Putana
In Hinduism, Pūtanā (lit. 'putrefaction') is a rakshasi (demoness), who was killed by the infant-god Krishna. Putana disguises as a young, beautiful woman and tries to kill the god by breast-feeding poisoned milk; however Krishna sucks her milk as well as her life via her breasts. Putana is also considered as a foster-mother of Krishna as she breast-fed him. By offering her milk, Putana had performed "the supreme act of maternal devotion",[1] in the shadow of her evil motives. The legend is told and retold in Hindu scriptures and some Indian books, which portray her variously as an evil hag or a demoness who surrendered herself to Krishna, though she initially came with evil motives.
Putana is interpreted as an infantile disease or bird, symbolizing danger to an infant or desire respectively, and even as a symbolic bad mother. She is included in a group of malevolent Hindu mother goddesses called the Matrikas and also in the group of Yoginis and Grahinis (Seizers). Ancient Indian medical texts prescribe her worship to protect children from diseases. A group of multiple Putanas is mentioned in ancient Indian texts.
Etymology
The word "Pūtanā", broken as "Pūt" (virtue) and "nā" (no) means "devoid of virtue". Another explanation derives "Pūtanā" from "Pūta" (purifying), thus meaning "she who purifies". Herbert theorizes "Pūtanā" is derived from "Put", a hell in Hindu mythology, associated with parents and children.
Legend
The legend of Putana and Krishna is narrated in many Hindu texts: the
Putana, the "killer of infants", was sent by Krishna's evil uncle
In later versions of the myth, the intoxicant smearing on Putana's breast is replaced with poison or the milk itself is said to be poisoned.[3] Another version of the tale portrays Putana as stealing Krishna at night, when everyone else is asleep.[9]
K. M. Munshi had a totally different take on the myth in his Krishnavatara series. Though Putana came with evil intentions, she is portrayed as being happy to see Krishna and her maternal instinct rises, telling her "Take this lovely boy to your breast. You are a wicked and miserable woman. You have never seen joy before, joy which thrills your whole body and mind with mad delight." Overjoyed and forgetful of her poisoned breasts, she took Krishna in her lap and suckled him. In the process, she surrenders to Krishna saying "I give you all, my beloved child... I am yours." Further, Putana is purified and liberated from her mortal body by Krishna.[10]
Previous birth
The Garga Samhita (a work on the life of Krishna) and the Brahma Vaivarta Purana further tell of the previous birth of Putana as Ratnamala, the daughter of demon king Bali. When she saw Vamana, the previous avatar of Krishna as a dwarf, she felt a desire to have him as her son and suckle him. She soon changed her mind and decided to kill Vamana, after he overpowered her father and acquired his possessions. Krishna knew her desires and allowed her to fulfil both of them - to suckle him and to attempt to take his life.[11][12]
Symbolism
One theory interprets Putana as being the first foe faced by Krishna (further numerous demons are sent by Kamsa to kill Krishna) or as the first obstacle of possessive maternal instinct faced by yogis.[12] The legend assures a devotee liberation if they treat god as their own son.[13] Another theory interprets Putana as an infantile disease that Krishna survived, which can be cured by forcefully suckling the child affected. Further, the theory relates to Krishna's later life when he fights a demon called Jvara (fever).[14]
In the Vishnu Purana, it is explicitly stated that Putana should work in the dark, symbolizing the lack of illumination of knowledge.
The myth of Pūtanā is significant not merely for the image it presents ... but for the intensity with which the image is depicted and the frequency with which the myth itself is told in India.[18]
Kakar further adds:
The secret fantasy of poisoned milk, of nourishment that kills, originates early in life when the decisive separation between child and mother takes place. The elevation of this fantasy,..., to the status of myth for a whole culture indicates the intensity of (this) inner conflict... in the Indian setting.[19]
According to Kakar, Putana may represent a dangerous
Textual descriptions
Putana is defined as a yātudhānī at the beginning and the end of the Bhagavata Purana. Though the word yātudhānī is rarely used, yātudhāna - the masculine form - is frequently used in
In the
Group of Putanas
The medical text
In Ayurvedic medicine
The Ayurvedic medical text Sushruta Samhita describes Putana as "black in colour, with a gaping mouth and projecting teeth and disheveled hair, clad in filthy garments, very smelly, and dwelling in empty broken-down buildings." It further prescribes an offering of crow dung, fish, a rice dish, ground sesame and alcohol to Putana and recitation of hymns to Putana, urging her to protect the baby, along with other treatments.[4] Kumaratantra ("Rituals related to childhood"), a branch of Ayurveda, specifically mentions that it aims to heal diseases that arise from "empoisoned milk of Seizers" (Grahini), Putana being one.[26] As per Kumaratantra, all childhood diseases falling on the third day, the third month, or the third year of a child's life are attributed to Putana, regardless of the disease's symptoms.[27]
Depiction as a bird
Putana is portrayed as a bird in sculpture and myth.
Notes
- ^ O'Flaherty p.250
- ^ Herbert in Shashi p.844
- ^ a b Herbert in Shashi p.846
- ^ a b c d e White p. 51
- ^ Herbert in Shashi p.842
- ^ a b Herbert in Shashi pp.842-4
- ^ Olson pp.240-2
- ^ Agrawal in Shashi p.822
- ^ Dimmitt pp. 111-112
- ^ Kakar in Devy p.425
- ^ shanti lal nager. Brahmavaivarta Purana (Part 2). pp. 81.
- ^ a b c Herbert in Shashi p.845
- ^ O'Flaherty p.280
- ^ Gopal p. 96
- ^ Herbert in Shashi p.847
- ^ Herbert in Shashi p.848
- ^ Agrawal in Shashi pp.822-3
- ^ O'Flaherty p.54
- ^ Kakar p.147; O'Flaherty p.54
- ^ Kakar in Dey pp.424-5
- ^ Kakar in Dey p.426
- ^ Herbert in Shashi pp.844-5
- ^ Herbert in Shashi pp.846-7 and 849
- ^ White p.48, 53
- ^ White p.53
- ^ a b White p.52
- ^ White p.62
- ^ Agrawal in Shashi p.824
References
- Agrawal, V.S. (1996). "Putana and Yasoda". In Shashi, Shyam Singh (ed.). Encyclopaedia Indica. Anmol Publications PVT. LTD. ]
- Dimmitt, Cornelia; Buitene, Johannes Adrianus Bernardus (1978). "Putana: The Child Killer". Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the Sanskrit Purāṇas. Temple University Press. ISBN 0-87722-122-7.
- Gopal, T. V. (2000). Hrishikesa. Universal-Publishers. ISBN 1-58112-732-4.
- Herbert, J. (1996). "Sakata and Putana". In Shashi, Shyam Singh (ed.). Encyclopaedia Indica. Anmol Publications PVT. LTD. ]
- Kakar, Sudhir (2002). "Cults and myths of Krishna". In Devy, G. N. (ed.). Indian Literary Criticism: Theory and Interpretation. Orient Blackswan. ISBN 81-250-2022-5.
- Kakar, Sudhir (1978). The Inner World: A Psychoanalytic Study of Childhood and Society in India. Delhi.
- ISBN 0-226-61850-1.
- Olson, Carl (2007). ""Putana's arrival in Vraj" from Bhagavata Purana". Hindu Primary Sources: A Sectarian Reader. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-4070-2.
- White, David Gordon (2003). Kiss of the yoginī: "Tantric Sex" in its South Asian contexts. University of Chicago Press. pp. 51–53. ISBN 978-0-226-89483-6.