Sage Durvasa

When I was a child, amongst all the rishis, the one who intrigued me the most was Sage Durvasa (pronounced with the ‘a’ silent), known more for his anger. When I grew up, I found the character of Sage Durvasa all the more intriguing, since he was a rishi, a sage, who ought to have overcome all temptations and emotions, including anger, but not in his case. If knowledge was supreme and the way to all bliss, then why was this sage, known more for his anger than anything else? Why was he referred to as the one who was ready with a curse for offenses as minor as the one Shakuntala got for not responding to him when she was lost in her own reverie?

Durvasa cursing Shakuntala

The cause lies in one of the myths associated with his birth.

According to one of the Purana, once there was a heated argument between Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva. There was so much energy in the argument that the gods decided to flee out of fear. This upset Parvati and she complained to Lord Shiva that his anger was creating a lot of trouble for her and the other gods. When Shiva realized it, he decided to ‘deposit’ his anger in to Anusuya, the childless wife of Sage Atri and Durvasa was supposed to have been born out of this. Durvasa was thus a personification of Shiva’s rage and anger, an aspect that Parvati complained about. Durvasa literally means ‘ill clothed’, while some have said that it meant, one who was impossible to live with, which I believe has been taken from the above myth.

Though sage Durvasa was known for his anger and curse at the drop of a hat, his benevolent side has largely been overlooked. His curse to Shakuntala in Kalidasa’s Abhijnanashakuntalam, which changed the destiny of Shakuntala and his curse to Lord Indra which led to the samudra-manthan (read This is Utkarsh Speaking: Kumbh Mela), are some of the curses which have been responsible for his image. However, he has also given boons which have had very positive effect on the benefactors.

The most important boon that he conferred on was the boon of calling any god to beget children to Pritha or Kunti after being satisfied with her services. Irrespective of this being a case of his foresight or a fictional need, there is no denying that the boon was of immense help leading to the birth of six heroes in the epic Mahabharata.

Another lesser known myth has to do with Draupadi’s disrobing. Though popular renditions of the episode of saving Draupadi from the disgrace of disrobing are ascribed to Lord Krishna, a lesser known myth ascribes it to Sage Durvasa. According to the Shiva Purana, once while bathing, Sage Durvasa’s loin cloth floated away in the current of the river and he was left with nothing. At that moment, Draupadi, tore off a piece of her sari and saved the sage from an embarrassment. Pleased with her act, sage Durvasa blessed Draupadi that if she ever was in a similar predicament, there would be an unending supply of cloth for her.

Sage Durvasa has been an important character, who seemed to be a catalyst to many important events in mythology, both good and bad. While he creates a dramatic divide in the Abhijnanashakuntalam, he enables the samudra-manthan, which made the gods immortal. While his boon enabled the birth of the key characters of the epic Mahabharat, he also saved a distraught Draupadi from a public shame.

Before we conclude, here is a relatively lesser known myth ascribed to Sage Durvasa, which I am not sure is a benevolent curse or a harmful boon.

Towards the end of the epic Ramayana, in the Uttarakhand, Lord Brahma sent message to Lord Ram to return to Vaikuntha as Lord Vishnu. The messenger was none other than Yama, the lord of death, who had come in the form of an ascetic. Prior to getting into a discussion with Rama, Yama, made a condition, that while they were discussing, there should be no disturbance, whatsoever else, the person disturbing would lose his life. Rama entrusted Lakshman with the task of not allowing anybody inside the room and stationed him outside the closed door. While the discussions were on, Sage Durvasa came to the palace and asked for an urgent meeting with Rama. Lakshman tried to explain that Rama was in an important meeting with some ascetic and was under strict instructions of not being disturbed. Sage Durvasa was angry that Rama was giving priority to some ascetic over him, and his brother had the temerity to stop him. Durvasa was angry and told Lakhsman that if he did not get to meet Ram immediately, he would burn down the city of Ayodhya. Lakshman reasoned out to himself, that instead of having the whole Ayodhya burn down, it had rather be him.

Lakshman went inside the room and broke the news of Durvasa’s arrival and his need to be met immediately. Ram calmly stepped out of the room, met Durvasa and spent time with him till he left satisfied. But Yama’s condition too could not be broken. Ram instructed Lakhsman to go to the river Sarayu and proceed for the heavens. On reaching the Sarayu, Lakshman was escorted to the Vaikuntha, where he assumed the form of Adishesha, which became the seat of Lord Vishnu and waited for Lord Ram to return to Vaikuntha.

I am left with my doubt – was this act of Sage Durvasa, a curse or a boon? Was this an act of allowing Lakshman to ascend the heavens and wait for Lord Ram or was this to be seen as the cause of Lakshman’s ‘death’? Was this to be viewed as Durvasa creating an unwanted situation or was this the final act of showing Lord Ram’s respect for the learned and keeping his word to Yama, even if that meant the life of his brother?

You tell me!



Picture courtesy Wikipedia

Shravan and Baba Taraknath

The Hindu month of shravan, (July-Aug) is an important month for many a devout. The month arrives after the scorching heat unleashed by nature and rains come to soothe parched earth and bear fruits to agricultural efforts. Shravan is also the month of many festivities, like the birth of Lord Krishna, Raksha bandhan, Naag Panchami, etc. all signifying some aspect of the month. However, the deity that gets month long attention is Lord Shiva.

As someone who was born and brought up in Kolkata, West Bengal, one has been brought up by the ‘walkathon’ that many a devout undertake to the temple of Tarakeshwar, a Shiva temple at a distance of about 70kms from Kolkata. People walk the distance from far and further, balancing bamboo sticks on their shoulder, with earthen pots at two ends, filled with water from the Ganga. The walk is arduous especially due to the rainy season and fraught with danger from snakes, scorpions and other such inhabitants of the ground.

In the early days, only men used to walk the distance in groups. But after the release of a popular Bengali movie “Joy Baba Taraknath” in the late 70s, where the heroine of the movie is seen walking all the way, it has become quite popular among women to walk the distance along with men. Locals on the way to the temple arrange for rest and stands for the bamboo sticks, which cannot be placed on the ground till it reaches its destination, and offer refreshments to the pilgrims. Night long, people are heard walking the roads, chanting “bhole baba paar karega” (Bhole baba, or Shiva will show us the way) and “Dhalbo Kothay? Babar mathay” (Where will we pour? On Shiva’s head, of course!) on their way to Tarakeshwar.

Like all religious place, this one too has its origins in mythical tales. According to a legend, Vishnu Das, a resident of Oundh (Ayodhya) migrated to Bengal with his family in the early 18^th century. People did not take to him too well and were suspicious about him. To prove his innocence he is supposed to have held an iron rod in his hand, after which, he was accepted by the locals. Later his brother found a spot in the nearby jungle, where cows would ooze out milk all by themselves. On digging, they found a shiva-linga with a dent at the top. A dream to Vishnu Das is said to have revealed that this was a manifestation of Lord Shiva, or Baba Taraknath and that a temple should be built there. This is also referred to as one of the few swayambhu (self-manifested, or that which is created by itself) temples of Lord Shiva

The present structure of the temple was built by Raja Bharamalla, in 1729 AD. The temple is an example of a typical Bangla architecture, which has an aatchala structure (‘aat’ - eight and ‘chala’ - sloping roof of huts) with a natmandir (a place for offering prayers) in the front. The temple is considered to be one of the oldest temples in West Bengal which holds sway on people on all occasions related to Lord Shiva, especially Shivaratri and every Monday of the month of shravan. Many stories abound of how efforts to shift the temple elsewhere have been foiled by divine efforts, which goes on to reinforce the will of Baba to stay put at the designated spot of His choice.

The practice of carrying Ganga water or jal and pouring it on the shiva-linga also has mythological allusion. It is said that the amrit-manthan, or the churning of the ocean took place during the month of shravan and amongst many things that came out of the churning was halahal, or poison. When there were no takers for this, Lord Shiva decided to consume it and hold it in his throat, which made his throat blue due to the excessive heat generated by it (and thus he is also referred to as Neelkantha, the blue-necked). Seeing this, all the gods gathered and poured Ganga-jal on his head to cool the excessively heated body. The practice of carrying Ganga-jal and pouring it on shiva-linga is carried on till today during the months of shravan!

A similar pilgrimage is undertaken in the neighbouring states of Jharkhand and Odisha too. In Jharkhand, people carry Ganga-jal from the district of Sultanganj to pour at Babadham in Deogarh, a practice which owes it origin to Lord Ram when he undertook a similar journey on foot over the same route. People undertake this 105 kms journey to coincide with reaching their destination on Mondays. Similar journeys are undertaken from different districts of Odisha to reach the numerous Shiva temples of the state, like Lingaraj temple, etc.

During the month of shravan many people abstain from eating non-vegetarian diet and vices like alcohol and smoking. It is said that shravan is the first of the chaturmas (four months) of Dakshinayan, the Southward journey of the Sun, when the nights are longer than days (as against Uttarayana, the Northward journey of the Sun, when the days are longer). This is considered to be the months when the mind is most unstable and full of negative thoughts (nights symbolising dark and devious). Non-vegetarian food is considered to be ‘hot’ and with an unstable mind, the heat would only lead to more trouble! However, a more practical reason could be that this is also the month when the fish lay eggs. To allow them to breed and thrive would only lead to a larger catch next year. It is possible that abstaining from fish led to a general abstinence of all non-vegetarian diet.

Seasons and associated festivals and each having a mythical origin are an old association, which goes on to ensure that norms are laid down, followed and adhered to. Rains leading to remaining indoors, breeding by the fishes and leaving some animals out of the menu ensuring compassion towards them, only reinforce man’s need to coexist in an ecologically dependent system.

Jalandhar – Part 1

Here is an interesting story of Jalandhar, which I am writing on the request of some of my readers who seem to be trifle confused based on some popular depiction of the same.

Once, Lord Indra accompanied with Sage Brishaspati, decided to visit Lord Shiva at his abode. When Shiva came to know about it, he decided to test Indra’s devotion. He took the form of an ascetic and sat meditating at a distance from his abode. On the way,

vajra

Indra asked the ascetic, if he knew the way to Shiva’s abode. The ascetic did not reply. On repeated asking by Indra, when the ascetic did not reply, Indra got angry and picked up his vajra, to hurl at the ascetic.

Seeing this Shiva got angry and froze Indra’s hands. Brihaspati recognised the angry bloodshot eyes of Shiva, and sought pardon on behalf of both of them. Shiva was appeased and he diverted the radiation of his angry eyes towards the confluence of the Ganga and the sea, Gangasagar. From the confluence was born a child, who started crying ferociously and would not stop. His ranting grew louder and everybody around was quite unsettled by his shrieks. The sea approached Lord Brahma and sought a solution to the child.

Lord Brahma reached the spot and took the child on his lap. As soon as the child sat on his lap, he got hold of Brahma’s neck (some versions say, he pulled his beard so hard), that tears rolled down Brahma’s cheeks, and the lord named the child, Jalandhar! Brahma also blessed the child that he would grow up to be a brave and fearless king and would be vanquished by none other than Shiva himself. He then gave the child to the sea and asked him to bring up the child as his own.

This child grew up and on the advice of Shukracharya, his father withdrew the waters from a portion of the land, where Maya build a beautiful city. He was then appointed the king of the place and later married Vrinda, the daughter of Kalnemi, the demon king. This region went on to become the modern day city of Jallandhar. On growing up, he came to know all about the churning of the ocean, and how all that emerged from the sea was taken by the gods and the killing of Rahu by Lord Vishnu for drinking a drop of amrit, which anyways they deserved. All this enraged him and he decided to avenge the injustice.

Jalandhar sent a messenger to Lord Indra, seeking answers as to why all the wealth of his father, that emerged from the churning of the ocean was appropriated by him. The messenger was sent back without any attention or any proper answer. This antagonised Jalandhar to no end, and he waged a war on the gods, which inflicted heavy casualties on both sides. However, both seemed to be ready to fight nonetheless. On the part of the demons, their guru Shukracharya was ensuring that none died as he had the knowledge of the mritasanjivani. On the other side sage Brihaspati was also healing all those injured on the side of the gods through medicinal herbs. This was going nowhere.

Shukracharya, then advised Jalandhar to submerge the Dronagiri mountains in the ocean, thus eliminating the source of the herbs for Brihaspati. Jalandhar did so, and soon the mountain range was submerged in the sea, and the gods started losing out to the demons, as Brihaspati was not able to prepare his medicines to cure them.

The gods approached Lord Vishnu to bail them out. Vishnu agreed to help them, except that he had a problem. His consort Lakshmi considered Jalandhar as her brother, as she too was the child of the sea, and had made Vishnu promise that he would not kill Jalandhar. A fierce battle took place between Jalandhar and Vishnu, and it left Vishnu rather impressed by his bravery. He instead asked Jalandhar to seek a boon from him!

Jalandhar, asked that he and his sister, Lakshmi should make their abode in the Ksheersagar, the abode of Jalandhar. Vishnu agreed and started staying with Jalandhar. This left the gods back in trouble as Vishnu whose help was sought to bail them out, had now gone to stay with Jalandhar. This also gave an advantage to Jalandhar, and soon, his fame spread far and wide.

The gods now appealed to Lord Shiva to help them.

We will next read what Shiva did and how he helped the gods. Keep reading…

Holi and Karma

According to an interesting myth, once there was drought on earth for a prolonged period of time. People were going through tough time due to scarcity of water and thus no crops and fodder for cattle.

It was believed, that Lord Indra was responsible for the rains and whenever it rained, Lord Shiva would play his damru (a small hand-drum). Parvati, Shiva’s consort was worried about the situation and both of them decided to descend to earth, in a disguise and check for themselves, the state of their devotees.

The scene on earth was as expected. Land had cracked up; dead cattle lay all around, with the sun blazing down on earth. There was not a drop of water anywhere and people were migrating to wherever they thought there was water. Amidst all this, they were surprised to see a lone farmer, plowing his field.

Both of them, in their disguise approached the farmer and asked him as to why was he plowing when there was no scope of rains. The farmer, replied, that Lord Indra can afford to forget his responsibility of sending the rains and so can Lord Shiva afford not to play his damru, as they were gods. But he was a mere mortal; he could not afford to forget how to plough his field. Also, it was his responsibility to plough the land and he must do his job, rains or no rains, as he did not have the luxury of abdicating his responsibility like the gods. None would question the gods for failing in their responsibility, but he was answerable to his family.

Both Siva and Parvati were taken aback, by the response and were ashamed. It was then that Shiva decided that he should do his job, rains or no rains, and he started playing the damru. Hearing Lord Shiva’s damru, Indra realised his folly and sent down the rains and the drought ended.

A very simple myth, but such an important lesson.

No matter what, do not run away from your responsibility. Even if the circumstances are not favourable, just do your bit. If the powers-that-be have not taken heed of the massive drought in certain parts of the country, we must do your bit by contributing in whatever form we can. Farmers are dying and their families are left to fend for themselves. Many of us don’t/can’t do much, except feel sorry.

Tomorrow is Holi. Celebrate the festival with all the fervour it deserves. Spare a thought for the ones who are suffering from drought like conditions and are parched for water. Many have vociferously come out saying, why should we not play holi with water, when the responsibility of the acute shortage rests with nature and government? If the government does not take adequate steps, why should we and our children undergo austerities? 

No dispute to the question and so true too.

But I have just one thing to remind many of us of a simple emotion that many of us have grown up with. Earlier, when most of us have stayed in smaller buildings prior to moving in to large societies, if someone in the building died, as a mark of respect or solidarity with the family, we used to refrain from watching TV or listening to loud music for a few days. The situation is not very different. Some of our brethren are deprived of water for basic needs, for whosoever’s fault it might be. Under such circumstances, how humane would it seem to celebrate holi with rain dances, et al?

Do play holi, by all means, just spare a thought for people who get water once in 35-40 days for basic necessity while passive authorities are busy politicking. You do your bit – play holi, but spare the wasteful splash!

 

Happy Holi!!

  

My previous articles on Holi –

Holi – Festival of Colours 

Holi & Women's Day

Pics Courtesy -

Drought pic - www.madhyaman.com
Rain dance - www.thesouthasiantimes.info
Holi - Internet