Greek mythology – and its close equivalent Roman mythology are some of the most popular ancient myths that people know of today. Norse mythology, or the stories of the Germanic peoples are also popular today – mainly because of the rise of modern-day children’s books like the Percy Jackson series, which offered kids a modern, revamped version of the ancient legends, and movies like the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, when I read the Mahabharata, an ancient Hindu epic, I was rather surprised to see the similarities between these different stories, and their parent cultures.
The Mahabharata in itself isn’t a copy of Greek and Norse stories, but the underlying values, ideals, and the practices were definitely off-putting. The reason for this didn’t take too much trouble to find. The peoples of Europe and North India, who told these stories, had originally come from one single homeland – the Russian steppe. This fact was discovered in the 18th century, when British scholars had translated Sanskrit texts into European languages, and noticed the similarity between Sanskrit, Latin, Greek, German, and Persian. For example:
| Language: | Word 1 | Word 2 |
| English | Mother | Father |
| Latin | Mater | Pater |
| Greek | Mitéra | Patéras |
| German | Mutter | Vater |
| Persian | Madar | Pedar |
| Sanskrit | Matr | Pitr |
The Indo-European theory was accepted as fact and from then on, European historians jumped down the rabbit hole in order to find the missing ancestors, who were known as ‘Aryans’, after the Sanskrit term ‘arya‘ and the Persian term ‘airiia‘ both designating their own people. The Germans especially were quite interested in the search for, as they called it, the Urvolk, the Ursprache, and the Urheimat, i.e. the Original people, the Original speech, and the Original homeland. With this came a greater desire to know more about other branches of the Indo-European family tree. Of course, we now know that this fanaticism had some unsavory consequences, to put it lightly. But it also created a new field – Indology, and it also set the foundation for comparative linguistics, and it created more interest in archeology. So, who were the Urvolk and what did they leave for their descendants?
The Proto-Indo-Europeans, as they are known now, were a nomadic people whose lives were centered around three things: herding, horses, and war. They were a very warlike people as evidenced by the glorifying of violence in their descendants and the way that they swept over Eurasia. Horses were the key to their success, and they understood that as well. The Scythians, Iranian tribes who remained in Central Asia, put horses on jewelry, dagger hilts, etc. The Sun and the Moon were both war chariots driven by their respective gods, and the horse
The Ancient Greek religion was based mainly on ritual sacrifice. This usually entailed either wine or animals like bulls, goats and boars. The Romans also emulated this practice, along with a lot of other things taken from Greece. Surprisingly, the Mahabharata makes multiple references to sacrifices – for many purposes. The idea of sacrifice in India was also a loophole to eat meat – which was otherwise a sin in killing innocent lives. However, food ordained to the gods could be eaten after the gods and the ancestors had their share, via fire. Similar to Greece, the usual offerings would be a bull, a cow, or a horse. In Greece, sacrifices were usually made for luck in big ventures, such as a war, or to respect someone at their funeral. However, in India, anyone who had the money to do so was required to perform sacrifices.
The gods themselves also have countless similarities, starting with the sky god. Zeus was the head of the Greek pantheon, the most powerful god, and the master of the sky and the rain. He was referred to as the “Father” or Zeus Pater, which in Latin became Jupiter. Similarly, in the Mahabharata Indra occupies Zeus’ role. Indra was the king of the gods and he was propitiated for good rains. Interestingly, in the Rigveda, the founding text of Hinduism, Indra is the god of rain but not the sky in itself. Instead, his father, Dyaus Pitr (literally “sky father”), holds the role. In Norse myths, Thor is the thunder god, and his father Odin is the god of air and the All-Father.
Indian mythology also has a similarity with the Bible and that is the story of Noah’s Ark. The exact same story is told in the Mahabharata, where King Manu is told by the god Vishnu to build an ark to carry his family to safety while the great flood occurs. Similarly, in the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh, the hero’s ancestor Utnapishtim built a boat to save himself when the gods sent a flood to literally silence mankind because they were too loud. The flood myth doesn’t really occur in European mythologies, and seems to have been a product of agricultural societies that lived next to river floodplains..
Speaking of rivers, they play an important part in all of the Indo-European mythologies. Rivers are often connected to goddesses, such as the Saraswati. Danu, the mother of the evil Danavas in the Mahabharata, makes a surprising appearance in Europe with the Danube, Don, Dnieper, and Dniester rivers of Eastern Europe. The Irish also have Danu as a goddess whose people invaded Ireland before the Irish. The Saraswati, which repeatedly changed locations, was the holiest river in the Rigveda and the Avesta, the holy book of Zoroastrianism. The names of peoples and lands are also closely connected as well – and the Avesta is a treasure trove of peoples, lands, and practices.
One such practice among the Iranians and the Indians was the ritual drinking of soma. Called “haoma” in the Avesta and “soma” in Hindu texts, it was a psychedelic with effects similar to low doses of methamphetamine and cannabis, made from the ephedra plant. In the Mahabharata, the moon god Chandra is called Soma for his addiction to the intoxicating drink, and it is often called ‘Amrita’ or the elixir of immortality. This can be compared to ambrosia and nectar, the food and drink of the Greek gods, and apples of Idun in Norse mythology, but the thing that differentiates soma/haoma from other immortal foods is that people made it for themselves. Of course, it doesn’t actually make someone immortal, but the psychedelics probably instilled the thought. Like wine in Greece, soma was poured in sacrifices as an offering to Indra and the fire god Agni.
Focusing on the Avesta, concepts of good and evil in Zoroastrianism and early Hinduism seem to be at odds. The Zoroastrian main god is Ahura Mazda, who is locked in an everlasting battle against Angra Mainyu, the leader of the Daevas. Meanwhile, in the Mahabharata and other texts, the good Indra leads the Devas against the evil Asuras, who do not follow the Vedas. Among the Asuras are the Daityas and the Danavas. For Zoroastrians, Daitya is a river in the original homeland of all Aryans, including them and the Hindus (Airyanem Vaejah). The Dasas and Turvasas, enemies of the Vedic Aryans, were followers of Zoroastrianism. The Iranian names for these peoples were Dahae and Turya. Interestingly, the Fravardin Yasht, a minor text of Zoroastrianism, describes the Iranian Aryans as fighting against the Danus of Turya. However, the same Fravardin Yasht also says that the believers should worship the spirits (Fravashis) of the holy men of the Aryas, the Turyas, the Dahi, the Sainis, and the Sairimyas.
Norse mythology also has war-loving gods in the Aesir – who might be connected with the Asuras. The Aesir fought with the Norse gods of nature – the Vanir, in a battle that has been compared to the Iliad and the Mahabharata. Thor, arguably the most famous Norse god due to his appearance in Marvel, is part of the Aesir, as are his father Odin and other gods like Tyr and Loki. However, it has diverged significantly from the rest of the Indo-European myths, so we don’t really have much to infer from it. Most Norse myths are about Viking heroes and their exploits, and texts are often from much later periods, such as Icelander Snori Sturluson’s Eddas from the 13th century AD. Many texts were written from a Christian point of view that didn’t really capture the intricacies of Nordic religion and sought to downplay them as “pagan idolaters”
Returning to the Aryan ethnonym, it crops up in some surprising places. The names Alan and Ariana come from the word (Alans were an Iranian tribe who migrated to Europe in the Early Middle Ages) and the Finns and Sami used it to mean ‘slave’ or ‘southerner’.) Of course, we cannot forget the destruction tied with the term, and I think it’s only fair that I talk a little bit about how these legends and their creators were used as poster boys for one of the world’s greatest genocides: the Holocaust. In fact, Hitler and the Nazis were not the first (nor the last, sadly) people to express “Aryan” supremacy. It lied in the misunderstandings that the Urvolk or the speakers of Proto-Indo-European all called themselves Aryans, and that they were blond-haired, blue-eyed, and very different from the “lower” races that were the rest of the world.
The first reason was due to the fact that Vedic Sanskrit was the oldest Indo-European language yet discovered and that spurred a theory that the Aryans originated in India. However, many European nationalists did not agree; according to them, since most of the Indo-European languages and cultures were situated in Europe, it naturally followed that they must have come from Europe. Based on science in the 1700s, they concluded that the Aryans were a homogenous (of the same “race”, which is already a pseudoscientific thing) group with “Nordic” features like blond hair and blue eyes. They also claimed that the Nordic region had the “purest” Aryans, which led to the Nazis and the Holocaust and other things.
There are a lot of things wrong with this. In the first place, we now know of many Indo-European languages around the same time as Vedic Sanskrit, and we have also reconstructed a common ancestor for all of them. Secondly, there used to be way more Indo-European languages across Central Asia and East Asia until they were supplemented by the Turkic languages. Secondly, while the majority of the Indo-Europeans formed a single ethnic group at one point, both their culture and their genetics mixed with outsiders as they spread outwards and outwards. Thirdly, there is no one who can be identified as a “pure Aryan” because even Nordic people were mixed with the indigenous population of Europe who were there before the Indo-Europeans came. Even the Iranians of today are mixed with Arabs, Turks, Mongols, and even Mesopotamians. Genetics and ethnicity are much more complicated than just race, and even in the case that we are able to differentiate between groups of humans in physical terms, no one’s objectively “superior” to anyone else. Finally, the last, and most important point that white supremacists failed to notice is that the term “Arya” was only used by the (in their standards subpar) Iranians and the Vedic people of India. In fact, the Iranians and the Indians, who were probably of the same ethnic group, refused to associate with each other and would sooner welcome “foreigners” who followed their respective religions.
In summary, the exploration of Indo-European legends provides a captivating journey through the spiritual beliefs of ancient civilizations. From Ireland to India, these cultures shared intricate mythologies, performed similar rituals, and crafted cosmologies based on war, order, and the flow of nature that reflected their understanding of the world and their place within it. Through comparative analysis and linguistic studies, scholars have unveiled the interconnectedness of these diverse traditions, revealing shared themes, symbols, and deities. Yet, amidst this tapestry of beliefs, each culture also expressed its unique identity and worldview.
By studying Indo-European beliefs, we not only gain insights into the past but also deepen our appreciation for the rich diversity of human thought and experience. Moreover, this exploration invites us to reflect on the enduring relevance of these ancient beliefs in our modern world, prompting questions about the nature of spirituality, the human brain, and our views on our place within the cosmos. In this way, this comparison and story of Indo-European beliefs offers not only a glimpse into the past but also a lens through which to contemplate the timeless quest for meaning and connection.
Anay Ganesh 