INFOKARA RESEARCH ISSN NO: 1021-9056 Paradigms of Postcolonial Retelling in Devdutt Pattanaik’s Indian Mythology Charitra HG, Assistant Professor, School of Arts and Humanities, School of Arts and Humanities, REVA University, Bangalore Sanjana G, Assistant Professor, Department of Basic Science and Humanities CMRIT, Bangalore Abstract Alexander the Great had introduced ‘Hellenism’ to the East through colonial invasion around 325 BC. Through the cities he established in the colonies he aimed to spread the Greek Philosophy and conquer the World. To do so required disregarding the natives and their beliefs and so the stark difference in the beliefs of Greeks and the natives was compared and the Greeks who were the Colonial Power declared the natives Barbarians. Hence, attempts were made to impose their beliefs and religions on natives. But Indic mythologies-Hindu, Buddhist and Jain had a completely different worldview when compared to the worldviews of the Greeks.A similar pattern can be seen in the invasion of India by the Europeans-British, French and Portuguese.The papers tries to explore paradigms that shape a particular culture through Devdutt Pattanaik’s Indian Mythology. Key words: Linear paradigm, Cyclic paradigm, Post-coloniality, Mythosphere. Introduction The British, who wanted to have a firm political rule over the rich East, tried to understand the dominant religion of the sub-continent. But the more they studied they realized that the people had no idea of ‘one God’ or ‘one faith’ like the British did. They functioned according to several beliefs all rooted in the sacred texts but had no clear demarcations between good and bad or light and dark like the Occident. So, the British identified the common Brahmin community-which was well versed in the Vedas-that was spread across the sub-continent and Volume 8 Issue 10 2019 334 http://infokara.com/ INFOKARA RESEARCH ISSN NO: 1021-9056 used Hinduism to define everyone who believed in the Sanskrit scriptures that the Brahmins studied. Thus, they established a religion by linking it to the study of an ancient scripture elevating this scripture to the level of a ‘Holy Scripture’. But the truth was that until then these scriptures were only stories and beliefs passed on through generations, which allowed the people to live a meaningful life. Anyone could refer to the stories in these scriptures and explain their way of life because these scriptures did not demarcate good or evil but explained different ways of life. The people were free to choose any ideology that suited their instincts. The Brahminical class whom the British considered well versed in the Sanskrit Vedas were the only class the British could recognize in the complex structure of Hinduism. Sanskrit was believed by the British as the origin of all other European languages and hence the studies of the scriptures in Sanskrit were undertaken by various British Universities. The study revealed that the ideas in the Vedas were logical and inclined with the beliefs of monotheism. But these beliefs differed from the beliefs of the people which were based in the Shastras. Many of these beliefs had no logical base and they propagated idol worship which the British condemned. Having studied the people and the scriptures they found a huge gap between the beliefs of the people and the ideas expressed in the Vedas. This gave the colonizers an opportunity to establish their ideas firmly in the colonized people. They went on to do so and boasted of having ‘civilized’ the ‘barbaric natives’. Both colonial powers painted a picture that approved their actions. Whether it was the ancient Greeks or the British, their prejudiced views left a mark on the native who tend to view the world from the Western perspective even today. Whether in literature or business the West is considered a bench mark that must be looked up to. But with a mind free of the colonial prejudices one can observe Myths of India and Greek, in specific, to establish the worldviews of the East and West that are miles apart yet similar in a few aspects. Volume 8 Issue 10 2019 335 http://infokara.com/ INFOKARA RESEARCH ISSN NO: 1021-9056 The Paradigms of Mythology Devdutt Pattanaik in his works observes the paradigms that shapes the way people of a particular culture perceive the world. “Every culture has its own set of sacred narratives, symbols, and rituals to condition the mind of its people and make them look at the world in a particular way.” (Pattanaik, “Indian Mythology” 34). He recognizes two very common paradigms which are the Linear paradigm and the Cyclic paradigm. In the Linear paradigm there is one life, which is followed by an eternal afterlife as commonly observed in Occidental cultures. It is the foundation of Judaism, Islam and Christianity. It also forms the basis for cultures of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece and Rome. The Cyclic paradigm is where life and death are in an endless cycle and is commonly seen in Asian cultures. It forms the foundations of Myths of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. These paradigms are not only a characteristic of the myth, but they are determinants of the way people of a certain culture behave and reciprocate to the world. In the linear paradigm there is only one chance to live a life and make the most of it. Only when this one life is lived meaningfully can one earn a place in heaven. Failure to live a meaningful life will result in suffering in Hell. An imperfect life according to the linear paradigm is a result of disobedience of God, as in Christian, Islamic and Judaic worldview, or a result of the will of the gods as in Greek worldviews. An example of the paradigm is the life of the great Greek Warrior Heracles. He was the son of the divine Zeusand mortal Alcmene but was born with divine abilities. He was a great warrior since he was skilled in the art of fighting, but his life took a different course. Hera, the wife of Zeus after whom Heracles was named was furious at the heroic deeds of Heracles. She decided to make him go mad and so whispered every night to him that he was not a worthy son of Zeus and only an ordinary human being. This continuous discouragement made him go mad and feel insecure. In a fit of rage, he kills his wife and children. When he returns to sanity, he realizes his deeds and is inconsolable. To cleanse himself the oracle Volume 8 Issue 10 2019 336 http://infokara.com/ INFOKARA RESEARCH ISSN NO: 1021-9056 Delphi, when approached, suggests that he perform ten tasks assigned to him by his uncle, Eurytheus. Each of these feats was difficult and Hera created obstacles to make it harder than they already were. Towards the end of his life when he was poisoned Heracles commits suicide, but his father Zeus decides that Heracleswas the greatest of his sons and deserved a place in Olympus alongside other gods. Here in this myth we see the events in the life of Heracles are due to the actions of Hera. But an imperfect life in the cyclic paradigm is a consequence of one’s actions of the past. The ‘samsara’ is the material world consisting of the cycle of birth and death. Every human being is bound to this cycle and perceives it through the five senses and analyzes it through the mind. This mind is driven or influenced by the ego, pleasure of the material world. Nothing in the ‘samsara’ is permanent and every event is a reaction to the actions of the past. Hence any event is described as the product of the ‘Law of Karma’. It is this law that governs the entire universe. In Hindu mythology ‘samsara’ is also called ‘Brahmanda’ since it is created by Brahma, the God. Nothing in the ‘Brahmanda’ is permanent since everything, including the gods, is subject to the ‘Law of Karma’. The rhythmic nature and magnitude of ‘samsara’ is established in two narratives of the Hindu Myths. One of Rama’s ring which when dropped into a crack by Rama to distract Hanuman reaches the subterranean world. When Hanuman reached this world, he sees countless copies of the same ring which the guard explains have fallen from a very long time indicating the time of Rama’s death. This story explains how every event is a copy of an event of the past and nothing is new under the sun. The story of ‘The Palace of Indra’ as narrated in the Brahmavaivarta Purana demonstrates the magnitude of the ‘Brahmanda’. Indra asked his architect to build a palace that was extra-ordinary. But no matter how good a job he did,Indra was not satisfied. The architect, Vishwakarma sought the help of Brahma who in turn invited Vishnu. Vishnu in the form of a young boy went to Indra’s palace and told him he was investigating if the palace of Indra is better than the Volume 8 Issue 10 2019 337 http://infokara.com/ INFOKARA RESEARCH ISSN NO: 1021-9056 palace of Indra who existed before him. Indra was perplexed to which the boy explained there had been many Indras before him and there will be many after him. This narrative explains how any event is endless, infinite and cannot be bounded by any material being. This reduces the significance of any event making the ‘jivas’ realize that there is no meaning clinging on to material beings or events. Another aspect of the linear and cyclic worldviews is the idea of good and bad or light and dark or Gods and Devils.