The depiction of Hindu Gods in American folklore..

The Hindu Gods are neither a very well understood bunch nor any less venerated for their true meaning. Neither in their Mother land nor in lands far away where their popularity soars sky high possibly because of the interest and philosophy they generate. Mystical and antiqued they are for ever. This is almost in line (originally wrote in consonance) with their true perspective.

In Feynman’s words Gods are created to solve mysteries. And if they fail in that purpose they become mysteries themselves. But why antique them? Possibly to save them from erosion. We human beings are a selfless intellectual entity (ha). We decay but we do not intend our cultural beliefs and mis-beliefs to be loathed as much as they need not be iconoclast-ed. We antique them.

Of-course (we antique them) in polytheistic practices which are erroneously equated with a savage and paganistic culture. In monotheistic beliefs Gods have a name and purpose that resonate with a thousand icons but do not have a form in an antique and its variants.

The variants of antiques is a much old practice whose evidence is found in cultures as varied as that of Japan and India. You can see in Japan the “million Gods” depicted with their original “Indian” names although the form or the antiques are a variant. In that belief a Japanese can have an Indian name, but it never caught up.

I formed a notion of Indian Gods as understood by the average unsuspecting American equally on both sides, positive as well as hilarious. In a positive depiction where Philosophy cuts the bounds of science in a way tolerable by strict-arians like me Hindu Gods had a place in Quantum Physics.

Yes, the three quantum mechanical operator, creation, annihilation and conservation, were a function-ification of the Hindu Gods Brahma the creator, Shiva the destroyer and Bishnu the conservator. Very aptly these Gods were the most fundamental trinity that assigned themselves the priorities of these responsibilities after the big-bang created the Universe.

Brahma chose to create, like he created the Universe (through a big-bang?), Shiva could be angry enough to destroy anything at sight through a 3rd-eye and his 6th sense usually pardon the good, never destroyed the good, never spared the evil, a fundamental character of Gods to sympathize with the good.

And Bishnu had 10 incarnations on planet earth to see after his responsibilities of seeing the well-being of the intellectual and non-intellectual entity, that so venerates him as a conservator.

What a coincidence. It’s a moderate approach to make science interesting. I heard another fanciful hilarious depiction of the Indian God by an American friend. Brahma in his understanding is the animal with a bow, the Brhma-bow and Ram the incarnation of Bishnu, in the famed dashaa-vatara or ten-incarnations, is the American sheep.

I always wondered why they spared the “Shiva”. Shiva opens his 3rd eye and destroys anything in sight, what happens to a loathsome blaspheme??

But Indian philosophy is so filled with infinite meaning of the same entity, given to its corruptibility by none other than the modern Indians themselves, that a seemingly unloaded mind will make a disappearance before he can be enticed to pay a lending ear.

And the Indian is usually laced with an attitude of grandeur. So is every non-sense I have seen including the famed reflection God, the mirror. And the grandeur of the American often gives in to the defunct notion “I know it all because I have never seen an alternative view point as strong as mine”

In the possibility of that candid allowance Jesus Christ is a mocking bird and Shiva is a Black phallic icon.



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