Storytelling: the mythological art of Hinduism in aspects of transmitting and performing devotion
Storytelling, as expressed by Johari is a human activity which is “as old as the humanity itself. (P.1)” While mythologies, being the collections of explanatory stories that serves to anchor people’s understanding on both the natural and cultural, tangible and intangible world are shared universally. Hinduism, particularly favors the heavy use of mythological stories as a vehicle that can transmit many abstract and metaphysical ideas which languages alone are inadequate of achieving (Harish, P.1). Some prominent features of Hindu mythologies are that they are highly oral instead of textual; highly fluid instead of dogmatic; highly individualized …show more content…
In the book Bhagavad-Gita the importance and necessity to adapt to the material, iconic worshiping was stressed by Krishna: “It is more arduous when their reason cling to my unmanifest nature; for men constrained by bodies, the unmanifest way is hard to attain (P110, Chapter 11, phrase 5)”. Therefore, as the perceptions and interpretations towards the intangible nature vary on an individual basis, the idea of devotional worshiping also varies. As said by Flueckiger, “The primary mode of worshiping god and goddess in contemporary Hindu traditions is through the practice of bhakti, the up-warding devotional love. The worshiping of the divines with physical forms (murtis) identifies the image, presence of the deities to be embodied or manifested in a physical shape (Flueckiger P.77). One of the most important practices in the worshiping of god with a physical image is the Service of Puja—service to the deity (Flueckiger, P89) The practice of puja features the carefully arrayed offerings of food and flowers together with the devotional chanting and singing. Offerings of flowers to deities and divine figures are very common throughout Hindu practice. For flowers is by nature, a delightful gift to receive and they bear a strong sense of symbolical meanings. As articulated by Prof. Gold, flowers can both stand for the “priced vitality and devalued life cycling”. On the one hand, the refer to any kind of swelling in response to the vitality aspect of flowers. On the other hand, and in death rituals, in particular, they refer to the remains of the deceased. Under the spectrum of the symbolic usage of flowers, it is hard to pin down whether Hinduism is a practical quest for physical well-being or a spiritual pursuit after a higher experience with gods. Because the offerings made during pujas are used as symbolic tokens offered to deities in a request for the worldly attainment,
Storytelling, as expressed by Johari is a human activity which is “as old as the humanity itself. (P.1)” While mythologies, being the collections of explanatory stories that serves to anchor people’s understanding on both the natural and cultural, tangible and intangible world are shared universally. Hinduism, particularly favors the heavy use of mythological stories as a vehicle that can transmit many abstract and metaphysical ideas which languages alone are inadequate of achieving (Harish, P.1). Some prominent features of Hindu mythologies are that they are highly oral instead of textual; highly fluid instead of dogmatic; highly individualized …show more content…
In the book Bhagavad-Gita the importance and necessity to adapt to the material, iconic worshiping was stressed by Krishna: “It is more arduous when their reason cling to my unmanifest nature; for men constrained by bodies, the unmanifest way is hard to attain (P110, Chapter 11, phrase 5)”. Therefore, as the perceptions and interpretations towards the intangible nature vary on an individual basis, the idea of devotional worshiping also varies. As said by Flueckiger, “The primary mode of worshiping god and goddess in contemporary Hindu traditions is through the practice of bhakti, the up-warding devotional love. The worshiping of the divines with physical forms (murtis) identifies the image, presence of the deities to be embodied or manifested in a physical shape (Flueckiger P.77). One of the most important practices in the worshiping of god with a physical image is the Service of Puja—service to the deity (Flueckiger, P89) The practice of puja features the carefully arrayed offerings of food and flowers together with the devotional chanting and singing. Offerings of flowers to deities and divine figures are very common throughout Hindu practice. For flowers is by nature, a delightful gift to receive and they bear a strong sense of symbolical meanings. As articulated by Prof. Gold, flowers can both stand for the “priced vitality and devalued life cycling”. On the one hand, the refer to any kind of swelling in response to the vitality aspect of flowers. On the other hand, and in death rituals, in particular, they refer to the remains of the deceased. Under the spectrum of the symbolic usage of flowers, it is hard to pin down whether Hinduism is a practical quest for physical well-being or a spiritual pursuit after a higher experience with gods. Because the offerings made during pujas are used as symbolic tokens offered to deities in a request for the worldly attainment,