logic

The English word ‘Symbol’ owes its origin to the Greek word, ‘Symbolon’ meaning ‘a sign’ by which one knows or infers a thing. Swami Swahananda, in one of his articles states that, “a symbol, typifies, represents or recalls something by possession of analogous qualities or by association in the fact or thought”1. Human beings use symbols so much so that it has become an innate tendency in them.

In due course, symbols began to be used to interpret more and more abstract things, thoughts, human virtues, beliefs, and faiths and so on. Naturally, artists, poets and writers took to symbols as fish take to water. While artists including painters and sculptors used symbols to depict variety of moods and thoughts in their colouring schemes and models respectively, poets with their rich imagination weaved tapestries of scenarios in words with rhymes and rhythms, which came to be called as poems, sonnets etc. Symbols are also used to educate the common man who doesn’t have the calibre to understand higher knowledge and that is what our Puranas, and Itihasas do. One of the best examples, as told by Dr, Muralidharan3 is that churning of the milk ocean by the Devas and Asuras for getting divine nectar is nothing but the training of the mind. The human mind struggles between good and evil thoughts (ocean of milk), and after a lot of conflicts, troubles and strains (symbolised by churning), the sadhaka is able to win over the asuric tendencies and approach the divinity (nectar) His mind is able to conquer the evil thoughts and retain the good ones. The poison (evil deeds and thoughts) which comes out, in him, is neither let out, for the fear of destroying others nor is swallowed for the fear of one’s own destruction. The chit shakti has the force to retain it at the background and hidden in him for some time and as the sadhaka advances in his sadhana, these thoughts slowly fade away into oblivion. Swami Swahananda also expresses a similar thought when he says, “….or the