The crisis of identity

Imagine a buzzer that goes off every time a part of the globe clashes over ethnic, religious or linguistic identities. Given the frequency and spread of such battles in recent months, from Iraq to the US, not to forget the daily battles over caste, religion and gender in India, the noise would be deafening.

Who would have thought that 'Who am I', the staple question of philosophical debates and mythological explorations, would trigger so many fires? Unfortunately, identity has become an inflammable commodity.

Myth tells us that the human struggle for identity is eternal. Among the early myths to emerge out of these concerns were those about the creation of man. According to a Mesopotamian myth, the primeval god Bel severed his head from his body. Other gods mixed the blood with dust and from the red clay that was formed they created humans and other creatures. According to the Korku tribe of Madhya Pradesh, Ravana complained to Siva that there were no people on earth. So Siva took a handful of red clay and created the first couple, the man being called Mula and the woman Mulai. There are far too many similar myths to list them all here. Even the Biblical idea of the first woman being created from the first man is found in several cultures. One Indian myth states that Manu created Ida and together they created the human race, while another says that Prithu, the king that gave Prithvi her name, was born from his dead father's right arm. Clearly a set of common ideas was powering these myths.

Soon the idea of identity grew to encompass principles of humanity. In the Vana Parva of the Mahabharata, Yudhisthira is questioned by Dharma, the god of righteousness or order, about aspects that make us human. At one point, Yudhisthira says the person who does not offer anything (in terms of sacrifice, alms and respect) to gods, guests, servants, ancestors, and himself, though endued with breath, is not yet alive.

Compassion, reverence and humility make us human; this is what every hero and god - from Yudhisthira to Buddha to Jesus - tells us. According to Joseph Campbell, "It has always been the prime function of mythology and rite to supply the symbols that carry the human spirit forward" (The Hero with a Thousand Faces).

Soon, however, identity acquired another layer. It was not only important to know who we are but also what makes us stronger, better and greater than fellow humans. Society was being established and each tribe was looking for heroes who could perform extraordinary feats. The epics Iliad and Odyssey for the Greeks and Mahabharata and Ramayana in the Indian subcontinent provided several: Rama established the superiority of the Vedic gods over Rakshasa and Asuras; Odysseus showed enterprise, courage and endurance characteristic of a great people. Mithra, the Persian war god, established a cult that believed in might and immortality. Aeneas showed persistence in the face of extreme tragedy. The stronger the hero and the bigger his adventures, the greater the pride derived by the people who told his story.

Swiftly though the nature of the heroic changed as did the idea of identity. It was important for heroes to secure the supremacy of religions and, in more recent times, that of nations (Example: Superman, Captain America). Christianity, Islam and Judaism jostled for followers and triggered a contest between the gods. The propagators of Hinduism and Buddhism did the same. Identity became a measure for greatness, not of the human spirit, but of one god or hero over another.

It may be naïve to expect an easy solution to this problem but, a folktale may help put things in perspective: 'Once long ago, two men had a quarrel. One of them escaped into the sky and fired at his enemy on earth. The man on earth fired back. After a time they both became gods.'(Myths of the North-east Frontier of India by Verrier Elwin)