What we mean by 'life' is the appearance of sentience, the appearance of organisms, who can 'sense' the world around them
Illustration/Devdutt Pattanaik
Vishnu is preserver. From his navel rises the lotus that gives birth to Brahma. He understands Brahma's ignorance. He maintains life by restraining Brahma's desire as well as Shiva's rejection of desire. If Brahma is a householder who seeks a wife, and Shiva is hermit who rejects marriage, then Vishnu is the hermit-householder, living in a household without getting attached to anything. Again, this is a psychological state, not physical.
The goddess embodies the physical side of the universe. She is matter. She is the world that exists before life comes and even after life goes. In other words, she exists before Vishnu wakes up and even after Vishnu goes to sleep. She is mother from whose womb life is created and daughter who is created in the mind of humans. As mother she is objective reality; as daughter she is subjective reality. Thus, Brahma's incest is not to be taken literally; it is a metaphor for our attachment to the world we imagine.
This complexity of Hindu Puranas was dismissed as gobbledegook by colonial translators in the 19th century. Hindus also could not explain the metaphorical nature of their scriptures, why metaphor (rupak in Hindi) is needed for mind and all things psychological that has no form (rupa in Hindi). For Orientalists, the natives of India were too inferior to think in metaphorical terms, a contemptuous attitude seen even today among scientists, who dismiss knowledge systems of traditional and tribal societies. Our ego stops us from appreciating other people's language. We behave as Brahma, assuming the goddess is our dominion, and that is a tragedy.
The author writes and lectures on the relevance of mythology in modern times. Reach him at devdutt@devdutt.com
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