As Chandrayaan-3 lands on the moon, it just so happens that the name of the current Chief Justice of India, D Y Chandrachud, means “on whose brow the moon takes refuge” – a title for Shiva.
The story goes that a long time ago, the moon was cursed with a wasting disease because he favoured only one of his many wives, the 27 lunar mansions (nakshatra). As per another tale, this happened because he dared elope with Tara (star), wife of Brihaspati (Jupiter). In either case, he began to wane. Fearing he would disappear forever he ran to the gods for help. They told him to worship Shiva. Why Shiva? Because from Shiva springs the Ganga which has the power to help the dead be reborn. If Shiva can give the dead another chance at life, he surely can resurrect the waning moon.
Shiva appeared before Chandra at the site we now call Somnath, on the shores of Gujarat, and placed the moon-god on his hair-knot, helping him wax again. Soma is the Vedic herb of regeneration. Shiva is identified with it. In time, the moon itself came to be known as Soma, for it regenerates, and reminds all of us that what wanes eventually waxes, what crumbles eventually resurrects, what collapses eventually rises. Be it temples. Be it democracy. Be it civil society.
As per legend, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj who established the Maratha empire, defying Mughal might in the 17th century, wore the mark of the moon on his forehead. It is called “chandra-kor”, or the lunar crescent. It was meant to inspire people never to give up on the idea of freedom (swarajya), to remind all that after the dark night of the new moon, the waxing begins, and we make our way towards the full moon. The brave warrior men and women of Maharashtra have since chosen the dynamic chandra-kor of their king over the traditional dormant bindi.
For many, the crescent moon is the symbol of Islam because it appears on the flags of Pakistan and Turkey. It is actually the symbol of the Ottoman Empire that controlled much of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It started being used only in the 15th century, after the conquest of Byzantium, when the founder Osman had a dream of a crescent moon stretching from one horizon to another, marking the extent of the empire he would rule. Since the Ottoman Sultan was deemed Caliph for nearly four centuries, his symbol became the symbol of the Islamic world.
Devdutt Pattanaik is an Indian physician turned leadership consultant, mythologist, author and communicator whose works focus largely on the areas of myth, religion, mythology, and management.
Comments