거품, 어스름, 그리고 해변 : 인도 신화 속에 나타난 신들의 속임수와 경계성 (God's Trickery and Liminality in the Hindu Myth)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 인도철학회
· 수록지 정보 : 인도철학 / 31호 / 5 ~ 26페이지
· 저자명 : 심재관

초록

데바-아수라의 투쟁신화는 고대 힌두신화의 가장 흔하고 중요한 신화적 모티프로서 초기 문헌인 『베다』로부터 서사시 『마하바라따』와 『라아야나』 그리고 『뿌라나』 문헌들 속에 광범위하게 등장하고 있다. 어떤 신화소는 이들 문헌 속에서 여러 번 재활용되는데 그 가운데 하나가 신들이 보여주는 속임수이다. 전투 속에서 등장하는 속임수는 신과 악마가 합의하에 맺었던 평화협정이나 약속을 교묘하게 피해서 상대방을 살해하는 모습에서 나타난다. 이런 모습은 언제나 신들의 행위이며 또한 최고의 신인 비슈누의 계략임이 드러난다. 신들의 속임수는 상대방과 맺었던 평화협정의 빈틈을 찾아서 그 협정을 가능한 깨뜨리지 않는 것처럼 행동하는 교묘한 전략이다. 신이 악마에게 약속했던 것이나 서로가 맺었던 평화협정의 내용은 대개 아수라에게 절대적으로 유리한 것이지만, 아수라를 살해하기 위한 방법은 그 계약내용 어디에도 해당하지 않는 ‘중간상태’ 또는 ‘양가적(兩價的)인 경계’에서 만들어진다.

영어초록

The conflict between deva and asura is one of the most famous and important mythological cycle that has been highly accepted in the Hindu myths, which are repeatedly presented in many texts like Vedas, Mahābhārata, Rāmāyana, and Purāṇas. Among the mythemes that are most favored in the myth of deva-asura combat is of trickery or deceit intended by the gods like Indra or Viṣṇu, and this is the subject that is most seldomly researched by the scholars.
In the myth of Indra-Vṛtra, specially presented in Mahābhārata, the trickery deliberately intended by Indra clearly be exposed as he try to breach the armistice agreement to kill his enemy, Vṛtra, although the truce had been suggested by Indra himself(or, by Viṣṇu) immediately after he(or, devas) had been defeated in the combat with Vṛtra. The term of truce that Vṛtra asked for as a requital was that he would not be killed with anything that is dry or wet, nor during the day or the night.
Indra(or Viṣṇu who control behind him) was so trickery as to strike Vṛtra with a lump of foam that is not dry nor wet, and it was twilight. Regarding this context, the Indra's trickery on truce could be only successful with the liminality of the terms of truce that had been already engaged between adversaries.
In case of Viṣṇu's avatara myth, specially of Narasiṃha, the plot of the myth is very similar to the Indra-Vṛtra myth in the sense that Narasiṃha is supposed to kill his enemy, Hiraṇyakaśipu, with the liminality of the conditions that Hiraṇyakaśipu could ensured his own life against the death.
As a result of the extreme penance for a long time, Hiraṇyakaśipu had a chance to ask for a boon from the Brahma that he would not be killed by anything that is dry or wet, nor human or demon, neither the day nor the night, neither indoors nor outdoors, and so on. However, the boon from the Brahma is nullified when Narashiṃha kills Hiraṇyakaśipu on the threshold of doorway(this is not outdoors nor indoor) with his claw(not living thing nor non-living thing) at twilight(not the day nor not the night). Penetrating the crevice of the conditions for the asura's immorality is an kind of clever but wicked strategy played often by the gods when they were confronted with their enemies that they could not overcome, 'In-betweenness' or 'liminality' is thus an another characteristic that we can meet as we search for the trace of god's trickery in Hindu myths.

참고자료

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