God of time and fear

A whole bunch of friends went to see this highly successful Bollywood film

A whole bunch of friends went to see this highly successful Bollywood film. One returned saying, "It is a good film to watch if you leave your brain behind." Another said, "Good time pass it was." The third said, "A great way to unwind. You just don't have to think or worry or introspect, you don't have to even pay attention as there is no story, just a series of bizarre slapstick sequences, with beautiful people in beautiful locations."

I hear this time and time again, people wanting to spend hours doing nothing, or rather doing activities that ensure they don't have to think. Time pass is an activity that effortlessly shrinks time. It is an activity where one is responsible for no one or nothing. It is highly self indulgent and unproductive, but induces no guilt or shame. We feel happy and alive without having really done anything. Not surprisingly ventures that satisfy this craving are highly successful -- Facebook, Twitter, Blackberry, iPad, email, SMS, video games, mobile chat, television soaps, masala movies.

Time pass allows us not to think or introspect. Humans are the only 'animals' provided with a brain that is large enough to allow us to think and introspect. Yet, this is the one activity we tend to shy away from. The clue to understanding the human fear of introspection and this insatiable craving for time pass perhaps lies in a god called Kala Bhairava.

Kala Bhairava is the god of time (kala) as well as the god of fear (bhaya). The ancients equated the god of time with the god of fear. Why? Those who have done the Vipassana course know how difficult it is to sit still and do nothing except surrender to the passage of time marked by breath. Time forces us to wonder about our lives. It churns out memories from our unconscious mind that we would rather deny or ignore. It stirs the imagination that propels us towards futures we do not want to face. Time marches without a pause, steadily and surely taking us towards old age and death. Nothing we do will change that. Neither our ambitions nor our achievements. Time treats everyone equally, saint and sinner, king and criminal. Times makes us feel insignificant.u00a0 Fear follows. Kala becomes Bhairava. We yearn for time pass.

Neuroscience informs us that the act of introspection makes our brain use more energy than usual. Hence our body that likes to conserve energy by default, resists any attempts to use more energy. Thus despite having a highly developed brain that enables introspection, our physiology is naturally geared towards avoiding this action. It takes effort, hence energy, to introspect. Time pass is effortless. We naturally prefer the latter.

In Christian mythology, the empty mind is called the Devil's workshop. Rather than surrender to the Devil, we indulge in time pass. Kala Bhairava understands this human frailty and so holds a rattle drum in his hand. The rattle drum is an instrument used to distract and control the restless monkey. In Hindu mythology, the monkey is a symbol of the restless mind. Ratting his drum, Kala Bhairava distracts our mind with time pass and thus destroys our fear of time. Kala Bhairava thus reminds us he is a form of Shiva, God who destroys.

Devdutt Pattanaik is a Mumbai-based mythologist who makes sacred stories, symbols and rituals relevant to modern times. Reach him at devdutt@devdutt.com

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