著者

ルーカス M.

出版者

呉大学社会情報学部

雑誌

社会情報学研究 (ISSN:13418459)

巻号頁・発行日

no.3, pp.175-187, 1997-11

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The theme of this paper is the dual nature of the Hindu divinities,as portrayed in the mythology. There are presented as human characters,with human weaknesses,but at the same time reveal divine attributes. These attributes justify the devotion they receive,yet that devotion is perhaps more likely to be inspired by the more comprehensible human aspect of their being. I deal firstly with the fallibility of Brahma,Visnu and Siva,as presented in a story from the Bhavisya Purana. I proceed to an account of the relationship between Siva and Parvati in the Saura and Skanda Puranas,and how the God and Goddess are self-conscious of their unity of human and divine attributes. My next section deals with the figure of Krisna in the Bhagavata Purana: the love and devotion inspired by the child and youth,contrasted with the fear and trembling associated with the occasional theophanic revelation. The supreme example of this contrast occurs in the Bhagavad Gita. Here,the divine form of Krisna is incomprehensible to Arjuna in the text,and unimaginable to readers. For God to be represented at all in a way which we can appreciate we require some form of mythical or literary context,to locate our imaginations. I end with a postscript discussing O'Flaherty's dichotomy of Order and Chaos,and her association of myth with the chaotic realm. This is appropriate,since myth reveals,and uses,the human need for mtable images of the divine.