Myths Expose Ignorance

Myths Expose Ignorance

I never thought I would be writing anything that could create a positive spin about myths. But, this is one such instance.

First, how myths keep one away from testing received wisdom. To take one example, When the Celestial Ganga (Akash Ganga) was brought down to cleanse the sins of some king or the other, it was, at the pleadings of earth-bound population, caught in the matted hair of Lord Siva, calmed down and released as a benevolent river (never mind that the river has swallowed many souls who dared untimely to cleanse their souls by dipping themselves in it).

There was a myth that was given the veneer of truth when in the 1970s and ‘80s there were stories about a fish that had cleft lips, evidence of Moses parting the Red Sea which parted the fish too! Poor fish

So on and so forth ...

In a newspaper item it is said that for Lord Murugan, 

who per myth has six abodes of extreme holiness (Aaru Padai Veedu, ஆறு படை வீடு), 

the one in Tirupparankundram is, “...the first of the six abodes...” .

No, it is not.

The order is Pazhani (பழனி, 

where the Lord ensconced himself in a fit of pique), 

Swami Malai (சாமி மாலை, 

where Lord Murugan became Lord Siva’s guru; 

you thought this happened first when Marlon Brando tells Christopher Reeve 

about the father becoming the son and vice versa!), 

Thirucchendur (திருச்செந்தூர், 

whence Lord Murugan launches his assault on the fortress 

of the demon, across the sea), and then comes 

Thirupparankundram (திருப்பரங்குன்றம்). 

This is where Lord Murugan marries 

Lord Indra’s daughter (தேவயானி, 

this transliteration might not pass critical scrutiny, I hasten to add), 

if you wish to add to your storehouse of Hindu mythology. 

This is the fourth of Lord Murugan’s abodes, not the first as given in the article.

Then comes Thiruttani (திருத்தணி) 

where Lord Murugan takes on his second wife (வள்ளி,

of the forest cadre). 

The last of his abodes is at Pazhamudhirccholai (பழமுதிர்ச்சோலை) 

where the Lord is in full regalia with His two consorts.

This mythical story or the set of fables is what 

the writer of the newspaper item never heard at his grandmother’s lap, 

which I was privy to at mine. 

It is this knowledge, lack thereof in fact, 

of the copy editor that let this error creep into the paper. 

You may ask why I came to this private forum 

and not approach the newspaper itself. 

Once bitten, twice shy! If that be the case, 

I have been bitten more than perhaps two dozen times. 

Hence my endemic hesitation, my shyness of twenty fifth order!

Raghuram Ekambaram