umar, and even sheds blood for him. However, Nataraj's devotion on several occasions seems questionable. On the day that Sastri performs his Satyanarayana Puja (a tribute to Visnu performed by Brahmin on full-moon days ), Nataraj does nothing. Although Nataraj does much to organize the procession to celebrate the marriage of Krishna, at one point he says that he "enjoyed the status of being more important than the procession". This would certainly not be an indication of his humility before the gods, or even respect for Krishna. A large part of devotion is chastity. While Nataraj is never unfaithful to his wife with Rangi, he is tempted on several occasions. However, this could be considered an indication of Nataraj's devotion if he actually resisted the temptation, and wasn't just too shy to confront Rangi. Nataraj is also taken in by Vasu's talk of science. He takes the stuffed tiger and keeps it, thereby keeping the memory of the murderous Vasu alive, as well as keeping Vasu's science of taxidermy in Malgudi (not to mention the implications of trapping Shiva in the Queen Anne desk). When Nataraj is mounting the stairs to Vasu's apartment, he says that the rational thing for a person to do is to approach things in a scientific frame of mind, and sympathizes with Vasu's frustration at the world's lack of scientific approach. In a way, science has already failed Nataraj once. In the Atharva Veda, the way of dealing with illness is by exorcising the demon who caused it . Nataraj has taken Kumar to the doctor, and he is no longer sick. But Kumar's life is still in danger because Nataraj has not dealt with Vasu, the demon who caused Kumar's illness. All these things show that Nataraj is not truly devoted to the gods, although he appears to be at first.In the Man-Eater of Malgudi, myth highlights the deeper meaning in the society of Malgudi. With each myth mentioned or alluded to, the content of the story is put into a new l...
