Immortals of India

We have all heard of the famous immortals of Hindu Mythology. Hanuman to Vyas Dev to Ashwathama. The Immortals of Hindu mythology are called Chiranjibi, meaning "one who lives forever". However, it is in Hinduism itself that it is mentioned that no mortal body can be immortal; they pass on after a certain time on earth. Even Brahma is not free from this cycle. His earthly body collapses. Then who are immortals? What does it mean?

First, let's start with the Trinity, Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwar. Brahma, the creator, resides in the minds of all creators. Scientists, Mothers, artists, everyone is a part of Brahma. He who creates. Brahma is immortal through every creation on earth. Vishnu is the protector and preserver. He resides in every mortal. They protect their families, their morals, and their cultures. All reflect the aspects of Vishnu. Hence is the common belief that Vishnu resides in all mortals. Hence, we touch our feet or Pranipat our elders to worship Vishnu in them. Shiva is the destroyer. He is alive through destruction. All things come to an end. Shiva is that end. He is immortal through the floods, droughts and earthquakes, through death and destruction. He is Mahakal, the ultimate destroyer. His wrath is the storms, earthquakes or floods that destroy evil and start afresh. He is immortal through destruction. They are all immortal through the ideas they represent and not in human bodies.

Now, the immortals of Hinduism. There are many immortals; however, seven are very famous. They are:

• Bali, the demon king, son of Prahlad, a worshipper of Vishnu. He was a demon showing human aspects in his reign and judgment. It is believed that he ruled present-day Kerala, and on Onam, which is celebrated all over South India, he descends on earth to bless and meet his subjects. What is said here is symbolic. His ideas and judgment were more human-like than any other demon, and his Bhakti was immense. What made him immortal was, in fact, the ideals he propagated that, till today, influence the culture and heritage of South India. Through the pages of history, we see that although South India was initially deprived of well-built cities and advanced societies of the north, later on, southern dynasties created the greatest of cities and administrations there and also built numerous temples to Lord Vishnu. Thus, Bali is immortal through his people. He is the first of the southern kings to bring in change and show improvement of culture, like his northern contemporaries.

• Parasurama, the man with the Axe, is the sixth avatar of the Lord. He appears as an angry Shiva Bhakt in Ramayana and challenges Ram to break his bow. He realises that the person to carry forward the legacy and principles of Vishnu and preserve the society is here, and he decides to renounce his duties and let Ram continue. In the Mahabharata, he is older and teaches Kshatriya weaponry. He has no anger against Kshatriyas as stated in the Ramayana, and he teaches greats like Bheeshma, Drona, Drupad and Karna skills with various weapons. He even gives the knowledge of Brahmastra. His ideals are to protect the culture and roots of the civilisation. He is the founder of the ideals of Tyagi, Bhumihar Brahmins, Niyogi, Shukla and other such communities. His ideals are thus immortal through these cultural groups turned communities in the Kali Yug, also, and thus he remains immortal through their principles and traditions.

• Hanuman, the ansh of Shiva, according to some, was the greatest devotee of Lord Ram, the seventh avatar of Lord Vishnu. He helped Ram reunite with Sita and guarded the couple with all his might. He was a monkey who thought like a human. His intelligence and powers stood out amongst his community of underdeveloped humans. He was such a devotee of the lord that he had asked Rama for the boon of immortality as long as Rama would be worshipped on the earth. Hence, Hanuman became a god himself due to Sita's boon, and he is worshipped all over the country as a devotee of Rama. Rama, being a god himself, is a major deity in parts of the country, and hence Hanuman remains immortal through the prayers of Rama and Hanuman Chalisa, read and reread every day by millions who worship them. Hanuman's immortality is thus reflected through the worship of Rama. Some people all over India, even today, claim to have seen Hanuman in different temples in human form. However, what they saw remains in doubt as images come all over the internet because Hinduism clearly states that no human form can be immortal; the soul can, however, remain immortal away from the body. A soul never dies; it just shifts from body to body.

As the old king of Lanka

• Vibhishana, the youngest brother of Ravana, was the one who defied his brother and supported Rama to bring back the kidnapped Sita. He chose Dharma over his family and became a devotee of the Lord. Although a Rakhshash by birth, he could distinguish between right and wrong and when he became king of Lanka, he drove his subjects to the paths of right, Dharma and worship. Thus, Rama, pleased with his contribution to society, offered him the boon of immortality to teach the children of the earth the ways of Dharma. So he remains immortal through the teachings of Dharma and Right judgment by individuals. On a personal note, I feel that he was the one to betray his own family for the throne; hence, his remaining immortal also depicts the fact that people who can choose Power and the throne over family are still there even today. The Mahabharata mentions Vibhishana being reborn as Yuyutsu in some versions. He was the only surviving Kaurava who joined the Pandava side of Dharma. In these versions, it is clear that Vibhishana, in his mortal self, died, and his soul is immortal, born time and again to show an example of Dharma being greater than personal attachments. However, my question lies in the fact that Dharma is said to be relative, and a person's Dharma is to support his family. In that case, how did Vibhishana or Yuyutsu choose Dharma?

• Kripacharya, the military Guru of the Kauravas and Parikshit, was the adopted son of King Shantanu. He fought the battle from the Kaurava side, and his war tactics and skills were very famous. He also had knowledge of the Vedas. He is said to be immortal, and not much is known about the boon. He was there till the start of Kali Yug when Parikshit was the king of Hastinapur. He remained in the palace throughout his life and was brother-in-law to Dronacharya. He was immortal through his knowledge of weaponry that he shared with the Kuru Princes throughout his life. They were taught what he learned himself as a tradition that continued even till Parikshit's seven sons. 

Vyasa depicted in Angkor Wat

• Vyas Dev, the writer of the Mahabharata and the divider of the Vedas, was born on Guru Purnima towards the end of the Treta Yug. He lived through Dwapar and towards the beginning of Kali. A grandson of Vasistha, son of Satyavati, he was extremely learned and skilled. He was the biological father of Pandu, Dhritarashtra and Vidur, hence the Kauravas and Pandavas are his grandsons. Many scholars believe that the term Vyas does not apply to one person. This community actually helped revive the Vedas in written form and helped to construct the Itihasa book Mahabharata. He is said to be immortal, and it is true. A person or community, Vyas is immortal through the greatest epic and his descendants, who are now the Karavas of Sri Lanka. 

• Ashwatthama was the son of Dronacharya and Kripi, the adopted daughter of King Shantanu. He was born as a part of many divine forces as a boon to Drona, who loved him dearly. He was a Maharathi on the Kaurava side. He, on the eighteenth night of the war, when Pandavas rejoiced in their victory, went into the enemy camp in the darkness and killed Draupadi's five sons and her brother, thinking them to be Pandavas. He also later attacked Parikshit in his mother's womb to destroy the Pandava clan. However, Krishna stopped him and cursed him with immortality. He was cursed to suffer and be set free by Kalki. He will again be reborn as Vyasa in the next Mahayuga, and he will rearrange the Vedas, Krishna stated. Hence, people believe he still roams the earth in his wounded body, searching for peace and death. Many are believed to have spotted him at his birthplace in the dead of the night, where he roams. On a personal note, I believe what Krishna referred to was the suffering of his soul and not his mortal self. He is not reborn, and his soul roams aimlessly in pain through Kali Yug for the sins he had committed, and his soul will be set free by Kalki.

Other notable immortals in Hinduism are Sage Markandeya, who created the Mahamrityunjay Mantra and was blessed with immortality by Shiva at the age of sixteen. Jambavan, the half-animal, half-man, helped Rama with his knowledge to find Sita. The Saptarishis remain immortal as every family in India is their bloodline, Bhusunda, the crow community, Maru, a weapon of the Bhil tribes of India, who is worshipped as a God and Devapi, the elder brother of King Shantanu, who renounced the Kingdom and Throne and turned into a Sage with acute knowledge of the Vedas.