Devdutt Pattanaik: Bhasmasur is back

An asura once succeeded in invoking Shiva through severe austerities and secured a boon lsquoLet all that I touch be reduced to ashrsquo he said Shiva granted the boon and the asura went about touching everything in sight every tree every bird every beast reducing all living things to ash He then decided to test his powers on Shiva himself Shiva realising what he had done ran And the ashdemon or Bhasmasur chased him Finally Shiva sought the help of Vishnu who tricked the demon into touching his own head The demon did as advised and ended up as a pileof ashIllustrationDevdutt PattanaikSome people believe this story was composed by Vishnuworshippers to distinguish the shrewd Vishnu from the gullible Shiva Some others believe this story was meant to challenge the increasing obsession with lsquoequanimityrsquo and lsquomeritocracyrsquo For Shiva does not distinguish between devas and asuras and treats all people as equal and gives everyone whatever they ask The asura through merit had managed to invoke Shiva and had earned the right to a boon and so he had asked for it The principles of equanimity and meritocracy were followed But it backfired for Shiva did not bother with asurarsquos intent or the tendencies of the asura He ended up becoming a victim of the villain he had so innocently created But if Shiva had held back the boon on grounds of the asurarsquos tendency or personality would he not be accused of being a prejudiced patriarchIn politics today we are seeing a whole bunch of bhasmasurs created innocently and notsoinnocently by powerful people either to help themselves or harm others only to find themselves being attacked by the monsters they createdWe hear stories of how America created funded and supported terrorist groups in Afghanistan to counter Russia These very groups have now turned their guns on America BhasmasurEurope keen to demonstrate its lsquodevelopedrsquo values of diversity and equality invited various ethnic groups to be part of its society These immigrants found it difficult to assimilate and refused to embrace the secular and liberal values of Europe Torn between old traditional values and modernity they have become fertile breeding grounds for the most violent forms of radical Islam BhasmasurHindu radical groups turned private beliefs on cow worship into public antibeef policies in order to establish supremacy over Muslim and Christian groups who were seen as eroding the Hindu way of being for a thousand years Today this has transformed into a sinister form of cow vigilantism affecting the poorest sections of society that is spinning out of control overshadowing the Governmentrsquos development agenda BhasmasurIndian entrepreneurs to prove their status in their circles have been sending their children to study in America and Europe Having tasted life in the West the children are not interested in returning to India or taking over the family business They cannot handle the chaos of India like their forefathers and seek the discipline and homogeneity of Western societies What was done to dominate relatives and friends has now ended up adversely impacting the future of the family business BhasmasurWhat goes around seems to always come around We can call this as karma an inevitable outcome of naturersquos cycles or see it as retribution of God who has a sense of humourThe author writes and lectures on the relevance of mythology in modern times Reach him at devduttdevduttcom