Mythology is “the song of the universe, the music of the sphere,” said Joseph Campbell, the well-known American mythographer. This universal music resonates subliminally throughout the mythology-centred works of Italian author and publisher Roberto Calasso. He is widely acclaimed for his trilogy The Ruin of Kasch (1983), The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony (1988), and Ka (1996). The latest, L’Ardore (The Heat), was published in Italian last year. While the first two books take a new look at Greek mythology, Ka and L’Ardore are based on Indian mythology.
Ka (from the Sanskrit ka: meaning Who?) is a panoramic work that spans the gamut of Hindu mythology. In 15 chapters, the author explores and
unveils dimensions of consciousness using mythic motifs. Dextrously blending creativity and scholarship, Ka has elements of narrative, philosophy, mysticism, and a novel, and effectively captures the paradoxes and complexities of Indian mythology. Roberto Calasso was recently in Chennai for the launch of the Tamil translation of Ka by well-known Tamil novelist and poet K Anandh.
Excerpts from an interview:
What is the path that took you to Indian mythology?
I was always fascinated by the simple fact of story telling. In India, however, it was the metaphysical side that attracted me — the particular way of thought as exemplified in the Vedas. That is something mysterious and fascinating. I was drawn to the Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita from a very early age — 16 or 17 years. I immediately knew that I found something there that I will not find anywhere else. So I started looking for more and here I am!
When I started writing on the subject, it started with The Ruin of Kasch which is the first part of the multi-volume work, of which Ka is the third part. As of now I have completed seven. The latest, L’Ardore which is just out, like Ka, is totally focused on Indian mythology.
What were the challenges you faced in writing Ka?
They were huge. It took me eight years to write Ka. For years I have been working in the forests of the Greek myths and they were wide enough. Then I found myself in the jungle of Indian myths which was even thicker! The idea was to go from the Rig Vedas to the Puranas with a range of many, many centres and totally different forms. It was complicated and had many layers.
Even in Ka, you go from the part which is specifically connected with the Rig Veda, a large part with the Brahmanas (the Prajapati stories), the Shiva and Krishna stories that come from later sources, and the most recent one, in a way, is the Buddha (5th century), the most modern part of the book. I tried to show how all these things, including the Buddha, belonged together. And that is the
essential point.
In order to understand the Rig Veda one has to take into account later developments, which might look like as if they are in totally different directions, but nevertheless are connected. In the course of all this I had to learn Sanskrit, which I did on the books, like many others. I wanted to follow the texts directly because translations are so different from one scholar to another.
What draws you to myths?
Humankind in general started with myths. There is no civilisation that has not started by telling stories. Telling stories is a way of knowing. Myths are the original form of story telling; a way of acquiring knowledge. There are certain things you can get to only through stories. A mythology is not a single story. It is a large tree of stories. And that is exactly what we have lost today,
everywhere. In India, Europe… the entire world. It is essential to get inside the branches of the tree because they are all connected.
We were talking about the large body of stories in India from Rig Veda to the Puranas. You have to know a bit of everything. In the Puranas you can find details that are enlightening about aspects in the Rig Veda. The opposite is also true. You cannot understand myths if you don’t get inside such complicated things. This connection is illuminating.
What are the similarities and dissimilarities between Indian and Greek mythology?
That is a fascinating theme. I didn’t want to make a comparative book on Indian mythology. That’s a different enterprise. Mythologies are self-sufficient. They should clarify the elements within themselves. Yet it is true that there are certain similarities between Greek and Indian myths. Certain stories are akin and connected. For example, the story of Helen of Troy who has twin brothers, and the story of Saranyu and the Aswins. These are two stories which go in different directions but have very specific elements in common. That doesn’t mean it was a direct influence. It is impossible to say that and even useless. But it belongs to the essence of these characters.
For instance, the fact that Helen has an existence even as a phantom (simulacrum) and in some stories Saranyu has chaaya or shadow. The
Aswins and the Greek twins are connected with horses, and medicine. There are parallels and common elements between the myths of Dionysius and Shiva.
Mythologies are a sort of universal lingua franca that go from one to the other. It is, however, important not to fall into the trap of establishing direct connections because that is impossible. When you try to do it, you force the elements. But it is essential to see the relations and similarities.
How did the form of Ka emerge?
Well, that’s an important point. All the books in this series have a different form. Form is essential in literature. Ka in a way is akin to the Marriage of Cadmus which starts with the story of Zeus who disguised as a bull kidnaps Europa. It then goes through in a very labyrinthine way through Greek mythology. In Ka you start with the story of Garuda that is so essential because it tells us how the heavenly element of soma (nectar) was taken to the Earth. So it’s the background of everything. The form is that of a narrative as in the myths. After all, mythography is the most ancient form of literature.
The story of Garuda is an ancient Vedic text, the Satapatha Brahmana. The idea is to follow different paths. In the chapter on the Sabha, the Saptarishis speak like the characters in a play. Other forms as in the stories of Shiva and Parvati are Romanesque or like a novel with Shiva and Parvati as the main characters. It was overwhelming to write on the Mahabharata. I chose only to take a few strands from the Mahabharata — strands which were often connected with the rest of the book. The Mahabharata is essential to understanding Indian mythology because everything flows into its current.
How did writing Ka impact on you?
I was living in Vedic India for seven years! That still goes on… What is particularly evident in Ka is that these kinds of thoughts espoused in the Upanishads and Brahmanas, is in a way, the most remote and the most incompatible with what we have around us today. Today, practically not even a single category of these things is accepted. If you create a clash between these two entities, the result can be fascinating. The last part of the book is about that. And it should show how unsatisfactory is the way of accounting of our minds and our lives today. A sort of battle between these elements — the idea of the mind (manas) and the idea of the mind dominant today.
— nandini.murali8@gmail.com