A fable with a moral

ONE of the more difficult figures of speech that we encounter in literature is the ‘allegory’ (late Middle English), which is formed by a combination of Greek words ‘allos’ (other) and ‘agoria’ (speaking). Allegories (noun, plural) explore abstract ideas. 

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Allegories provided a commentary on the more complex aspects of human life by personifying or characterising values and attributes. Of great significance once, it is now an old-fashioned word, inhabiting an alien, unfamiliar landscape.

The Faerie Queene, an unfinished religious epic by Edmund Spenser, (1552-1599) is an allegorical, literary poem wherein different sets of characters represent virtue and vice.

George Orwell’s Animal Farm (1945) is a modern allegory, providing critical comment on the aftermath of the Russian Revolution by using animals to represent human behaviour. 

Allegories tell stories, and discuss abstract concepts through the narration of events. 

Two allegorical stories from ancient India have recently occasioned great anguish for the literal minded. In one version, Durga or Mahishasuramardini, a powerful goddess, is created by the male gods (in defiance of the laws of creation) to destroy Mahishasura, a strong adversary. Granted the boon of invincibility by the gods, Mahishasura makes a list of people who must not vanquish him and overlooks the category of women. Therefore, the Goddess is evoked to destroy him.

In another version, Mahishasura’s great strength and wisdom threaten the gods who plot his downfall by organising his seduction by a beautiful woman. He succumbs to these machinations.

One version speaks of how positive female energy overpowers negative male energy, while the other version speaks of how positive male energy can be overwhelmed by negative female energy. In different versions, Durga and Mahishasura  symbolise positive and negative primal energies.

A third narrative highlights the reconciliation between Durga and Mahishasura. Durga, who in a previous life was the consort of Shiva, discovers that in a past life, Mahishasura himself was a great devotee of Shiva. This provides the opportunity for new configurations.

Allegories seldom present facts or provide a single linear narrative. The genealogy of asuras and Devas, for instance, traces back to a common father (Kashyap) and his two wives, the sisters Aditi and Diti. This expands the dimensions of the allegorical narrative further, compelling the recognition that evil and good lie very close to each other, originate from the same source and are often interchangeable.

Abstract ideas should not be reduced to unidimensional representation and become the site for bellicosity (confrontation). Durga and Mahishasura, despite their complex  allegorical personas, are not flesh and blood citizens of Modern India. They embody abstractions and cannot be used to wage divisive wars upon the vulnerable inhabitants of this brave new world.