The Other Indra

After killing the son of Twashtri and the demon Vritra, Indra was reeling under the guilt of brahma-hatya, the killing of a Brahmin, and was soon overcome by depression. Indra left his abode leaving the heavens and the earth without a ruler. Anarchy prevailed, aggravated by the absence of rain on earth and land was soon getting converted to deserts. The gods in heaven too were worried about the absence of a ruler and wondered how they would counter the attacks of asura’s if there was one. It was decided that the gods would appoint someone to rule in the absence of Indra, but who would that be? When none of the gods wanted to take Indra’s responsibility, the gaze shifted to earth.

Nahusha was a great king of the lunar race and had acquired a reputation of being a brave warrior, besides the people were happy under his rule. When the gods approached him, he was rather shocked and wondered how he could rule the gods when he was a mere mortal. The gods assured him, that as a substitute to Indra, he would also have powers of Indra. Soon Nahusha was crowned as the king of the heavens, but the transfer of powers did not do him any good. He was soon arrogant and was prone to shouting at the guards and gods alike.

One day, Nahusha saw Sachi, the beautiful wife of Indra in her palace and was besotted by her looks. He proposed to her and said that all that was Indra’s was now his and thus so should she. Sachi was furious, but she did not say anything and sought shelter with the guru of the gods, Brihaspati. When Nahusha learnt that Sachi had taken shelter with Brihaspati, he rebuked the sages and gods and ordered them to fetch Sachi for him or face the wrath of their new King. When they tried to reason with him, that it was evil to covet another man’s wife, Nahusha laughed at them and reminded them, that it was not unusual to covet others wives in heaven, at least not when Indra coveted the wife of Gautam and Chandra stole the wife of their guru, Brihaspati. So why were they so surprised when all he was asking for what obviously was now his? Not able to answer Nahusha, the sages and the gods soon landed at the doorstep of Brihaspati.

On the advice of Brihaspati, Sachi approached Nahusha and said, that she did not mind coming over to him, provided she made sure that Indra was no more and gone for good. She asked for time to find his whereabouts and if her efforts failed, then she would be his. Nahusha found the suggestion reasonable as he was sure that Indra could never be found and agreed to wait. After some severe prayers offered to the goddess of Night, Sachi managed to find Indra who had reduced his form to hide inside a lotus. When he learnt what had happened in the heavens, he was worried as at that moment, Nahusha was more powerful as all of Indra’s powers were transferred to him. But nonetheless, Indra asked Sachi to go back and suggest that if Nahusha wanted to marry her, he should come in a palanquin carried by none other than the seven sages. While Indra used horses for his chariot, Nahusha was different and this would make him unique. Indra further added that the rest would be taken care of by him.

Sachi conveyed her desire to Nahusha, who was too happy to do as told to him by her. In the meanwhile the gods too were searching for Indra and on Vishnu’s suggestion, he was asked to perform the Ahswamedha Yagna to rid him of the sin of brahma-hatya as well as regain all his lost strength and vigour.

In his desire to marry Sachi, Nahusha ordered the seven sages to carry him to the palace of Sachi. The sages had no choice but to do what was told to them. The sages carried him in a palanquin and proceeded towards the palace of Sachi. On the way, the sages asked Nahusha if they believed in the truth of the Vedas, to which the arrogant Nahusha said, that he did not believe in the Vedas. This angered the sages and rebuked him for not having faith in the Vedas. The now angry Nahusha stretched his foot out of the palanquin and touched none other than the sage Agastya. (Another version says that Sage Agastya was shorter than the others and thus the palanquin would tilt at one end every now and then leading to Nahusha not being able to sit properly and in anger he is supposed to have kicked Agastya for this discomfort). This insult of a sage was enough to rob Nahusha of all his powers. Sage Agastya immediately cursed him saying that he was guilty of three crimes, one to say that he had no faith in the Vedas, second to kick a sage and third to make the sages, each of who were equal to Brahma, carry him in a palanquin. For this crime, Agastya cursed Nahusha to turn into a serpent for ten thousand years on earth.

This way, the gods were rid of Nahusha and Indra was back on his throne, after being rid of his sin. Later, we find Nahusha as a serpent in the epic Mahabharata, when he grips Bhima and agrees to release him only after Yudhishthir answers his questions, but that is another story.

The above first appeared on Talking Myths Project - http://www.talkingmyths.com/the-other-indra/

Chandra Tara & Adultery – Concluding Part

Earlier we have read how Tara decides to stay back at Chandra’s place and Brihaspati’s pleas of returning Tara go unheard, as Chandra feels that he had not forced Tara to stay back.

An angry Brihaspati went to Lord Indra and sought his help in retrieving his wife. When Indra sent his emissary to seek the release of Tara, Chandra sent him back with a mouthful. Chandra’s contention was that if a woman willfully left her home to stay with another man, then what was the fault of the man she chose to stay with? Also, family bliss was dependent on both the husband and the wife being happy, but if the wife was not happy, then how can one ensure the happiness of the family?

Tara was unhappy with Brihaspati not just for her reasons of sexual pleasure. She was also unhappy, because Brihaspati had forcibly made love with Mamta, the wife of his brother. He further went to ridicule Indra for fighting against supposed adultery, when Indra himself was known for many such escapades. Soon matters came to the stage of a war amongst the gods, with Chandra on one side and Indra on the other. However, Lord Brahma intervened and it was decided, without asking Tara of course, that Tara would have to return to Brihaspati. Brishaspati was happy and took Tara back with him.

But Tara was pregnant when she went back with Brihaspati. When a son was born, Brihaspati started making arrangements for his naming ceremony, but then Chandra objected to it, saying that it was his right to do so. Once again matters came to a war-like situation and Lord Brahma had to intervene in the claim for the son. Lord Brahma asked Tara as to whose child was it, since only a mother knew the father of her child. Tara said that it was Chandra’s. Chandra was happy and took his son away and named him Budh.

An interesting myth that is part of astronomical myths. Chandra as we know was the Moon, Tara represented the stars. Brihaspati is the planet Jupiter and Budh is the planet Mercury. The love of Tara can be seen till date when they come out twinkling when the moon is out!

The conversation between Chandra and Brihaspati and the emissary of Indra is quite interesting. Nowhere was Tara chastised for her decision of willfully staying on with Chandra and the latter misses no opportunity to ridicule Brihaspati for his inability to keep his wife happy. This myth is discussed in detail in the first book of Srimad Devi Bhagavatam, in Chapter XI, “Birth of Budh”. Some of these issues have been discussed threadbare and without any restrain.

In the war of gods, Tara does not face any defamation or retribution from her husband, Brihaspati. Chandra justifies by saying that Tara was with him out of her choice and would not force her to leave. Lord Brahma decides against Tara’s wish to stay with Chandra, but without any reprimand. The birth of Budh is also resolved in favour of Chandra. The entire dissatisfaction of Tara was based on physical aspects of looks and love-making skills of Chandra as against her husband. No aspect of emotion, love, etc. is discussed or brought out. Is this to say that these aspects do not have any bearing on a relationship? Is sexual satisfaction the driving force of maintaining a relationship or was this myth only implying that no matter what be the cause, a married woman belongs to the husband? (Refer to the earlier myth of Swetaketu)

Chandra is considered to be the first of the Chandra-vamshi, followed by Budh and then his son Pururava (This is Utkarsh Speaking: Urvashi and Pururavas). The heroes of the epic Mahabharat are all chandra-vamshis and surely go on to display their preoccupation with sex. To sum it, let me quote Prof. Satya Chaitanya, “The moon is the deity of the mind in both Vedic literature and subsequent Indian philosophy. And the mind is a slave to passions. In any case, a legacy of the moon god thus is one of powerful sexual longing – amoral or immoral – and this becomes the legacy of a vast number of kings in the lunar dynasty. King after king falls because he becomes a victim to unbridled sexuality.” And this as they say is history of epic proportions, as we see Yayati, Shantanu, Vichitraveer, etc. are examples of this.

The above myth is significant from the perspective that adultery is discussed in ancient scriptures threadbare. The intention of this article is not to be judgmental, but to relate a myth and its source for us to understand the position taken by each, irrespective of the resolution. What is important is not the outcome of the controversy, but the conversation that takes place.

If one opines that Tara, the woman is only a means to discuss the topic of adultery, then that would be an extremely myopic view. The way she exercises her choice, stays on with Chandra, and is not faulted ever, is significant in the narrative to bring out her position of a woman, who had a choice.

Khandav-prastha

In the epic Mahabharata, the episode of Khandavprastha is one of the most important events with serious implications. It also one of the most complicated events that mark the birth of a kingdom, but not without raising a few questions. Let us understand the event better.

Once the Pandavs return with Draupadi after the Lakshagraha event, they get into trouble with the Kauravs and the differences lead to the partition of land, with Hastinapur being retained by the Kauravs and the land better known as Khandavprastha was given to the Pandavs. Khandavprastha, later renamed as Indraprastha, was a tract of land which was a dense jungle with rich flora and fauna. To establish a kingdom, it was inevitable to burn the forest down. However, what is surprising is that that not a single life was spared, be they animals, birds or the naga’s or serpents who used to reside there. It is said that all animals who tried to escape were killed by Arjun or Krishna, and thus all life perished either by fire or by weapons of the two.

Just why was this kind of ‘mass-murder’ necessary? Couldn’t the animals and birds be allowed to leave? Wouldn’t that have been a better alternative instead of such naked bloodbath at the onset of the establishment of a kingdom?

According to the Khandava-daha Parva of Adi Parva (Section CCXXV) of the epic, there is an interesting myth which led to such actions by the two main characters of the epic. When Arjun and Krishna were contemplating the method of clearing the forest of Khandav, an old man came to them and told them that he needed help. He went on to say that he was a Brahmin, who was used to eating a lot of food and needed to be fed. When Arjun asked him the nature of the food that would suffice his hunger, he pointed them towards the forest.

This old man was none other than the Vedic deity, Agni. Agni them went on to related another myth. Once upon a time there lived King Swetaki, who was used to performing yagna’s for the welfare of his kingdom. His over-zealousness for such sacrifices made the sages run away from him out of sheer tiredness and the sore-eyes that they had developed due to being in front of the fire all the time. Not to give up, Swetaki approached Rudra to bail him out and Rudra asked him to approach Sage Durvasa (considered to be an ‘aspect’ of Rudra himself).

Rudra agreed to take up the sacrifices, provided Swetaki arranged for enough ghee, or clarified butter, to last twelve years at a stretch. When Swetaki arranged as directed, Sage Durvasa conducted the sacrifice. However, by consuming so much of ghee, Agni suffered from severe dyspepsia, to the extent that Agni stopped consuming anything for some time. Staying hungry for so long, Agni had now developed a huge appetite which could be satiated only by the Khandav forest and every inhabitant of the forest.

Arjun wanted to know why he couldn’t do it himself and why he needed their help. Agni continued that among the inhabitants of the forest were the nagas, the serpents and their King Takshak. The serpents were under protection of Lord Indra and every time he tried to consume the forest, Indra would send the rains and extinguish the flames. Agni wanted Arjun and Krishna to help him devour the entire forest to satiate his hunger.

The matter now gets complicated as Indra was also Arjun’s father, and would he take up arms against his father at the behest of Agni?

Arjun however agrees to fight it out, but would need celestial weapons. Agni gave him the Gandiva, the bow with quivers which never got depleted of arrows. Agni also gave Krishna the sudarshan-chakra, the weapon of Lord Vishnu (thus establishing Krishna as an avatar of Vishnu). Together Arjun and Krishna are also referred to as the mortal forms of the divine Nar and Narayan.

A sculpture in the temple of Banteay Srei temple in Cambodia
Arjun and Krishna can be seen on either sides with Indra at the top;
Arrows can be seen holding the rain waters.

Soon, Agni lit a small fire and started to consume the forest. When Indra learnt about the fire, he sent his rain clouds. Arjun used his bow to create an impenetrable umbrella of arrows which stopped the rains. When Indra realized what was happening, he himself came down to fight it out but realized that he was no match for his son and Krishna together. Matters came to a standstill only after the entire forest was devoured without a single life escaping, except for Takshak who was not in the forest and his son and four saranga birds. Also, Maya Asura, the architect of the asura’s too managed to save his life in return of a promise of building a never-built-before palace for the Pandavs.

 

At the onset, I had mentioned that this was a complicated myth, as no life was spared in the mass fire, which is supposed to have lasted for fifteen days. All birds, animals and serpents perished in the fire, leading to a life-long enmity between the nagas and the Pandavs with serious repercussions in future.

According to Dr. Pradip Bhattacharya, this conflict brings out many interesting aspects. For one, this is a classic case of father-son conflict (Indra vs. Arjun) which is a common theme in mythologies of the world. It is also a classic case of a conflict between two elements of nature, fire and water. In modern terms, it also depicts the victory of man over nature. Iravati Karve, the author of Yuganta views this as the colonization of the Aryans, by sheer force and decimation of the natives. A number of weapons are introduced during this event, which could be an indication to the impending war.

The entire event displays a complex set of contradictions. The nagas venerated Indra, the god of gods who decides to side with them against his own son and other gods; Pandavs take the help of an asura to build their palace, instead of the celestial architect Vishwakarma; the palace of illusions by itself becomes a point of conflict later in the epic; all life perishes in the fire, except those mentioned earlier, and yet it is not a crime.

While the myth of Agni’s hunger could be seen as a justification of the event, it also helped absolve Arjun and Krishna of the crime of mass-murder as they were doing it at the behest of a Brahmin! 

Banteay Srei Pics courtesy Wikipedia

Do you know why snakes have forked tongues?

Sage Kashyap had two wives, Kadru and Vinata. Kadru was the mother of the nag’s or snakes and Vinata was the mother of Aruna (who became Sun’s charioteer) and Garuda, one with a body of a man and face and wings of an eagle, who was also the vahana of Lord Vishnu.

Once the two sisters had wagered on whether Indra’s horse was all white or not. While Vinata said that it was completely white, Kadru maintained that it had a black tail. The loser of the wager would be the servant of the winner. The next day in the sunlight, they checked and noticed that the horse indeed had a black tail. However what was not known to Vinata was that Kadru had asked some of her children to wrap themselves around the tail of the horse to make it look black. As per the condition, Vinata became Kadru’s servant and she had to undergo trials and a hard life.

When Garuda grew up, he too had to do menials for the children of Kadru. Once Garuda decided to end this subservience and asked the children of Vinata the price for releasing his mother of servitude. The children asked for nectar from the heavens, which was nothing but impossible.

After many twists and turns, Garuda managed to steal the pot of nectar from Lord Indra’s custody. However, Indra managed to convince Garuda that the nectar was not meant for the nag’s, as that would immortalise them, which would be against the laws of nature. Garuda reasoned that he had undertaken the adventure and risked his life to release his mother of a life of servitude and he would not care beyond that.

Later, Garuda relented and suggested to Indra and that he would hand the pot to them and seek his mother’s release and after which he could steal the pot from them. As agreed, Garuda handed over the pot of the nectar and got his mother released. Just when they were about to consume the nectar, Garuda suggested that it might be a good idea to have a bath before consuming the food of the gods. The nags left the pot on the kusha grass and went for a bath in the river. Once Indra saw the pot on the grass, he picked it up and started to leave. The nags noticed Indra fleeing with the pot and they chased him. While fleeing, a few drops of the nectar fell from the pot on the kusha grass which is known for being sharp. The snakes didn’t want to miss out on whatever they got and so tried to lick the nectar from the grass, but got their tongues slit due to the sharp blades of the kusha grass.

Since then, the snakes are supposed to have forked tongues and since they had harassed Garuda’s mother all her life, the snakes became the natural enemies of the eagle too!

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