{"id":383,"date":"2018-02-01T12:26:54","date_gmt":"2018-02-01T12:26:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/?page_id=383"},"modified":"2018-11-01T07:27:33","modified_gmt":"2018-11-01T07:27:33","slug":"story-and-myth","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/lifestyle\/expressions-of-faith\/story-and-myth\/","title":{"rendered":"Story and Myth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<section  class='av_textblock_section av-av_textblock-2bd894dbf2e4bf2c4acf98ce4fbf94aa '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/CreativeWork\" ><div class='avia_textblock'  itemprop=\"text\" ><h3><strong>Story and Myth<\/strong><\/h3>\n<div id=\"attachment_1151\" style=\"width: 260px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1151\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1151\" src=\"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/story1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"132\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1151\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Hindu parent reads traditional stories to his son and daughter: Many of these popular stories are also available in comic form, or on video.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Story and myth have always been part of<em> sanatana-dharma<\/em>, but scholars ascertain that they rose to prominence in the Epic and Puranic periods. Since then, Hindu concepts and values have been transmitted more through story than through philosophical or theological exposition, and stories are central in disseminating popular Hinduism. Stories were customarily passed down through the family, particularly by grandparents. They were also popularised by musicians, dancers and travelling theatre troupes. More recently, they have been retold through books, film, TV, and video. Hinduism is rich in meaningful stories. Western film-makers and playwrights have realised this, as illustrated by the Peter Brooks version (1989) of the <em>Mahabharata<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>A key element of story is the role of the hero and heroine, who embody exemplary values. Many narratives explore the nuances of<em> dharma<\/em> and the difficulties in its precise application. Although many of the stories are ancient, Hindu people talk of their hero figures with a sense of immediacy, as if they are alive today. These characters serve not as dated, tribal ancestors but as residents of a previously glorious age. Especially for children, the <em>Panchatantra<\/em> and <em>Hitopadesh<\/em> include allegorical animal stories with moral themes. Many of Aesop&#8217;s fables are believed to be derived from the <em>Panchatantra<\/em>. (For more information on story, please see <a href=\"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/concepts\/core-values\/values-and-story\/\">Values and Story,<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/tradition\/doctrine-and-scripture\/smriti-the-mahabharata\/\">Mahabharata<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/tradition\/doctrine-and-scripture\/smriti-the-bhagavad-gita\/\">Bhagavad-gita<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/tradition\/doctrine-and-scripture\/smriti-the-ramayana\/\">Ramayana<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/wp-admin\/post.php?post=485&amp;action=edit\">The Puranas<\/a>)<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Glossary Terms<\/strong><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<div id=\"attachment_1152\" style=\"width: 260px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1152\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1152\" src=\"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/story2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"236\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1152\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Draupadi, heroine of the Mahabharata. Many Hindus consider her, and other mythical and legendary figures, to be historical rather then fictional.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Myth \u2014 a story, not necessarily fictional, which maps reality through understanding the higher dimensions of life<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>Personal Reflection<\/strong><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>How does our own consciousness affect our use of language?<\/li>\n<li>Does language give any indication of a culture and its specific values?<\/li>\n<li>What impact have stories had on our own lives?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>Common Misunderstandings<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><strong>Hindu stories are entirely allegorical<\/strong><br \/>\nSome Hindus contend that the Epics, Puranas, etc. are historical accounts, but happen beyond our normal realms of comprehension. These narratives span vast periods of time and space, and occur within multiple dimensions. There may appear to be factual contradictions, but Hindus place greater emphasis on appropriate values than on exactitude in names, dates, and so forth. One should be careful in using terms such as &#8220;myth&#8221; (see Glossary Terms, above)<\/p>\n<p><strong>One can derive whatever message one wants from Hindu stories<\/strong><br \/>\nAlthough the tradition is liberal, and accepts that stories have multi-layered meanings, teachers should be careful about changing stories, or projecting their own values onto them without checking that they are actually consistent with Hindu thought. (See also Common Misunderstandings (above), <a href=\"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/concepts\/key-concepts\/reincarnation-and-samsara\/\">Reincarnation and Samsara<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1152,"parent":29,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"tags":[187,33],"class_list":["post-383","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-mahabharata","tag-sanatana-dharma"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2096,"href":"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/383\/revisions\/2096"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/29"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}