In his book ‘Myth=mithya’, Devdutt Pattanaik has given the word myth a new definition that is “subjective truth expressed in truth expressed in stories, symbols and rituals, that shape all cultures, Indian or Western, ancient or modern, religious or secular’. The Sanskrit word for subjective truth is mithya.
Ancient Hindu sages knew what we today call as myth as mithya. Mithya was the truth seen through the set criteria. Myth is mainly a cultural form, a common perception that bring us together they can be religious and secular. Ideas such as heaven and hell, rebirth, sin, satan, curses, devta and asura and salvation are religious myths. Religious myth make profound impact on one group of people but not everyone. You can either accept them or reject them. Beliefs takes birth from myths, customs and the rituals from mythology. People forget them or outgrow them when they do not fulfill their cultural needs and desires.
Let us take an example of Ram and Sita of Ramayana the most famous epic of Hindu mythology. Everyone teaches us to be like Goddess Sita who took the fire ordeal to prove her chastity to her husband and society. Therefore whenever a woman’s chastity is…show more content… As Gauri Goddess is dressed in green she is visualized as maternal Goddess, her hair are bounded she is associated with a cow, she is offered the vegetarian food, she wears the symbols of marriage and she holds no weapon. As Durga she is dressed in red, she is visualized as the bridal Goddess , her hair are unbounded, she rides a loin, she accepts all offering of the devotees, she is decked with bridal jewelry, she holds various weapons in her hand in a defensive stance. While Kali is naked, she has carnal desires, her hair are disheveled, she also rides a loin, she requires blood sacrifice, she is covered with human heads instead of jewelry, she hold her weapons in offensive