The following is a reply to an email received from my friend, Najma:

I got your mail. Well, material pressure is not always the reason for producing great writers and poets, but pressure and suffering by itself is. Those great writers who may not have been materially badly off are still the product of human suffering , loss, disappointment and perhaps more importantly self-introspection. And that exists in the rich man's palace and the poor's hut.

Agreed. The classic example is the Buddha … you just can't keep a spiritual man down in the laps of ease and luxury... however, I'd love for someone to do that to me. :)

My view of course! That's why Hindu mythology fascinates me so much.

Agreed again. I've always been fascinated and amazed as the simple practicality of Hinduism. For instance, the "Age of Pleasure" is a phase we all go through and is not necessarily a "sin" is a much more healthy way of living life...

Hey, now that you have a Hindu girlfriend, let me give you some alternate theories and you can impress her with your vast knowledge! Here's one analysis of Krishna versus Balarama that u rarely get to hear. BTW, will I be your children's' godmother?!!!

You're just too funny. I don't have a Hindu girlfriend, I just happen to have a "friend" who is a Hindu.

Balarama did not participate in the Mahabharata war.

This is the first time that I have heard of Balarama (although the name "Bel" and "Ram" or "rama" is quite interesting from the Indo-European religious view).

But how can a god be a "partial incarnation"? Aren't you either an "incarnation" or "not"? Sorry … I digress...

I especially like the correlation between Vishnu and Shiva being opposites and any incarnation of the Triple Goddess (Subhadra)  … You see, in early religions, there is a standard myth of the Goddess creating herself and then a lover and then the world. Later she creates another lover (sometimes it is their son) and the two men fight for the attentions of the goddess.

For instance, in one Greek story (I believe it is Ionian), we have the goddess rising up from the deep and dancing on the primeval waters. As she dances, she moves to the South. In the north and whirlwind is created due to her movements and from the whirlwind a snake is created. The snake entwines himself around the goddess, and from this union, the goddess bears an egg (a winged egg, often). When the egg hatches, the world appears. Later, she creates another god (and I can't remember the details, I'll look it up tonight), and this new god fights the snake till the end of time in order to be the goddess' lover.

You'll notice that all of the principle characters of the Garden of Eden are included in this Greek version... including the "brooding/dancing" on the face of the deep. In fact, "Eve" means "The Mother of all Living", which is a standard title for the original Triple Goddess.

Variations on this myth occur everywhere … even as late as the "Arthurian Stories" of Lancelot/Ellen/Galahad. I'm racking my brain, but Osiris/Isis/Set from Egypt also come to mind. Anyway, your comment about two opposite (usually twin) brothers and a woman seems to link back to this early myth.