The Indian Ocean - Michael Pearson [36]
Hindu thought similarly was less certain about creation than was Judeo-Christian doctrine. It tended to be less concerned with the sea, reflecting no doubt the land orientation of the Aryans. In the famous 'Hymn of the Primeval Man,' an early Hindu creation myth from the early first millennium BCE which is part of the Brahmanas, Primeval Man, that is Prajapati, was dismembered to make the world. The four varnas came from parts of his body, the moon, sun and wind from other parts, and air, sky, and earth from others again. What is significant is that there is no mention of the sea. However, in later Hinduism there are mentions of the universal flood which destroyed the world, and also of the cosmic ocean.2 In the Puranas the origin of life is traced to the sea, and the sea is seen as a store of riches such as diamonds, pearls and rubies. Life's journey was like a journey across the ocean, necessary but full of trials and travails. Traditionally there are seven seas, which are joined but have distinctive qualities. They are generally seen as dangerous and unknowable: one who crossed the sea was often called a yati, that is one who has renounced the world and is prepared to lose one's life.3
The central Hindu god Vishnu has several associations with the sea. He is often depicted as rising from the sea. In temple images he may appear reclining on the coils of the serpent Shesa, asleep on the cosmic ocean during the times between the periodic annihilation and renewal of the world. He also played a central role in one of the recurrent central events in Hindu mythology, the continuing struggle between the gods and the demons. On one such occasion the Indian gods had lost much of their power. They gathered on Mount Meru, the navel of the world, to discuss how to gain the amrita, or elixir of immortality, which was hidden deep in the ocean. At Vishnu's suggestion they decided to churn it out. As they did this, fourteen precious things come out, including the sun, moon, Vishnu's wife Lakshmi, Chandra the moon god, and Varuna, the goddess of wine.4 Dhanvantari, the physician of the gods, rose up out of the waters carrying in his hands the supreme treasure, the amrita. After various false starts, it was finally consumed by the gods, who consequently were restored in strength.
Later Hindu thought, as in the Laws of Manu, and the Dharmasastra, takes a much less sanguine view of the ocean. It is called the kala pani, the Black Water, which it is forbidden to cross for fear of suffering serious pollution in caste terms. Many writers have claimed that this meant that Hindus are forbidden to travel by sea. However, the Sastras are really much more flexible than this, and these prohibitions are to be seen as precepts rather than strict rules. This is demonstrated by the way Hindus have crossed the ocean since time immemorial, even if the sea does not play a major role in Hindu thought. Lower caste people especially were relegated to occupations which higher castes found polluting, so that coastal trade and fishing was typically, then and now, done by folk very low in the hierarchy.
Some recent Indian surveys have strained to endow India with a major maritime past, and to find the sea and ships occupying a central role in the early Indian literature. It has been claimed that the very earliest, the Rig Veda, shows Indians had a proud maritime past. Many references, some of them apparently rather ambiguous, are found in such other texts as the Ramayana, Arthasastra and Mahabharata.5 While by no means questioning the bona fides of these enthusiasts, the fact is that in terms of mythology Indian examples pay scant attention to the sea.
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