Interweaving myths and case history, this paper argues that given the non-western nature of the family environment in India, certain aspects of the powerful mother (-goddess) have a great impact on the development of the male child. Defensively, the Hindu boy copes with this figure of intense import in certain culturally favoured ways, e.g. by remaining tied to the infantile position, celibacy or impotence as a defence against phallic licence, retaining a degree of potency by deadening the mother, identification with the mother and so on. Moreover, the role of the father too has a specific cultural configuration. The paper further argues

that the construction and experience of the self are influenced by the culture from the very beginning of life and that analysts have generally placed its influence too late in the developmental timetable.