time (at least the 3rd millennium BC), modified to one degree or another in the conditions of life of the Vedic Aryans. This can be judged by the coincidence of words denoting a number of important religious and mythological concepts and names in the Vedic and other Indo-European languages.

Even more obvious are the links between Vedic mythology and ancient Iranian mythology, which make it possible to reliably reconstruct the core of a single Indo-Iranian pantheon, some common mythological motifs, similar features of the ritual (including the priestly organization) and the main elements of the original religious and mythological concept, which differs from other ancient Indo-European traditions.

In Vedic mythology, there are also some similarities with religious and mythological ideas. ancient culture the Indus Valley (Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa), which existed before the invasion of the Aryans and, possibly, destroyed by them. It is possible that we are talking about borrowing. However, given the chronology of these borrowings, one can also think of their later origin under the influence of contacts with the autochthonous population of India further south and east of the Indus Valley. For example, the image of the world tree in the form of an ashvattha, many-headed or many-faced gods, the Great Goddess, a composition of birds and snakes, Rudra-Shiva, partly Vishnu, some symbols (swastika, linga, yoni, etc.), separate ideas about space and time, find analogies not only in the data of the civilization of the Indus Valley, but also in other traditions of this area.

Sources of Vedic mythology:

- Vedas;
- Brahmins to the relevant Vedas (valuable information about the ritual, interpretation of its innermost meaning and symbolism);
- Aranyakas (texts related to Brahmans or Upanishads);
— Upanishads.

The listed sources belong to the class of shruti - "heard" (i.e., revelation).

Smriti texts - "remembered" (ascending to authorities) include sutras, which deal with sacrifices, domestic rituals, mythologized legislation, etc. Some information about Vedic mythology can be extracted from later Hindu texts, genetically related to the Vedic tradition, and even from Buddhist texts.

The Vedas are the four oldest collections of religious hymns in Sanskrit):

1. - "Veda of hymns"
2. Yajurveda - "Veda of sacrificial formulas"
3. Samaveda - "Veda of chants"
4.Atharvaveda - "Veda of Spells"

Vedic mythology was transmitted orally, and the "divine" character of the texts corresponded to the special role of speech and memory, opposing oblivion and inarticulate chaos. Smriti texts - "remembered" (ascending to authorities) include sutras, which deal with sacrifices, domestic rituals, mythologized legislation, etc. Some information about Vedic mythology can be extracted from later Hindu texts, genetically related to the Vedic tradition, and even from Buddhist texts.

Vedism was not a pan-Indian religion, it was adhered to only by a group of Indo-Aryan tribes that inhabited Eastern Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, it is also the creator of the Rigveda and other Vedic collections.

One of characteristic features The Vedic religion is polytheism - the worship of many gods, who are usually endowed with human properties. The main god was considered Indra - the god of thunder, a powerful warrior. Varuna is the guardian of world order and justice. Agni is the god of fire and the protector of the hearth. The Indian of the Vedic era deified the forces of nature, animated plants, mountains and rivers. Later, on the basis of this, the doctrine of the transmigration of souls took shape.

To win the favor of the gods, the Indians made sacrifices to them, prayed for help, offspring and wealth. Vedic writings depict a rich spiritual world Indians, who already then created complex cosmogonic ideas. Even then, man tried in a mythologized form to explain the causes of the emergence of the world and all life on earth.

Here are the main thoughts of the Vedic hymns:

“Nothing is eternal, even the gods are not eternal.
- The creator of the world was some abstract deity, the basis of being is impersonal.
“All things arose from the giant Purusha.

It is customary to attribute 33 gods to the highest (divine) level of Vedic mythology (333 in some Brahmins; in some sources - 3306, 3339), and this number itself is an essential constant, under which the number of characters is "adjusted". These 33 gods are divided into earthly, atmospheric (intermediate) and heavenly. Sometimes the gods are divided into groups (8 Vasus, 11 Rudras, 12 Adityas and two more deities - Ashvins or Dyaus and Prithivi, or Indra and Prajapati), opposed according to the same triple principle.

Despite individual deviations in the composition of the groups, the core remains stable: Prithivi, Lie, Brihaspati, Soma, Saraswati, and others are earthly; Indra, Trita Aptya, Apam Napat, Matarishvan, Ahi Budhnya, Aja Ekapad, Rudra, Maruts, Vayu, Vata, Parjanya, Anac - atmospheric; Dyaus, Varuna, Mitra and other adityas, Surya, Savitar, Pushan, Vishnu, Vivasvat, Ushas, Ashvins are heavenly.

Later texts offer other interpretations of the same groups: vasus - fire, earth, wind, air, sun, sky, moon, stars; rudras - 10 vital organs and atman; aditya - 12 months of the year. Such divisions reflect attempts to establish correspondences between the archaic cosmological schemes of the three-term universe and the composition of the pantheon (later - the main elements of the macro- and microcosm).

Another classification of gods is based on the distinction of three social functions: magical-legal (adityas and, above all, Varuna and Mitra - priests), military (Indra and Maruts - warriors), fertility (Ashvins - producers of material goods). This classification is supported by textual sequences in which Varuna and Mitra are followed by Indra and Maruts, Ashvins, Pushans, etc.

The core of Vedic mythology is formed by cosmogonic myths presented with a range of options. The initial state corresponding to chaos is described as the complete absence of the elements of the universe and the main oppositions that determine its functioning. “Then there was neither being nor non-being. There was no air space, no sky above it ... Then there was neither death nor immortality, there was no difference between day and night ... All this is indistinguishably fluid ”(; at the same time, the monistic principle is emphasized (“Without a breath, the One breathed, and there was nothing else”).

The beginning of creation was given by water, from which the universe was born, they are its foundation. From the waters, the earth arose (usually by thickening the waters, a later version - by churning the ocean; the thickening of the waters, their hardening is the result of the joint activity of the devas and asuras) and food. Another option is the origin of an egg (in particular, a golden one) from the waters, from which a year later the demiurge Prajapati or the creator god Brahman appeared. The egg split into gold and silver halves, from which heaven and earth arose, respectively.

Some texts reflect the version according to which the earth and the sun (fire) arose from a lotus floating in the waters (also with the participation of Prajapati). This last version, apparently, has its origins in the cosmogonic ideas of the autochthonous population of India. Other later versions of the creation myth are also known. First of all, we are talking about the creation of the universe from the members of the body of the first man Purusha (Rigveda X 90; Ayurveda X 2) - both natural and social organization (“When Purusha was divided, ... his mouth became a brahmana, his hands became a kshatriya, his hips became a vaishya, a sudra arose from the feet, the moon was born from a thought, the sun arose from the eyes,… the sky arose from the head…”); this variant is based on the practice of ancient human sacrifice.

At the center of Vedic mythology are myths about the "second creation", more precisely, the main myth about the struggle of Indra with his opponent, embodying the forces of chaos, uncertainty, destruction, and the creation of a new universe organized on other principles. First of all, demons act as the enemy of Indra - the monsters Vritra, Vala, less often Shushna, Pani and others, hiding cattle (in a rock, in a cave), the sun, the morning dawn or holding down waters. The victory of Indra leads to the liberation of cattle, waters, etc., the dismemberment of the monster into parts, the reconstruction of the cosmos, in particular in that aspect of it that is associated with fertility, wealth, offspring, with the transition from extensive use of nature to intensive, that is, to specifically Vedic social cosmos.

Vedic mythology, as it is reflected in the most ancient texts, assumes a free composition of myths on the basis of the totality of mythopoetic knowledge; each plot, motif, attribute is mythological in principle and does not require a special myth in an established, finished form for its explanation. The historical and cultural significance of the mythology of Ancient India is exceptionally great.

By the end of the 1st millennium BC. e. ancient religion Vedic Brahminism, pushed aside in the previous era from the dominant position by the reformist movements of Buddhism and Jainism, is being revived in new historical conditions in the form of Hinduism, absorbing and assimilating many folk beliefs and cults that previously remained outside the orthodox ritual-mythological system.

The early stage of the formation of Hindu mythology is reflected in the epics "Mahabharata" and "Ramayana" (the so-called "epic mythology"), developed Hindu mythology - in the Puranas, religious-cosmogonic poems of the beginning. I - ser. II millennium AD BC, as well as in Sanskrit classical literature and medieval literatures in New Indian languages.

At first there was nothing. There was no sun, no moon, no stars. Only the waters stretched indefinitely; from the darkness of the primordial chaos, resting without movement, as if in a deep sleep, the waters arose before other creations. The waters gave birth to fire. The Golden Egg was born in them by the great power of warmth. There was not yet a year, for there was no one to measure the time; but as long as the year lasts, the Golden Egg floated in the waters, in the boundless and bottomless ocean. A year later, the Progenitor arose from the Golden Embryo. He broke the Egg and it split in two. Its upper half became Heaven, the lower half Earth, and between them, in order to separate them, Brahma placed airspace. And he established the earth among the waters, and created the countries of the world, and laid the foundation for time. This is how the universe was created.

But then the creator looked around and saw that there was no one but him in the whole universe; and he became afraid. Since then, fear comes to everyone who is left alone. But he thought: “After all, there is no one here but me. Whom should I be afraid of? And his fear passed; for the fear may be before someone else. But he did not know joy either; and therefore he who is alone knows no joy.

He thought: “How can I create offspring?” And by the power of his thought, he gave birth to six sons, six great Lords of creation. The eldest of them was Marichi, born from the soul of the Creator; from his eyes a second son was born - Atri; the third - Angiras - appeared from the mouth of Brahma; the fourth - Pulastya - from the right ear; fifth - Pulaha - from the left ear; Kratu, the sixth - from the nostrils of the Progenitor. The son of Marichi was the wise Kashyapa, from whom came gods, demons and people, birds and snakes, giants and monsters, priests and cows and many other creatures of a divine or demonic nature that inhabited heaven, and earth, and the underworlds. Atri, the second of the sons of Brahma, gave birth to Dharma, who became the god of justice; Angiras, the third son, laid the foundation for the lineage of the holy sages Angiras, the eldest of whom were Brihaspati, Utathya and Samvarta.

The seventh son of Brahma, the seventh of the Lords of creation, was Daksha. He came out of thumb on the right leg of the Progenitor. Brahma's daughter was born from a toe on her left foot; her name is Virini, which means Night; she became the wife of Daksha. She had fifty daughters, and Daksha gave thirteen of them to Kashyapa as his wife, twenty-seven to the god of the moon, these became twenty-seven constellations in the sky; ten daughters of Daksha became Dharma's wives. And Daksha's daughters were also born, who were determined to become the wives of the gods and great sages.

The eldest of the daughters of Daksha, Diti, the wife of Kashyapa, was the mother of formidable demons - Daityas; Danu, the second daughter, gave birth to mighty giants - danavas. The third - - gave birth to twelve bright sons - adityas, great gods.

INDIAN MYTHOLOGY

In the middle of the II millennium BC. e. Aryan tribes came to the Ganges valley. They brought the so-called "Vedic culture", their holy books were the Vedas, which means "Knowledge".

In Vedic mythology, mainly cosmic gods and gods of elemental forces were revered.

The oldest of them are the sky god Dyaus and the earth goddess Prithivi. Initially, they were merged together and represented a primitive chaos, but the god Indra separated them and created the Universe.

Indra, the god of thunder, is the supreme deity of the Vedic pantheon. He is called "the king of the gods", "the king of the whole universe."

Surya is the god of the sun. He was addressed with prayers for health, wealth, prosperity. Surya was presented in different images: in the form of a beautiful young man driving around the sky on a golden chariot, in the form of an all-seeing celestial eye, or in the form of a bird.

One of the myths tells that Surya was born in the form of a smooth ball. His brother gods decided to give him a humanoid form - and cut off all unnecessary. Surya became the progenitor of people, and elephants were created from the cut off parts of his body.

Vishnu, Brahma, Lakshmi on the Serpent Shesha. Medieval drawing The god of the moon was Soma. He patronized plants, because it was believed that their growth occurs under the influence of moonlight.

Soma had twenty-seven wives - the constellations of the lunar sky. But he preferred one to all - the beautiful Rohini, and neglected the rest. The offended wives complained to their father, the god Daksha, and he cursed Soma. Soma began to lose weight and wither until he disappeared altogether. Without moonlight, plants began to dry on the ground, herbivores began to starve.

The worried gods asked Daksha to remove the curse from Soma. He obeyed, and Soma gradually regained his former appearance. This myth explains the monthly waning and staying of the moon.

Soma was also the deity of a sacred drink made from a herb also called soma. Thanks to this drink, the gods gained immortality.

Agni is the god of fire, hearth, sacrificial fire. He was an intermediary between people and gods. Agni had many incarnations and hypostases, sometimes acting as an all-encompassing principle, penetrating the entire universe.

One of the greatest gods The Vedic pantheon was Varuna, the guardian of cosmic waters, the deity of truth and justice. He possessed a mysterious magical power - maya. Varuna personified the world order and the inviolability of the supreme law.

Vayu is the god of the wind. Thousand-eyed and fast as a thought, it filled the entire airspace with itself. Vayu was identified with the vital breath - prana.

A special place in Vedic mythology belonged to Rudra - the god destructive forces. Rudra lived far away from all the gods on the top of the Himalayas. He was represented as a wild hunter dressed in skins. He was the master of wild animals. Rudra is associated with destruction and death, but at the same time can bestow long life, heal diseases, promote fertility. In a hymn dedicated to him, it is sung: “May he give health to horses and bulls, rams and sheep, men and women!” The god of death, Yama, unlike other gods, was mortal. His death was the first from the creation of the world, and, having entered the realm of the dead first, Yama became its king.

Yama's sister Yami mourned her brother, lamenting: "Ah, today my beloved brother died!" At that time, the days were not yet separated from each other, "today" lasted forever, and Yami continued to sob. Then the gods created the night. Days passed one after another, and Yami was comforted.

In the middle of the first millennium BC. e. Brahmin priests acquire significant power in India. A new period in the development of Indian religion and mythology, called Hindu, begins. Indra on a three-headed elephant. Hindu mythology still recognized the Vedas as supreme source knowledge. Most of the Vedic gods have passed into the Hindu pantheon, but the meaning and function of many of them have changed.

Instead of Indra, Brahma becomes the main deity - the creator of the world, "like a thousand suns."

Indra from the elemental thunder god turns into the patron of royal power and military affairs.

One of the most revered Hindu gods is Vishnu. "Vishnu" means "pervading everything", "comprehensive". One of his epithets is "one whose body cannot be described". Sometimes he appears as the embodiment of the entire universe. He could be embodied in a variety of images and therefore had "a thousand names." The most famous incarnations of Vishnu are Krishna and Rama.

The wife of Vishnu was Lakshmi, the goddess of beauty, happiness and wealth, who appeared from the waters of the ocean.

Once the gods decided to extract from the ocean a wonderful drink of immortality - amrita (corresponding to the Vedic soma). In order to get a wonderful drink, it was necessary to churn ocean water into oil.

The gods set to work. Instead of a whorl, they took the sacred mountain Mandara, put it on the back of a great tortoise that rests at the bottom of the ocean and holds the whole world on itself. The huge serpent Vasuki coiled around the mountain, like a rope around a whorl, and the gods began to alternately pull him by the tail, then by the head, rotating the mountain in the water. Gradually, the water turned into milk and began to churn into butter.

Then the god of healing Dhanvantari came out of the ocean and brought the cup with the drink of immortality to the gods.

But besides the wonderful drink, many more wonderful gifts appeared from the ocean: a white elephant, like a cloud, a magical horse, fast as a thought, a tree that fills the whole world with the fragrance of its flowers, seductive Apsara maidens, who became celestial dancers, and the beautiful goddess Lakshmi with lotus flower in hands. Her name means "beauty" and "happiness".

Having become the wife of Vishnu, Lakshmi accompanied him in all his incarnations, herself taking on various images.

The gods were opposed to demons - asuras. They were the offspring of Brahma and originally possessed a divine essence. But then the asuras became proud before the gods, and the gods cast them down from heaven. Asuras are hostile to both gods and humans. Many Indian myths tell of the battles of the gods with the asuras.

There are several Indian myths about the creation of man. One of them tells that the sun god Surya, before becoming a god, was mortal. He was married to Saranyu, the daughter of the god Tvishar, the celestial craftsman who forged weapons for Indra. Saranya did not want to be the wife of a mortal. By witchcraft, she revived her shadow and left it in her husband's house, and she herself returned to her father. The shadow of Saranya gave birth to a son, Manu, from whom the human race descended.

In another myth, Purusha is called the first man. His name means "man", but the appearance of Purusha is quite abstract and difficult to comprehend. He is all-embracing and omnipresent, mortal, but immortality is part of him, he is the father of his parents. The gods sacrificed Purusha, and the Universe arose from his body, the sun from his eyes, the wind from his breath; in addition, people appeared from the body of Purusha, moreover, divided into social groups: from the head - priests, from the hands - warriors, from the legs - peasants and lower classes.

Over time, the head of the Hindu pantheon Brahma is pushed into the background, he is replaced by two gods - Vishnu and Shiva.

Shiva, the deity of destructive forces, largely resembles the Vedic Rudra. Shiva also dwells all alone in the mountains, immersed in meditation. He is called the "perfect yogi".

The worship of Vishnu and Shiva developed into two religious movements - Vishnuism and Shaivism, which existed in parallel within the framework of Hinduism.

At a later time, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva unite in a triad called "trimurti", which means "possessing three guises." Brahma is the creator of the world, Vishnu is its keeper, Shiva is the destroyer. In their unity, they personify the idea of the constant flow of these concepts one into another, which ensures stability and harmony in the world.

Along with Hinduism in the VI century BC. e. arises in India new religion- Buddhism.

The founder of Buddhism was Siddharatha Gautama. At his birth, it was predicted that he would become either a great king or a religious ascetic. The father of the prince, not wanting his son to retire from the world, settled him in the splendor of the palace, surrounded him with all sorts of pleasures and tried to protect him from any unfavorable impressions.

But one day the prince left his palace and found himself in the city. The first thing he saw was a beggar cripple, a decrepit old man and a coffin with a dead man being carried to be buried. This is how Gautama first learned that there are diseases, poverty, old age and death in the world. He was seized with deep sorrow and fear of life. But then he met a monk. The prince took this as a sign showing the way to overcome grief and fear. He left the palace and became a monk.

For several years the prince led a strict, ascetic life. After he sat motionless for forty-eight days under the sacred tree, enlightenment descended on him and he became a Buddha.

The teachings of Buddhism borrowed a number of plots and characters from Vedic and Hindu mythologies, but the gods in Buddhism occupy a secondary place. Buddha is not a god, but a man who has humbled his passions and achieved complete enlightenment of the spirit. By a righteous life, everyone who professes Buddhism can become a Buddha.

The Buddhist tradition calls different number Buddha. According to one opinion, there were three of them, according to another - five, according to the third - "as many as there are grains of sand in the Ganges."

Having originated as a sect, Buddhism eventually became one of the three world religions, along with Christianity and Islam.

This text is an introductory piece. From the book 100 Great Myths and Legends author Muravieva Tatiana

INDIAN MYTHOLOGY In the middle of the II millennium BC. e. Aryan tribes came to the Ganges valley. They brought the so-called "Vedic culture", their sacred books were the Vedas, which means "Knowledge". The Vedas contain stories about the gods, about the structure of the Universe, about

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Introduction.

Vedic mythology - a set of mythological representations of the Vedic Aryans; Usually, Vedic mythology is understood as the mythological representations of the Aryans of the period of the creation of the Vedas, and sometimes the period of the creation of the Brahmins, prosaic commentaries on the Vedas, and the Upanishads, secret teachings of a philosophical and religious nature, genetically related to the Vedas, but reflecting, in fact, a different cultural tradition . Chronologically, Vedic mythology refers to the era between the middle of the 2nd and ser. 1st millennium BC e., when the primitive communal structure of the Vedic society was already at the stage of decomposition and a way of life was gradually formed, which was characteristic of military democracy.

Sources of Vedic mythology: four ancient collections of the Vedas; brahmins to the corresponding Vedas (valuable information about the ritual, interpretation of its innermost meaning and symbolism, a number of myths and mythologized legends); aranyakas (texts associated with the Brahmins); upanishads. These sources belong to the class of shruti - "heard" (i.e., revelation).

Vedic mythology was transmitted orally, and the "divine" character of the texts corresponded to the special role of speech and memory, opposing oblivion and inarticulate chaos.

Smriti texts - "remembered" (ascending to authorities) include sutras, which deal with sacrifices, household rituals, mythologized legislation, etc.

Some information about Vedic mythology can be extracted from later Hindu texts, genetically related to the Vedic tradition, and even from Buddhist texts. Vedism was not a pan-Indian religion, it was adhered to only by a group of Indo-Aryan tribes that inhabited Eastern Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, it is also the creator of the Rigveda and other Vedic collections. One of the characteristic features of the Vedic religion is polytheism - the worship of many gods, who are usually endowed with human properties. The main god was considered Indra - the god of thunder, a powerful warrior. Varuna is the guardian of world order and justice. Agni is the god of fire and the protector of the hearth. The Indian of the Vedic era deified the forces of nature, animated plants, mountains and rivers. Later, on the basis of this, the doctrine of the transmigration of souls took shape. To win the favor of the gods, the Indians made sacrifices to them, prayed for help, offspring and wealth. Vedic writings depict the rich spiritual world of the Indians, who already then created complex cosmogonic ideas. Even then, man tried in a mythologized form to explain the causes of the emergence of the world and all life on earth.

Vedic mythology, as it is reflected in the most ancient texts, assumes a free composition of myths on the basis of the totality of mythopoetic knowledge (veda); each plot, motif, attribute is mythological in principle and does not require a special myth in an established, finished form for its explanation. The historical and cultural significance of Vedic mythology is exceptionally great.

Hindu mythology originates (from the 1st millennium AD) in the Indo-Aryan Vedic culture through Brahminism, which was influenced by Buddhism. Includes many teachings reflecting monotheistic, pantheistic, polytheistic and others religious performances. The word "Hinduism" defines in the scientific literature and journalism the most ancient traditional forms of the Indian religious system, in contrast to other ethical and religious teachings - Buddhism, Jainism and Islam. It arose not among the indigenous inhabitants of India, but among those military leaders and rulers of neighboring countries who professed Islam, and, starting from the 10th century, brought their conquering armies to the lands of India. The first area where their influence began to spread was the northwestern lands of this country. From the name of the main water artery of these lands - the Sindhu-Hind-Ind river, the words India and Hinduism (Hinduism) originated. The Indians themselves call their country Bharat, and Hinduism is defined as dharma, or santana-dharma, i.e. religious law. Dharma encompasses the entire complex system of religious, ethical, and socio-legal institutions that have gradually developed among the country's population over the past 5,000 years.

Of course, many ideas of Vedism have entered Hinduism. But it must be borne in mind that Hinduism is a developed religion of a new stage in the life of ancient Indian society. In Hinduism, the creator god comes to the fore, a strict hierarchy is established in the pantheon. The cults of the gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva began to play a special role. This is how the triad (trimurti) of these main deities is formed, perceived as a manifestation of a single supreme deity.

Brahma.

Brahma was considered the creator and ruler of the world, he also owned the establishment of social laws on earth (dharma), the division into varnas 1 .

According to the Puranas 2, Brahma is self-born, without a mother, born from a lotus flower that grew from the navel of Vishnu at the very beginning of the process of creating the material Universe. For this reason, Brahma is also known as Nabhija - "born from the navel". According to another legend, Brahma was born in water, in which Vishnu put his seed, which later turned into a golden egg, a kind of cosmic embryo. From this golden egg, Brahma was born as Hiranyagarbha. The remaining components of this golden egg expanded and became the Universe. Since Brahma was born in water, he is also called Kanja ("born in water"). It is also said that Brahma is the son of the Supreme Being Brahman, and female energy known as Prakriti or Maya.

Shortly after the creation of the universe, Brahma created eleven Prajapatis, who are considered the progenitors of mankind. In the Manu-smriti they are listed by name:

Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Vasistha, Pracheta or Daksha, Bhrigu and Narada. It is also said that Brahma created the seven great sages Saptarishi, who helped him in the creation of the universe. All seven sages were born from Brahma's mind and not from his body. Therefore, they are called Manasa-putra, or "mind-born sons."

The Vedic and Puranic texts describe that Brahma only occasionally interferes in the affairs of other devas, and even more rarely in the affairs of people. According to the Brahma Purana and other Puranas, Hindu cosmology sees Brahma as the creator of the universe, but not as God. On the contrary, it is believed that he was created by God (in his personal aspect of Bhagavan, or in the impersonal aspect of Brahman). It is described that the life span of Brahma is 100 "Brahma years", which is equal to 311,040,000,000,000 Earth years. After the life of Brahma comes to an end, there is a break, also lasting 100 years. After that, another creator Brahma starts the process of creation anew. This cycle continues indefinitely.

Varna 1(Skt. वर्ण, varṇ IAST , "quality, color, category") - refers to the division of ancient Indian society into four main classes: brahmins - priests, scientists, ascetics; kshatriyas - warriors, rulers; vaisyas - farmers, artisans, merchants; Sudras are servants, hired workers.

Puranas 2(Skt. पुराण purāṇa IAST "ancient epic") - texts of ancient Indian literature in Sanskrit.

It is described that Brahma's skin color is reddish and he is dressed in red clothes. Brahma has four heads, four faces and four arms. It is said that each of his four heads continuously recites one of the four Vedas. Brahma is often depicted with a white beard (especially in northern India), which symbolizes the almost eternal nature of his existence. Unlike most other Hindu deities, Brahma does not hold any weapon in his hands. In one of his hands he holds a scepter in the form of a ladle or a large spoon, which is associated with spilling ghee (clarified butter) on the sacred fire of Vedic sacrifices and symbolizes that Brahma is the lord of yajnas 1 . In the other of his hands he holds a kamandalu, a vessel of water made of metal or even coconut shell. The water in this vessel symbolizes the primordial, all-absorbing ether, from which the first elements of creation emerged. In the other of his hands, Brahma holds a prayer rosary called akshamala, which he uses to calculate universal time. In his fourth hand, Brahma usually holds the books of the Vedas, but sometimes a lotus flower.

- Four hands- The four arms of Brahma represent the four cardinal directions: east, south, west and north.

rear right hand represents the mind, back left hand represents the mind, the front right hand is the ego, and the front left hand is self-confidence.

- Beads- symbolize various material substances used in the process of creation of the Universe.

- Book- the book of the Vedas in one of the hands of Brahma symbolizes knowledge.

- Gold- associated with the activity; the golden face of Brahma indicates that he is actively involved in the process of creating the universe.

- Swan- symbolizes mercy and the ability to distinguish between good and bad. Brahma uses the hamsa swan as his vehicle, the vahana.

- Crown- The crown of Brahma symbolizes his supreme power in the universe.

Yajna, yajna or yajna 1(Skt. यज्ञ yajña IAST ) is a rite of sacrifice in Hinduism, which originated in the religious practices of the Vedic religion. Yagna is usually performed to satisfy the devas or to fulfill certain desires (rituals kamya). The most important element of the yagna is the sacrificial fire (divine Agni) where various offerings are offered, which go to the devas through Agni.

- Lotus- the lotus flower symbolizes the nature and essence of all things and living beings in the universe.