History vs Myth - How are they different and How History turns into Mythology?

A few days ago, I was reading the news and I came across a news story where the JNU History Committee strongly opposed the webinar on Saraswati/Aryan civilization, calling it a myth. Some of the news article as follows:

History vs Mythology - How they are difference and How History turns into Mythology?

Then a question came to my mind why one of the ancient civilizations of India is being opposed in such a big university

When I read about it, it came to know that according to those who are opposing it, the river Saraswati is a myth. Based on which, they described this civilization as fiction and mythical. Then I decided that I would also research about it.

First of all, I tried to find out where the oldest mention is made about the river Saraswati. While searching for this, my search ended by going to the Rig Veda. The Rig Veda is one of the oldest collection of knowledge, as is the whole world mind. And no one doubts its veracity.

If you go to the 45th Sukta of Mandal 10 of the Rig Veda, you will see that many hymns have been composed here, worshipping the rivers as the god. And in its 5th mantra, the river Saraswati is mentioned very clearly, which is as follows:

इ॒मं मे॑ गङ्गे यमुने सरस्वति॒ शुतु॑द्रि॒ स्तोमं॑ सचता॒ परु॒ष्ण्या । 

अ॒सि॒क्न्या म॑रुद्वृधे वि॒तस्त॒यार्जी॑कीये शृणु॒ह्या सु॒षोम॑या ॥

Translation :

O rivers Ganges, Yamuna, Saraswati, Shutudri, Parushni, Asikni, Marudvrudha, Vittasta, Sushoma and Arjikiya! You listen and accept my praise.

In the above hymn, 10 rivers are praised. They are named as Ganges, Yamuna, Saraswati, Shutudri, Parushni, Asikni, Marudvrudha, Vittasta, Sushoma and Arjikiya.

Just as the Ganges and Yamuna are not mythic rivers, similarly the Saraswati river is also not a myth. It does not show its physical existence in the long run, but it does not mean that it is an imaginary river.

The researchers provide evidence that the Saraswati was perennial and had flowed from the Higher Himalayasbetween 7,000 BC and 2,500 BC. I have placed a few links at end of this article for reference.

But then another question arose in my mind that;

History versus Mythology - How are they different?

Before discussing this subject, it is necessary to understand what is the difference between history and mythology.

As a noun, the difference between history and mythology is told in such a way that history is a set of events from the past whereas mythology is a collection of myths which relate to the origin of people, history, God, ancestors and heroes and legends.

Now if the sentences written above (which relate to the origin of people, history, God, ancestors and heroes.) are carefully read, then we can say that mythological statements can be history too. Then the question arises that if there is history in mythological statements then what are the differences among them? If you do a little more research on this, there will be some difference between the two.

Myth and history represent alternative ways of looking at the past. It is hardly easier to define history than to define myth, but a historical approach involves establishing a chronological setting for events and comparing rival traditions to create an efficient account. The latter process, in particular, requires the presence of writing so that conflicting versions of the past can be recorded and evaluated. Where all this can be done, it is called history.

In simple language, if any evidence of an event that happened in the past can be given in the form of a written or a memorial or a physical structure and the sequence of events can be proved, then that event is called history.

If there is no evidence of an incident and it is prevalent only in oral form and the community has feelings of both faith and mistrust for that event then it is known as mythology or myth. Because oral stories cannot be sequenced in the absence of evidence. And as we know, oral stories also get distorted over time making it natural to doubt its credibility and that phenomenon is called a fictitious event.

"How any historical event, place or thing turns into a myth?"

And I read about it in other articles and places, and extract of those are in this article. 

Let us now understand how any historical event changes from history to mythology. It occurs on many levels. To understand it clearly one has to understand it through the following points.

1. Chronological breakdown

The most important phase is the breakdown of chronology. If everything is organized regularly, then it is very difficult to contain distortion and error. That is why the breakdown of chronology becomes very necessary. For this, unwanted disturbance or life in the society is disorganized by increasing the sense of malice or attack by some external force, ending the chronology by the massacre of the people of that society who understand and know the history very well.

2. Destruction of evidence

The destruction of existing evidence can happen due to various reasons such as geographical changes, natural calamity or invasion. Also, change of name with the time. When the chronology of a nation or community can be broken or disorganized, then there is an opportunity to tamper with the evidence associated with history. So that those evidences can be erased or tampered or replace the evidence with new ones or destroyed in the first place. This empowers the rejection of evidence related to history.

Because when there is no evidence, they cannot be compared and analyzed with that chronological event and the credibility of that event will decrease over time. Or the evidence was changed in such a way that when comparing that evidence with any other evidence of the same time, the events did not match or seemed very imaginary. So that the credibility of the evidence is lost.

The same can be done with monuments and buildings or they can be torn down or modified into another building. In all these situations the belief in that event can be reduced or eliminated over time.

3. Propaganda in society

When both of the above phases have happened or are going on in a society, then in the third phase, there should be confusion or misinformation about the incident in the society. To do this, some learned, influential but greedy persons from the middle of the society propagate the event with delusions due to any greed of their own and also some antisocial elements generate distrust it among the society the event to increase the division in the society.

4. Spread of illiteracy

The spread of illiteracy here does not mean that education is not given, but wrong education is imparted. This makes the society feel that it is educated but it does not seem that it is ignorant. Due to this ignorance of that incident and in the fascination of corrupt education, there remains mistrust of that event of the past. Due to this, they consider that event as fictional and also tell the coming generation like a legend. Due to this, that event of history takes the form of a legend.

If we notice that if the above four stages have been done or are going on in any society or nation around the world, then we see that the limited availability of the history of that society remains in that society whereas the big chunk of their history goes into the dark. And most of the incidents in that society remain merely mythological stories. Due to which the sense of pride in the society for its history is eliminated. And now I can relate with those articles above.

Now another question arises here, what is the impact of this? The answer is pretty straight forward.

This gives benefit to the enemy of that nation and society against them.

Abstract

The article written above does not mean that all mythology is history. But some statements also have a history. Those are sometimes called myths. We should do some incident analysis and research as per our discretion before considering it as a mythological or historical event and promoting it further. Because if we do not do this then it becomes a cause of anger and maliciousness in the society. And it is not good for the health of any civilized society.

Remember, "If you will call or promote your history as a myth or mythology, then be aware that the enemy of society and your nation will make sure that it turns into myth". 

Written by: Vineet Kumar Saraswat

More details & Research paper:

Saraswati Nadi in Haryana and its linkage with the Vedic Saraswati River — Integrated study based on satellite images and ground-based information

Link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12594-009-0084-y

The Lost Courses of the Saraswati River in the Great Indian Desert: New Evidence from Landsat Imagery

Link: https://www.jstor.org/stable/633213?seq=1

Read more at:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/72432177.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

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