Mahishasura was a benevolent Dravidian (Asura) ruler who protected his people from marauding Aryans (Suras)

A monster or benevolent Dravidian ruler who protected subjects from marauding Aryans? Mahishasura, from whom Mysuru derives its name, is a fascinating character. Though mythology depicts him as a monster who was rightfully killed by Chamundi, folklore has a different take.

Even revolutionary thinkers such as BR Ambedkar and Jothiba Phule consider Mahishasura as a benevolent Dravidian (Asura) ruler who protected his people from marauding Aryans (Suras).

Vijaya Mahesh, a historian, says, “The word ‘mahi’ means someone who brings peace to the world. Like most indigenous lords, Mahishasura was not only a well-read and powerful king, he even had 177 intelligent consultants. His land was rich in natural resources. There was no space for destructive religious practices such as Homas and Yagnas in his country. No one could kill animals indiscriminately either for food, pleasure or religious rites.

Most importantly, everyone had to work with none allowed to sit idle. In order to ensure that no one chopped trees, Mahishasura had nominated a number of people to protect the forests in his land.’’ Vijaya claims that Mahishasura’s people were experts in metal casting technology. `

“Historian Vincent A Smith says in his work A copper age and Prehistoric bronze implements of India that during Mahishasura’s time people from across the country used to come here to buy weapons made of very good metals. The same opinion is espoused by another historian M L Shendge,’’ she says. According to folklore, Mahishasura knew the medicinal qualities of various plants and trees and he used to personally care for the health of his people.

Why and how then did such a good and illustrious king become a villain? “To understand that you have to go to the clash of cultures between the Suras and the Asuras,’’ says Yogesh Master, author and researcher of subaltern cultures. “As everyone knows, Asura Mahisha’s kingdom had lots of buffaloes. Aryan Chamundi belonged to a culture which treasured cows. When these two cultures clashed, Mahishasura lost and his people were shunted out of the region.

The winner narrated the story according to his convenience’’ he adds. Not just Mahishasura, there were apparently a number of other Asura rulers in the state. “In 1926, the Mysore University published a booklet titled Handbook on Indian Economic Conference which says there were several seats of Asura chieftains in Karnataka. For instance, Guhasura ruled from his capital Harihara. Hidambasura ruled Chitradurga and its surrounding areas.

Bakasura was the lord of Ramanagara. And of course, Mahishasura was lord of Mysore. All of which means that these areas were ruled by indigenous people until the Aryans came and occupied their lands,’’ explains Vijaya. Ambedkar too was convinced that Asuras were not monsters as depicted in myths created by the Brahmins. “The description of Asura given in the Mahabharat and Ramayan make out as though they belonged to a non-human world. Asuras were members of the human family,’’ stresses Ambedkar in one of his essays.

Ambedkar also takes a jibe at the Brahmins for making their own Gods look like a set of ‘miserable cowards’. He says that since in all the mythological tales, Asuras are killed not by Vishnu or Shiva but by Goddesses! If Durga (or Chamundi in the Karnataka context) killed Mahishasura, Kali slayed Narakasura. While Asura brothers Shumba and Nishumba met their end at the hands of Durga, Banasura was dispatched off by Kanyakumari. Another Asura called Raktabija was slayed by Goddess Shakti.

Ambedkar sneers: “It seems that the Gods could not defend themselves against the Asuras and had to beg their wives to come to their rescue.’’ “There is a reason why Suras always dispatched women to kill Asura lords. They knew very well that the Asuras kings would never raise their arms against women. And most of those women killed Asuras using deceptive means. In order to cover up this sham, the Suras wove stories of ten arms, amazing weapons, etc.

If we look beyond these cock and bull stories which are fine for dance dramas we can see how the history of the indigenous people has been twisted by the Brahminical class to suit its own purposes,’’ says Vijaya. Not just in West Bengal or Jharkhand, even today there are some communities living around Mysuru who have nothing but contempt for Chamundi because she killed their benevolent king Mahishasura. Some of them pray for his soul during Dasara. As Srinivas, the head priest of the Chamundeshwari temple, told me today, “Some people from Tamil Nadu come twice a year and offer prayers to the statue of Mahishasura.’’ Over the last couple of years, Asuras are becoming the rage across the country.

If the tribal people of West Bengal have been organizing massive meetings to discuss Asura culture, students in various university campuses have been organizing festivals around the theme of Asuras. Last year, students of Osmania University and Kakatiya University had celebrated ‘Narakasura Day’. Since HRD minister Smriti Irani has given nationwide publicity to what the JNU students did, we need not go there. What explains the increasing fascination for Mahisha and other Asuras? Just the way mythology is not history, folklore too cannot be presumed to be the font of our past.

But as Vijaya sees it, “Manuvaadis have twisted and distorted the rich cultural history of the Bahujans. We need to shake the dust off, remove the mythological lies and tell the truth to our people and our children. That is the only way we can reclaim our true history.’’ Perhaps that is exactly what is going on.

[ This article appeared first in Bangalore Mirror and was written by Gauri Lankesh ]