The lore of Renuka

A sacred narrative needs to be distinguished from a parable story with moral ending a fable story with animals that express human emotions history reportage of an actual event or literature an individualrsquos fantasy that seeks to entertain or provoke thought The sacred narrative reverberates with mythic power as a culture attempts to answer the primordial and profound questions of life such as How did the world come into being How will it be destroyed What is the role of humankind in this world Why is there suffering in the world What happens after death The sacred narrative is the lsquotruthrsquo of a people a community Illustration Devdutt Pattanaik Take for example the following two stories from the Mahabharata which involve the same characters Jamadagni was a warriorsage skilled in the use of the bow His wife Renuka was so devoted that she would run after every arrow he shot and collect it as soon as it hit the ground One day however she ran after an arrow and did not return till nightfall She blamed the heat of the sun for the delay The furious Jamadagni decided to shoot an arrow at the sun The sun begged for mercy and offered another solution He gave Renuka an umbrella to protect her from his heat the next time she ran after an arrow Renuka was so chaste that she had the power to collect water in unbaked pots However she lost this power when she had adulterous thoughts after watching a king make love to his wives on the riverbank Her husband Jamadagni ordered his five sons to behead Renuka Four of them refused The fifth son Parashurama who was an incarnation of Vishnu raised his axe and did what was needed As he was pleased with his sonrsquos unquestioning obedience Jamadagni offered Parashurama a boon Parashurama requested to have his mother back So Jamadagni restored Renuka to life using his spiritual powers The first story is a parable it informs the reader how to solve problems by adapting to circumstances rather than blaming them It can also be seen as a short story that attributes divinity to the origin of the umbrella However it lacks the mythic power of the latter narrative which is concerned with social order marital fidelity filial obedience and patriarchal values Perhaps that is why the story of Renukarsquos umbrella is hardly known beyond academic circles The latter narrative transforms Parashurama into a manifestation of God and provides the inspiration for another narrative that projects Renuka as a manifestation of the Goddess The latter story is associated with the rather infamous devadasi tradition where women were dedicated to the Goddess and were expected to serve as prostitutes to the community at large a receptacle for the urges of man that can otherwise threaten social order Tales of Parashurama and his parents form the mythic basis of cultures along the Konkan and Malabar coast The author is Chief Belief Officer of the Future Group and can be reached at devduttdevduttcom The views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those u00a0of the paperu00a0