Animals in Hindu Mythology

Animals always played a significant role in the Hindu Mythology.. The main theology associated with Hinduism is ‘God exists in every living being..!’

During ancient times,  people understood the importance of animals in their daily lives and gave them an immortal place by including them as mythological gods..

For example,

• ‘LORD MATSYA‘ is considered as the first avatar of Lord Vishnu and is in the form of a giant FISH. Matsya is believed to symbolise the first stage of evolution, as aquatic life was the first beings on earth. So Matsya is a very significant form in Hindu mythology.

Matsya may be depicted as a giant fish, with a human torso connected to the rear half of a fish.

Lord Matsya

• ‘LORD KURMA‘ is considered as the second avatar of Lord Vishnu and is in the form of giant TURTLE. Life moved from water to the land, the amphibians were found and hence denoted the evolution from sea to land.

Lord Kurma

• ‘LORD VARAHA‘ the third avatar of Lord Vishnu is in the form of BOAR and is depicted to save Earth or Bhumi devi from the demon. This showed the evolution of life to the wild animals stage.

Varaha Sculpture in National Museum, New Delhi 

• LION considered as the king of the forest is a very powerful animal. Our ancient people gave utmost importance to the lion by incarnating it as an avatar of Lord Vishnu and is termed as ‘LORD NARASIMHA‘. NARA – meaning human and SIMHA- meaning Lion, so it means lion headed person. He is known primarily as the ‘Great Protector’ who specifically defends and protects his devotees in times of need.

The appearance of lion with its huge mane and the strong features would had intimidated our ancestors and they would had felt it can be signified for imbibing fear for the wrong-doers and hence this form was created.

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Lord Narsimha

• ELEPHANTS were majorly used in Warfare, carrying bulk and transporting people.. The intelligent/fore-sighted people , incarnated an Elephant-headed God whom we call ‘LORD GANESHA‘, so that nobody in future would torture/disregard the elephants. They imbibed a certain fear amongst people so that , if they harm the elephants in any way, they incur the wrath of god Ganesha..

As days kept progressing many stories were weaved to provide factual support to the existence of the elephant headed god. Elephants are naturally wise and intelligent creatures, hence Ganesha is widely revered as the remover of obstacles,the patron of arts and sciences and the lord of intellect and wisdom. As the god of beginnings, he is honoured at the start of rituals and ceremonies.

7th to 8th Century Ganesha Sculpture

• ‘LORD HANUMAN’ is an incarnation of the MONKEYS/vanaras.. Although the word Vanara has come to mean “monkey” over the years and the Vanaras are depicted as monkeys in the popular art, their exact identity is not clear. The Ramayana presents them as humans with reference to their speech, clothing, habitations,etc.. It also describes their monkey-like characteristics such as their leaping, hair, fur and a tail.

According to one theory, the Vanaras are strictly mythological creatures. This is based on their supernatural abilities.

Hanuman is mentioned as an avatar of Shiva or Rudra..Hanuman is worshiped also to get rid or win over demons, demi-gods , evil spirits and other powerful negative energies, which find their mention in Hinduism.

The genetic code of monkeys and other apes is much closer to the human genome than any other animals, so monkeys are often used to test new medicines, as they are likely to react in the same way as human. Maybe that’s the reason the ancient people incarnated monkey-god to stop any ill treatment to the monkeys and otherwise..

Lord Hanuman’s Sculpture during 11th Century, Chola Dynasty

• BULLS are much more muscular than cows, with thicker bones, larger feet, a very muscular neck, and a large, bony head with protective ridges over the eyes. These features assist bulls in fighting for domination over a herd. Hindu mythology provides a special place to the sacred bull as ‘LORD NANDI‘..

Bulls appear on the Indus Valley seals, including the ‘Pasupati Seal‘, which depicts a seated figure and, according to some scholars, is similar to Shiva. The close association of Shiva and Nandi explains the presence of a statue of Nandi at the gate of many temples dedicated to Shiva. 

And bulls have always been farmer’s friends..They help in irrigation and ploughing the fields so the bulls are immortalised in the hindu mythology as the vehicle of Lord Shiva..

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Lord Shiva and Devi Parvati seated upon Nandi, Cambodian Sculpture 

•  ‘Naga Devatha‘ or the SNAKE god is prayed by the people from centuries together. The place of snakes are immortalised in Hindu mythology by associating them to ‘LORD KARTIKEYA’ the commander -in chief of the Devas and the son of Lord Shiva as well.

Snakes helped our ancient people by getting rid of rats and other small animals which in turn helped them in preserving their yielded crops etc. Though they are poisonous animals, the belief in snakes had helped in community bonding and celebrations.

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World’s tallest statue of Lord Karthikeya at 42.7m high near Kuala Lumpur, Malayasia 

• Other animals like Squirrels, Parrots, Vultures, Cows are also given utmost importance and are termed as helpers to the gods in their missions and are therefore highly revered.

Squirrels are referred in the Ramayana, they helped Lord Ram by carrying few stones for the construction of the bridge to Lanka.

VULTURE is also referred in Ramayan as ‘Jatayu’, he tried to rescue Sita from the clutches of Raavan after he kidnaps her.

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Raavan slashing Jatayu’s feathers

 

Parrot faced person named as ‘Shuka‘ was the main narrator of the Bhagavat Purana and he was the son of Sage Vyasa.

COW is a very sacred animal in Hindu Mythology and is called as ‘KAMADHENU‘ the provider of plenty to its owner. She is respected as the mother of the cattle and is a very divine creature.

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Kamadhenu

• The references to other animals in Hindu mythology is depicted by associating various animals as the vehicles (vahanas) to the gods.  Some of them are as follows,

1. Brahma – seven swans
2. Durga –  the lion
3. Ganesha – the mouse
4. Indra – the elephant
5. Kartikya – the peacock
6. Lakshmi – the owl
7. Saraswati – the swan or the peacock
8. Shakti – the bull
9. Shani – the crow
10. Shiva – Nandi, the bull
11. Varuna – seven swans
12. Vayu – a thousands horses
13. Vishnu – Garuda, the eagle & Adi Shesha, the serpent
14. Vishwakarma – the elephant
15. Yama – the male buffalo

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These are some of my humble observations regarding the animals / legendary creatures found in the Hindu Mythology, I feel that our ancestors were highly intelligent people and the knowledge which they passed on as stories help us in understanding our eco-system and give importance to every living being on this earth. The abundant knowledge found in our ancient scriptures called as the Vedas are yet to be deciphered completely and once discovered it helps mankind in every possible way..