MYTH OR MITHYA?

When civilisation began and human beings started grouping together to form communities, people having similar interests and living in close proximity began to define codes for carrying out their day to day life. These were simple rules so that each could pursue life without causing harm or discomfort to another. As the number of people following these set of rules grew, an administrator to teach the rules and also punish the one who broke the rules got introduced. Soon this person would take on the role of being superior by virtue of his authority. The rules got codified and punishments became stringent. The all powerful authority could terrorise the others in the community as they had the power to punish.

Different communities in different areas all got their own leaders. Soon these Administrators became omnipotent and then the pathway to one person being the Superior and all others becoming his subjects was open. To perpetrate their power these people had to instill fear in the minds of the subjects or else there was the possibility of the subjects becoming a critical mass and over turning the rule of the Superior. Fear of the unknown, or a power beyond common comprehension was introduced. This higher superior power could do anything. Bring a plague, cure the sick, punish an infidel, and so on and so forth. That was the word spread-what actually happened is best left to one's imagination, because imagination is all that was required. Fear of the unknown is only because of our own imagination. Our fertile minds go to any extant to visualise what could happen-therefore the fear. The best way to avoid reaching the culmination of our own imagination is to keep far away from that which could incur wrath of that omnipotent authority-which actually was only a figment of our imagination.

When a child does not listen to his mother, the mother always says,"wait till papa gets home, he will deal with you" This is enough to make the child obey as he simply imagines that his papa will surely find a way of punishing him. In actual fact it is common knowledge that mothers are usually more effective in dealing with their children, and are also more strict and do not really need any external factor to help her discipline her children. All that she does is try to instill a fear in the mind of her children. Fear is the factor which helps her. Fear is what makes her more powerful. Fear gets results.

That is the power of fear, which has been used unscrupulously by those who could make others scared of them. They became the religious leaders, they preached religion. They created a superior power who was given unimaginable power. The myth of creation, the myth of being omnipresent and the myth of granting a wish was given to this mythological character. No one tries to analyse why all these religious stories are called mythology. Myth in English and "mithya "in Hindi means one and the same thing!!Think, please think, and analyse. Why do we have to simply follow whatever is preached to us? Can we not pause to ponder and then keep an open mind? Is it not fear of the unknown which makes us follow religious rituals? We human beings who have the most intelligent brains, who have the power of reasoning and thinking-why have we relegated our thinking faculties when it comes to the thought of God?