Reading Notes: 7 Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art, Part C

The first thing that caught my interest about this video was its explanation of the Hindu concept of the embodiment of divinity: “For most Hindus, God is best embodied in the form of three human couples: Brahma and Saraswati, Vishnu and Lakshmi, Shiva and Shakti.” I think it’s interesting that their highest concept of divinity comes in the form of something as mortal as humans—and beyond that, something as human as couples. There are a lot of fascinating contradictions there that I think could lend themselves well to story world-building.

Then, of course, there’s the idea of the Big Three: Brahma the creator, Vishnu the sustainer, and Shiva the destroyer. Kind of like Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon being the big three, but despite the fact that that trio is composed of brothers, I actually find this one more compelling. I think it’s the way their three domains are so tightly linked and interconnected, yet how each one of those domains tells you something about the being in charge of it.

I also really dug this quote: “That is why this material word of changing forms is often referred to as maya, the embodiment of delusion. She is the world that we experience. As she keeps changing, we struggle to control her, hold her still and make her permanent, but we fail, for her essential nature is to transform.” It seems like one of those themes that would work well if you could find a way to translate it literally into a plot obstacle, rather than using it as the actual, obvious theme and run the risk of preaching it.

More than any of the others, I think Shiva could inspire the basis of a pretty compelling character. I think I might prefer it in the vague sense, which leaves more room open for interpretation—Shiva the destroyer, just in general—though the more detailed account of his purpose in destroying is interesting too: “Shiva destroys our desire for life; he destroys our fear of death; he destroys our need for the world around us.”

This point about ash symbolism is valuable for storytelling in general: “Ash is the symbol of destruction as well as permanence, for it is created by burning things but cannot be burnt itself. Thus it is also the symbol of the immortal soul, released when matter is destroyed.”

Which connects back to the Shiva thing through: “Shiva is smeared with three lines of ash oriented horizontally. These refer to the three destroyed worlds.”

And then, finally, there’s the dynamic between Shiva and Kali, which I find really interesting and worth exploring: “How does [Shiva] destroy? By shutting his eyes, refusing to be an observer, hence not creating an observation.... God needs goddess. The destroyer thus must be made to open his eyes. That is why the goddess transforms into her most primal form, Kali, and dances on Shiva.... Kali wants Shiva to value material reality and care for it. She wants him to open his eyes and become the observer.... Kali is movement, Shiva is stillness.... This form of the goddess... [is the one] who embodies the beauty of the three worlds, the very same worlds that Shiva destroyed, whose ash smears his forehead.... Shiva needs to be engaged with the world and marry the goddess. He is becoming Shankara, more aligned with the ways of the world.”

Bibliography: "7 Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art, Chapters 3 and 4," by Epified. Source: YouTube.

Image Credit: Cigarettes and Ash, by geralt. Source: Pixabay.