Dr Binny Mathew 1th July2018

Asst Professor English Dept

St Berchman’s College, Kerala, India
binnykm@rediffmail.com

TITLE: ASURA: A TALE OF VANQUISHED

KEYWORDS: Asura, Dr. Binny Mathew, Ramayana, Anand Neelakantan’s Asura, Mythology,
Demythology

Abstract
This is an attempt to analyze how the Malayali author Anand Neelakantan employs the literary
device of demythologization in his English novel Asura: Tale of the Vanquished, which retells
the story of Ramayana from the perspective of Ravana, the villain the Sanskrit epic Ramayana.
Valmiki's projection of the superiority of Aryan race and culture over the Dravidian people and
civilization through the portrayal of an idealized Rama is subverted in this novel which projects
Ravana as hero. Neelakantan's attempt to caricature Ravana as a merciless, unprincipled and
power-hungry power monger seems to ignore the ideological subversions of Ravana in Kamba’s
Tamil version of Ramayana, a work Which unravels the heroism of Ravana. How
demythologization operates in Asura, whether its demythologization helps a better understanding
of the popular re readings of Ramayana, how far the author himself is ideologically conditioned
in his bold literary are topics addressed in this study. More critical social scientists tend to
question the innocence of myth. Western scholars like Herbert Spencer. Max Muller, Roland
Barthes, and Claude Lévi-Strauss have critically examined the role of myths in conditioning
human lives. They seem to think that myth is nothing more than illusion and a misrepresentation
of names, leading to self-deception.
Introduction
Barthes argues that "in a bourgeoisie society myth is language, and depoliticized speech meant to
strip politics from speech" (142-145). As a tool of the oppressor who constructs myths to justify
his position, myth distorts alienates meaning, naturalizes history, purifies things, makes
discourses appear innocent. For Levi Strauss, myths make human beings believe that they do
understand and that the present understating, present tools of analysis valid and justified; they
become political tools of oppressors to replace history so that "the future Will remain faithful to
the present and to the past and thereby conditioning human beings into subjection" (42-43). In
recent times, post-colonial, feminist and Dalit scholars increasingly challenge western,
patriarchal and traditional myths as they reread literary texts to unravel the politics in them.
Rereading is a subaltern literary device that challenges the apparent depoliticization of the
society. Kamba' s Ramayana Which represents the Dravidian viewpoint is a rereading of Valmiki
' s Ramayana Which is a discourse of the dominating Aryan culture. In the further retelling of
Asura, Neelakantan seems to caricature Ravana, the hero of the Dravidian work and the attempt
seems to delegitimize the claim of Ravana’ s greatness that Kamaba constructs. The rich cultural
and traditional values of pre-colonial India primarily originated in the Hindu sacred texts and
their illustrations through epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata. Corruption and Correction of
these value systems occurred at various stages in the history Of India through the intervention of
other major religions like Buddhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism.
Christianity and Islam as well as by reformations within Hindu religion. The biggest single
modernizing influence on it has been the introduction of modern universal education. In the
process, India' s traditional myths, beliefs and value systems underwent radical rereading by
various interest groups and interpreters. Wrong interpretations of myths could lead to a partial
truth and these might affect social and communal balance in a complex nation as India. Through
superstition, mysticism, secrecy and sorcery perpetuated through religion, India has unique social
hierarchy with underprivileged and downtrodden deprived of power. Such beliefs later get
institutionalized as myths which become part of popular culture and shape tradition. This project
aims to deconstruct Ramayana in order to demythologize it, using Anand Neelakantan’s Asura:
Tale of the Vanquished. Derived from Rama and ayana or 'Rama's journey' Ramayana is an epic
poem comprising of 24,000 verses in seven books (kandas) and 500 cantos (sargas). In this,
Valmiki recounts the tale of Rama, the seventh incarnation of Vishnu, the Hindu god of
preservation, and the search for his Wife Sita Who is abducted by Ravana, the king of Lanka.
Many other versions of Ramayana run contrary to this popular outline are recorded by various
scholars (Richman; Ramanujan). If Valmiki' s Ramayana is a story of the prince of Ayodhya
going to rescue his abducted Wife from the Asura demon king, Neelakantan’s Asura is the story
of a father rescuing his long-lost daughter from her husband who is not well-cared for.
Neelakantan's story is very complex and is itself has many elements adopted from the many
versions of Ramayana. The exaggerations which embellished the basic story in a course of many
millennia obliterates the real in the story only help to depoliticize the present and ensure the
hegemony of certain ideologies. An engineer by profession, Anand Neelakantan from
Thripoonithura, the capital of the Hindu kings of Kochi, wrote Asura, retelling Ramayana and
later wrote Ajaya and Kali, a retelling of the other great Indian Epic, Mahabharata, in two parts.
"Asura: Tale of the Vanquished' the interpretation of the Ramayana from the point of view of the
antagonist Ravana, and in a sense could be called Ravanayana. It makes readers sympathize with
Ravana, unlike in Valmiki 's text. Its blurb highlights its subaltern perspective: The story of the
Ravanayana had never been told. Asura is the epic tale of the vanquished Asura people, a story
that has been cherished by the oppressed outcastes Of India for 3000 years. Until now, no Asura
has dared to tell the tale. But perhaps the time has come for the dead and the defeated to speak.
(Neelakantan Back cover).
The impact of myths on culture is significant to understand works of this nature. Culture is a
collection of ideas Which govern the way of life and behavior in society which is passed from
one generation to the other with each generation adding their own trademark to the new culture.
Myths are a part of these trademarks which are added by each generation. The story Of the Son
of God could be treated as one such myth. While believers hold it to be real, many believe it as a
myth added by a particular generation. Such myths tend to shape and condition our thought and
could Serve to promote certain ideologies in society. As myths affect the nature and culture of
the society itis part of, the myths in the Ramayana have had significant impact on Indian culture.
Indians celebrate festivals associated to Ramayana and consider its characters as divine.
Demythologization is a hermeneutic approach to religious texts and it seeks to separate
cosmological and historic claims from the philosophical, ethical and theological teachings.
The term was introduced by the German theologian Rudolf Bultmann (1884-1976) (New
Testament and Mythology and Other Basic Writings 3). Although he mainly talked about the
demythologization of Christian theological concepts, like the Bible, the birth and crucifixion Of
Jesus, the concept has lately been applied to Indian epics as well. The Portuguese philosopher
Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) also had argued in his Theologico-Political Treatise that events in
the scripture inconsistent with natural laws must be interpreted either as unreliable or as a
metaphorical or allegorical. Ignorance of the workings of nature result in reading unexplainable
natural events as miracles and this public habit could be found in sacred scriptures which aim not
at narrating things in terms of their natural but rather at exciting the -popular imagination" in
order to impress the minds of the masses with devotion. Demythologization aims to explain these
in terms of their natural and scientific causes and contexts. Demythologization also requires the
understanding of the resistance to rereading myths. When the orthodox refuse to read myths in
the light of new knowledge, resistance emerge from certain pockets of society. Just as how the
Jews and Pharisees condemned the story of Jesus as heresy, in the resent India, there are pockets
of resistance. Meanwhile there are places where the supremacy Of Ravana and the villany of
Rama are highlighted. Supernatural phenomenon in the epic also becomes points of resistance. In
short, existence of myths and their abundance pull a myth in opposite directions—one
maintaining myths as true renderings, and the other as exaggerated versions of a commonplace
event. How far one author living in Hindu tradition challenge the sacred myths of Hinduism at a
time of the rise Of Hindutva in India is an interesting question. Whether Neelakantan's rereading
itself is a subversive attack on the subaltern rereading’s of Kambaramayana is another
fascinating topic for examination. This project is divided into three chapters. It aims at the
deconstructing of mythology in the Ramayana. The first chapter deals with the methodology or
the theory used to study this project, which is that of demythologization. The second chapter
aims at a retelling of the Ramayana as a version Which is different from the conventional
Valmiki Ramayana.
The third chapter aims at dealing with the deconstruction of various myths in the Ramayana and
logical explanation for various myths with reference to Asura: Tale of the Vanquished. The same
idea of kerygma is what needs to be incorporated into the Ramayana further understanding of the
values and the traditions that it is trying to teach us. The Demythologization of the Ramayana is
a topic which has been dealt with by many a people. This Project mainly aims at relating the
different re-renderings of the Ramayana and demythologizing the different myths that are
associated in it with reference to Asura: Tale of the Vanquished. Different myths of the
Ramayana just told in a different vein. This method makes it more which already makes it
another re-rendering of the Ramayana. It helps us gain a better understanding of history as
historical events are often peppered with a touch of exaggeration and later turn out to be mythical
in proportion, as in the ease of the Ramayana.
In the wake of the Copernican Revolution, the scientific method, theEnlightenment.The people o
f the 21 st century encounter the world in terms of science andcritical rationality more than ever.I
t seems that even in the face of strong and fervent counter movements suchas romanticism, post
modernism, and the various religious fundamentalists, arationalistic scientific view is prevalent t
hroughout the world, especially in the
west.In the sphere of Christian theology and biblical studies, Rudolf Bultmannseemed to share th
is outlook in the early to mid-
20th century when he offeredhis approach of demythologization applied to the interpretation of t
he NewTestament.Bultmann ' s method for interpreting the New Testament, shook the Westernth
eological world and sparked an intricate and poignant debate regarding thecnature of myths.
His hermeneutical venture termed "Demythologization" argues that since theworldview of the Ne
w Testament is basically and thoroughly mythological, theterminology and imagery in which the
core biblical proclamation is conveyed isunintelligible in the modem, scientific, post-
Enlightenment world.

To the modern society, living with a world view conditioned by modernism, thelinguistic univers
e or the New Testament does not make sense.If it is to make sense, one has to strip it of its mytho
logy and reveal thekerygma, the essential teaching that lies at the text's core.This would enable th
e modern man to distinguish between the experience latentin the mythical explanation from the e
xplanation itself.
For Bultmann, kerygma is the fundamental Gospel message set in the NewTestament mythical c
ontext.
It is the underlying essence Of the Christ-vent that Bultmann wishes to
salvage when dispelling the mythological framework in the process of demythologizing.

Transformative, and liberating truth embedded within the New Testament textsto be discovered i
n the process of reading.
It is "The and inner meaning of these mythic representations of the truth aboutJesus." It is univer
sal by virtue of its transcendence of any particular contextsince it can be experienced and gained
a new time passes and contexts change.
A myth contains a Story, which in turn contains a symbolic meaning.
It performs a symbolic function by virtue of narration because what symbolsintend to convey is a
lready drama." NO matter how deep we may attempt to dig beneath Symbolism wenonetheless fi
nd a linguistic structure, for symbols can only be realized incomprehension in human thought thr
ough interpretation, which meansunderstanding through language.As Paul Ricoeur aptly states,
"The symbolic manifestation as a thing is a matrixof symbolic meanings as words" Therefore, th
e appearance of anything inhuman experience is interpreted.Made meaningful, and becomes as s
ymbolism as narrative, which is theessential character of myth; It is what a myth is.

This line of reasoning would advocate that the modern scientific mind alsocannot avoid myth.Th
ough the "hard" data itself may arguably be non-
mythological, itsinterpretation and the worldview in which it is processed and understood isinfus
ed with myth.Even the observation and comprehension of scientific concepts, as well as theScien
tific method that produces these concepts, is an interpretive enterpriseand, as such, Exists in the r
ealm of myth.
This is especially applicable when speaking of the Assumptions andpresuppositions modern scie
nce carries when proceeding in its endeavors, which is a facet of interpretation that some of Bult
mann's critics acknowledgewhen analyzing his theory.Or at least fulfilled, by a re conception of
what it has started.
For Bultmann, myth is equivalent to the premodern, nonscientific understanding of the world.
The Current modern Scientific world view that so pervades our lives is hencenon-
mythological operates contrary to myth.As has been elucidated, the world view of modern scienc
e is also a myth.

The same idea of kerygma is what needs to be incorporated into the Ramayanafor further underst
anding of the values and the traditions that it is trying to
teach us.The Demythologization of the Ramayana is a topic which has been dealt with by
many a people.Demythologization deals With or attempts reading myths in the light of scientific
knowledge and replacing them with more logical and scientific interpretations.This Project mainl
y aims at relating the different re-
renderings of the Ramayanaand demythologizing the different myths that are associated in it wit
h reference
to Asura: Tale of the Vanquished.The text is already written in a manner which portrays the anta
gonist as theprotagonist.Different myths of the Ramayana just told in a different vein.

This method makes it more which already makes it another re-rendering of the Ramayana.
It also harbors in it the realistic and acceptable to the intelligence of the modernman who is accus
tomed to the modern sciences and the technologies of this age and time.
The attempt this project makes is to deconstruct the various mythologicalelements and trace the r
oot of these myths and how they must have comeabout in popular culture and main stream societ
y.
Demythologization helps us to see examine a myth in common light and to gainamore rooted and
gain understanding in this event about which multipleexplanations are possible.

It helps us gain a better understanding of history as historical events are oftenpeppered with a tou
ch of exaggeration and later turn out to be mythical inproportion, as in the ease of the Ramayana.
Demythologization gives us proper understanding of particular myths.
The main content of the Ramayana its general definition as seen in popular culture is quite
different from that seen in the present-day academic circle. Where many arguments about the
Ramayana being an actual historical event and that of a collection of myths is a very widely
discussed topic. The Ramayana has its own many renderings and its own interpretations which
are drawn from proof which is in some case historical and in Some case just stories heard by a
person passed down through word of mouth alone. Whether a true and accurate rendering of the
Ramayana can be Obtained is a quite problematic question. Ramayana is a fictional account of
certain historical events which took place almost three thousand years ago. If these are proved to
be historical, some fear that the sacredness of Ramayana will be lost. Some hold such evidences
are mere justifications and that Ramayana is not historical because Of lack of evidence to prove
its existence. Rama's Bridge, constructed in around 5000 B.C, using wood and stones, and
backed by the bridge construction methods are mentioned in the Valmiki's text supports the
Ramayana claim for historicity. It will be quite assumptive of us to put an assumption that the
Ramayana is indeed a historical event.
The main aim of this chapter will be to focus the differences between version of the Ramayana
put forward by Valmiki and the novel Asura written by Neelakantan. The focus Will be on
finding out about the different versions Of the Ramayana from Which the novel has borrowed
this premise for the novel. The novel relies on different interpretations of Ramayana and relates
to stories which are quite common in the Indian culture about the persons of Ravana and also
that Of Rama. This is what makes the issue at hand more interesting and complex. The story Of
Asura focuses mainly on Ravana and his people the Asuras. This novel takes a bold step by
writing a different version of Ramayana, deviating from the conventional Valmiki's version.
Contrary to their description in conventional texts, Asura does not portray Devas as representing
good and Asuras as the epitome of evil. The prevalence of the common notion that the Devas are
good and the Asuras are bad is the result of the dominance of an ideology that justifies the Devas
through texts such Valmiki Ramayana’s poses to us a problem Which is highly related to fidelity
in myths and tales. The novel has borrowed generously from one Of the Jain versions of the
Ramayana which pictures Sita as the daughter Of Ravana. This version Of the Ramayana is the
sanghdasa's version which presents only a brief account Of Rama's Story. In this version Of the
Ramayana, Ravana deserts his child out of fear for bad luck. The latter half of the story revolves
around Ravanas realization that his daughter is still alive and he thinks that he is going and
saving his daughter from the hands of a man who is not treating his daughter according to the
standards that an Asura princess deserves. This deviation that the book takes from the original or
the so-called original text of the Ramayana, the Valmiki Ramayana is a very Wide one which
can indeed alter the viewpoint of the person who reads the epic in these two different contexts.
When we see the portrayal of the characters in the Valmiki Ramayana and in Asura: Tale of the
Vanquished we See Vast difference in perspective especially in the portrayal of Ravana. In the
Valmiki Ramayana we See a Rama who is just and righteous and has no short comings.
We imagine a Sita Devi who is calm and composed in enemy territory and Who is an image of a
perfect woman, but here too we see that Sita is not the well-behaved princess we believe her to
be but a cunning woman with a heart brewing for vengeance on the Asuras. We see the strong
independent and somewhat democratic Asura king instead Of the Oft depicted tyrant Who led his
army into a battle which led to the destruction of his race. We see Ravana the man not Ravana
the Demon we are so used to seeing in the Valmiki Ramayana. The portrayal Of Characters so
hence is also a Way dispersal of this novel from the original well accepted and widely read
narrative of the Valmiki Ramayana. The Other and a more surprising twist and indeed a very
interesting Story line we see developing in this Novel is the introduction of a new character
altogether into the context of the Ramayana. There are a lot of different versions Of the
Ramayana that portrays the Story indifferent manners. For starters we should have a Clear
realization of the difference between the Valmiki Ramayana and the text used for the case study
that is "Asura: Tale of the Vanquished’. We have come to consensus on the different portrayal of
the Ramayana in these two different texts. We have also indeed seen the different versions Of the
Ramayana from which the Novel borrows its premise.
Never mind the fact if the story is real or not, can those fantastical stories or myths that we see in
the Ramayana, can they be true? Can they be given a realistic answer to? This is what
demythologization in essence does. Where Bultmann was concerned with finding the answer
relating to the myths in the New Testament and with relation to the life of Jesus, this project aims
at on a small scale demythologizing the Ramayana with relation to Neelakantan'sAsura.We will
dwell more on the various mythological or supernatural events in the Ramayana rather than a
full-scale attempt at demythologizing the Ramayana. This statement indeed puts rest the myth
which claimed that the Ramayana is an epic which was prophetic in nature. The number of
supernatural elements in the Ramayana cannot be listed out and demythologized in this humble
project, so an attempt at demythologizing some of the stand out myths will be made. The
Ramayana is a store house of myths of which a few are stand outs and these will be the prime
focus of this project. The first image that one thinks of when hearing the name Ravana is that of
a man with ten heads. Did a man with ten heads exist? Or was it just a metaphor which described
a man with intellectual and physical capability of ten men? According to the Valmiki Ramayana
the story of Ravanas ten heads goes like this. Willing to please the Lord, Ravana axed his head.
Each time that happened the head grew back, which continued 10 times, pleasing Shiva. The
next myth that is also a stand out in the Ramayana is that of the PushpakaVimana or the flying
chariot. In the Ramayana, the Pushpaka Vimana of Ravana is described as follows: The
Pushpaka Vimana that resembles the Sun and belongs to my brother was brought by the
powerful Ravana; that aerial and excellent Vimana going everywhere at will that chariot
resembling a bright cloud it the sky and the King [Rama] got in, and the excellent chariot at the
command of the Raghira, roseup into the higher atmosphere. We can see in the Novel Ravana
referring to the Pushpaka Vimana while in anticipation of attacking Lanka which is ruled by
Kubera his half-brother. We see Ravana’ s sister Surapanakhaalso shape shifting into the form of
a beautiful woman. There are also other myths of many shapes shifting Asuras.This is how the
myth of the Golden deer is explained by Neelakantan in his novel. The next and sometimes the
most fascinating myth is that of Hanuman lifting the Dronagiri Mountain. According to the
Valmiki Ramayana when Lakshmana is badly wounded during the battle against Indrajit,
Hanuman is sent to fetch the Sanjivani, a powerful life-restoring herb, from Dronagiri Mountain
in the Himalayas, to revive him. In the novel Anand Neelakantan is doubtful of this myth and has
not found an effective way to communicate this event that took place. This shows us that some
myths are even beyond the calling of reason sometimes and can't be gratified with a concrete
explanation. None of these myths are so important in Indian as that of Rama being a
reincarnation of Lord Vishnu and Ravana as an Asura.In Valmiki Ramayana Rama is portrayed
as a god and Ravana as a Demon fighting each another.
In Neelakantan's Asura, the battle is between Rama the man and Ravana the man. The
Ramayana in an Indian context is a text with great metaphysical and spiritual values. If we
concentrate on the myths that the Ramayana holds in its vast pages we will be amazed at the
close link that it has with reality. In this project I have in short deconstructed the various myths
that are associated with the Ramayana. When we see the vast collection of myths held in it we
are indeed amazed by the possibilities that we are presented to interpret each myth in a different
specific way. If our aim is to research deeply into these myths we can find a lot of different
interpretations. This project aims at a certain re rendering of the Ramayana along with the
Demythologization of certain myths in it with reference to Anand Neelakantan'swork Asura:
Tale of the Vanquished. We see not a myth but, in a sense, a historical event taking place. Myth
making has been a traditional human characteristic since recorded times. Myths are seen as
universal and timeless stories that reflect and shape our lives and are often justified since that
human beings need myths to identify with society, to be humane, spiritual, transcend selfishness,
and relate to the environment: We need myths that will help us to identify with all our fellow-
beings, not simply with those who belong to our ethnic, national or ideological tribe. We need
myths that help us to realize the importance of compassion, which is not always regarded as
sufficiently productive or efficient in our pragmatic, rational world. We need myths that help us
to create a spiritual attitude, to see beyond our immediate requirements, and enable us to
experience a transcendent value that challenges our solipsistic selfishness. We need myths that
help us to venerate the earth as sacred once again, instead of merely using it as a 'resource’. The
creation of myths leads to the creation of traditions and forms the matrix called religion. Religion
is what gives the force to myths and the needed backing to the claim that it states. The myths in
Ramayana lead to the rise of forces that help mythology stake acclaim of supremacy. In this
project I aim at deconstructing a few myths that are seen quite commonly and which are famous
in the Ramayana. Due to the limitations of the project only a few of these myths are discussed.
The interpretations of these myths are an area of research which has the scope to demythologize
the religion of India in one sense.
Works Cited
Armstrong, Karen. A Short History of Myth. Toronto: Alfred A Knopf, 2005. Print

Barthes, Roland. Mythologies. Trans. Annette Lavers. New York: The Noonday Press, 1972.
Print.

Bultmann, Rudolf. “New Testament and Mythology and Other Basic Writings.” Kerygma and
Myth: A Theological Debate. Ed. Schubert M. Ogden. Philadelphia: Fortress Publishers, 1984.
Print.

Levi-Strauss, Claude. Myth and Meaning. New York: Schocken Books, 1979. Print.

Neelakantan, Anand. Asura: Tale of the Vanquished: The Story of Ravana and His People.
Mumbai: Lead start Publishing Pvt Ltd, 2012. Print.
Ramanujan, A K. “Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts on
Translation.” The Collected Essays by A.K. Ramanujan. Ed. Vinay Dharwadker. New Delhi:
Oxford University Press, 2004. Print.

Richman, Paula. Many Ramayanas: The Diversity of a Narrative Tradition in South Asia.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991. Print.

Ricoeur, Paul. The Symbolism of Evil. Trans. Emerson Buchanan. Boston: Beacon Press, 1967.
Print.