THE HOLY MONTH...

Thanks to the erstwhile rulers of India, the Gregorian calendar has been the reference in the day to day life of us Indians. For all practical purposes, we have attuned ourselves to the date, month and year patterns of this calendar named after Pope Gregory XIII in the 16th Century CE.


Apart from the Gregorian calendar, we occasionally refer to the Hindu calendar developed in late BCE. This is usually to check our Nakshatra Birthdays or just to understand why a festival like Diwali falls on a particular day of the year. However, such references are too few and too far apart to allow us to understand the calendar, its many features and benefits, even over a long period of time. So much so that I don’t even know the months of the Hindu calendar. Do you?


Now, I am not very much well versed with the Hindu calendar as well and hence will steer clear from its general attributes. And I write only on Mythology, with which this calendar has no direct reference. So, I have handpicked a very specific and current topic – days in one of the months in this calendar – and the correlations it has with the Indian mythology tales. It is the very month in which this blog is posted – Vaishakha (in Sanskrit) or Vaikashi (in Tamil) and the days are the Full Moon and New Moon days in this month.


a. Whole or Part:
The Full Moon day or the Poornima in this month is celebrated world over as Buddha Poornima. Now, this is hardly a fact related to Indian Mythology. However, as Buddhism emerged and flourished at a time when Hinduism ruled over most of the Indian subcontinent, it had several brushes with the dominant religion of that time. Buddhism contrasted Hinduism in several aspects, especially on worship of Gods, responsibilities of men and women in society etc, which often caused conflict and even clashes among the followers. However, it was a master stroke, when the Hindus, instead of denouncing Buddhism, decided to take it under the fold of Hinduism. This made Buddhism not a separate religion, but a branch of mainstream Hinduism, thereby totally eliminating the competition. Amazing isn’t it? But you might be wondering where the Mythology in this is!


Mythology can be understood as an expression of Religion, especially in the Indian (Hindu) context. Earlier and even today, we have been accepting and worshiping almost all those whom we read about. One of the most brilliant ways of enveloping Buddhism into the circle of Hinduism was to associate the supreme Buddhist, Gautama Buddha, with the pantheon of Hindu Gods. The stories about these Gods were narrated to the masses, which propagated the idea of Buddhism being one with Hinduism. And the story is…


If you scroll down (or navigate) to my first blog, you’ll find mentioned a list of the 10 main avatars of Lord Vishnu. There is a conflict with the 8th and the 9th. There is a popular belief (especially among the Colonials then and the West now) that Lord Krishna is the 8th Avatar of Lord Vishnu, and Lord Buddha is his 9th. The story of the Buddha avatar does not change much from the story of Gautama Buddha we commonly know. However, certain changes were made to introduce a divine aspect to this tale.


Taraka, a demon killed by Lord Skanda (Karthikeya), had 3 sons – Taarakaaksha, Kamalaaksha and Vidyunmaali – who strove hard to gain boons from Lord Brahma. They desired for and were granted a revolving aerial city each which could be destroyed only when aligned and attacked by a single weapon. The brothers built fortresses of these cities, named in Tripura, and soon wreaked havoc on the Universe. The terrified Devas rushed to the Tridev – Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh – asking them to help them destroy the Demons and Tripura. Even the Gods agreed that aligning the cities would a difficult task, as the Asuras could control the cities to avoid alignment. So, Lord Vishnu assumed the form of a Monk, Gautama Buddha. He pacified the people of Tripura and taught them about non-violence. As a result, the demons lost interest in material world and took to the lessons of Lord Buddha. Consequently the demons lost control of their cities and soon the cities aligned together. Lord Shiva mounted the chariot which was Earth, with Sun and Moon as it wheels and Lord Brahma as the charioteer. He strung the bow which was mount Meru with Vasuki, King of Serpents. He mounted the arrow which was Lord Vishnu and fired at the aligned Tripura, thus reducing it to ashes. The world was rid of the demons thanks to the thoughtful interference of the Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu in the form of Lord Buddha. Thus an attempt was made to wrap Buddhism under the Hindu blanket. Quite amazing, isn’t it?


Now that I have mentioned this tale here, let me bring out another interesting aspect. After destroying Tripura, Lord Shiva (Tripurantaka) smeared his forehead with three strokes of Ashes. This has become a prominent symbol of Lord Shiva and is practiced even today by Shaivites, viz. Iyers (I too!).


b. The Day before Today:
In the blog about Sahadeva, we had come to know that Duryodhana had enquired with Sahadeva about an auspicious day to begin the Kurukshetra battle. This day was the New Moon day or the Amavasya in the Vaishakha month; which is Today – Saturday 12th June (as I write). If the war were to have started on this day, then our understanding of the Mahabharata would have been quite different. To avoid this, once again, Lord Krishna had to interfere, this time with the calendar.


A day before the Amavasya, Lord Krishna started performing Tarpanam (a Tamil word meaning oblations offered to the deceased ancestors on Amavasya). Watching this, everyone was surprised, wondering whether the day was Chaturdashi (14th day) or Amavasya. However, as it was Lord Krishna offering oblations, people believed the day to be Amavasya and changed their routine accordingly. Even the Sun and the Moon realigned themselves (or something like that) to cause Amavasya. Observing this, the Kauravas marched ahead and thus the Kurukshetra war started on the 14th day of the waning moon itself. This day is called Bodhayana Amavasya and it fell on Friday 11th June in 2010.


So, these are the days of the Vaishakha month which have references in the Indian Mythology. Forgive me if I have omitted any details or have ignored any other dates of this month; you can call me an ignoramus. Anyhow, I am quite certain that exploring the Hindu calendar can be quite fun. Each month and even day has a lot of significance attached to it and the more we know about them, the closer we will feel to our roots. So, enjoy the date with the dates!


References – ‘Myth = Mithya’ by Devdutt Pattanaik, Karna (Tamil Movie featuring N T Rama Rao as Lord Krishna) and Wikipedia

6 CURSES AND A DEAD SERPANT

Rajneeti is in the air, grossing 34 Crores over the 1st weekend. And it is loosely adapted on the longest epic of the world, in which I am so greatly interested. So, how can it skip my attention? Now, I haven’t watched the movie; so I can neither really comment on its quality nor pass any judgment on the sanctity of the adaptation. What I can speak on is that one character who has brought out intrigue, sympathy, anger and a feeling of injustice from within us – all at the same time. The eldest of the Pandavas, the most steadfast friend of all, the kindest of all, the Warrior Prince KARNA…


A lot is known and discussed about this great man, who fought a great long internal battle, while the world around mostly fought an external one. But, when books are written on just this one character, how dare I attempt to condense all about him in one little blog? So, I have decided to play it safe and focus only on one aspect of his tale – 6 Curses and a Dead Serpent!


It is the 17th day of the Kurukshetra War. Arjuna has pierced the last of the arrows into Karna’s armour and is near Karna’s chariot, when a wailing Kunti reveals to the Pandavas, the true identity of Karna. An incensed Yudhishthira curses womankind that they can never hold a secret ever. At this juncture, Arjuna cries aloud and blames himself for being singularly responsible for his own brother’s death. At this, the all knowing Lord Krishna laughs and takes a jibe at Arjuna saying, “Why do you take responsibility for killing a dead serpent, which has already been killed by 6 curses”? Saying this, the Lord explains the 6 reasons why Karna met such a cruel fate.


a. The Teacher’s Curse – Karna, after being turned down by Drona, approaches Parashurama to learn the Divya Astras, however, as a Brahman. On the final day of the lessons from Parashurama, Karna unflinchingly bears a scorpion (or bee – which was Lord Indra in disguise) bite, when Parashurama is resting upon his lap. A bewildered Parashurama realizes that Karna can be none but a Warrior and curses Karna that he will forget the knowledge of the weapons, especially the Brahmastra, when he needs them the most. Karna accepts that he is not a Brahman, but is unable to understand why he is regarded a Warrior by the great teacher.
Note 1: Parashurama is regarded as a nemesis of the Kshatriyas, whose 1000 generations he destroys to unburden Mother Earth of her heavy load. Hence he curses Karna the Warrior…
Note 2: The tele-serial Mahabharat shows that Karna visits Parashurama after befriending Duryodhona, upon his request. Alternately, he is said to have visited the great teacher before he stepped into Hastinapur.
b. A Brahman’s Curse – Karna, once when practicing the Shabdbhedi Arrow, mistook a Cow for a wild animal and shoots it down. The Brahman to whom the cow belongs is distraught and curses Karna that he will be killed by his enemy when his attention is diverted, when is not in combat. This curse materializes when Karna is busy removing the chariot wheel from the mud and is shot by Arjuna.
c. Mother Earth’s Curse – Karna once helped a little girl who had split Milk (or Ghee) on the ground and feared retribution from her mother. A kind Karna helped the girl retrieve the Milk by squeezing and twisting the ground; in essence, Mother Earth herself. So unbearable was the pain, that Mother Earth cursed Karna that she would be of no assistance to him whatsoever and will even try to make him vulnerable in battle. This resulted in the untimely incident of Karna’s Chariot Wheel getting stuck in mud during his battle with Arjuna.
d. A Father’s Request – Among the many adjectives applied to Karna, Daanveer (Generous) is the most common and apt of all. Lord Indra, with an intent to protect his son Arjuna and render his son’s opponent weak, assumes the form of a Brahman and approaches Karna, who is performing his morning ablutions and prayers. Never to turn any request down, Karna is asked by the Brahman to give his Kavacha and Kundalas (Armour & Earrings). This he unhesitatingly gives to the Brahman, who he knows is Indra (as forewarned by Karna’s father, Surya). Indra is overwhelmed by Karna’s gratitude and offers him a boon against which Karna earns the Indra’s most powerful weapon – Shakti – which he eventually uses against Bhima’s son Ghatokghaj.
e. A Mother’s Dilemma I – Through Lord Krishna, Karna is already aware of his lineage as a Pandava and hence a Royalty. However, only late into his sole conversation with Kunti, does he realize that he is speaking to his own mother. Kunti requests him to join the Pandavas, which he refuses owing to the debt which he has to repay to Duryodhana. However, he promises to his mother, that he would attempt to kill none of the Pandavas except Arjuna. In the battle, on several occasions, despite defeating all his other brothers, Karna doesn’t kill them.
f. A Mother’s Dilemma II – Karna also promises to his mother that the commonly known count of Pandavas, which is 5, would not change at the end of the battle. This and the above implied that either he or Arjuna would perish at the end of the battle. He also promises to her that he will use the Nagastra only ONCE on Arjuna.


Apart from the above, King Shalya of the Madra Kingdom has an important role to play in Karna’s defeat. Though the charioteer of Karna (as per Duryodhana’s plan), Shalya is the uncle of the Pandavas and hence decides to help them in whichever way possible. On the 17th day of the battle, as Karna’s charioteer, Shalya demoralizes Karna by praising Arjuna in glorious terms. More importantly, when the wheel gets stuck, he does not assist Karna, claiming that his job doesn’t require him to lift the chariot and leaves Karna alone with the Chariot.


Most importantly, Lord Krishna himself ensures Arjuna’s victory and Karna’s demise. Karna fires the Nagastra at Arjuna, aimed at his head. Arjuna has almost surrendered himself to death, when Lord Krishna lowers the chariot into the ground, which causes the Nagastra to strike Arjuna’s crown. Due to the promise given to his mother (and known to Krishna), Karna doesn’t use the weapon again. Lastly, it is Krishna who asks Arjuna to strike down Karna, when the latter is lifting his chariot from the ground. A baffled Arjuna abides by the Lord’s words and strikes down his very own brother. Thus lived no more the Dead Serpent who had already been murdered by the numerous demons of his past; his gravest mistakes being participation in Draupadi’s humiliation and the murder of Abhimanyu.


I hope Ajay Devgan did not wind up in a fate similar to that of Karna. But just as Achilles, Karna got what he wanted – An immortal memory in the minds of the people and a subject of heated argument for ages to come. Now, wouldn’t Mr. Devgan desire such a place in history?


References – Karna (Tamil movie featuring Shivaji Ganesan in the lead role) and Wikipedia

REAL and DIVINE

As one explores the great Indian mythological epics, ones amazement knows no bounds; which is probably why I have been writing about them since the past year or so and still have no view of the horizon. Every time, one takes a little dip into this vast ocean, emerging refreshed with newer thoughts is guaranteed. So, when I was watching a few episodes of the Mahabharata recently, I was struck by a thought which relates to the very basis of these tales – a thought about how REAL these tales must have been.

The Ramayana and Mahabharata, to us, are essentially DIVINE tales. Indian Mythology tales are distinct from their western counterparts in the sense that they remain deeply intertwined with religion and in many cases even form the basis of the religious understandings and practices. So, it is quite obvious that many of these tales are completely divine to our understanding, where even human characters appear quite super human. Kings would rule for 100s of years, Warriors would lift mountains with a mere flick or one man alone would decimate armies and so on.

And hence sometimes, attempts have been made to understand the human or the REAL aspect of these tales, to be able to understand and relate to them better. For instance in Ramayana, the Vanaras (Monkeys) are supposed to represent the Jungle men, who are domesticated or are taught the law of society by the Ayodhya princes. After all, there is a strong belief that these tales must only be magnified and glorified versions of REAL events of the past.

If we extend this analysis to the Mahabharata, the most striking factor which emerges to be REAL is the basis of the battle – Ownership of Land. In the ancient and medieval world, and probably even today, one of the greatest assets of a country, kingdom or man was the land. The more the merrier! It was a measure of wealth, power and similar such attributes. Hence, it sounds quite credible that the Kauravas did not wish to share any piece of the kingdom and thereby the land with their cousins, the Pandavas. Duryodhana had declared that he would not give land measuring even the tip of a needle to the Pandavas. Eventually, all members of one family and many more were annihilated and the other carried forward its own lineage. All this could easily have happened at some time or other in the past.

However, apart from this, almost everything remains lofty about the Mahabharata. Be it the divine weapons wielded by the warriors, or even the presence of GOD in the story, it is difficult to relate the rest to REALITY. It is with this understanding in background that I happened to watch the 60th Episode of the tele-serial Mahabharat. The Pandavas are spending the final days of their Agyatvaas in the Matsya kingdom. Keechaka, the brother in law of King Virata has recently been murdered (by Bhallava, who is Bheema in disguise). Now, Keechaka could only have been killed by mighty warriors like Duryodhana, Balarama and Bheema. As Bheema was the only one incognito among these, the Kauravas strongly felt that Bheema had killed Keechaka and that the Pandavas were hiding in the Matsya kingdom. To ensure success in identifying and capturing the Pandavas, the Kauravas ask the archrival of King Virata, ruler of Trigarta kingdom, King Susharma to attack Matsya and engage its army. A day later, the Kauravas would launch an attack on Matsya, hoping to find the Pandavas isolated.

Now, for the important part: When the sentry rushes into the palace of King Virata, he announces to the King – ‘O Sire, King Susharma of the Trigarta Kingdom has attacked our farms. He has killed our cowherds and his cowherds have taken away our Cows, Bulls and Horses.’ Hearing this, the Virata calls his Army to arms to defend its country and leads the way. This brings out another REALITY check of this epic. Every other war we know of, which features in the epics, has been long, grand and even divine – Rama v/s Ravana, the Kurukshetra War to name a few. It is quite difficult to believe that every war was fought like this, which probably makes us wonder how REAL must these battles have been.

But the incident emboldened above seems very much REAL and can be fit in any of the ancient or the medieval times. In those days, land and cattle formed the backbone of any kingdom’s economy. As today, battles were not always fought face to face, especially those between neighboring kingdoms. Hence it seems highly credible that Susharma attacked Virata’s cows to attract him to the battlefield. Such skirmishes have been recorded in history as attempts to disrupt a kingdom’s functioning; not with the intent of causing wide spread damage, but to send a signal, merely announce ones presence to the opponents or irritate them into taking rash actions. This can be equated to attacks by insurgents of one country on another, which is highly commonplace today.

Generally speaking, the above information and analysis don’t have much impact on the outcome of the epic or our understanding of it. But identifying other such incidents and attempting to make sense of them, can help us appreciate the background against which this epic was composed or probably even OCCURED. This can help us relate much better to these tales and even enjoy them…