The more I read about Mayawati, the more I am reminded about what a friend (Rukmini Gupte) once told me. She is the perfect Manasa archetype. And as my husband points out, so is Mamata. And there is more than just an ‘m’ connection.
Manasa, worshipped as a 'devi', is a semi divine being. Daughter of Shiv and a mortal woman, she is also a hero (the term hero in mythology stands for both man and woman). According to one of the definitions of hero, one of the many conditions that a hero must fulfil is to have one divine parent (Greek myths exemplify this best). Manasa, with Shiv as a father, fits the bill.
The story goes that Manasa was extremely beautiful but jealous Parvati (Shiv’s wife) scarred her face and blinded her in one eye. This did not deter Manasa or perhaps that is what set her on her mission: to upstage Shiv as the popular god.
Shiv was universally worshipped at the time; he was the reigning deity. Manasa wanted to take his place. She went about forcing, cajoling and threatening people to follow her. On the advice of a confidante, she sought the worship of the shepherd community. She believed that the shepherds, being nomadic, would help spread her influence to distant lands. The shepherds were not willing. But Manasa was determined. She poisoned their sheep and promised to revive them only if the community did her bidding.
Interestingly, in the Sunderbans where many of her legends still flourish, a poisonous plant named manasa is commonly found. And Otto Rank in his book ‘The Myth of the Birth of a Hero’ says that "nearly all authors who have hitherto been engaged in the interpretation of the birth myths of heroes find in them a personification of the processes of nature..." Is it possible then that a plant inspired a goddess and spawned these myths?
But I digress. Point is that Manasa was a vicious and vengeful goddess. In another legend popular in Bengal and Bihar, she drives a rich merchant Chand Soudagar to despair because he refuses to pray to her. She destroys his trade, kills his son and pushes him to brink of insanity until he gives in to her wishes. In return she brings his son back to life and restores his lost business.
Shades of Manasa are easy to spot in both the chief ministers: Mayawati and Mamata. They fit the archetype. They ride roughshod over all obstacles, real or perceived. Loyalty is rewarded, dissent is crushed.
An archetype, Jung says “is a kind of readiness to produce over and over again the same or similar mythical ideas.” (Carl Jung, Psychological Types, Collective Works, Vol 6) Thus the Manasa archetype is characterised by a determination to rise to the top, born out of a sense of injustice. It is marked by mercurial and impetuous behaviour and a ruthless desire for power and control over everything else. In Greek myths, Medusa takes the evil and cruelty inherent in the archetype to an extreme level wheras Manasa is more in keeping with that of a benevolent despot that is commonly found in the Orient (Doubt: is there such a thing as a "benevolent despot" or is it an oxymoron?).
As the UP state elections draw close, it will be interesting to watch how Mayawati handles the electorate. And in Bengal, how Mamata deals with her new-found power. Will they temper down their anger to win fealty, or will they, in keeping with the Manasa archetype, terrorise non-believers into submission?
