Exploring the Significance of Mythology in Indian Culture and Society

This essay provides an overview of Indian mythology, exploring its significance in shaping cultural beliefs and practices. It delves into various myths, including the story of Lord Hanuman and his immortality, and examines the symbolism behind traditional practices like lighting lamps. The essay highlights the importance of ethics and moral values derived from Indian epics such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata. It discusses how these beliefs are passed down through generations and continue to influence daily life. The essay emphasizes the diversity and uniqueness of Indian culture, making it a globally recognized phenomenon.

Surname 1
Name:
Professor’s name:
Course:
Date:
Mythology in India
India is the largest country in South Asian region with a population of about 1.2 billion
(Subbarayalu 396). The country borders the Indian Ocean on the South, the Arabian Sea on the
South West and the Bay of Bengal on the South East. The Indian culture dates back to more than
4,500 years during the Vedic period. It is the foundations of Hindu philosophy, mythology,
theology, and literature that led to the development of many beliefs and practices which exist
even to date.
A myth is a popular historical belief that explains the origin of cultural practices or
natural phenomenon (Brown and Aaron 13). The stories are always supernatural. As a result,
mythology is defined as the study of the paranormal stories that account for the existence of
something (Sellaturray et al. 390). The Indian mythology is rich of elements that form the
Indian culture making it even unique in the world. Different Indian stories have been passed
from generation to generation through word of mouth or the stored scriptures and works of art.
The Indian myths always convey subtle facts, rules, and maxims to offer guidance the daily lives
of people. There are several Indian myths, some of which include; yoga is a system of exercise,
India is poor, India is a country and traveling in India is dangerous and Vishnu.

Surname 2
According to Indian mythology, Lord Hanuman is one of the seven immortals that was
devoted to Rama. Others immortals include Kripacharya, Parashurama, Vibhihana, Mahabali,
Ashwattama, and Vyas (Weiss and Richards 274). Hanuman immortality is a combination of
several boons that he received from many different gods. Hanuman’s father was Vayu the god of
wind and Anjana, a celestial nymph and was believed to be a monkey because of the spelled
curse on Anjana by sage. A story of Hanuman while young, leaping up the sky when mistook
Sun to be a ripe mango that he wanted to eat to quench the hunger (Bhatnagar and Sushma 3).
Unfortunately, Lord Indra the king of gods intervened when Sun made noise after being shocked
with Hanuman’s behavior. Indra came to help Sun, by striking Hanuman down into the earth
using Vajra, a thunderbolt that led to breakage of hanuman’s its jaw. In Sanskrit, the word
“Hanu” means “Jaw” while “Man” means “Disfigured” so the word Hanuman means “disfigured
jaw.” The action annoyed Hanuman father, Vayu, (God of wind) to go into secluded place,
taking all the air in the world along with him hence the living beings began asphyxiating, this led
Indra to withdraw the effect of the thunderbolt that kept Hanuman unconscious. Later devas
revived Hanuman blessing him with multiple boons to appease Vayu. The boons granted
Hanuman manyblessings. Varuma granted Hanuman the boon of life, meaning that he would not
die either from noose or water, Yama granted him the boon of good health as he would be
invulnerable to the chastisement rod while Lord Kuvera granted Hanuman the boon that his mace
will never cause any harm during combat and Hanuman will live long. The combination of all
these blessings made Hanuman powerful and immortal. The immortality is evident when Lord
Ram issued a command that Hanuman to be executed by arrows because of disharmony, a threat
that was created by Narada. The execution through the use of arrows failed to do any harm to

Surname 3
Hanuman even when Ram tried to use Brahmastra. There are other 108 names of Lord Hanuman
in the Sanskrit language.
Due to intense devotion and adoration to Rama-bhakti, Hanuman became ideal character
among the Indians even to date. Today Hanuman is a subsidiary figure and worshiped in most of
the Indian temple that is dedicated to Rama or in the shrines that are dedicated directly to
Hanuman himself (Ali and Mumtaz 257). In those shrines, monkeys always throng since they
know that they cannot get any human interference. Most of the devotees believe that in the
chanting of the name Hanuman, leads to the destruction of demons.
In every Indian home, a lamp is always lit daily at specific times and places, some before
the altar, some before the dawn, some before dusk some homes twice a day and some homes the
lamp is continued throughout the day (King and Ursula 250). All the functions such as
housewarmings and housebreaking always commence with the lighting of the lamp too,
throughout the event. Among the Indians, light is perceived as a symbol of knowledge, during
darkness as a symbol of ignorance. Knowledge removes darkness, and it is a lasting inner wealth
by which the outer achievement is accomplishable; therefore, Indian also believes that Lord is
the “knowledge principle,” the source, the illuminator, the enlivener (Sinha and Ajay 64). That’s
why the Indian light the lamps, bow down to the knowledge as the greatest form of wealth and
most major source of knowledge. Even with today’s development where there is electricity in
almost every part of the world, Indians still doesn’t embrace the light from the bulb. The
traditional oil lamp is believed to have spiritual significance as it symbolizes Indian Vaasanas, or
negative tendencies, the wick and the ego. When there is light, the spiritual gets exhausted
slowly, and finally, the ego perishes too. As the flame burns upwards, Indians too ask knowledge
to take them to higher ideals.

Surname 4
During those events, there are four different lamps used; In auspicious work, the lamp is
preferable to as Sthapitadipa meaning the witness for that occasion or work (Sinha and Ajay 67).
During the worships and some vows such as marriage, the lamp made from the flour dough,
Pisthadipa. Another lamp that is known as Aukshana is waved around a person to increase the
lifespan while Raghuvansh is a lamp that is lit around horses before a war begins to bring
protection and victory.
Ethics is the ideology of protecting, recommending the proper behavior from the
wrongful actions. India has versed ethical issues that are used to uphold life moral values such as
brotherhood, honesty, and integrity (Seetharam and Sridevi 75). These values come from great
Indian Epics such as Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Such stories teach the children the
importance of keeping a promise, having affection and relevance to their parents, warnings of
bad advice, defending the weak, sibling bonding and more other moral lessons.
Conclusion
Beliefs and practices have been important parts of the Indian religion and culture, which
makes them believe that they are incomplete without them and passable from generation to
generation. The diversity and the uniqueness have made them be recognized globally, and are all
practiced with each believing on different aspects due to different opinions that everyone has
toward them.

Surname 5
Works cited
Ali, SriMumtaz. "Spiritual Well-Being: The Fourth Dimension Of Health."Indian Journal Of
Public Health, vol 56, no. 4, 2012, p. 257. Medknow, doi:10.4103/0019-557x.106411.
Bhatnagar, Sushma. "To Find The Story Behind The Story......"Indian Journal Of Palliative
Care, vol 19, no. 1, 2013, p. 1. Medknow, doi:10.4103/0973-1075.110211.
Brown, Aaron. "Kelly Myths And Heroes."Wilmott, vol 2016, no. 85, 2016, pp. 10-15. Wiley-
Blackwell, doi:10.1002/wilm.10531.
King, Ursula. "Earthing Spiritual Literacy: How To Link Spiritual Development And Education
To A New Earth Consciousness?."Journal Of Beliefs & Values, vol 31, no. 3, 2010, pp.
245-260. Informa UK Limited, doi:10.1080/13617672.2010.520998.
Sellaturay, SenthyV et al. "Proteus: Mythology To Modern Times."Indian Journal Of Urology,
vol 28, no. 4, 2012, p. 388. Medknow, doi:10.4103/0970-1591.105748.
Sinha, Ajay. "Ajay Sinha. Review Of "Gods On The Move: Architecture And Ritual In The
South Indian Temple" By Crispin Branfoot.."Caa.Reviews, 2010, College Art
Association, doi:10.3202/caa.reviews.2010.62.
Subbarayalu, Y. "Book Review: Irfan Habib And Faiz Habib, Atlas Of Ancient Indian
History."The Indian Economic & Social History Review, vol 51, no. 3, 2014, pp. 394-
399. SAGE Publications, doi:10.1177/0019464614537139.

Surname 6
Weiss, Richard S. "Religion And The Emergence Of Print In Colonial India: Arumuga Navalar’S
Publishing Project." The Indian Economic & Social History Review, vol 53, no. 4, 2016,
pp. 473-500. SAGE Publications, doi:10.1177/0019464616662138.