No matter the thousands of miles distance between the two, the parallelism is certainly striking and some fuel to the thoughts. Plutarch also presents Menander as an example of benevolent rule, and explains that upon his death, the honour of sharing his remains was claimed by the various cities under his rule, and they were enshrined in "monuments" (, probably stupas), in a parallel with the historic Buddha: "But when one Menander, who had reigned graciously over the Bactrians, died afterwards in the camp, the cities indeed by common consent celebrated his funerals; but coming to a contest about his relics, they were difficultly at last brought to this agreement, that his ashes being distributed, everyone should carry away an equal share, and they should all erect monuments to him. Following hiscomrade Patrocluss death, Achilles pledges to kill Hector. 15 http://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/The_Myths/Birth_of_Athena/birth_of_athena.html Also, after the reign of Menander I, several Indo-Greek rulers, such as Agathokleia, Amyntas, Nicias, Peukolaos, Hermaeus, Hippostratos, Menander II and Philoxenus depicted themselves or their Greek deities forming with the right hand a benediction gesture[11] identical to the Buddhist vitarka mudra (thumb and index joined together, with other fingers extended), which in Buddhism signifies the transmission of the Buddha's teaching. Another interesting fact is that Poseidons roman name is Neptune20, referring to the planet Neptune which is called Varuna in Hindi21. While this probably wont seem like something to be thankful for, Shiva isnt worried about obliterating the world, yet with annihilating oneself (assisting the Hindu individuals with eliminating themselves from their cravings) and with obliterating evil presences. Gods & Human Relations 11 Homeric Hymns, http://www.theoi.com/Text/HomericHymns3.html By. Different divine gods had their positions. The Indo-Greeks practiced numerous religions during the time they ruled in present-day northwestern India from the 2nd century BCE to the beginning of the 1st century CE. According to the epic Mahabharata, the stars of the Big Dipper were the seven sages or rishis. Although there may not be direct correspondence, we can find symbolic resemblance7. But there were also quite afew who went east including a group we know were called the Aryans who settled in India and Iran. Also in "Taxila", by John Marshall: "By this time, both the title (Dharmikasa) and the symbol (the Dharmachakra) were indissolubly associated with Buddhism and their use was quite enough to proclaim the king's adherence to that religion", p33, "A guide to Sanchi" John Marshall. While in Greek mythology it is Zeus. Indra, in Hindu mythology, the king of the gods. The geometric period from 900 BC to c. 800 BC forward. It is said that Indras weapon is made by Tvastar later known by Vishwakarma in modern Hindu religion. The Hindi word for father is pitar as stated already. Many people suffer with back pain that stems from a wide variety of causes. Therefore, there were possibly intermingling of thoughts and cultures, which influenced the similarities. The Greeks preserve their gods and cover them in sacrosanct cemeteries with their friends and family while the Indians additionally have consecrated graveyards they dont embalm their gods. A grown-up Krishna comes back to kill his uncle Kamsa. In both contexts, it is believed that the mount is the center of the earth. They might be angry, vain, and envious. The dancing girls on some of the coins of Agathocles and Pantaleon are also sometimes considered as representations of Subhadra, Krishna's sister. For millennia humans have followed different cultures and have practiced diverse religions. Both Vishwakarma and Hephaestus are regarded as construction god in their respective religion. On the other hand Saraswati is shown carrying a book, mala (rosary), water pot and veena (a musical instrument) in her fours hands. In a manner similar to Hermes, Narada was proficient in music and invented musical instrument called Vina. Just like the story of Icarus and Daedalus, there is a story of Jatayu and Sampati in Hindu religion where Sampati saves Jatayu from going too near to the sun and burns its wings due to suns heat and falls straight to the ground, resemblance with the story of Icarus. Zeus is the god of sky, and has control over weather phenomenon related to sky and air like storms, tempests, darkness, thunders, lightening and rain30. 21 http://blog.matrabhasha.com/2012/08/name-of-planets-graho-ke-naam.html In addition to the worship of the Classical pantheon of the Greek deities found on their coins (e.g., Zeus, Herakles, Athena, Apollo ), the Indo-Greeks were involved with local faiths, particularly with Buddhism, but also with Hinduism and Zoroastrianism . Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 14 http://www.koausa.org/Gods/God10.html Youre right about hindi word for father, though. These "Greek-looking foreigners" are also described in Susan Huntington, "The art of ancient India", p. 100, "They (the niches) were intended to hold a figured panel, relief-work, or something of the kind" Domenico Facenna, "Butkara I", Also "The Buddhist art of Gandhara", Marshall, p101. The gods of love and desire, both Kamadeva (also known as Manmatha) and Cupid shoot arrows into the hearts of unsuspecting people to make them fall in love. They did extraordinary things, frequently with the assistance of Greek gods. The Relationships between Greek Gods and natural ladies are rough as kidnapping, enchantment, and assault. Was Lord Rama Right or Wrong? After the Greco-Bactrians militarily occupied parts of northern India from around 180 BCE, numerous instances of interaction between Greeks and Buddhism are recorded. Athena is the Greek goddess of wisdom, skills, war, arts, industry, and justice etc. The myths also tell of both of them disappearing under the earth, albeit under dissimilarcircumstances. In Indian mythology God of Sun is known as Surya. Poseidon is often shown riding a chariot driven by horses or hippocampi, while Varuna is seen with chariot of Swan or crocodiles. Both Indra and Zeus are the "kings" of the gods. 25 http://creative.sulekha.com/birth-of-bhishma-story-from-mahabharata_67978_blog Mirrored wardrobe design is one of the most alluring features that you can add in your home dcor. The Veda is the focal sacred text of Hinduism. 10 Shocking Facts | Hindu Gods Vs Greek Gods | BigBrainco. He can never contain secrets, thus is known to spread news from one place to another5. With most in common traits and characteristics, Narada is the messenger of gods in Hindu tradition and Hermes in Greek. "Distinctively Indian religious types seems to occur on the coins struck by two of the Greek princes- "the tree in railing" and the "Chaitya" on certain coins of Agathocles and the "Wheel" which has been reasonably idenditfied with "the wheel of the Law" (Dharma-chakra) of Buddhism, on one of the numerous currencies of Menander" Hellenism in ancient India, Banerjee, p136, Bopearachchi 4A and note 4; Bopearachchi & Rahman -; SNG ANS, "Crossroads of Asia", p12. And for that reason his wife Hera is jealous of him. Another possibility is that the Indo-Greeks may not have considered the Buddha strictly as a God, but rather as an essentially human sage or philosopher, in line with the traditional Nikaya Buddhist doctrine. ", Another Indian writing, the Stupavadana of Ksemendra, mentions in the form of a prophecy that Menander will build a stupa in Pataliputra.[3]. Buddhism [ edit] Main article: Greco-Buddhism Well, this one is not really a comparison but a suggestion/theory that the legend of Heracles is actually a result of Balarama and Krishnas legend incorporated in Greek mythology. Just like Hindus have each god for wealth, power, knowledge, wisdom, etc. Foucher especially considered Hellenistic free-standing Buddhas as "the most beautiful, and probably the most ancient of the Buddhas", assigning them to the 2nd to 1st century BCE during the reign of Menander, and making them the starting point of the anthropomorphic representations of the Buddha: "Never, in truth, were the circumstances more favourable than during [Menander's] reign (between 150 and 100 B.C.) In addition, their weapons are thunderbolts (in Indra's case, called the Vajra). All rights reserved, Hindu And Greek Mythology: How Similar They Are, REMEMBERING SATYAJIT RAY ON HIS JAYANTI: HAIKU INSPIRED BY WORKS AND WISDOM, MICRO-POEMS IN HINDI ON LET GO, LET LIVE, PURE MIND, UNDERSTAND WHAT-IS BEFORE TREADING THE PATH TOWARD WHAT-OUGHT-TO-BE OR THE TRUTH: HAIKU AND QUOTE, pravrttim ca nivrttim ca karyakarye bhayabhaye, HINDI MICRO-POEMS ON BEING MEDIUM, VIRTUOUS AND EQUANIMOUS. However, only six stars are visible in the sky without a telescope. The main Hindu gods can be known as Trimurti, which comprises three Devas who cooperate all in all for the universe. Hindus have a God presiding over death and afterlife, and he's known as Yama. Both lords of death,they preside over the netherworld. The best and most interesting part is both of them are the gods of thunder. However, then, I read something that talked a bit about ancient Indian gods and it talked about a sky god named Dyaus whose name meant sky. The Indo-Greek may have initiated anthropomorphic representations of the Buddha in statuary, possibly as soon as the 2nd-1st century BCE, according to Foucher and others. An interesting fact is that in both these mythologies, both good and evil are fathered by the same person. 193 Words 1 Page. Correspondingly when Lord Shiv seemed stripped before the spouses of certain sages, they reviled Shiv to such an extent that he lost his genital. (The corporeal relic) of Sakamuni, which is endowed with life". Later, some Indo-Greek coins incorporate the Buddhist symbol of the eight-spoked wheel, such as those of Menander I, as well as his possible grandson Menander II. It is astonishing that the oldest religion has so many similarities by which we can know that the thinking level of human beings is very much parallel in the context of time regardless of their race or ethnicity. Hinduism Gods Vs Greek Gods; Hinduism Gods Vs Greek Gods. I give it to the Hindus just for the coolness factor. The main difference is that Greek divine entities appear to live on the planet, which includes mountains. Like Yama is the god of netherworld in Hindu and Hades in Greek. Zeus Poseidon Hades We'll just go with the three of the most powerful gods here Zeus Can throw lightning God of the sky Greatest god of all Pose. 173179. Uplifting stories, positive impact, and updates delivered straight into your inbox. Apollo, Zeus son, drew the sun across the sky. Similarly, Greek mythology is all about the Celtic gods of life and light, who wage a constant struggle against the Fomorians, ancient gods of death and darkness. Peleus left Thetis after knowing her doings. There is however some textual evidence to suggest that Buddhism had penetrated much earlier to Central Asia, at least in a limited form: the first two disciples of the Buddha were named Tapassu and Bhallika, from the region of Balhika (the present Balkh, and Sanskrit for Bactria), and though it cannot necessarily be presumed that any extensive prosyletization occurred on their return journey, that the Sanskrit name for Bactria derived from the name of a Bactrian-Buddhist disciple is suggestive of some early influence. The first known statues of the Buddha are also very realistic and Hellenistic in style and are more consistent with the pre-50 BCE artistic level seen on coins. Datation of Greco-Buddhist statues is generally uncertain, but they are at least firmly established from the 1st century CE. Indra has Vajra as his weapon32 which has the same power as thunderbolt. When she was about to dip Bhisma, Shantanu stopped her from doing so. India and Greece both have rich, ancient civilisations. Kleisobora and Jobares may correspond to Krishna Pura and Yamuna respectively. The Migration of the Tandoor: A 5000-YO Cooking Secret Behind a Global Phenomenon, At 62, This Artist Is On a Mission to Help TN Women Earn By Upcycling Coconut Shells, 64-YO Hunter-Turned-Saviour Dedicates Life to Save 60+ Species of Rare Birds & Animals, Click here if you want to make a contribution of your choice instead. They are both god of gods, have the same weapons - the thunderbolt - and also both reside on mountains. The last ten days of Ramadan are especially important because the Hadith says it was during this time that We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. Felix Baumgartner: Free falling from space, Om Jai Jagdish Hare: Basic mantra for Hindu puja. Keep in mind, the Greeks didnt have current science. According to the ancient Greeks, the Pleiades were seven sisters. also 1500 B.C. Kronos, Greek god of many things, is also the god of destruction. And, its not only because different culture have branched from a single stem, but also because there has always been interactions between different civilizations through trade and wars. The Heliodorus pillar inscription is another epigraphical evidence of the interaction between Greeks and Hinduism. In Indian mythology Narada is considered as the first Indian postman/journalist/messenger. In Hinduism, the Devas and the Asuras are both supposed to have been fathered by Rishi Kashyap. Just as philosophers were routinely represented in statues (but certainly not on coins) in Antiquity, the image of the Buddha would naturally have occurred on statuary only. On the contrary, none of the kings whose rule was limited to Punjab did display Buddhist signs, with the exception of the powerful Hippostratos, who probably took under his protection many Gandharan Greeks fleeing from the Indo-Scythians.[13]. In Greek mythology too, there is a famous scene where a character, Achilles, was killed by an arrow that pierced his foot. Read more at her bio page. On the contrary, Indian Buddhist art was traditionally aniconic (the Buddha was only represented with symbols), and the Iranian tradition (represented by the 1st century Indo-Parthians) also did not represent their deities in human form. Vishwakarma is the Hindu god of workmanship, and therefore rules tools and manufacturing. bramhagodsgreekhinduindraramaShivavishnuVishwakarmaYama. In Greek, the word "pleiades" means "doves". Hindi Video ft. @IqlipseNova BigBrainco. This list includes Etruscan, Greek, Roman, Norse and Meitei versions of similar gods and goddesses. King Kamsa sent Putana to breastfeed baby Krishna with poisonous milk. His mother, Thetis, held him by his heel and dipped him into the river. In Indian Mythology, in spite of all the other Gods, Brahma, Vishnu, and Maheshwar are considered to the three most important Gods. Zeus, in ancient Greek religion, chief deity of the pantheon, a sky and weather god who was identical with the Roman god Jupiter. Stupa constructions of the time of Menander, such as the Butkara stupa, incorporated niches which were intended to place statue or friezes, an indication of early Buddhist descriptive art during the time of the Indo-Greeks. Hinduism, major world religion originating on the Indian subcontinent and comprising several and varied systems of philosophy, belief, and ritual. Kamadeva is known by several other names including Manmathudu, Madan, Ratikanta amongst others. In the Hindu Religious text, Vayu Purana, it is quoted as saying that there were eight Greek kings who ruled India. The Greeks additionally accepted the Olympians governed over various regions of the planet. Both, however, are extremely skilledwarriors and heroes and do ultimatelytake part in war. These coins were found in Ai-Khanoum, the great Greco-Bactrian city in northeastern Afghanistan, but introduce for the first time an Indian script (the Brahmi script which had been in use under the Mauryan empire). Their origin is same, the names were simply changed since Romans disliked Greeks. What is the significance of Ramadan in Islam? Conversely, the bull is probably associated with Shiva, and often described in an erectile state as on the coins of Apollodotus I. Both the ancient civilisations had trade, movements of people, traders. Your email address will not be published. In this list were going to compare 10 Greek Gods and/or heroes with their best possible match from Indian mythology. In any case, these coins suggest the strong presence of Indian religious traditions in the northwestern Indian subcontinent at that time, and the willingness of the Greeks to acknowledge and even promote them. SHARING IS . According to one story, one of the Pleiades, Merope, deserted her sisters because she was ashamed of having a mortal husband, who also happened to be a criminal. In his left hand, he holds a branch of ivy, symbol of Dionysos. The Greeks also had a lot of legend-related stories. Another difference between the two pantheons is the way the gods are depicted. In the book Indika by Megasthenes, he wrote that an Indian tribe Sourasenoi worshipped Herakles in their land with two great cities Methora and Kleisobora, around the river Jobares. In the Greek mythology Eros1, commonly known as Cupid (the Roman counterpart), occupies the designation of God of love. They accepted Hera was the goddess of marriage and birth. Another conspicuous similarity is their weapons. It is one of the oldest mythologies known. His name means both "Lord of the People" (gana means the common people) and "Lord of the Ganas" (Ganesha is the chief of the ganas, the goblin hosts of Shiva). On his sword appears the Buddhist symbol of the three jewels, or Triratana. BothIndra and Zeus are the kings of the gods. Athena is often seen with her companion owl, while Saraswati is seen with a swan (hansa) or a peacock. 6 Page 5, http://books.google.co.in/books?id=0z02cZe8PU8C Herakles here clearly refers to Hari Krishna, who was born in Mathura (Methora). Greek Gods appear to live on the planet, which includes mountains.if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'askanydifference_com-medrectangle-4','ezslot_2',658,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-askanydifference_com-medrectangle-4-0'); There are twelve Important Greek gods. How did Lord Rama travel from Lanka to Ayodhya in Just 18 days? The general practice however of minting bilingual coins and combining Greek and Indian iconography, sometimes in the Greek and sometimes in the Indian standard continued for the next two centuries. 4 http://www.greekmythology.com/Olympians/Hermes/hermes.html The Greeks valued many gods and goddesses. And, yes, youre right about both cultures getting mixed. In Hindu Mythology, They generally represent great and common decency. After battling the Titans, he administered the world with his family. Hinduism has its three Supreme Gods - Brahma, the Creator, Vishnu, the Protector and Shiva, the Destroyer. All these depictions were shaped by a place that confounds unitary nationalist imaginations: Greater Gandhara. Most Hindus are principally devoted to the god Vishnu, the god Shiva, or the Goddess. She is seen as the one presiding over all art forms. From that time, Menander and his successors may have been the key propagators of Buddhist ideas and representations: "the spread of Gandhari Buddhism may have been stimulated by Menander's royal patronage, as may have the development and spread of Gandharan sculpture, which seems to have accompanied it" (Mc Evilly, "The shape of ancient thought", p378). Hindu Gods seem to occupy some specific world that isnt the Earth,Just God Shiv lives in the Himalayas with his Goddess Shakti. Kashyapa has given birth to majority of Indian mythological lineages including most of the gods, demons and other races. 36 http://www.hinduhumanrights.info/goddess-aditi-the-primal-creatix/. But some believes are that Helios and Apollo are same9, while other believe them to be different and since Helios was a Titan, the title of God of Sun passed to Apollo after Titans defeat. When Krishna playfully swung down a branch of the Kadamba tree, he fell into the river. They are all celebrating at the entrance of the stupa. Both the mythologies have the god of gods. Apollo is the god of Sun, light, music and prophesies8. He is commonly shown to be holding a bow in his hands. In both cultures, the gods are shown carrying weapons. He uses the thunderbolt as his weapon to create rain. the dwelling place of Zeus is Mount Olympus, home of other Greek Gods as well. Some of the earlier coins of king Apollodotus I directly associate the elephant with Buddhist symbolism, such as the stupa hill surmounted by a star, also seen, for example on the coins of the Mauryan Empire or those of the later Kuninda kingdom. From around 180 BCE, Agathocles and Pantaleon, probable successors to Demetrius I in the Paropamisadae, and the earliest Greek kings to issue Indian-standard square bilingual coins (in Brahmi), depicted the Buddhist lion together with the Hindu goddess Lakshmi. Quite an informative post, Kishor! However, another version of the story says that Thetis dipped Achilles in River Styx to make him immortal24. 8 http://www.greek-gods.info/greek-gods/apollo/ 1. Zeus and Indra make another strikingly similar pair of Gods. somewhere close to 2300 B.C. The representation of the Buddha may also be connected to his progressive deification, which is usually associated with the spread of the Indian principle of Bhakti (personal devotion to a deity). The Hindus have a dedicated goddess of learning, and that is Ma Saraswati. According to this perspective, the actual depiction of the Buddha would be a later phenomenon, usually dated to the 1st century CE, emerging from the sponsorship of the Indo-Scythians, Indo-Parthians and Kushans and executed by Greek, and, later, Indian and possibly Roman artists. The pillar was erected around 110 BCE in central India at the site of Vidisha, by Heliodorus, a Greek ambassador of the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas to the court of the Shunga king Bhagabhadra. Both Hades and Yamaraj are said to bring judgment to the departed souls and accordingly send them to their respective afterlife. Greek too have similar gods for every kind. Before theKurukshetra War, Arjuna is reluctant to fight. So, none of them was born the regular way, but from the heads of two prime Gods of their respective religions. Whatever the culture be and whatever the religion be, it is never complete without love. 27- http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Poseidon.html 13 http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/athena.html Your email address will not be published. NAAM-RAMAYAN: Singing or Listening of These "108 Ramayan-Verses" Fulfills All your wishes! Few examples are comprehended below. Hindu gods; Devi; Japanese deities; Comparison. He is famous for his dialogues with the Buddhist monk Nagasena, transmitted to us in the Milinda Panha, which explain that he became a Buddhist arhat: "And afterwards, taking delight in the wisdom of the Elder, he (Menander) handed over his kingdom to his son, and abandoning the household life for the house-less state, grew great in insight, and himself attained to Arahatship! Such datation, as well as the general Hellenistic style and attitude of the Buddha on the Bimaran casket (Hellenistic treatment of the dress, contrapposto attitude) would make it a possible Indo-Greek work, used in dedications by Indo-Scythians right after the end of Indo-Greek rule in the area of Gandhara. His name may be related to that of the sky god Dyaus of the ancient Hindu Rigveda. Required fields are marked *. Traits. It is quite possible that Megasthenes who travelled to India during the reign of Chandragupta Maurya, Maurya Dynasty, after his observation of Indian culture, took back the legend of Krishna (Hare Krishna) which due to language barrier got converted to legend of Heracles6. Later in his life Bhisma gained a blessing from his father (for giving up his claim to throne so that his step brothers can take up the throne) that he could only die when he wished to die26, thus making him invulnerable like Achilles was. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. It is this bow he uses to shoot people with arrows that makes them fall in love. The word for father in Latin is pater. The clothing too is Greek, complete with tunics, capes and sandals. Not only their powers but their weapons these two are also almost the same. Since it already displays quite a sophisticated iconography (Brahma and akra as attendants, Bodhisattvas) in an advanced style, it would suggest much earlier representations of the Buddha were already current by that time, going back to the rule of the Indo-Greeks (Alfred A. Foucher and others): "It seems highly probable to me that the unknown artist who created the initial model [for the Buddha] was a Yavana, both artist and philosopher, who belonged both to Greece and India.". 35 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/5981/Aditi Kailasha and Olympus are both real mountains that exist today; both are also deeply significant in their respective mythologies. Kaliya immediately rose up with his numerous hoods, but a fearless Krishna jumped on top of Kaliya's head and danced, the dance being known as Kaliya Mardana. During the reign of Menander, the Greek (Pali: Yona, lit: "Ionian") Buddhist monk Mahadhammarakkhita (Sanskrit: Mahadharmaraksita, lit.

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