The Origins Of Evil In Hindu Mythology

439 Pages·014.15 MB·English

by  Wendy Doniger

THE
ORIGINS
OF EVIL
IN HINDU
MYTHOLOGY
Wendy Doniger O^Flahcrty

THE
GRIGINS
0F EVIL
IN HINDIU
MYTHUL‘UGY

. 's
u
I'..
Wendy Doniger O’Flaherty

THE ORIGINS OF EVIL IN HINDU
MYTHOLOGY

By Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty
The problem ol-evil, in particular the question of
theodicy. has long been overlooked or misunder
stood by lndoloeistgwho have itMIIIldIIlCCl thaq
there IS no problem OfC‘Jll in Indian thought. 0‘
that it was “solved” by the doctrine ot \
transmigration and karma. W'riters on lndian
philosophyhave touchedupon the problembutno
one hastreated theextensivemythologyol-evil in
Vedicand Purinic texts,whichol'TertheFull range
ofIndian approaches to the problem. The intense
emotional weight of the question of evil drove
Hindus to generate literally hundreds ifdiverse
and often cone’lradiCtory alternative answers.
Fire-supposing biit'quicltlv transcending the logical n-—.—-—.-—-._.___
yetunsatisfying "answer"olii'eredby thedoctrine
ot’ltarina. The very bulk of these texts indicates
the importance of the subject in Indian thought,
and the failure to take intocfi‘dsideration someof
the rather idiosyncratic ltfiian attitudes to this
most basic problem has led to widespread
niisunderstandiii'got Indian religious thought in
genetzil ""1A
Dr. O'Flaherty marshals more thanathousand
myths from the t'ZIflITSE levels of Indianthought

(the Vedasl throughcon ejtpsrar)" tribal traditions.
grouping and malysin‘ them according to the
"villain" in each lPlOILQCi.AISlDII3lly abstractions
such as time, fate. or iieeesgii'. but more often
anthropomorphic flaillftfs of gods. tlemons. or
(rarely) men. Nli'iy or these myths hive
previouslyescaped the noticeor liIClC'lOgHES;many
have never been translated before; all .m- newly
translated by theauthorandilluminatedbyinutiia‘l’
comparison -one mvrh explaining another—and
through ?ll¢3fIII(’flCI.IYIC'rIl approach which draws
upon textual exegesis and a stuth of the ritual
context of Indian religion.
Ollie liindu's reluctance to blame demons or
men {or the originOliCVll leadstoapreponderance
ofmytlis in which demons ari- virtuous, while the
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