Use of Mythology in the Shiva Trilogy by Amish Tripati

Babu 1

Use of Mythology in The Shiva Trilogy by Amish Tripati

Arathi Babu

M.A. English

Vimala college Thrissur, Calicut University

Abstract

A myth is essentially a story which is beyond history.By myth, one means a collection of short stories which is endemic to every culture. There are variants of the same myth. There is no true or authoritative version of a myth as the popular imagination is filled with the varying versions of the same myth. Myths collectively are too varied to share a same plot. A myth is not a fact and it is always open to newer interpretations. Popular representations of mythical stories and figures are largely shaped by the popular conceptions of an otherwise unknown, unverifiable phenomena. Artists and film makers have increasingly taken the artistic freedom to appropriate myths for their own artistic ends .The relationship between myth and literature has taken various forms.In literature, myths have been read symbolically, literally, rearranged and recreated out rightly.Writers tweak the commonly accepted notions in a myth to present an altered plot. The paper aims to show how The Shiva Trilogy– The Immortals of Meluha, The Secret of the Nagas, The Oath of Vayuputraby Amish Tripati alters the myths surrounding Shiva to produce a best- seller in contemporary India. It also aims to answer the fundamental question of the extent or limit of artistic freedom given to a writer while dealing with a sensitive and contentious topic as myths.The paper with its examination of three popular novels illumines on the use of mythology in popular culture, specifically literature.

Keywords

Myth, story, freedom, best-seller

A myth is neither history nor a fact. Novelists are increasingly experimenting with mythical stories. Readers have accepted such rehashed mythical stories with many ofthem attaining the status of best sellers.The Indian English writer Amish Tripati went on to become a best seller writer following the publication of his Shiva trilogy. He is described as a “literary pop star” by the filmmaker shekhar kapoor. His books – The Immortals of Meluha, The secret of the Nagas and The Oath of the Vayuputras went on to become best sellers. The total sales of the Shiva trilogy was 2.5 million with the first book selling 9, 50,000 copies, the second with 8, 00,000 and the third and final selling 7, 00,000 copies. The Shiva Trilogy gradually with word of mouth publicity went on to become a best seller in India. The book garnered public attention with people from all strata of society including celebrities,film makers and students endorsing it. The book has already become a part of the public psyche with the filmmaker KaranJohar purchasing the copyrights of the all three novels in the trilogy which he claims would be made into an epic movie with a stellar cast.

The Immortals of Meluha is the first book in the series. It was published in 2011.Withthe sale of over one million copies the book became an instant sensation.The title of the novel The Immortals of Meluha refers to the inhabitants of Meluha kingdom who have attained immortality with the drinking of the Godly drink somras.The second book The secret of the Nagas released on August 2011 also gained the status of best seller with the book going for a reprint with over 95,000 copies sale in the first month of its release. As the title suggests the novel reveals some startling revelations about the Nagas which changes the course of the whole novel. The third and the final book The Oath of the Vayuputras published on February 2013breaked the record for the fastest selling book in India. The culminating book of the trilogy is replete with conspiracies and epic battles as the Neelkant destroys the somras, the ultimate evil in the society. The setting of the novel is the fictional land of Meluha which is considered as an ideal kingdom reminiscent of the times of ramarajya. Amish Tripati presents the protagonist of his Shiva trilogy, Shiva in the first book. He makes his intentions clear in the acknowledgment of the first book in the series itself. His aim as stated by Tripati is to present Shiva as a common man. The character of Shiva is shorn of any aura in the beginning of the novel, he is presented as an “uncouth immigrant’’ going by the words of Ayurvati, the royal physician who is frustrated with Shiva’s unmannerly ways.Shivais not at all given a Godly status in the beginning of the novel. He is shown as the leader of Guna tribe residing in Himalayas. The Guna tribe do not lead a sophisticated life as compared to the Meluhans. They are presented as a group of wandering tribes who are on the threat of being attacked by a savage group of tribes named asprakritis. The author Amish Tripati does not give an aura to Shiva. By presenting Shiva as a tribal leader, the author Tripati drastically alters from the mythical stories of Shiva as the creator of universe, the God of the Gods who is infinite.

The author Amish Tripati develops his own mythical framework in the novel. For example, Shiva pays obeisance to lord Ram who is regarded as the establisher of the Meluha way of life as well as to lord Manu who in the novel is regarded as the creator of all civilizations in India. The author deviates much from the myth when he makes Shiva revere lord Ram who is one of the incarnations of Vishnu who in actuality was created by Shiva himself as per the myths. Amish Tripati also introduces the two clans of Suryavanshi and Chandravanshi in the novel. Suryavanshis are the descendants of sun while the Chandravanshis are the descendants of moon. Daksha is presented by the author as the king of Meluha kingdom who is the son of Brahmanayak. In the myths, though, Dakshawas created by Brahma. He is shown to be secretly playing a matchmaker to Shiva and Sati his daughter which is also depicted in the myths. Like in the myths, Daksha becomes the antagonist of Shiva later in the novel. He unwittingly causes the death of his daughter Sati just as in the myths, his insult of Shiva had caused the self immolation of Sati. Parvateshwar the Meluhan general is also portrayed as a fatherly figure to sati. Going by the myths, Parvati is the daughter of Parvateshwar or the lord of the mountains. Here Tripati partially exploits this myth, when he imparts the Meluhan general with a fatherly status. Tripati makes Anandamayi, the wife of Parvateshwar, whereas in the myth his wife is Mena. Nandi as in the myth is portrayed as the faithful companionto Shiva. The only exception being that in the novel he is depicted as the Meluhan captain.

Shiva is adept in dancing in the novel too as in the myths. In the novel Shiva before beginning his dance takes the preparatory pose which is the Nataraj pose. He prays to lord Nataraj the God of dance for blessing him. The dance masterwho sees Shiva’s dance is so much impressed with the dance that he calls Shiva as Nataraj a reference to the Shiva as Nataraj in the myths. Shiva attains the status of Neelkant after his throat turns blue after drinking somras. In mythology, though,Shiva’s throat turns blue after he drinks halahala a potent poison.

Shiva’s friend and comrade in the Guna tribe is his friend Bhadra. In mythology Bhadra is a demon who emerges out of Shiva’s jata after he thrashes his jata or lock of matted hair on the mountains out of his frustration and anger at the death of sati. Bhadra is a fearful demon with a thousand faces, arms and eyes whowas an army in himself. He was created by Shiva to avenge the death of Sati by killing Daksha and all those who participated in the yajna. In the novel, though, Bhadra is portrayed as Shiva’s loyal friend who islike a brother to him. Bhadra in the novel marries krittika who is sati’s companion. In shivpuranas,krittikas were the six stellar Goddesses who were the foster mothers’ of Karttikeya.As in the myths in the novel too Krittika is portrayed as a motherly figure to kartik. In the book The Secret of theNagas sati says that “krittika is almost like a second mother to kartik” (161).

Sati is Daksha’s and Veerini’s daughter who later goes on to become the wife of Shiva .There is a sharp contrast between the sati portrayed in the novel and to that of the myths. In the novel, sati is a vikarma, which is a person who was punished for her previous birth’s sin. She is confined to a life of deprivations as a vikarma woman. She can neither marry nor attend yajnas. In the myths, sati is the incarnation of kali, who does intense tapasya to marry Shiva, whereas in the novel Sati spurns the advances of Shiva who wants to marry her. She rejects Shiva offers to marry her on the reason that she is a vikarma. Sati marries Shiva only when Shiva, the neelkant, sents out a proclamation banning the concept of vikarma. Sati is furthermore a great warrior and a swordswoman who fights in the war against the Meluhans’ towards the end of the novel. In the myths, however, there is no mention of Sati as a warrior. In the novel, Sati is initially married to Chandandhwaj who is killed by Daksha, her father. She also bears a son Ganesha, a Naga child out of this union. Sati is killed bySwuth an Egyptian assassin who was originally hired by Daksha to kill Shiva. In the myths, Sati dies by immolating herself after she is insulted by Daksha who does not invite her and Shiva to the yajna.

Karttikeya is the son of Shiva and Parvati in myths. In the novel,Kartik is born as a result of the union of Sati and Shiva.Kartik is an excellent warrior in the novel as well as in the myths. In the novel, Ganesh is the son of Sati and Chandandhwaj. Daksha casts out Ganesh from sati’s life by lying that he was a stillborn. He considered Ganesh to be a Naga child because of his deformity and did not want his daughter sati to nurture this child. Ganesh reunites with his mother Sati in the The Secret of the Nagaswhen Sati realizes the truth of his existence.

In the novel Kali is portrayed as the younger sister of Sati. Kali too like Ganesha was cast out from Sati’s life by Daksha. Daksha was ashamed and disgusted with the deformity of Kali and cast her out from his family out of shame. Kali had a horrific appearance. The novel describes her as having a torso with an exoskeleton covering it. She also possessed small balls of bone which ran from her shoulders to her stomach like a garland of skulls. On top of her shoulders were two small extra appendages serving as third and fourth arm. In the novel, Tripati has tried to depict Kali on the basis of the descriptions in the myths.

Shiva is considered as a popular figure throughout India. His protection of his devotees, love towards his wife, rebellious streak and upliftment of the socially oppressed make him an endearing and popular figure throughout India. The author Amish Tripati has tried to explore these qualities of Shiva in his trilogy. His prime aim in the novel is to show the humane side of Shiva.Shiva is shown like any other man who curses, flirts, dances and sings. He is a chillum smoking leader of the Guna tribe who resides in the Himalayas. In the book The Immortals of Meluha, in chapter twelve,Shivaand his friends Brahaspati and veerbhadra dance around the fire with abandon. In the same book, in chapter fifteen, Shiva breaks into a song in between a conversation. Moreover, Shiva mutters curses whenever he is frustrated and angry. The novelist has made use of phrases like “bloody hell”, “shit”, and “dammit” to show a cursing Shiva. The author Amish Tripati has tried to portray Shiva as a man who is vocal and expressive of his emotions, there is no sophistication around him. Shiva’s intense love and devotion to his wife has always been a very endearing quality which the novelist has made use of in this novel. He completely believes in her. When Parvateshwar dissuades sati to fight against Tarak, it is actually Shiva who prompts him to fight with sati as he believes she is a great swordswoman and a warrior. He disregards all existing social conventions like the vikarma system to marry her. He destroys the city of Meluha in his anger when he comes to know of Sati’s death. Part of the fascination around Shiva is because he is the god of ghosts and ghouls, of the socially oppressed. In the novel too Shiva acts as the vanguard of the socially oppressed. He abolishes the vikarma system, an unjust system in which a person was punished by making him lead a life of deprivations for the sins of their past birth. Towards the end of the second book of the trilogy he starts to fight for the Nagas the social outcasts whose deformity had lead them to ostracize themselves from society. Shiva is known as a rebel who disregards all convention which is one of the reasons of his popularity around youth. He did not fully subscribe to the Meluhan way of life.He was personally against the system of adopted parenthood in Meluha in which birth parents were denied an access to their child. He abolished the unjust vikarma system in Meluha. Most importantly he rebelled against the deep inequalities in society by forbidding the use of somras which to him now has turned from the ultimate good to the ultimate evil. The author Amish Tripati has drawn a very endearing and human portrait of Shiva. He has made use of some endearing personal qualities of Shiva which has always appealed to the popular imagination and beliefs. Part of the success of the book lies in this brilliant amalgamation of the use of popular beliefs and human emotions to successfully create a poignant characterisation of Shiva.

The book moreover has a compelling narrative style. The action of the novel is fast paced, it never lags behind. The first book The Immortals of Meluha ends on a note of suspense as Shiva draws his sword to protect Sati who is followed by a Naga. More secrets are revealed in the second book The secrets of the Nagas as the title suggests. The plot of the novel changes all of a sudden when it is revealed that Nagas are not evil. The end of the book also reveals a startling revelation that Brahaspati Shiva’s friend and chief scientist of Meluha who was presumed dead in the first book is actually alive. The third book The oath of the Vayuputrasis replete with conspiracies and epic battles. The author successively markets all the three books in his trilogy by creating a sense of anticipation and suspense in the mind of the readers through his compelling narrative style. The author Amish Tripati’s successful depiction of a divine but humane Neelkant along with his racy compelling narrative style can be attributed as the reasons behind the popularity of his trilogy.

Altering or distorting myths comes with its own price. In a free society a writer or an artist has the artistic freedom to express himself. Freedom without any responsibilities creates a state of chaos and anarchy in society. A writer has to be prudent and wise to exercise this artistic freedom for the societal good without destroying the peaceful fabric of the society. A write should alter myths without hurting the religious sentiments of the readers. A work of fiction which exists to simply create anarchy in society, without any societal good, cannot be justified by any laws of artistic freedom. Moreover, writersand publishers incur huge financial losses when a controversial book gets banned. This in a way limits the saleability of the writers often making them either censor their writing or to think in line of the ‘saleability’. Amish Tripati has deviated much from the Shivpuranas in his depiction of the story of the Neelkant.The book inspite of its fictionalisation of myths earned praise from critics and readers aliketo attain the status of a bestselling novel. Tripati conveys the message of Dharma and Karma to a younger generation by rekindling their interest in Shiva. The novel with its message of “Har Har Mahadev” exhorts one to find the God within themselves.

References

Brady, Ralph. A Critical Analysis in Depth. New York: Barrister Publishing Co, 1966.Print.

Flaherty, Wendy Doniger O’. Hindu Myths. Ed.Betty Radice. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 1975.Print.

Hari, D.K. Understanding Shiva. Bangalore: Sri Sri Publications, 2006.print.

Menon, Ramesh. Siva. New Delhi: Rupa Publications, 2006.print.

Segal, Robert.A Very Short Introduction. United States: Oxford U.P, 2004.Print.

Tripati, Amish. The Immortals of Meluha. New Delhi: Westland Publishers, 2010.print.

---. The Oath of the Vayuputras. New Delhi: Westland Publishers, 2013.Print.

---. The Secret of the Nagas. New Delhi: Westland Publishers, 2012. Print.