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Indian Myth and Legend

Donald A. Mackenzie

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Book Excerpt: 
. . .Yama and Mitra—Yama as Judge of the Dead—The “Man in the Eye”—Brahman's Deal with Dharma-Yama—Sacrifice for a Wife—Story of Princess Savitri—Her Husband's Fate—How she rescued his Soul from Yama—The Heavens of Yama, Indra, and Varuna—Teutonic, Greek, and Celtic Heavens—Paradise denied to Childless Men—Religious Need for a Son—Exposure of Female Infants—Infanticide in Modern India—A Touching Incident.

In early Vedic times the dead might be either buried or cremated. These two customs were obviously based upon divergent beliefs regarding the future state of existence. A Varuna hymn makes reference to the “house of clay”, which suggests that among some of the Aryan tribes the belief originally obtained that the spirits of the dead hovered round the place of sepulture. Indeed, the dread of ghosts is still prevalent in India; they are supposed to haunt the li. . . Read More

Community Reviews

Not entirely accurate when compared to actual Sanskrit texts, but still an interesting read.

Feels slightly dated now, and the archaeology of the early Indian civilisations will have moved on. However, a good introduction to the major Indian sagas.

Myths and fables have always interested me. As a child the heroic tales captured my imagination but as an adult I have seen them as clues to new old worlds and civilizations and backdrops for scientific developments.