Vulnerability

All of us in life have vulnerability – something that is a weak spot in our life. It could be ones character trait, or a liking for something material or person, or anything, but everybody has vulnerability or vulnerable zones.

Mythology has exemplified this vulnerability into a weak spot for many a mythical hero, which ends up as a cause for destruction. Let us see some of these vulnerabilities which led to their nemesis.

One of the first that comes to my mind is Achilles Heel, which is synonymous to the phrase ‘weak spot’. To say that someone has an Achilles Heel is to imply that the person has a weak spot or a major vulnerability.

Achilles was the son of a mortal father and the nymph Thetis. Thetis was very beautiful and had attracted Zeus, the King of gods. But, then he came to know about a prophesy, that the child of Thetis would be far greater than his father, and Zeus was not interested in losing his position. One by one, all the gods lost interest in her and she had to settle down for a mortal by the name of King Peleus. When Achilles was born, in a bid to ensure that her son would be immortal, Thetis dipped the baby Achilles in the River Styx. This made Achilles invulnerable, except for the place where Thetis’s fingers had gripped him while dipping, which was his heel. Thus his heel was mortal enough to strike a deadly blow during the Trojan War. Achilles was killed by an arrow by Paris, which was divinely guided to Achilles’ heel.

Thetis dipping Achilles in River Styx- Painting by Ruben

In Mahabharat too we have many such examples. Towards the end of the war of Kurukshetra, when the Kauravas were suffering heavy casualties, Gandhari sent word to Duryodhan to come and see him without wearing any clothes before the crack of dawn. She would open her blindfold from her eyes, which had immense power due to her piousness and fidelity, and her glance would make him invulnerable to any weapons whatsoever.

When Duryodhan was on his way, he was stopped by Krishna, who ridiculed him for allowing his mother to see a grown-up male without any clothes and that too for the first time, since Gandhari had not seen any of her sons. Being chastised he decided to cover himself below the belt with a banana leaf. When Gandhari opened her blindfold, the power of her eyes made Duryodhan’s entire body invulnerable, except for his thighs. Later, during a duel, Bhima hits Duryodhan on his thighs, leading to Duryodhan’s death.

The above are examples of physical vulnerability. But there are many instances where we find examples of non-physical weaknesses in man’s life.

An interesting example is that of the Jewish hero, Sampson. Sampson was chosen by God to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines who were occupying the land and oppressing Israel. To enable him in his mission, God had granted him immense power and this power resided in his hair. As Sampson grew up, he started falling for prostitutes and they soon became his weakness. In one such moment of weakness, he fell in love with a harlot, by the name of Delilah. Delilah was paid by the Philistines to learn the secret of his heavenly strength, and Sampson who was not supposed to reveal this to anybody, committed the cardinal sin of telling it to Delilah. Soon, Delilah put Sampson to sleep and later shaved his head. When Sampson woke up, he was given to the Philistines, who blinded him and put him in prison. It is said that Sampson’s, weakness for women, made him immensely vulnerable and there are many an instance when he lands in problem, and sways from his heavenly duty.

Delilah shaving Sampson's hair while he was asleep

In Mahabharata, we find many examples of non-physical weaknesses in man’s life. Karna was known for his charity. The cause of charity was so great for him, that he even decided to give his body armour (kavach) when asked for making him vulnerable to attacks in the forthcoming war of Kurukshetra, the time when he would have needed it the most. Dhritarashtra’s weakness was his son, Duryodhan, Yudhistir’s weakness was the game of dice and Bhima’s weakness was food and each of them had paid a heavy price for not being able to conquer their weakness. 

A man’s (for that matter, woman’s too!) Achilles Heel can be anything – sex, alcohol, drugs, woman, anger, arrogance, greed, selfishness, laziness, procrastination, etc. There is no end to the vulnerabilities that we are surrounded by in life. It is important to understand and recognise them. One should be aware of what is ones weakness, not like Sampson, who did not know that his weakness for women would get him into trouble or like Yudhistir, whose ‘innocent’ love for gambling led him to lose everything again and again. Ignorance of one’s weakness or not accepting the same, both can lead to grave situations.

Now that you know all about vulnerabilities……what is your Achilles Heel?

Urvashi and Pururavas

In my last post, I have mentioned about the myth of Urvashi cursing Arjuna. Many have written back wanting to know about the myth of Urvashi and Pururavas, which actually led to the curse on Arjun. 

So here is the myth in brief.

Pururavas was the first of the Lunar Kings (Chandravanshi), and was the son of Budha and Ila. Budha was the son of Som (or Chandra, moon) and Tara (who was actually the wife of Sage Brihaspati!). Pururavas was a brave warrior and was many a times invited by Lord Indra to help them during battles with the asuras. After victory, he was also entertained by the apsaras, or nymphs of Indra’s court. When Urvashi, an apsara in Indra’s court would get bored of the heavens, she along with her friends would come down to earth and enjoy the difference there. She preferred the life of earth with its emotions and turmoil to the ever-happy life of heavens. While returning from one such trip to earth, during dawn, she was kidnapped by an asura. Around the same time Pururavas, was returning from one of his visits to Indra’s court. After a brief encounter, Pururavas, managed to save Urvashi from the clutches of the asura. During this brief meeting, the two fell in love. Urvashi was moved by the warmth of a man, which she had never experienced before. Pururavas, had never held an apsara as close as this, and fell madly in love, but was not sure of reciprocation, so went back to his court, absolutely love sick.

Urvashi too was longing for the manly Pururavas. During a drama where she was acting as Goddess Lakshmi, she took the name of Pururavas, as her lover, where she ought to have said ‘Purshottama’, a name of Vishnu. This annoyed Sage Bharata, who was directing the play and he cursed her, that since she was smitten by a mortal, she too would have to go and live with him as a mortal and beget his children, something unknown to apsaras. Urvashi was too unconcerned with the latter part of the curse and saw it as a blessing in disguise as she would get to live with her lover and that too on earth, which she found more interesting than the heaven.

Pururavas, on the other hand was not happy with his wife as she was not able to beget him any children. When Urvashi came to him, they decided to leave the palace and go and stay in the garden of Gandhmadan (meaning intoxicating fragrance!). However, Urvashi had set a few conditions of her staying with Pururavas. One, that the king would ensure the safety of two goats that were brought along with her, two, she would eat only ghee and the king would never force her to eat anything else, and third, that the king would never appear nude  in front of her, except when they were making love.

Pururavas and Urvashi started living together and years passed by. But Urvashi was too much of an apsara to be a mortal woman and soon started to get bored with her mortal life and longed to go back to the heavens. On the other side the gandharvas (the male counterparts of the apsaras and also the celestial musicians) in the heaven too were missing Urvashi. So they devised a plan to get her back. Late one night, the gandharvas, took away the goats. When the goats started bleating, Urvashi got worried and asked the king to immediately go and save them. Pururavas, who was wearing nothing at that hour, got up in a hurry, and just then, the ganharvas flashed some lightening, showing Pururavas, completely in the nude. This angered Urvashi so much that she decided to leave as her conditions were broken.

Urvashi leaving Pururavas - Painting by Raja Ravi Verma

Later, Pururavas found her in the region of Kurukshetra and asked her to stay back. Urvashi was then pregnant and asked Pururavas to come to the same place after one year and take their child. Pururavas, visited the same place after one year, and brought his son back with him, who was later crowned as the King.

This myth has been transformed into a romantic story by Kalidasa in his play by the name of ‘Vikramorvasiyam’, where there are many changes done to the above myth. A lot of hide and seek kind of events are there where Urvashi leaves and comes back again and again, in different versions of the myth, but the above is the most simplistic version of the same.

Many scholars have evaluated this myth in different ways. Scholars like D. D. Kosambi have written extensively on this myth, which has its origins in Rig Veda. Max Muller too during his translations of the Vedas has attempted to interpret the myth much more simplistically, which has been rejected by many as extremely childish. The most common interpretation of the myth, is that Pururavas represents the sun and Urvashi the morning mist, and just as the sun approaches and the mist vanishes, so does Urvashi vanish from the sight of Pururavas quite often. The romance has many versions of Urvashi leaving Pururavas frequently, as a part of the narrative. Also, Urvashi is compared with Usas, the goddess of dawn, who has been given a lot of importance in the Rig Veda. The authors of the epic Mahabharata have made a very judicious use of this ancient Vedic myth to enable Arjuna to achieve a realistic disguise which only goes on to add to the already beautiful narrative.

Finally, the noted Hindi poet, Ramdhari Singh ‘Dinkar’ too has his version of this story titled ‘Urvashi”, where he depicts Urvashi as a woman who was extremely moody, seductive and suspicious. According to him, women like Urvashi are the kind of women, who are extremely desirable, but cannot be possessed. As the name goes, ‘ur’ means heart and ‘vash’ means to control, such women conquer and control a man’s heart.

No further comments, I guess!!

Conflict – Team Anna

A well desired effect has been the cause of much merry amongst a section of people whom we call politicians in India. The cause of the merry making is the effect of discord within Team Anna. Anna Hazare has been making statements denouncing Arvind Kejriwal’s steps to form a political outfit, much to the embarrassment of Kejriwal and his supporters. Media has been reporting every action of both

Has Anna lost the steam when provoked to come to the forefront and fight the elections? After all, to make a difference in a system, one has to be a part of the system, isn’t it?

Has Kejriwal developed political ambitions, now that he has seen crowds swell in the numerous agitations that he has been a part of and in some cases led by him? Is it his firm belief that he has to be a part of the system to make changes in the system or is it plain avarice for power, as mentioned by a few of his detractors?

Is there a conflict between the well known crusader Anna Hazare and the new face of the corruption movement, Arvind Kejriwal? In the conflict, who is at fault?

Let me tell you a small story from the epic Mahabharata.

During one of the exiles of the Pandavas, Arjun, set out all by himself. The main objective was to form alliances with different rulers for the future confrontation with his cousins, where he would need support. During once such visits, he visited the abode of Lord Indra (also his father) and enjoyed the joys of Amravati. Among all the apsara’s in Indra’s court, he kept staring at Urvashi which was observed by all including Urvashi, who seemed to be smitten by the good looks of Arjun. Later Urvashi, who could not control herself, came over to Arjun and expressed her desire to make love with him. Arjun looked shocked and expressed his inability to do so. He referred to her past relationship with Pururava, Arjun’s ancestor, by the virtue of which, Urvashi was his mother and that’s exactly why he was staring at her. (The myth of Urvashi and Pururava is another interesting myth, which we will discuss on some other day)

Urvashi was enraged and informed Arjun that this was outrageous and such norms did not apply to the gods, but Arjun could not agree with her proposal. This spurn by Arjun insulted Urvashi so much that she cursed him, that henceforth, Arjun would be incapable of making love to any woman, if not her. (Later, with the intervention of Lord Indra, the curse was reduced to being in this state for just a year, which Arjun used to his advantage during the last year of the thirteen year exile when the Pandavas had to live in a disguise.)

Here is an example of conflict, where both were right. According to Urvashi, she was not a mortal and such rules of mortals were not applicable to her and thus she found nothing wrong in the proposition which Arjun found indecent. Also, what was a case of momentary passion for Urvashi was an unthinkable incestuous relationship for Arjun. This shows that conflicts do not always take place only when one is right and the other is wrong. It can occur even when both are right, as in this case, though, one had to suffer.

In the case of Anna-Kejriwal conflict too, both seem to be right. Anna considers himself to be a crusader whose role is to bring issues out on the forefront and stir a movement, in what he feels is a civil society agitation. But Kejriwal feels that, times have changed and people have opined that to make changes in a system, one has to be in the system. Civil society agitations today are seen as mere opposition, wherein the opposition does not offer much in terms of an alternative solution. There is also the case of difference of opinion due to generation gap. Anna is a Gandhian who has lived all his life under the influence of the apostle of non-violence. Kejriwal is a product of modern India, who believes that good politics and good politicians (an oxymoron in the present times) is a must and all he is trying is to usher in a new era in a pathetically gloomy situation created by the present set of politicians who have formed a ‘coalition’ to loot the country, irrespective of political affiliations.

In such a scenario, just who is right is the not the issue, since both are. Difference of opinion needs to be respected in this case and both need to move on keeping in mind the greater good behind the cause, detractors notwithstanding! 

The above painting of Urvashi cursing Arjuna is courtesy Ramanarayanadatta Astri (Wikipedia)

Devyani – Yayati

In the last story, we read about Kacha and Devyani and how love blossoms between the two, but Kacha could not marry Devyani and both end up cursing each other.

After Kacha leaves the ashram of Shukracharya, Devyani soon forgets all about Kacha and resumes life as if nothing had happened. Devyani and Sharmishta, Asura King Vrishaparva’s daughter, were good friends. Once while playing in the lake, both get wet and while changing dresses, the dresses get exchanged. On seeing Devyani in a princess’s attire, Sharmishta was overcome by anger and rebuked Devyani for wearing her dress, especially when she was not a princess, but the daughter of someone who was in service of her father, and thus a servant. In her anger, she pushed Devyani who fell in a small well, which was not very deep and did not have much water. Sharmishta without giving it any thought left the place in anger.

Soon it was dark, Devyani was alone, burning in rage, was beginning to be get scared. The well-known King Yayati of the Chandra vansha (lunar dynasty, one of the most important lineage of the times) was passing by and thirst drove him to the well and soon rescued Devyani. Devyani was moved by his princely looks and the warmth in his touch, while pulling her out of the well and this kindled her love once again. She proposed to marry him. King Yayati on learning that she was Shukracharya’s daughter, suggested that they could get married only after parental consent and left her back at her ashram.

On reaching the ashram, Devyani told the whole story about Sharmishta and insisted that her father leave the ashram as the asura’s did not deserve him. Shukracharya was well aware of her daughter’s anger and knew Sharmishta well and did not want to lend too much credence to the quarrel between the two, but Devyani would not hear anything. Soon the matter reached the ears of the King, who came down to the ashram to apologise. Shukracharya said that he was not hurt, but it was his daughter and if she was pacified then all would be well. The King then approached Devyani, who was now all the more arrogant when she saw the King trying to pacify her. After a lot of pleading by the King, she agreed to relent, on the condition that Sharmishta should be her servant for life.

King Vrishaparva went back with a heavy heart as he could not bear to see his only daughter relegated to a life of servitude. When Sharmishta, who was beginning to realise her folly came to know about it, she immediately agreed to Devyani’s conditions, as Shukracharya was very important for the well-being of the asuras and after all she was at fault. The King agreed and Sharmishta was sent as a servant to Devyani.

Soon King Yayati and Devyani got married. Shukracharya had agreed to the alliance as he knew that no rishi would get married to the hot-headed Devyani and had made Yayati swear that he would not take another wife and would be loyal to Devyani all his life. After marriage, Sharmishta accompanied Devyani to King Yayati’s palace and soon, love blossomed between Yayati and Sharmishta. Sharmishta was of royal lineage and knew how to take care of men, whereas Devyani was a bundle of arrogance. The two started meeting in secret, since Yayati could not get married to Sharmishta, lest he incur the wrath of Shukracharya. All was going well, till Sharmishta delivered Yayati’s son. When Shukracharya came to know about it through Devyani, he cursed Yayati that he would turn an old man immediately. This way, he would burn with desire but would not be able to satisfy the fire burning within him.

King Yayati rushed to Shukracharya and pleaded that he be not punished in such a manner. Later Devyani too joined Yayati as she did not want to live with a dying old man. Shukracharya suggested a way out. He said, that if any of his sons, agreed to exchange their youth for Yayati’s old age, then he could be young again. Yayati called his sons, from Devyani and Sharmishta and told them about the curse and said that whoever agreed to exchange his youth with him would be declared the King. Devyani’s son, Yadu declined, but Sharmishta’s son, Puru agreed. Soon Yayati gained his youth, but left Puru an old and dying man. Yayati went back to life of wine and women for many years till he realised the vanity of it all.

He came back to his son, and gave him his youth back. He then declared Puru as the King. When Yadu objected to it, since he was the son of the rightful queen and also the eldest, Yayati said that Puru had suffered on his behalf and he was promised the throne before exchanging the age. Yayati further cursed Yadu, that he and his descendants would never be Kings ever. This enraged Yadu and he left the Kingdom. Puru was later declared the King and Yadu left the land of his birth and settled down in Mathura.

The story of Yayati is also very important from the perspective of man's inherent desire for everlasting youth, and lengths he would go to attain it.

The descendants of Yadu became the well-known Yadavs in the epic Mahabharata, one of them being Krishna, who too never became a King. The descendants of Puru were Dushyant (of Shakuntala fame), Bharata and further down, Kaurava’s and Pandavas.