unenlightened person. According to this
image, just as the deer does not recog-
nize that the heady scent of musk comes
from its own body, but rushes all over
the forest in search of it, so are human
beings ignorant of God inside and ever
close to them, but looking outside them-
selves in search of the divine.
Dehu
Town in the Pune district of Maharashtra
state, sixty-five miles east and south of
Bombay. It is most famous as the
home of the poet-saint Tukaram, one
of most important figures in the
Varkari Panth. The Varkaris are a reli-
gious community centered around the
worshipof the Hindu god Vithoba, at
his temple at Pandharpurin modern
Maharashtra. Varkari religious practice
centers primarily around two annual
pilgrimages in which all the partici-
pants arrive in Pandharpur on the
same day. Tukaram still symbolically
travels to Pandharpur twice each year;
a palanquin(palkhi) bearing his san-
dals is at the head of the procession
bearing his name.
Deities
This is a word with various possible
meanings in different contexts. On one
hand, it can refer to the gods (devas).
These are beings who live in one of the
heavenly realms, by virtue of their past
good karma(actions), but who are still
subject to the law of karma and who
therefore must someday be reborn in a
lower state. This word can also refer to
the Supreme Reality, which can best be
designated as “God,” although the
Hindu imagination has given it various
names: Brahman, the Goddess, Vishnu,
Shiva, Ganesh, and a host of other
deities in the pantheon, including vil-
lage deities.
Demons
The Hindu mythic universe has various
classes of supernatural beings, some of
which are perpetually at odds with one
another. The most prominent conflict is
between the suras (“gods”) and another
class of divine beings called asuras
(“not-gods”). Aside from the asuras,
there are other powerful beings such as
rakshasas, pisacas, and vetalas, which
have greater or lesser malevolence
toward the gods and human beings. The
English word most often used to denote
all these divine adversaries is the word
“demon.” Although this is a convenient
label and avoids the need for unfamiliar
Sanskritterminology, it also carries
inappropriate and misleading associa-
tions. The word “demon” carries conno-
tations of absolute and radical evil, as
well as willful opposition to a single
supreme divinity. Neither assumption is
appropriate in the Hindu mythic uni-
verse, which is polytheistic, or believing
in more than one god. This polytheistic
universe has a host of divine beings,
whose individual interests may well
conflict with those of the gods, and
whose mutual opposition may spill over
into open war. This does not make such
opponents, or “demons,” inherently evil,
but rather the opponents of the Hindu
gods, from whose perspective Hindu
mythology is clearly recounted. These
“demons” may also be ill-disposed
toward humans, but they are not neces-
sarily or inherently so. Perhaps the
clearest recognition of their status is that
despite their occasional opposition to
the gods, they are never completely
destroyed, but simply demoted to a
more appropriate status. For example,
when the “demon” Hiranyakashipuis
destroyed by Vishnu’s Man-Lion avatar,
he is succeeded by his son Prahlada. In
the same way, after the god Ramakills
Ravana, the “demon” king of Lanka,
Rama appoints as successor Ravana’s
brother Vibhishana. Asuras and other
supernormal beings thus have a legiti-
mate place in the Hindu mythic world,
and as long as they do not overreach
themselves and throw the world into
imbalance, they are allowed to remain.Demons