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Shiva : As a Saviour of Mankind in The Light of Amish Tripathi's Shiva Trilogy | |||||||
Paper Id :
17835 Submission Date :
2023-07-10 Acceptance Date :
2023-07-15 Publication Date :
2023-07-17
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Abstract |
As per Amish Tripathi's interpretation in Shiva Trilogy, Lord Shiva is revered as the saviour of mankind who defeated the evil forces that threatened to destroy the universe. He is considered the ultimate destroyer and creator of the universe and is worshipped with great devotion by the people of the universe. Throughout the ages Lord Shiva's teachings and stories inspired many scholars, writers and artist to create works of literature, poetry and art that celebrate his greatness and divinity. His name is invoked in prayers and hymns and his images are found in temples, shrines and homes across the universe. Moreover according to Amish Tripathi Lord Shiva represents the perfect balance between destruction and creation. This paper explores the role of Shiva as a true saviour of mankind and shows his battles against evil forces and his willingness to sacrifice his own happiness and well being for the sake of mankind. His love for his wife Sati and his unwavering loyalty towards his devotees is a reflection of his compassion and empathy towards all beings. In this paper Shiva's role as a saviour is expanded to include social and political issues. For instance his in character is depicted as a champion of equality and justice often challenging the rigid caste system prevalent in Ancient India. His teachings on social equality, human rights and freedom have a pertinent relevance even today.
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Keywords | Shiva, Saviour, Creation, Destruction, Evil Forces, Social Equality, Freedom, Compassion. | ||||||
Introduction |
Amish Tripathi 's Shiva Trilogy portrays Shiva as a powerful and complex character who is also known as Neelkanth. In the story Neelkanth is a moral man mortal man who comes from a humble background but is later embraced by the divine forces as their chosen one. He is said to have undertaken various tasks and challenges to establish order and righteousness in the universe. It is the law of nature that something old has to get destroyed in order to create something new. That's why Shiva is more considered to be a transformer than a destroyer. Of all the Hindu Gods Shiva is the simplest and the easiest to please. According to the Shiv Puraan Lord Shiva protects the man-kind. That is the reason that he is worshipped as the saviour.
According to Yajurveda, (one of the four Vedas) he is enchanted as "Kapoora Gauram Karumavataram"
It means pure white as Camphor, Avtar, an incarnation of compassion. His compassion indicates that he is kind to the entire universe. He creates a base for new creation after destruction in order to maintain a balance and equality. He protects the world from the demons and destroys them and at the same time he becomes the saviour when he saves the Man-kind from the demons.
As Amish Tripathi said, "Creation and destruction are the two ends of the same moment. And everything between the creation and the next destruction is the journey of life." (The Oath of Vayuputra)
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Objective of study | The aim of writing this paper is to reinterpret and represent Indian god Shiva as a saviour of mankind in the light of Amish Tripathi's Shiva Trilogy. Through this Shiva Trilogy I knew the life and adventures of Lord Shiva and showed the readers that how an ordinary man became a God through his deeds. |
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Review of Literature | The
review of literature is carried out to know the reference which are collected
in the past and which are helpful to know the facts of new works. Many
researchers have interpreted and evaluated Amish Tripathi's novels differently
from the publication of his first novel 'The Immortals of Meluha'. His works
have been explored by different authors with different aspects and
perspectives. But no such work since to be carried out by any researcher on my
selected topic till date. Here
are given few works of Amish Tripathi's books - Neha
Kumari (2017) tells about the subject of women empowerment appears in the books
of Amish Tripathi, when women have acquired equal rights in all spheres of life
in the 21st century. Amish's fiction presents certain fascinating aspects as
related to Lord Shiva, the prime diary in Hindu religion. He has reimagined a
Utopian society called Meluha, created by the Hindu God Lord Ram as per his ideals. The authors interest is
here to analyse the status, Amish, assign s to the women in his visualization
of Ram Rajya through mystic archetypes lives of Shiva and Satu, prototype of
Lord Shiva and goddess Sati. Sunil Kumar (2019) -this research paper
explodes Amish Tripathi's position in this deep rooted practice and his
contribution to Indian writing in English. This paper examines the all three
novels of Shiva Trilogy. Mythology has been an unavoidable source and subject
of concentrate in writing down the ages. The writers since numerous ages have
attempted to red cipher the previous fantasies. The aim here is to give another
point of view to the since a long time ago established fantasies of the
hundreds of years. Amish Tripathi revered female legendary characters in his
Shiva Trilogy. He materializes power and flame from his counter parts. |
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Main Text |
Shiva
is revered by millions of people as a powerful and benevolent deity who often
salvation who offer salvation and liberation to mankind. His role as a saviour
of humanity in Hindu mythology is deeply ingrained in the faith and devotion of his followers.
Shiva is also called Mahadev by his devotees. As Amish Tripathi said- "A man becomes a Mahadev only when he
fights for good. A Mahadev is not born from his mother's womb. He is forged in
the heat of battle when he wages a war to destroy evil. Har Har Mahadev. All of
us are Mahadev."-Amish Tripathi (The Immortals of Meluha) Lord Shiva's role as a saviour is also
reflected in his various stories where he rescues his devotees from perilous
situations. According to Myth one such story is explained here. The tale Markandey who was destined to die at
a young age, Markandey a great devotee of Lord Shiva who was praying him at the
time of his death was saved by Lord Shiva, who appeared before him along with
goddess Parvati and his attendance in the form of Brishabhvana (Mounted on
Bull) (Page- 56). Shiva took him into his arms and saved his life. This story
is seen as a reminder that no matter what our destiny might be, it is our
devotion to Lord Shiva that can save us from all harm and danger. It
is believed that of all the Hindu gods Shiva is the simplest and easiest to
please. That's why his devotees call him Bhole Baba, the gentle. It is also
believed that god is everywhere. He listens to his devotees all the time. To
prove this statement I gone through a real incidence which I am explaining
here. Few
days back I happened to go through a real incident which filled my eyes with
tears of devotion. A man is in Kasganj named Krishna Kumar lost his son when he
went out to walk in the night. After that he never came back. Mr. Krishna Kumar
searched for his son everywhere but all his efforts were in vein. Once one of
his friends asked him to go to Ujjain for Darshan of Mahakal. In the
Mahakaleshwar temple he prayed for his son. After Pooja he went to the ashram
where Krishna Kumar found his lost son. He was being treated there for his
mental instability. Krishna Kumar hugged, loved and kissed his son followed by
the tears of thankfulness for Lord Shiva. This incidence shows that Lord Shiva
is the saviour of mankind who is still active for his duty and it shows that
Lord Shiva is present everywhere to save his devotees. As
Amish Tripathi also stated that, " I don't believe in symbolic gods. I
believe that god exists all around us. In the flow of the river, in the rustle
of the trees, in the whisper of the winds. He speaks to us all the time, all we
need to do is listen." (The Immortals of Meluha). In
this paper I am highlighting Shiva: as a
saviour in the light of Amish Tripathi's Shiva Trilogy. This
series is set in an ancient Indian kingdom and follows the story of a tribal
leader named Shiva who discovers that he is the prophesied saviour of the
kingdom and must fight against the evil Nagas to save his people. Along the
way, Shiva discovers secrets about his past . He learns about the power of good
and evil and ultimately becomes a good- like figure in the world. The first book of Shiva Trilogy ,'The
Immortals of Meluha ' begins with
introducing Shiva who has been portrayed as a Tibetan Barbarian hailing from
the warrior tribe named Gunas. He arrives
in the fictional city of Meluha on the request of king Daksh,whose
kingdom has been faced by terrorist attacks from the Chandravanshi tribe which
he believes has allied with the Nagas- considered a lowly race with physical deformities. While
in Meluha Shiva is recognized as the Neelkanth- an incarnation of the Mahadev.
After he drinks the Somras -a healing potion which makes his throat turns
blue and he has called Neelkanth. Then
follows the love story of Sati, the daughter of king Daksha and Shiva .Sati is
known as Vikarma- ,an untouchable . When Sati rejects the marriage proposal of
Shiva ,he challenges the law of Vikrama. Vikarmas
are those people who has to suffer in the present life due to the actions
performed in the previous life. Shiva declared that the law of Vikrama is not
valid .And he got married with Sati. In
the second book ' secret of Nagas' ,Shiva plays the role of being the
saviour who has left his homeland to
fight evil. The
story begins from where Sati is being attacked by a Naga. (Nagas are the species born with any of the deformities).
But Naga has to run away because Sati
and Shiva both are amazing fighters. Shiva runs after the naga but he manages
to escape by stealing a horse from a person. After this incident Shiva starts
hating the Nagas and wishes to destroy the Nagas species. Sati was being
attacked again and again by Nagas because they think that she has given birth
to a deformed child and left him in the Naga region named Panchvati. But this was not the truth whenever his father
Daksh has abandoned that deformed child
of Sati. The
story moves forward in his third book 'The Oath of the Vayuputras'. Shiva meets
his friend Brahaspati (the chief scientist of Meluha),who tells him the
formation of Somras and the ill effects of its wastage .Along with his people
Shiva travels to the hidden city of Ujjain to meet the chief of Vasudev Pandit
Gopal. One of the ill effects of Somras was dying of River Sarasvati and the
other ill effect was the deformity in the children due to the consumption of
wastage of manufacturing the Somras. Shiva
appeals people of Devagiri not to drink Somras. After hearing this Daksh got
angry with Shiva and plans to assassinate Shiva. But in the conspiracy knitted
by Daksha Sati is killed .Filled with rage of Sati's death Shiva declares to
use Pashupatiastra to destroy Devagiri forever. Shiva uses the Pashupatiastra
and finishes Devagiri 's history along with the manufacturing of Somras completely. While everything is over Shiva
retired to Kailash Parvat to pass the rest of his life. |
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Conclusion |
This is to conclude that all three books of Shiva Trilogy present the endeavours and the expeditions of Lord Shiva in maintaining a balance in the nature. Thiugh he is the destroyer yet he preserves the whole mankind by destroying evil elements. Shiva is also associated with the concept of Moksha which is the ultimate goal of Hinduism and represents liberation from the cycle of birth, death and reincarnation. It is believed that through devotion and surrender to Shiva one can attain spiritual liberation and be free from the cycle of suffering.
According to Amish Tripathi's interpretation Lord Shiva is viewed as the saviour of mankind who symbolises strength, courage and wisdom. His story is a reflection of the human struggle against evil and how one can overcome from it through devotion, perseverance and sacrifice.
Lord Shiva's role as a saviour of mankind is deeply rooted in his teachings and stories. His message of compassion, detachment and meditation continuous to inspire millions of people worldwide to strive for a better life. According to Amish Tripathi Lord Shiva is not just a deity but a source of divine wisdom and guidance. His teachings on self-control and detachment are seen as essential for achieving spiritual liberation and inner peace. Lord Shiva's message of hope and salvation continues to inspire us all to this day. |
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References | 1. Tripathi, Amish. The Immortals of Meluha, New Delhi : Westland Ltd. 2010. Print.
2. Tripathi, Amish. The Secret of Nagas, New Delhi : Westland Ltd. 2012. Print.
3. Tripathi, Amish. The Oath of Vayuputras, New Delhi : Westland Ltd. 2013. Print.
4. Rakhi Deshmukh, Jaya Dwivedi, "Reinterpretation of Amish Tripathi's Shiva Trilogy with Selected Verses of Bhagwat Gita." Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities VIII.4 (2016), Web. 11 June 2017.
5. Patel, R. Kumar Anil. A comparative study Hindu Scripture in Fiction of Amish Tripathi and Ashok Banker by Chintan Prakashan, Kanpur-208021
6. Dixit, Pankaj. Hindu Mythology Quiz Book, Ocean Books Pvt. Ltd. ISO 9001-2000 Publishers, Page-56, 2005. |