Recurring motifs in Hindu mythology
- Multiple, Contradictory Creation Stories: Vedas, Puranas, and Upanishads each offer divergent accounts about the universe’s origin, creator, and cosmology.12
- Polytheism vs. Monotheism: Fluid movement between worship of a supreme, formless Brahman (monism) and countless personal deities (saguna), leading to theological ambiguity about the “One” versus the “Many”.345
- Gods Subject to Maya (Illusion): Even gods (devas) are repeatedly shown as ignorant or deluded, undermining absolute divinity.6
- Anthropomorphism of Deities: Hindu gods/goddesses are depicted with human-like flaws including anger, lust, jealousy, etc.
- Cycle of Time (Yugas): A fundamentally cyclical worldview, where morality and order are repeatedly destroyed and renewed, undermining the idea of progress or a linear sacred history.7
- Gods Fighting and Being Defeated: Devas, including the trinity (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva), can lose, flee, or require help from mortals, rishis, or even demons.8
- Divinity in Animals, Plants, Forces: Rivers, mountains, trees, animals (e.g., Hanuman as monkey, Ganesha as elephant) are literal objects of worship, with shifting borders between metaphor and ontological “reality”.9
- Multiple Saviors, Redeemers: No single foundational figure (like Prophet Muhammad in Islam); instead, competing incarnations, avatars, and sages.10
- Epistemological Relativity: Shruti (heard/revealed), Smriti (remembered/tradition), and oral versus textual authority co-exist without single, final scripture.11
- Caste and Birth-based Social Order: The divine sanctioning of varnas (castes) and their eternal, inherited distinction (e.g., in Manusmriti), conflicting with the “divinity of all souls” notion.
- Divine Gender Contradictions: Goddesses are both supreme (Shakti) and subordinate (Parvati as consort of Shiva), revealing unresolved dualities about the feminine divine.12
- Trinity (Trimurti) Intra-Conflict: Stories of rivalry or mutual subordination among Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva.
- Idol Worship (Murti-Puja): Centrality of images/icons as holders of “divinity,” in contrast with the abstract, ineffable Brahman.
- Avatara Doctrine: God “descending” in finite, fallible forms (Rama, Krishna, etc.), potentially falling into sin, being defeated or dying.
- Reincarnation/Karma vs. Grace: The doctrine of karma (deeds determine rebirth) vs. Moksha (grace/liberation by devotion or knowledge), which are at times in tension.
- Heroes Outcast for Accidental ‘Sin’: Figures like Karna and Eklavya are doomed by circumstances of birth or caste, raising ethical paradoxes.13
- Rishis as Moral Lawgivers and Lawbreakers: Rishis who set ethics but also break those very codes in anger, lust, injustice, or pride.141516
- Female Chastity and Power: Powerful goddesses but extreme punishments/judgment for “fallen” women (Ahalya, Sita, Draupadi).
- Trickster Archetype (e.g., Krishna): Trickery and deception are valorized, complicating the standard of truthfulness.17
- Dharma’s Situational Ambiguity: Morality (dharma) varies by context, caste, age, or situation—without universal commandments.
- Eternal Laws vs. Contextual Dharma: The tension between unchanging cosmic law (rita) and the adaptability of dharma.
- Sacrifice and Ritual Superiority: Ritual (yajna, puja) itself—sometimes valued above morality; gods defeated or tied by power of rituals.
- Divine Incest and Violence: Frequent themes (e.g., Brahma’s pursuit of daughter, Shiva’s beheading of Ganesha) that violate simple moral stories.
- Curses and Boons: The metaphysical power of speech itself; reality-altering curses by rishis, and sometimes boons given for immoral acts.
- Demonization of “Others”: Asuras are often depicted as rivals or evil, regardless of their acts, creating a duality that lacks strong ethical coherence.
- Relativity of Truths: What is true in one yuga or context, may not be so in another; apparent lack of ultimate, universally applicable truth.18
- Absence of Central Authority: No prophet or revealed center; many “paths” (jnana, karma, bhakti, raja yoga), but none deemed final for all.
- Paradoxical Status of Women: Deified and degraded—in myth and in scripture. Goddesses worshipped, but earthly women subordinated.19
- Saints and Sinners in the Same Body: Even gods and sages can be reborn as demons or vice versa, with no final status.20
- Moksha as Self-dissolution: Ultimate goal is often said to be losing personal identity, merging into the Absolute; arguably undermining personal immortality.
- Gods/goddesses forget their own origins.
- Sages curse for minor slights.
- Worship of demons becomes sanctioned in some regions.
- Historical violence in cosmic cycles is valorized.
- Suffering as inevitable, sans solution (cycle of rebirth sans exit).
- Aryan/Non-Aryan duality in myth and ritual.
- Deification of rivers, animals, celestial bodies.
- Temples take precedence over textual authority.
- Sanctification of external purity over inner.
- Contradictory values between gods of war and peace.
- Ethical ambiguity about killing in war (Bhagavad Gita).
- Divine “children” with mixed parentage.
- Use of intoxicants by gods and saints.
- Heroism by violation of boundaries (e.g., crossing of caste, gender).
- Some gods openly reject their worshippers.
- Human kings elevated to divine status.
- Ritual suicide/sati as valor.
- Aesthetic pleasure (kama) as a path to highest good.
- Direct speech by gods and miscommunication.
- Prayer or tapas “compelling” the will of gods.
- Doctrine of “Lila” (cosmic play)—the problem of suffering as ‘god’s sport’.
- Multiple hells, contradictory accounts of afterlife.
- The “outcaste” as both despised and divinely favored.
- Tantric extremes as “spiritual practice.”
- Dogma that even demons can attain heaven.
- The fallibility of supposed omniscience.
- Worship of “living” gurus as divine.
- Family/lineage as basis for spirituality.
- Accepted practice of animal and (historic) human sacrifice.
- Gods taking sides in human conflicts.
- Erotic symbolism at the heart of some temples & myths.
- Stories of incest, infidelity, or assumption of disguises to commit acts.
- Eulogizing enemy gods/deities in one region, demonizing in others.
- Intrafamily rivalry among gods and saints.
- Doctrine that “truth is one, sages call it many”—relativism.
- Origin of gods from a feminine “energy” or “power.”
- Redemption sometimes available independently from one’s acts.
- Fate overrides personal morality in crucial moments.
- Metaphysical primacy of silence/no-thought (neti-neti) over speech.
- Positive valuation of organized chaos (Mahabharata’s end).
- Mandated pilgrimage as avenue for spiritual benefit.
- Destruction of worlds as divine necessity for creation.
- “Fake” Brahmins and demons with tapas power trick gods.
- Frequent use of disguise and deception by revered figures.
- Rationalization of suffering as meritorious.
- Frequent miracles, violations of physical law.
- Heroes completing penance for dubious acts.
- Demonization of sexuality as cause of cosmic crisis.
- Liberation through “knowledge alone” in upanishadic thought.
- Countless folk/tribal gods incorporated into pantheon.
- Philosophical school pluralism (advaita, dvaita, etc.) with no “closing.”
- Acceptance of mutually exclusive cosmologies.
- Inconsistent origins of castes and “original man” in texts.
- Inter-textual “refutations” left unresolved in doctrine.
- Spiritual efficacy of anything done with “devotion”—regardless of moral content.
- Secret knowledge (rahasya) as higher than open teaching.
- Historic reform movements (Arya Samaj, Bhakti) pointing at contradiction.
- Ritual/knowledge has greater salvific value than right action in some instances.
- “Unseen” karma justifying inequalities rather than rectifying them.
- Fire/water/time as divinized and worshipped.
- The “savior” often fails and must reincarnate again.
- Existence of counter-gods (asuras, danavas) with powers rivaling gods.
- Rites for the dead as more valued than for the living.
- Frequent descriptions of gods’ ignorance/forgetfulness.
- Transformation of enemies into allies by ritual action.
- Heroes or gods breaking vows for “higher” causes.
- Divine sexual union as cosmic event.
- Salvation sometimes dependent on caste, gender, or birth.
- Philosophical acceptance of contradictions as a feature, not a flaw.
- Stories where gods “test” devotees in graphic, often tragic, ways.
