Swallowing Gods
Feature Articles

Swallowing Gods

June 1, 2023

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist

In Hindu mythology, during the battle between the devas and asuras, the guru of the asuras, Shukracharya, is about to use Sanjeevini Vidya to resurrect all dead asuras. To prevent this from happening, the gods beg Shiva to help. Shiva swallows Shukracharya and keeps him in his body. But Shukracharya manages to escape in the form of semen. This is why “shukra” means semen.

In another story, the asuras kill Kacha, the son of Indra, and get Shukracharya to eat him. But Shukracharya’s daughter is in love with Kacha. She begs her father to bring him back to life by regurgitating him. Shukracharya does not know how to do this. So he comes up with another idea. He teaches Kacha who is in his body the secret of Sanjeevini Vidya. Then Shukracharya’s body is cut open and Kacha is pulled out. Kacha then resurrects his teacher, Shukracharya.

In another folk tale, we are told how Kalidas sees the goddess Saraswati and is so impressed by her beauty that he starts describing her. But he describes her from head to toe, and this is seen as disrespect which is why the goddess who gets angry, takes the form of the terrifying Kali, and swallows him. He apologises from within her stomach for his mistake and starts describing her from toe to head. Pleased by this new narration, the goddess spits him out, which is why he is called the servant of Kali.

READ ALSO  A Hinduism before Bhakti

Then there are stories where the endings are not so happy. For example, we hear how the asura Atapi would turn his brother Vatapi into a goat, cook his meat and offer them to guests. When the guests had eaten this meat, he would get his brother to turn back and rip his way out of their stomachs. That would naturally kill the guests. But, when the goat meat was offered to Agastya Muni, he digested Vatapi before he could turn back. Agastya is famous for his digestive powers. He is supposed to have swallowed the entire ocean and revealed the asuras who were hiding under the sea.

In the folk Ramayana, in Tamil Nadu, we learn of a fight between Surpanakha and her sister-in-law, Mandodari. Enraged by this fight, Surpanakha’s husband swallows Mandodari’s husband, Ravana. Ravana begs his sister, Surpanakha, to pull him out, but the only way to do so is by killing her own husband. Ravana tells Surpanakha that if she does this, he will declare her son as his heir. Greedy for the throne,  Surpanakha cuts open the husband’s belly and releases Ravana. But then Ravana goes back on his promise and refuses to make her son his heir. This makes Surpanakha furious, which is why she procures the help of Ram to destroy Ravana.

In a Rajasthani folk Ramayana, it is said that, at the time of their first meeting, Hanuman swallows Lakshman, when Lakshman eats a mango from a tree without his permission. Ram apologises on Lakshman’s behalf, and  Hanuman is appeased enough to regurgitate Lakshman.

READ ALSO  The metaphor of the forest

[email protected]

ABOUT

Mysuru’s favorite and largest circulated English evening daily has kept the citizens of Mysuru informed and entertained since 1978. Over the past 45 years, Star of Mysore has been the newspaper that Mysureans reach for every evening to know about the happenings in Mysuru city. The newspaper has feature rich articles and dedicated pages targeted at readers across the demographic spectrum of Mysuru city. With a readership of over 2,50,000 Star of Mysore has been the best connection between it’s readers and their leaders; between advertisers and customers; between Mysuru and Mysureans.

CONTACT

Academy News Papers Private Limited, Publishers, Star of Mysore & Mysuru Mithra, 15-C, Industrial ‘A’ Layout, Bannimantap, Mysuru-570015. Phone no. – 0821 249 6520

To advertise on Star of Mysore, email us at

Online Edition: [email protected]
Print Editon: [email protected]
For News/Press Release: [email protected]