The horde will be closing in on you from all sides, jabbering at you incoherently. You’ll look around yourself for a way to escape and, for the first time, notice just how incredible the carvings on the ruins around you are.
“Huh,” you’ll mumble, running your hand along them and feeling the etched stone under your fingers. “This is kinda neat.”
The horde will halt for a moment, confused, their scimitars raised in mid-air. You’ll continue examining the carvings, completely oblivious to the violence building around you.
The carvings will explain, in simple wordless terms, the story of the Hindu creation myth and its fallout. It will detail the various cycles of each god, their trials and tribulations and the stories they’ve visited upon the Hindu people for generations.
“This is so much cooler than Christianity!” you’ll shout, patting one of the sword-wielding locals on the back. He’ll nod, tentatively.
“Yes,” he’ll mutter in heavily accented English. “Is very cool.”
The two of you will talk for a while about the myth, its nature and how it relates to the practice of Hinduism in daily life. You’ll discuss the differences between the faith you know and the faith you’ve just now discovered, the manner in which it can reshape your life. And while you won’t want to convert, you will offer to write a lengthy discourse with him about the nature of religion and your two faiths in his company, to co-author it with him and eventually publish it with his name credited first.
He’ll agree, and the two of you will live and work side by side for many years, away from the barbarian horde. You’ll eat your meals together, talk constantly, learn to love and respect each other in a totally platonic way, and you’ll create a masterful work on the nature of religion and your lives.
Once it’s published, he’ll execute you and take full credit, effectively initiating you into the academic community.
Congratulations on Figuring Out the Hindu Pantheon!
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