Gandhari’s Hundred Sons

One of my readers sent me the following after reading “Gandhari and her Karma ” dated June 25, 2012, –

“Hi Utkarsh………, had a question too. Gandhari had 100 sons, as we all know it takes 9 months for incubating a baby (unless they had machines for the same at that time) and if she had 1 baby at a time, by the time the 100th would be born the first one would be 75! So how old was Gandhari during the war? Or did she give birth to all 100 at the same time? In which case, biologically, it would be difficult for all 100 to survive. What do you think?”

An interesting question and often asked by many. How can someone have 100 sons together or even one after another? Could it be that she had many combinations of twins, triplets, quadruplets, etc. many times over?

Mythology is replete with instances which are known as supra-normal births (beyond the range of normal or scientifically explainable), where births have taken place from fire, any body fluids, like tears and sweat, or from body parts like thigh, etc. This is essentially done, to connote a sense of ‘difference’ on the said character and also to hint that the character is destined to do in-human acts or feats. This was the then author’s way of assigning an importance to the character in reference. We will not get into such instances as all heroes in mythology have had ‘different’ births, like Krishna, Jesus, Hercules, Rama, Ganapati, to name just a few. Mahabharat is full of supra-normal births, be it Dronacharya, Kripacharya, Draupadi and her brother, and of course, Gandhari’s hundred sons.

The birth of Gandhari’s hundred sons, in brief – After Gandhari had conceived it was close to two years and she had not delivered. When she heard the news of Kunti’s children being born in the jungles, she was frustrated and angry and in her state of rage, she started beating her stomach. Soon she delivered a mass of flesh. Vyas had once blessed her with a hundred sons (a common blessing in those days) and when she saw the mass of flesh, he was called. He immediately instructed her to assemble a hundred jars with ghee (oil) in it. Gandhari at this stage expressed her desire to have a daughter too. As soon as the jars were assembled, Vyas divided the ball of flesh into a hundred and one parts and distributed each into the jars. He asked her to cover them and leave them, and soon she was the mother of hundred sons and one daughter.

Many later day thinkers hint at the concept which is better known to us today as ‘in-vitro fertilisation’. Today we know of such methods of IVF and cloning whereby births can be ‘made’ through artificial methods. I am by no means saying that Vyasa was a gynecologist and nor am I saying that people then had knowledge of such modern methods of reproduction. It could just be the figment of a creative writer’s imagination who had imagined a possibility, without going into the intricacies of the method. Also, don’t forget what is said at the beginning of the epic Mahabharata – “What is found herein may also be found elsewhere; What is not found herein does not exist.”

Another theory says that there weren’t a hundred sons, but just two, i.e. Duryodhan and Dushsshan. This gains ground as in the entire epic; these were the only two whose names had cropped up time and again (though later, we have heard of Vikarna, the Kaurava who was against the war). Also, the pregnancy lasting for two years lends credence to this theory. People of antiquity had never quite been able to explain the concept of twins (You can read more about twins in mythology in my earlier series "Twins – A case of peaceful co-existence. " dated May 1, 2011). The two-year pregnancy could have been put in to explain the birth of twins.

Another version is that the evil of Duryodhan was equal to that of hundred people; a concept similar to that of Ravana’s ten heads which implied his immense intelligence and knowledge. Mythology, like fiction also thrives on hyperbole and on a more simplistic note, this could be just that.

Another version takes the help of etymology (the study of the origin of words). Duryodhan means one who is difficult to fight, (‘duh’ – difficult & ‘yodh’ – to fight) representing ego & Dushasana means difficult to control. Representing ‘huge ego’ and ‘lack of control’ as a hundred only gave a sense of proportion to the immense trouble that the duo could unleash.

A philosophic explanation is as follows – Dhritarashtra represented blind mind and Gandhari represented blind intellect following the blind mind. Together they breed unfulfilled desires, dreams and ambitions, all unleashed on what stood for reason and law (dharma). The result of such a clash could only be a war of epic proportions!

The sheer beauty of what the authors of antiquity wrote is brought out by such representations, which to a rationalist mind might seem ridiculous and jest-worthy! Modern thinking should be used to understand the deeper meanings in the myths and not to look down and make fun of what was written way back, when ‘science’ was not a subject. I guess this is what education is all about!

I hope I have been able to answer my readers query!!

Twins – A case of peaceful co-existence.

The last few articles have been focusing on twins in mythology. It must be mentioned at the onset, that the theory of twins in mythology is a subject by itself. But we will avoid the intricacies of the theory and discuss the concept from a mythical perspective.

Twin birth was an intriguing subject for the mythologists of yore. Explanations for the normal itself were a task, and over that something out of the line taxed ones capabilities to the hilt. However daunting the task be, they did try to explain the phenomenon.

Nearly all the mythologies of the world have instances of twins. The Greeks had Artemis and Appolo, Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome,Castor and Pollux who went on to represent the Gemini twins, to name a few. The Bible hasEsau and Jacob, Cain and Abel. The Sumerians had Utu and Innana, while the Egyptians had the twin brothers Danus and Aegyptus. The Hindu myths have a host of twins, in the form of the Ashwins the twin gods of healing; Yama and Yami, Lakshaman and Shatrughan, and Luv Kush from Ramayan are just a few of them.

The concept of twin births was complicated and not understood well. This brought up the confusion of either double paternity or divine paternity. Divine paternity led to an element of mystery and magic, but at the same time it also gave a sort of sanction or rather a divine sanction.

In the earlier series, we have seen instances of conflict and rivalry; let us now examine a few cases of harmony and peaceful co-existence.

Castor and Pollux

A good example of the above is seen in the Greek myth of the twin birth of Castor and Pollux who go on to become the Gemini twins. Castor and Pollux were the result of two impregnations, one by Zeus who fell in love with the mortal and the married Leda. Leda on the same night got impregnated by her husband and thus the offspring were twins, one being divine and the other being a mortal. This reiterated the belief of the times of dual paternity and thus the offspring bearing the traits of the father. However, this myth is not quite of conflict as they two brothers were quite devoted to each other, to the extent that when the mortal brother was wounded the divine one asked for immortality for the other. The request was granted in a manner that when one brother was in Mount Olympus, the abode of the gods, the other brother would in Hades, the underworld, and thereafter they would exchange their positions.

Some Greek mythologists have explained the myth of Narcissus in the theory of twinship (refer to the article The Romance of Echo and Narcissus dated December 15, 2010, in this Blog). According to this interpretation, Narcissus had a twin sister who he lost and he would keep looking for her everywhere. After she died Narcissus would keep consoling himself by looking at his own reflection in the water, to keep her memory alive; it was not his love for himself as is better known! The myth of the more famous twins of Greek Mythology, Apollo and Artemis is also that of love and harmony and not that of hatred and jealousy

Ashwins

Horse-faced Ashwins

A similar situation is found in the Hindu myths too. Amongst the most famous of the twins are the Ashwins – the twin gods of healing. Ashwins were Vedic gods, portrayed as divine horsemen and there are more than 400 references of the god in Reg Veda. They were supposed to be the children of Sun god and an there is an interesting myth of their birth. It is said that the Sanjana the wife of Sun god could not bear the luminosity of her husband and to avoid the heat and the glare, she took the form of a mare and ran away to a shaded area. Sun god decided to change himself to a horse and followed her to the shaded area. The offspring of this mare and horse were the divine horsemen, the Aswins. This is also seen as an act of accommodation and benevolence on the part of the Sun god towards his wife. The Ashwins are thus also depicted as horse-faced gods. The Ashwins are thus seen as benevolent gods who are known for their medical feats and the ability to cure and give life to anyone who needs it, much to the chagrin of the other gods of the pantheon. (Here we can compare the acts of the Ashwins with the Greek Prometheus who goes against the gods to give the art of fire to mankind). The Ashwins are also considered to be the fathers of the twins Nakul and Sahadev in the epic Mahabharata, where Nakul was the most handsome of all and Sahadev was the most knowledgeable of all. Again we see that the offspring have the traits of the father as we have seen in the earlier myth of Castor and Pollux.

 

Besides the Ashwins the other twins in the Hindu myths, i.e. Lakshaman and Shatrughan, and Luv Kush from Ramayan amongst the few of them are too not at loggerheads. There is no rivalry in such myths but seem to share a harmonious relationship.

Thus we can conclude that the issue of twins was not just of confusion, but also divine in some case. The divinity in some of them avoided the evil aspect as we have seen in some of the cases above and this is critical. This could be both cultural as well as a sense of accepting the unacceptable, inherent in the cultural milieu. What cannot be understood, need not necessarily have an evil connotation. So an amicable and an acceptable solution was arrived at, as we see in the above myths. In some of the Hindu myths, either one of the twin brother does not have a significant role (like in the case of Shatrughan) or the twins have an equal role to play (like that of Luv and Kush in Ramayan), but the conflict is not there.

Though this is a contradiction to some of the myths of conflict and rivalry as we have seen before, the issue of divine intervention runs as a common aspect in all of the myths.

Cannanite Myth of Seasons

Biblical Cannan refers to the present day Syria and Palestine and the neighbouring areas. The mythology of this region in due course came to be known as Cannanite Mythology. The trade routes led to a cross-cultural integration with two of the major cultures of its time, Egypt and Mesopotamia, which have left their impact on the Cannanite Mythology.

Baal

The myth involves two main deities, the twins, Baal and Mot. It is important to understand the nature of the two deities. Baal is a deity of fertility, vegetation and a life giver. He is the protagonist of the myth. His twin, Mot is the antagonist and the opposite of all that Baal stands for. Mot is death personified and a sign of infertility and drought. This is also a classic myth of a set of twins who are both opposites of each other, but we will discuss this aspect a little later.

The myth starts with a long-standing conflict between the two. At one point of time, Baal accepts Mot’s supremacy, but declines to honour him in any form, even when all the other deities do so. This angers Mot to no end and sends a giant lion to devour him. When Baal realizes that it is no use to resist and he has to give up, he sends message through the minor deities that he is willing to submit. But before he goes to meet Mot, he copulates with a cow, leaving his seed in the cow’s womb.

Mot personified as drought

When Baal reaches Mot, he is killed by Mot and there is no life on earth. Anath, was Baal’s sister and lover. When she came to know about the death of Baal and his burial in the underworld, she goes in search for him and brings back his body and gives it a proper burial. After mourning his death, she goes to the underworld and defeats Mot in a bloody battle. Mot pleads for his life and claims that Baal’s death was a natural need! She cuts Mot into pieces and the pieces are thrown all over the land.

It is at this stage that the principal deity El gets a dream that Baal could still be alive. He recalls Anath and together the resurrect Baal and appoint him the King. But Mot, who has not been completely done with, now wants to eliminate Baal completely and vows revenge. El, who is the father of both, resolves the feud by arbitrating on behalf of both. Having resurrected Baal and the whole atmosphere having changed, it was decided that one half of the year would see Baal ruling and the other half would see Mot’s rule.

Let us put the above myth is perspective. The above is the Canaanite myth of seasons. Baal represents vegetation and all life giving activities and Mot represents drought and lack of vegetation. When Baal decides to submit into Mot’s rule, we are approaching Winter. The death of Baal is the setting of winter, when no vegetation is seen and the ground is barren. The cutting to pieces of Mot is the cutting of dry wheat into chaff and spread all over the dry ground. The resurrection of Baal brings in the rains and the dry chaff is buried deep into the ground and soon bears life. By the time Baal is appointed King, it is the advent of Spring and Mot has to retire to the underworld. El’s resolution of both getting to rule is nothing but an acceptance of the cylical nature of seasons. Thus during the rule of Baal we see a different season with life all around us and during the reign of Mot we see barren and dry land and cold all over. The act of Baal’s copulation with a cow could be seen as an act of leaving some aspect of his fertility alive elsewhere. To explain further, there is some vegetation even during winter. (However we do not have more on this later due to missing aspects of the myth). Anat’s catalytic role is to be seen as different forces of nature which contribute to the advent of spring and the rains which come as an elixir on the dry parched land.

Here is a classic case of twins in rivalry, one being a protagonist and the other being an antagonist. If we see closely, both are needed in the cycle of life. Without sunset, there is no significance of the sunrise just as without winter, there is no advent of Spring leading to summer.

Our early thinkers have given us a beautiful myth to explain the cyclical nature of seasons and the relevance of both. It is this relevance and the necessity of two integral aspects in life that has been portrayed in the form of twins; similar, but at the same time different in their nature. There is no hero here and no villain, because both are needed for a balance in nature. With a focus on the seasonal explanation, a good literary conflict has also been built into the myth with the theory of rivalry thrown in.

Please note that the myth is a voluminous one with lots of conversation and dialogue at the same time a lot of it has been missing from the original. The above is an extremely concise form of the myth with a lot of aspects of the myth eliminated to allow a fictional flow.

Twin-ship and Dualism

The concept of twins has a sense of inseparable dualism inherent in it. Let us read about some of the most famous twins in Mythology, before we try to understand the actual meaning or the implication of this conflict.

Cain and Abel – Biblical Myth

As per this Biblical myth, Cain and Abel were the sons of Adam and Eve with Cain being the elder of the two. Cain grew up to be a farmer and Abel became a shepherd. One day both made their offerings to God, Cain, the best fruit of the soil and Abel the best offspring of his life-stock. God was pleased with the offering of Abel which made Cain jealous. God tried to reason out with Cain, but Cain continued to feel rejected. Soon this showed up in the relationship of the brothers and once over an argument, Cain killed Abel. When God came to know about it, he cursed Cain that he would be continuously sought after by mankind for killing his brother. Later Cain was banished on the Eastern side of Eden and went on to become the first urbanite.

Ahura Mazda and Ahriman – Persian Myth

According to Persian Mythology, Ahura Mazda was characterised by goodness, light and was responsible for all the good things created in the universe. Ahriman was his strongest opponent and stood for all the wrong and evil in this world, and is also responsible for creating all the negatives in the universe. The Persian mythology delves in great details of the constant conflict between the two, with the ultimate victory of Ahura Mazda over Ahriman.

Romulus and Remus – Roman Myth

Romulus and Remus were the twin sons of the god Mars and Rhea. However, both of them were abandoned at birth and left in a basket and set afloat in a river. Later they were found under a fig tree and were suckled by a she-wolf. The abandoned children were then raised by a shepherd family. Later when the boys grew up, they decided to form a city. By following the flights of birds and the signs in the sky each decided to build a section of the city. However, the signs also determined that Romulus’s section would be twice as big as that of Remus. Remus angry and jealous of the larger share of his brother got into an argument, which led to Romulus killing Remus. Later Romulus went on build the city which was named Rome after him.

When we analyze the myths, one thing is common and that is the constant conflict that we see in our daily lives. This conflict is both inevitable and unavoidable. The twin-ship brings out the inevitability of it and the nature of the conflict brings out the coexistence of the dual forces of nature in our lives.

The Cain and Abel myth brings forth the sociological conflict that exists between the shepherds and the farmers, and this constant conflict today has transformed into the infamous urban and rural conflict. With each trying to impress ones supremacy over the other, this is both inevitable and unavoidable. The Persian myth brings forth the existing dualism of good and evil present in our world. Each power of good and evil lead to the destruction of the other, and through it the world has developed and has survived.

This dualism can also be seen in the constant presence of the conflict of good and evil, right and wrong in our daily lives. Our daily lives are a constant fight of these opposites and on a given day, any one wins and on the other day the other force. Our daily life is an effort of striving for this balance between the opposites. Which twin dies on a given day is based on the circumstances and the individual’s ability to resist the pressures of the other.

Majority of the twin myths are a fictional symbol of this conflict. No one is bad and evil is never defeated for good. The evil only enhances the relevance and the need of good and stands as a test to one’s ability to strike this constant balance that life presents us daily.

Over the next few days, we will discuss some more aspects of twins in Mythology.

The Birth of Luv and Kush

All of us have read in Ramayana about the Sita giving birth to twins after she was banished by Ram. She gave birth to Luv and Kush in the hermitage of Rishi Valmiki.

Here is a different version of the same myth.

After Sita reached the hermitage of Rishi Valmiki, she soon gave birth to a child, who was named Luv. Once when Sita had to go to the forest to collect wood, she left Luv in the custody of Rishi Valmiki. Soon Rishi got busy with his work and Luv crawled away to the forest after Sita.

When Rishi Valmiki realized that the child was nowhere, he got worried and thought that Luv must have wandered away and become prey to some animal. He didn’t have the heart to tell about his negligence to Sita and have her heartbroken. He took kusha grass (the auspicious grass that is used for rituals) and created another Luv!

Soon Sita came back with Luv and was surprised to find another child who was a duplicate of Luv. Since the child was created from the kusha grass, he was named Kush.

There are two theories to this. One is that in those days or the creators of this version did not understand the concept of twin births and so created this version. As mentioned earlier, twin births have always been a matter of intrigue to our early thinkers. So this could be seen as resolving an early problem or an intrigue and trying to seek an explanation that Science has now given to us.

Another more interesting theory is that if this version is true, then is this an early indication of cloning? Did our rishis have such knowledge? Given that we have to give some space for fictional aspect of the myth (rationalists would say, that even if it was a clone, the clone would still be younger than the original Luv!), then can this be negated? Or was it an idea that the author of this version had as wishful thinking that our present day scientists seem to be indulging in?

Or finally, is it that our skeptic and ever-doubting mind is seeing too much into a simple and an insignificant aspect of the epic?  

Myths are the creations of non-literate, unscientific, oral cultures. They were either seeking answers or giving explanations or setting standards, both moral and ethical. No aspect of any myth is insignificant as all myths carry symbols.

So are we missing something?