HINDU MYTH AND SUPERSTITION ABOUT ECLIPSE;
Thousands of years of mythology
Hindu mythology blames eclipses on the demon Rahu – who is variously depicted as a snake or a dragon or a disembodied head – who swallows the sun. (The one common thread of depictions of Rahu is that they’re all scary whether here, here or here). But many Indians take their superstition to extremes, with some doctors willing to help expectant parents even delay labor to avoid birth on such a day.
To be sure, India's critics of superstition, rationalists, have also been out in force in the nation's press in recent days. Amit Bhattacharya, writing in the Times of India, chides his countrymen for turning a glimpse at "the beauty that awaits us in the universe" into a day of fear.
"It’s fear that drives us to fast during an eclipse lest the mal-influence of the sunless period is ingested with the food. It’s fear again that prompts thousands of expectant Indian mothers, and fathers, to make use of medical science techniques to ensure they don’t give birth on the ‘inauspicious’ day of the eclipse,'' he writes.
"Three thousand years of lived tradition. A spiritual heritage that’s the envy of the world. One would have thought such wisdom would enable us to assimilate and imbibe modern knowledge in a more holistic manner... instead, we spread fear. If Shani doesn’t get you, Rahu must."
Thousands of years of mythology
Hindu mythology blames eclipses on the demon Rahu – who is variously depicted as a snake or a dragon or a disembodied head – who swallows the sun. (The one common thread of depictions of Rahu is that they’re all scary whether here, here or here). But many Indians take their superstition to extremes, with some doctors willing to help expectant parents even delay labor to avoid birth on such a day.
To be sure, India's critics of superstition, rationalists, have also been out in force in the nation's press in recent days. Amit Bhattacharya, writing in the Times of India, chides his countrymen for turning a glimpse at "the beauty that awaits us in the universe" into a day of fear.
"It’s fear that drives us to fast during an eclipse lest the mal-influence of the sunless period is ingested with the food. It’s fear again that prompts thousands of expectant Indian mothers, and fathers, to make use of medical science techniques to ensure they don’t give birth on the ‘inauspicious’ day of the eclipse,'' he writes.
"Three thousand years of lived tradition. A spiritual heritage that’s the envy of the world. One would have thought such wisdom would enable us to assimilate and imbibe modern knowledge in a more holistic manner... instead, we spread fear. If Shani doesn’t get you, Rahu must."
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