mythology as Deucalion, the son of Prometheus and Pronoia. In our Hinduism the story of Lord Vishnu and King Manu in Matsya Purana is a depiction of the same. He is described in Rabbinic Judaism. The Bahá'í Faith regards the ark, flood to be symbolic. Their belief was only Noah's followers were spiritually alive, protected by the ‘ark’, the rest spiritually dead. Their scripture Kitáb-i-Íqán endorses the Islamic belief that Noah had numerous companions on the ark, with his family. He preached for 950 (symbolic) years before the flood. The basic significance is the prophetic omen were those who obeyed Him would be rewarded, those not would be penalised. This is an echo of our Bhagavad Gita: ‘Yada Yada Hi Dharmasya, Glanirva Bhavathi Bharatha, Abhyuthanam Adharmaysya, Tadatmanam Srijami Aham Praritranaya Sadhunam Vinashaya Cha Dushkritam Dharamasansthapnaya Sambhavami Yuge-Yuge’ Which means, whenever there is decay of righteousness O! Bharata, a rise of immorality, I manifest Myself! For the protection of the good, for the demolition of the wicked and for the founding of virtue, I am born in every age (Bhagavad Gita Chapter IV 7-8). It’s an echo of the end of the Third Dynasty of Ur (2004 BC) with the restoration of order by the First Dynasty of Isin in the Mesopotamian flood myth. Mythology has a covert message amid a storyline. People read them as a story. Seldom they imbibe the furtive message. They plunder the world, engage in wars, destroy Nature and fight for absolute global monarchy. They forget the misery they impose in their zeal for supremacy destroying the Mother Earth. ‘Dharma’ isn’t about religion, it’s about virtue. That is, what’s right for the Mother Earth to uphold its harmony or energy balance. Faced with a disaster the arrogant, haughty humans are tossed into a vortex of eddies, only to forget why it occurred in the first place. They continue in a similar stride until another disaster re-strikes. Only a few ponder the rationale of the Mother Earth. Noah’s story might be a fable. It teaches a vital truth. Those who obey ‘dharma’ or virtue would be saved Upahaar 2020
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