Many mysteries remain unanswered in the world of Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece. One such mystery that has stuck around ever since the start of the franchise is what are the true powers and intentions of The Five Elders who control the world government.
Amongst many of their motives, a theory put forward by this user on Reddit reveals how The Five Elders (or the Gorosei) are purposefully spreading diseases around the world. The user has managed to somehow link the group of these five elders to Hindu Mythology, and it surprisingly makes sense.
How The Five Elders In One Piece Are Linked To Hindu Mythology
There is no doubt that Eiichiro Oda, the author of the series has often opted to take inspiration from different mythologies around the globe. Some of these include the Luffy Gear 5 Bajrang Gun attack which has been inspired by the Hindu Deity Hanuman. Additionally, the recent Zoro’s Three Sword Style: Hahava Leopard Killer attack, whose name seems to have been inspired by one of the 8th Buddhist Hells.
However, the information put forward by the user mentioned before shows the excellent use of foreshadowing Oda likes to often use and needs a lot of deep investigative abilities to find in the first place. The theory states how Dr. Jaygarcia Saturn, one of The Five Elders is associated with one of the Navagraha from Hindu Mythology, called Shani, which represents the planet Saturn of the solar system.
Additionally, Shani, the deity who is used to represent the planet Saturn is also associated with a gemstone, much like every other heavenly body that is announced in mythology. Shani in particular is associated with the Blue Sapphire Gemstone, which finally connects us to why The Gorosei Might be spreading incurable diseases.
The Sapphire Gemstone coincidentally has the same name as one of the incurable diseases that is found in the world of One Piece, called the Sapphire Scales. Jaygarcia Saturn, who is allegedly inspired by the deity Shani (who is further affiliated with Sapphire) has been showcased experimenting with the victims of the Sapphire Scale disease, giving some credit to the theory.
Furthermore, it is not only Saturn who seems to have been associated with one of the heavenly bodies in the Hindu Mythology, as out of the 9 present, many of these entities have been manifested as characters in the One Piece series.
How Eiichiro Oda Has Inspired Major Characters In The One Piece From The Hindu Mythology
There are 9 different celestial bodies in the Hindu belief and are called the Navagraha, with “Nav” standing for 9 and “Graha” standing for planets and 7 of these have been associated with days of the weeks. Except for Jaygarcia Saturn, who has been represented as Shani, or the planet Saturn, 6 other major characters seem to be inspired by these celestial bodies.
These characters are Sun God Nika (inspired by the Sun, or Surya), St. Imu Nerona (inspired by the Moon, or Chandra), St. Marcus Mars (inspired by Mars, or Mangal), St. Topman Walcury (inspired by Mercury, or Budday), St. Shepherd Ju Peter (Inspired by Jupiter, or Brihaspati), and lastly Ethanbaron V. Nasujuro (Inspired by Venus, or Shukra).
There remains no argument when it comes to accepting the fact that Eiichiro Oda has taken a lot of influence from Hindu Mythology, and the above remains concrete proof of the same. However, everything remains a speculation for now, and won’t be confirmed till the mangaka wishes for it.
One Piece is available on Crunchyroll.
