Claiming the Earth as nation

In prehistoric times people captured a hunting ground or agricultural land or pastures by claiming that is where the ancestor was buried Burial was an important ritual invented by ancient people to claim rights over lands Later they invented stories to claim landThe Maori say that their cultural hero Maui once went fishing on a canoe and pulled out a big fish The big fish became the North Island of New Zealand and the canoe became the South Island Thus through a cultural narrative ie myth the Maori staked claim on New ZealandIn the same way in Nepal it is said that in the beginning of time a great Lotus bloomed in the middle of a lake from which arose Adi Buddha He was Swayambhu selfcreated The lake dried up and gave rise to the Kathmandu Valley The lotus flower became a mountain which houses the Swayambhunath Stupa Thus through mythological lore and Buddhist narrative Buddhism stakes claim to the land of NepalSimilarly cultural stories are used to stake claim to India The most popular one was the concept of Bharat Mata created in the early 20th century Before that India was created using various ideas For example in Vedic times there was a concept of Aryadesha the land occupied by the Aryas This shifted from the Northern Gangetic plains and gradually expanded to include the Deccan region In the various dharma shastra it was described as the land where the black buck roamsAfter Buddha was cremated his bones and hair were buried in different parts of India to create the holy Buddha Kshetra which became India In Ashokan edicts we hear the word Jambudvipa referring to the Indian subcontinent for the first time In the Jain king Kharavelarsquos edicts the preferred word is Bharatvarsha Thus was India claimed by the Buddhists and the JainsIn the Hindu school of thought it is said that Shiva danced with the corpse of Sati in his arms literally until the body of Sati broke into tiny pieces and fell upon different parts of India This gave rise to the various Shakti Sthala or Shakti Peeth This again maps itself to South Asia specifically the Indian subcontinent Some parts of Satirsquos body are found in Bangladesh and Pakistan They too became part of Akhanda BharatAnother way in which these regions are culturally connected to India is through the Ramayana and Mahabharata There is repeated mention in the epics of horses travelling on the land to be claimed by Aryan kings Rama of solar dynasty connects north Kosala Videha to south India Kishkinda Lanka while Krishna of lunar dynasty connects east India Kuru Magadha to west India Gandhara DwarkaThus we see how cultural narratives have been created to connect the land to a people and an imagination We must never underestimate the power of these stories Let us not forget that Israel is a landmass that is claimed by Jewish Christians and Muslims on grounds that it is where Abrahamrsquos family is buried where Jesus walked and from where Muhammad rose to heaven to meet Allah Such stories gives these faiths the moral authority to fight over it Thus we see mythology playing a very important role in land rights and so politics Never underestimate the power of storiesDevdutt Pattanaik writes and lectures on the relevance of mythology in modern times Reach him at devduttpattanaikmiddaycom