Religion in South Asian Literature: Myths, Gods and Spirituality

Ruvindra Sathsarani

Student

University of Sri Jayewardenepura

Sri Lanka

For centuries literature in the region of South Asia flourished with stories bound by ardor and genuine admiration towards its unique culture, beauties of the natural environment and pastoral lifestyle. The innocence of the people, the beauty of exotic lives and the strength of a civilization trampled by many external invasions was told, retold, translated and written down in old parchments to be secured for future readers. Early South Asian Literature was evidently an art of building faith in the unseen supernatural powers; from gods wielding huge thunderbolts from heaven above to demons that breathed and spat fire to kill innocent villagers. Stories were written to magnify the power of supernatural energies and the never ending list of cosmic abilities which can be mastered only by a non-human force which existed above earth. These forces were believed to be in another realm away from human existence.

In Ramayanya, Hanuman crosses borders from India to Sri Lanka with the intention of rescuing Seetha, an Indian princess who is highly appreciated in ancient literature for her beauty. While crossing the sea he encounters the demon Sursa who can enlarge his form to kill mere mortals. Hanuman tests his divine power by changing his size, ultimately defeating Sursa. In the island of Lanka he meets devils and the devil king Ravana.  The adventures and its magnificent portrayals of demonic powers kept the readers enthralled along with the suspense they evoked.

Centuries later, the 2002 Man Booker Prize winning novel Life of Pi by Yann Martel searches the roots of religion in South Asia. The story set in India traces the divine interactions man has with God and numerous facets religion could project towards the essence of life and the anonymous approach of death. Martel is clear in his quest. He needs to discover an absolute truth: whether religion would help one to survive in the world or not. In the end of the novel when the protagonist Pi comes to shore after surviving 227 days in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Martel himself comes out with his discovery about the tranquil art of living and survival through religion and victoriously hurls his answers at his readers. Martel leaves his readers with the liberty to hunt for an exact philosophy on religion.

Despite her seclusion in the larger world of poetry, Amrita Bharati’s poems translated from Hindi to English seek spirituality and solace in the human soul. Her search for a highly spiritual life from natural surroundings using absolute tranquil imagery and simplicity is an approach to religion in a manner of disillusion. In her poem In the Stillness of a Word her articulation of poetic imagery is a wonderful depiction of an honest search for a better spiritual world.

We 
                                              were one
                                             in our soul
                                             But
                                            he walked
                                            on the low peaks of the earth
                                           And I
                                          in the high chasms
                                          of the sky

   Arundathi Roy in The God of Small Things connects religion with modern thinking. She portrays a communist society driven by Christian morality. Whether religion becomes a factor which demolishes social class or whether it strengthens the man-made social barriers are hard to be distinguished clearly. But the role of religion, especially Catholic faith is a major part in the lives of her characters. There is no real “God” in her novel although the title refers to one. But the real quest of discovering the position of religion in India becomes a more internalized search which works within the characters. Communism and Catholic Faith tend to move together towards the adoption of a more humane approach to living in an industrialized society.

In Leonard Woolf’s The Village in the Jungle the devils conquer and thrive upon the innocent, naive and rustic lives of the villagers of Baddegama in Sri Lanka. The villagers believe that some people are capable of making devils enter human bodies. Obsessions of people with the myths about powerful supernatural forces were what amazed Woolf. The minds of the villagers are plagued and driven to absolute madness and delirium even with the slight mentioning about devils and unseen evil forces. Death, chaos and disarray thrive along with the beliefs in the supernatural and their stock of mythical stories. Along with the occupation of the unseen forces in the lives of the villagers, traces of religious enrichment can also be found. The Jathaka story extracted from Ummaga Jathaka which is related by a villager to a small audience is the best example. Woolf evidently knew that the Sri Lankan village lives were a combination of Buddhist faith and also the belief in the unseen.

Religion and the belief in divine powers form the psyche of those belonging to the ideologies and concepts of that faith.  What is taught and presented in the religion will make its followers form certain cogitations about life and both possibilities and impossibilities they meet in reality. Myths were developed through storytelling and later they were incorporated into daily human life. It is difficult to find any form of Asian art which has deviated from religion. In fact, the origins of all art forms have a spiritual or religious story bound with them. Religion, mythology and the search for spirituality let Asian literature reach the inner souls of its people making the stories more alive realistic and closer to the innocence of lives that walked the brown earth for centuries.