A Myth for the Ages: Work-Life Balance
King TrisankuViswamitra the MagicianBy his spells and incantations,Up to Indra’s realms elysianRaised Trisanku, king of nations. Indra and the gods offendedHurled him downward, and descendingIn the air he hung suspended,With these equal powers contending.Thus by aspirations lifted,By misgivings downward driven,Human hearts are tossed and driftedMidway between earth and heaven.--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
Working parents figuring out the secret to having it all, take heart.
Ancient sages have expended much energy on reconciling the irreconcilable, be it Trishanku's desire to ascend to heaven in his earthly body or the conflict between an individual’s needs and his obligations to society. One answer to this eternal question may be found in this 12th century Chola bronze of the Hindu god Shiva, with his wife, the goddess Parvati, and his son, Skanda.
Long before the modern marketplace popularized the language of individualism and work as self-fulfillment, virile young Indian men turned their backs on society to seek self-actualization through meditation. They would pray to Shiva, the lord of the ascetics.
Shiva, who typically appeared with the matted hair and animal skins of a wandering beggar, lived in the mountains, far away from civilization. So, it must have been startling to behold Shiva as householder, weighted down by quotidian obligations, as shown in this image.{{1}} Could it have been to remind those young men of their obligations to house and hearth?
But short of being Lord of the Universe, how was a young person to balance the call of the family against the call of the spirit? The image holds the answer: notice that Shiva has more than two arms to portray his divinity, while his wife, the goddess Parvati, has only two arms, to emphasize her non-divinity.{{2}}
Every superstar needs a supporting actor and Sheryl Sandberg was right: who you marry might be the most important career decision you make.
[[1]] Rajeshwari Ghose in The Lord or Arur; Tyagaraja Cult in Tamil Nadu: A study in Conflict and Accommodation, 1997. Somaskanda originated several hundred years before the Chola period in the Pallava period. There are several theories as to why Somaskanda came into being. One theory goes that around the Pallava period, Jainism and Buddhism were gaining popularity among the masses. Both religions encourage celibacy and asceticism as a prerequisite to enlightenment. What better way to counteract than to remind would-be converts that the lord of ascetics himself had fulfilled his worldly obligations? Another theory is that the Pallava period was a time of synthesis between the Sanskrit North and the Tamil south. Skanda or Murukan was a Tamil god, and originally did not have a father, but only a mother, Korravai. In the North, Skanda did not have a mother. By converting Korravai to Parvati, the consort of Shiva, the Pallavas were able to bring these two cultures together.[[1]]
[[2]] Pratapaditya Pal in "Sculptures from South India in the Art Institute of Chicago," Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, 1996.[[2]]