Hindu (see Hinduism) mythology is a network of intermingling connecting threads, which, if it could be perfectly understood, would provide a clear narrative map to the rich tapestry that is Hindu thought. As in the case of the medieval cathedral, the decorations of the given Hindu temple confront the viewer as a mysterious mythic story in which everything has philosophical or religious significance. The postures of the figures depicted, the objects held by them, the way they relate to each other all have specific meanings. So it is with Hindu mythology as passed down orally and as written in the great epics and religious texts. No story is told for its own sake; every myth has meaning in relation to other myths and to the Vedic (see Vedic entries) tradition that is its ultimate source. This overall source is dominated by the idea of cosmic sacrifice and related human rituals, by a universe and individuals that are repeatedly sacrificed so that they might be reborn.
As Hinduism developed over the centuries from the period of the Aryan (see Aryans) invasions (c. 1500 BCE), so did its mythology—the narrative expression of its religious and philosophical understandings of the universe. The complex dance of the cosmos, reflected in human life, is acted out by a variety of deities, demons, and humans who, like the universe itself, possess qualities that are at once “good” and “evil,” nurturing and destructive. The myths are found in many Sanskrit sources—especially the ancient ṛg Veda (see ṛg Veda), the other Vedas (see Vedas), the Brāhmaṇas (see Brāhmaṇas), the Upaniśads (see Upaniṣads), the epic poems the Mahābhārata (see Mahābhārata) and the Rāmāyaṇa (see Rāmāyaṇa), and in the Purāṇas (see Purāṇas) of the Common Era.
In the ṛg Veda there is a pantheon made up of the sovereigns Varuṇa (see Varuṇa) and Mitra (see Mitra) and the warrior Indra (see Indra) as well as the two ritual deities Agni (see Agni) and Soma (see Soma), or “the plant of immortality.” Indra takes on a position of particular importance as the upholder of cosmic order by defeating the demonic asura (see Asuras) Vṛtra (see Vṛtra, Indra, and Vṛtra). Two sun gods are Sūrya (see Sūrya) and Savitṛ. Uṣas (see UṢs) is goddess of the dawn. Yama (see Yama) is god of the dead and Vāyu (see Vāyu) is god of the wind. Rudra (see Rudra) is an outsider of sorts but will develop later into the powerful god Śiva (see Śiva). Viṣṇu (see Viṣṇu) and Devī (see Devī) are present in Vedic scripture but have not yet achieved their greatest power.
A dominant creation myth of the ṛg Veda (see Vedic Cosmogony) is the animistic (see Animism) one of the sacrificial dismemberment of the primal man or Puruṣa (see Puruṣa), a myth that conveys the centrality of the ritual sacrifice in Hinduism. Puruṣa the first man is the sacrifice out of which all things originate, including the caste system. His mouth became the brahmans (see Brahmans), those who teach with words; his arms became the kśtriyas, the warrior caste; his thighs, the ordinary populace; and his feet, the servant classes. Indra and Agni were born of his mouth, Vāyu of his breath.
In the Brāhmaṇas, it is Prajāpati (see Prajāpati) who is the creator, sometimes by way of cosmic incest with his daughter, sometimes by way of masturbation. By the time we get to the Mahābharata, it is Brahmā (see Brahmā) who takes the place of Prajāpati as creator. The presence of Agni (fire) is important in these early creation stories. Agni “eats” even as the creator creates and his is the appropriate element to consume the dead human, who can then be reborn, as fire eats only the body and not the soul (see ātman). In the Purānas, Brahmā creates good and evil. Eventually Brahmā will lose stature in favor of the great yogi Śiva; and Visnu and his avatars (see Avatars of Viṣṇu), particularly Rāma (see Rāma) and the Lord Kṛṣṇa (see Kṛṣṇa); and the Goddess, or Devī, who is at once Pārvatī (see Pārvatī) the wife of Śiva, Kālī (see Kālī) the devourer, the violent Durgā (see Durgā), and various other forms (see śakti).
