Multitude
of meanings can be derived from folklore depending on the method of the
analysis used. Most of the times the literal meaning leaves one baffled, confused and shocked as it fails
to fit in our reasonable logical thinking and that is why scholars of culture
have been using various semiotic and psychoanalytic methods to analyze the
potent content of these tales of ancient wisdom. One such tale from Kashmir which has terribly fascinated me with its central intriguing motif of mystical Resurrection or
Rebirth is the story of Akanandun. The
story has been told , retold , represented various times hence I am focusing on
the core of the story rather than the details which might have been added later
Apart
from the central motif the other recognizable one with which the story starts
is that of a desire for a male child.
The anxiety to have a male heir to perpetuate the ancestral lineage is a
concern discernable in most of the Patriarchal communities. There are stories
about the absurd lengths that parents go to achieve this feat. In the said
story too it is the desperate need to have a boy child which make the parents
of Akanandun to promise the jogi that they will return the child bestowed on
them through his miraculous powers, exactly after twelve years. This kind of
desperation points to rash promises we human beings make without giving a
second thought to what it could actually
suggest. Akanandun’s parents accepted the condition without thinking what would
happen after 12 years and soon conveniently forgot the promise made. It also
talks about short-lived memory of ours where we tend to consciously forget the
things which give us immense pain and also about the fickleness of human
mind.
Rather
then getting worried about the future the couple dedicated their energies in
bringning up their son in the best possible way and happily wishing away the
future. The fear might have lurked somewhere in their subconscious but they
didn’t let that hamper their joy. Once engrossed in their happiness they
completely lost sight of the approaching misery. But the jogi remembered the
promise very well and returned after the stipulated time and demanded that the
boy be returned to him. This reality shattered their world and they begged jogi
to spare the child and take whatever he wanted.
The
aspect of ‘moha’, is underlined here . The couple and their seven daughters had
grown extremely fond of the boy and they wept , wailed and tried to get the
sympathy of the jogi. But the latter had given up the world and along with it
all the materialistic passions. He remained unmoved, untouched by the extreme
emotions displayed by the family and would take nothing but the child.He
harshly reminded them of their fateful promise. The moment of realization of
the actual implication of the promise must have been so painful!
Greatly
aggrieved and pained the parents obliged with a heavy heart and called
Akanandun, a young ,energetic and handsome lad of 12 who had shown great
promise in all the fields. Jogi asked the boy to be cleansed and draped in new
clothes .When the child was ready Jogi took him to a side and beheaded him in
full view of his parents. What a shock it must have been to the parents! But
the miseries didn’t’ end there. He
started cutting the body in small pieces and patiently separated the flesh from
the bone. The hapless parents could hardly believe their eyes. In front of them
was their dear son ,killed and chopped to pieces. Imagine the condition of the
mother who was then ordered by the jogi to wash the pieces of meat and cook
them for him.The fact that she complied with such gruesome order somewhere
points to an underlined faith because just
fear will not let a mother take such an extreme step. Somewhere the
trust in the Jogi who had given her the greatest happiness of her life can be
deciphered here. He even ordered her to taste the flesh to see if it was
properly cooked and later to serve the dish in seven vessels and cover them
with a white cloth. She complied again, almost mechanically.But she could
control her feelings no more when the holy man asked her to call Akanandun to
take his meals. She burst into tears and said it was impossible. She cried her
heart out but Jogi once again was adamant. There must have been something in
Jogi’s voice which made her call her son in most pitiful a voice..a wail of a
lamenting mother..to whom the extent of her loss had just dawned upon
completely.As she was undergoing these
extreme emotions Akanandun rushed in the room and took his place ready to take
his meals. The family could believe
their eyes no more and turned their questioning glances towards the Jogi , only
to find no one there.The holy man had disappeared along with the seven vessels.
There was nothing which could remind them of the dreadful act they had
witnessed sometime back.
The
story capable of creating macabre and violent imagery, filled to core with
Bhibatsa Rasa, able to arouse tremendous Jugupsa (disgust) somewhere I feel has
a cleansing power. A Catharsis of sorts is achieved by reading and sure enough
by watching the story being enacted. The
narrative takes us to a different planes of emotion, increases our heartbeats ,
purges us of all the emotions of pity and fear that delve in our physche. On
one hand it gives a glimpse of extremely fickle nature of human beings on the other it talks of
miracles that can happen if only we have faith. Faith alone has the power to
conquer duality. Probably this is why the narrative has had a great appeal for
poets like Samad Mir, Ahad Zargar, Prakash Ram and otherswho have identified
the story with Sufi thought.
Similar
motif of resurrection can be seen in the well known biblical story of Abraham
and Issac
Gen 22
NIV states that God ordered Abharam to take his only son, Isaac, to the region
of Moriah and sacrifice him as a burnt offering to the god.
. It is
to faithful and trusting devotees that He shows the most enchanting of the
miracles. Miraculous truths are not meant for people who are skeptical of faith
and tend to employ their limited reason to question the declarations of faith.
The aspect of underlined faith and trust comes across through the following
lines:
“Heb
11:17-19 NIV) By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a
sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and
only son, even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your
offspring will be reckoned." “
Abraham
is stopped by an angel and is asked to replace his son by a ram . So the entire
ordeal was to see if Abraham had enough unquestioning faith in his God or the
human weaknesses would take the better of him. Perhaps one the best visual
representation of this incident is this painting by Caravaggio, a 17th
Century Italian Baroque Painiter.
Somewhere
in our story too the faith and trust of the family especially the mother in the
Jogi seems to have been tested. .One sees a willful submission to the wishes of
someone who had blessed her with a son.
Interestingly a story narrating the myth of
Resurrection is also found in Egyptian Myth of Osiris , the god of afterlife.
who was cut into pieces by his arch enemy Set and was brought back to life by
his wife Isis. Isis collected all the body parts and arranged them in order and
started singing a song while going around the pieces until her husband came
back to life and later on came to be known as the ‘god of afterlife’.Though the
same motif may be found repeated in various myths and folktales ,everyone of
them unique in their own way , the
feeling of faith and turst seems to be the intersecting point for all of them.
Idea of
Paroksha or paradox as observed by Subhash Kak in Epic myths can be extended to
folk literature too. As Kak observes in such narratives the moral ambiguity
works like the hubris of Greek myth and drama, creating a space that is not
quite in the realm of gods, although it is superhuman. The story of Akanandun
has definitely an other worldly aura about it. Today we might not be able to
relate to what to our rational senses would appear too irrational or illogical
but the violent imageries replete with deep phychological meanings have been a
part of Indian culture since hoary past.Disowning such stories or art works
shows our tremendous disconnect with our own past. Maet or Malangs as they were
known in Kashmir were a reality just two
decades back and probably exist to this day. Our parents and grand parents are
witness to their mystical powers and seemingly mad actions. Existing on a different plane of reality
nobody dared question them. I have heard how people used to fear Nand Mot and
what he had to say to them.Mysticism is part of our culture and unfortunately
we are losing touch with it.Unfortunately we have..turned ourselves into a
fearful bunch ..thinking about the dangerous consequence before embarking on
anything new…Years of submissive behavior has made us puppets in the hands of
our own apprehensions which it is a high time to fight.
