The Lark’s Song - A Short Story

Once upon a time, there was a lovely forest, green all around, crowned with lovely blossoms and birds chirping on every tree. On one of the trees was a nest where lived two larks. The father lark would go gathering worms every day, and the mother lark, flush with pride on the eggs laid by her, would spend the whole day nurturing her eggs.

Soon it was time for the eggs to hatch and the proud mother lark saw the face of a small lark making all efforts to nudge itself out of the first egg. The mother lark shed a tear of joy and pride on seeing it’s first born and announced it to the world with a melody. The whole forest stood still and listened to the song of the lark – a song never heard before, a song of love, a song of motherhood.

Soon the other eggs started hatching and the pride only grew. The father lark worked harder to get the worms and the mother lark got busy in feeding and taking care of all of them. The first born however remained her favourite after all she experienced motherhood first through the little one. Soon it was time to teach them to fly and all learnt it well and fast. In due course the younger ones flew away and built their own nests and her once crowded nest wore a deserted look.

The larks were left all alone. 

Soon the mother lark couldn’t fly well and was restricted to her nest, but she did not lose her sprightly will and kept singling her lovely songs so that none in the forest came to know of her loneliness and look down on her young ones, after all this was the destiny of all birds. It was only the father bird who could hear and feel the soulful melodies masked in the lovely songs. There was only one thing that she longed for – she wanted to hear her first born sing for her, as she had heard that he had acquired great skills in singing and was the heartthrob of many in another forest. She knew her time was close, and before she shut her eyes forever, she wanted to see and hear her first born. But the first born had flown very far and could no more hear the soulful songs of the mother lark. 

The mother lark soon lost her voice and one fine morning, breathed her last. The forest lost a great soul and everybody mourned the death of the great singing lark. But nobody heard her last words before she breathed her last, not even the father bird, as he was too old to hear, what she could not utter!

Yesterday was Mothers Day and this story is an ode to my Mother, who I lost last week.
May her soul rest in peace.

Akshay Tritiya

Today is Akshay Tritiya, or Akha Teej, one of the most auspicious days of the year. ‘Akshay’ means never diminishing or something that is perpetual, and ‘tritiya’ is the third day of a month, and in this case it is the Vaishakh month. The day is considered to be so auspicious, that any new beginnings need not be subject to any special mahurat, or auspicious time. Thus on this day, many embark on new ventures, marriages, etc. Any beginning today is thus considered to have begun on an auspicious moment, so the venture or the relationship would be fruitful and everlasting.

As a child, I have seen my mother performing many rituals on this day. One of them which caught my fancy was donning the photograph of Lord Krishna, with a white soft cloth which would be smeared with sandalwood paste! The reason would be that the weather was turning sultry and the cloth with sandalwood paste on it would sooth the deity who was confined to the closed ‘mandir’ for the major part of the day! It did seem quite amusing, but in those days faith was not something that was questioned with the remarkable alacrity that is visible now! Some Krishna temples do resort to similar rituals albeit in much more elaborate manner.

The day has a number of mythological significances which are as follows –

• This day is the birth day of Parashuram, the sixth avatar of Lord Vishnu
• Kubera, who was the richest deity in the Hindu Pantheon, worshipped Goddess Lakshmi to maintain and sustain his wealth
• The day marks the birth of Goddess Annapurna (goddess of food), who was born to feed the hungry
• On this day, Ganesha and Sage Ved Vyasa got together to start writing the epic Mahabharata
• According to the epic Mahabharata, on this day Lord Krishna gifted the Akshay-patra, the bowl which would never be devoid of food, to Draupadi
• The river Ganga descended on earth on this day
• The day also marked the beginning of the treta-yug in Hindu Mythology
• On this day, Bengalis perform the ‘Hal-khata’, the beginning of the traditional book of accounts
• In Orissa, the farmers sow the seeds on this day with a lot of religious and ritualistic fervour. Women in Orissa also worship ‘Sathi Debi’ the guardian goddess of the children, who also has the power to bestow children to the childless.
• The construction of the chariots for the famous ratha-yatra of Puri, begins today after an elaborate ritual.
• One of the most significant legends associated with this day is that of Krishna-Sudama. Poor Sudama was supposed to have visited Lord Krishna on this day to seek material help, but could not say a word and returned without saying anything, except sharing some rice that he had got along with him. On reaching home, he saw that he was gifted with all the riches that he had hoped for, or rather much more.

Such myths seem to lend credence to the fact that good deeds get rewarded on this day, thus many also resort to charity.

Astrologically, this is the day when both the Sun and the Moon are at its radiant best, which by itself is rare and only on this day. This could have given rise to the popular notion of buying gold and silver on this day, though there seems to be no mythological or religious allusion to this notion. It is said that some years back a few jewellers publicised that buying gold and silver on this day is considered auspicious and soon this spread to the entire country. This could be just another marketing success, similar to what the greeting card industry did a few years back with the numerous Days being celebrated. The value of gold and silver seldom comes down and is considered to be a good investment, so buying it on this day (or any other day) is always beneficial!

Finally, before I end, it is important to mention that this day is also an auspicious day for the Jains. According to the Jain scriptures, Lord Rishabhdev renounced worldly pleasures and distributed all his wealth and land among his children and meditated without food and water for six months. On attaining enlightenment, he went back to his village to accept food. Since he was the first monk of his era, people did not understand that all he was seeking was a morsel of food. Instead of food, people offered their erstwhile king, gold, jewellery, and all sorts of riches, but not food. When he did not get what he needed, he retreated and started meditating once again. After about another six months or so, his grandson understood why his grandfather had visited the kingdom and on this day of Akshay tritiya he offered his grandfather a glass of sugarcane juice and helped him break his fast. Since then, the Jains fast on this day and break their fast with a glass of sugarcane juice on this day.

Vishnu’s Dashavatar & Charles Darwin – Part 2

Yesterday, we read about the similarities of the first five avatars of dashavatar with Darwin’s theory of evolution. Let us now go through the other five avatars to trace the cultural evolution of mankind.

The sixth avatar of Lord Vishnu was Parashuram, a rugged primitive warrior with a battle axe. This form could be a symbol of the cave-man stage of evolution and his usage of the axe could be seen as man’s evolution from the stone age to the iron age. Man had learnt the art of using tools and weapons and exploit the natural resources available to him.

The next avatar is that of Rama, a king who obeyed all the norms of the society as laid down, even at the cost of his personal discomfort. This form also displays a sense of altruism that was expected from a man amongst men – who was to set the ideals of living and even set an example of exemplary ethical standards. This also shows that society had started forming norms and rules and the life of savagery and might-is-right was over. Kings, government, rules and a distinct class system was beginning to fall in place.

This brings us to the next avatar of Lord Krishna, who was shown as a philosopher who taught the methods to deal with the contradictions of the society. He gave mankind the novel ways of handling ethics and evils both in an objective manner. Showing Lord Krishna’s childhood as a cowherd also depicts the fact that man had learnt the domestication of animals and had learnt to make use of the animal resources available to him and respect the same. Along with Krishna, is his brother Balarama, who is depicted with a plough, which goes on to show that man had also begun to depend on agriculture and had learnt to make use of land and earn from it. This also puts an end to the nomadic life style of the uncivilized man.

During the times of Rama and Krishna, there are a number of concepts introduced to man, which shows that man had begun to even think in a creative manner. The earlier avatars dealt with and depicted the baser instincts of man. But these two avatars had started giving wings to man’s thought process. Thus in Ramayana we find the mention of Pushpak Vimana (a flying machine), crossing of seas by Hanuman, sanjivani-buti (life saving drugs), etc. Similarly, in Mahabharata, which also deals with the life and times of Krishna, we see the evils of the society, games played by the people (chaupar), Sanjay relaying the battle from a distance through divya-drishti (divine-vision), mention and occasional usage of weapons of mass-destruction (brahmastra and divyastra), births which were not normal and which needed external help, all akin to modern methods of aided-reproduction, etc. (Please note that I am not saying that people had the ‘technology’ then; all I am saying is that man had evolved to a stage where he could allow his creative thoughts to think of such aspects of life – which too is a stage in the cultural evolution of mankind).

This brings us the ninth avatar of Lord Vishnu, i.e. Lord Buddha. The story of Buddha symbolizes the emergence of non-violence and human rights as viable doctrines. Till the stage of Rama and Krishna we have seen man thinking of rules and norms of living in a society. We have seen aspects of politics and forms of governing and the life of battles and its repercussions. Buddha gives man a meaning of existence. He gave man the ideals of a class-less society and that all were equal, irrespective of status. Buddha taught man to think beyond material comforts of life. He introduced the concept of Moksha and Nirvana, and made them the ultimate goals of life. We are supposedly still in this stage of evolution and each one of us are seeking our own ways of achieving individual Moksha, though we have not quite found the formula of world-peace!

This completed the entire evolution of man, which started from nothing, to an evolved evolution.

The tenth avatar of Lord Vishnu, i.e. Kalki, is an imaginary incarnation and is still awaited. Kalki depicts a warrior mounted on a flying horse with a sword who is ready to fight any extra terrestrial invader. The symbolism here is not very clear. Different scholars have opined different regarding this avatar, some say that this avatar will bring a complete destruction which will take us back to where we started, whereas some say that this could be the idea of a single leader who will unify the world under a single rule/ruler. (We will have to wait and watch and if something happens during my lifetime, please be ready to find it in this Blog!).

To conclude – it is important to understand that Lord Vishnu’s dashavatar came much before Darwin propounded his theory of evolution. However, this does not undermine Darwin’s efforts in any way, as his theory is more granular and with a lot of scientific evidence that our rational mind has got used to. On behalf of Charles Darwin, I would also like to mention that he had never read the Hindu scriptures and in no way did he use this to formulate his theory of evolution!

Vishnu’s dashavatar has definitely eliminated some stages of evolution, but one can’t overlook the beauty of presenting what today is scientifically an acceptable theory. Moreover, Darwin stopped at the evolution of man, but the dashavatar goes beyond the physical evolution of man, it traces man’s cultural and cerebral evolution too. Needless to say, that the theory has some overlaps, like Parashuram making an appearance during the times of Rama and Krishna, but if you leave such things to the theorists and as aspects of ‘creative indulgence’, then one can’t help but agree that this is definitely one of the best theories of evolution. 

Finally, my favourite statement, (at the cost of repetition) – all that we read in mythology is not without meaning and every aspect has more to it than what meets the eye!

Vishnu’s Dashavatar & Charles Darwin – Part 1

All of us know about Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution – read it in schools. All of us also know about Lord Vishnu’s ten incarnations, better known as dashavatar. How many of us have seen a connection?

Connection between a scientific theory and a mythical narration of god’s incarnation? This is no joke and nor is it a concocted theory meant to superimpose scientific theories on a religious point of view. Nor is this some sort of ‘we-thought-it-first’ kind of pseudo-nationalism leading to a feel-great emotion. This is a natural outcome of what I have always maintained in my blog – every myth has a hidden meaning. There is more to it than what it says and above all, look beyond the story.

The ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu, talk about the forms of Matsya (fish), Kurma (tortoise), Varaha (wild boar), Narasimha (half lion half man), Vamana (dwarf man), Parashuram (angry fighting man with a war axe), Rama (the ideal man/king), Krishna (the philosopher), Buddha (the peace maker) and Kalki (messiah of the future).

If you follow the above forms, you will find a familiar sequence. Yes, it is the chronology of the evolution of mankind.

In the evolution chronology, life evolved in the waters and thus the first form of life is an aquatic animal i.e. the fish (matsya). Lord Vishnu took the form of a huge fish and towed the primordial boat carrying good people and cattle to the new world of the future through the waters of the great deluge.

This was followed by the form which could survive both in land and water, which is depicted through a turtle (kurma), which can survive both in land and water. In the Kurma incarnation Lord Vishnu takes the form of a great tortoise to support churning of the primordial ocean with the mountain, to beget the elixir of immortality. Evolution from Pisces to Amphibians is also what Darwin had proposed. Around the time amphibians evolved, tectonic movements and upheavals of great landmasses were recorded. The churning of the ocean can be seen to symbolise this movement giving rise to new landmasses. At the end of this massive upheaval of earth, mountain ranges such as the Himalayas, Andes, and the Alps were supposed to have come into existence. These mountains later made way for dense forests and rivers which became the source of survival of fast evolving species on earth.

Please note that Darwin’s theory had many intermediate stages of evolution, which is not found in the dashavatar. Instead of the stages of reptiles and birds from amphibians, the dashavatar straightaway evolves to the mammals from the stage of the amphibians giving us the nest avatar of Varaha, the wild boar. In the Varaha avatar Lord Vishnu is seen fighting and eliminating the demon in the oceans, to rescue the abducted land maiden (Bhu-devi) for the benefit of people.

Many scholars have found strange coincidence with the scientific finding that more than about 70 million years ago, the Indian land mass had torn itself from the Antarctic and moved north to join the Eurasian land mass, thus lifting up the Himalayan fold mountains. The tropical forests of the western Himalayan ranges, fed by the great river systems of Indus and Ganges later facilitated the evolution of pre-human species. They further surmise that the conquest of the demon by a wild boar could symbolically signify the end of dominance of giant reptiles (dinosaurs?) and the emergence of mammals as the leaders of life forms.

Once the mammal had evolved, the next stage of evolution was a form of human beings who resembled animals both in looks and in behaviour. This takes us the next avatar of Narasimha, where Lord Vishnu is described as a form of half lion and half man. In short, the theme is that of transition. The human evolution did have a transitional form in this period, which is aptly named by Indian anthropologists as "Rama Pithacus" and "Sugriva Pithacus". This species is supposed to have been found in the Himalayan region and they were said to have had long manes on their head and were bipeds, the first step of human form that stood on two legs, but was still animal like, and in this case the animal resembles a lion. Narasimha is supposed to have killed a demon Hiranyakashyap, father of Prahalad, who was an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu. The manner in which the demon was killed was typical to animalistic-man who was still in his savage stage.

From this stage was evolved a slightly smarter and intelligent species of mammals, i.e. the monkey clan who were short but intelligent. This brings us to the next avatar, of the Vamana avatar (the dwarf man). The way Vamana uses his cunning sense to eliminate Mahabali to gain power of earth is a case in point. Symbolically speaking, the three steps of Vamana could well symbolize the mastering of the three key aspects of the human beings at the said stage of evolution - homo-erectus (upright walking), homo-habilis (use of tools) and homo-sapiens (discriminative thinking), which distinguished humans from non-humans

The first five avatars are the symbols of Darwin’s biological evolution theory. The sequence may well represent the forms of fishes, amphibians (reptiles), mammals, advanced primates (hominids) and finally the thinking man respectively. If we look deep and go through the stories in details, they all give hints of the physical evolution of man. However, the next five avatars show the cultural evolution of man.

We will take this aspect of evolution tomorrow…..keep reading!

Twist to a Folk Tale

Once upon a time there was a kingdom called Purano Bagan (old garden) which was in the clutches of a King who had grown too old and ineffective. He was given to literary debates of no significance and in his absence, his goons had taken over. There was lack of governance and the kingdom was in a state of anarchy.

In such a scenario, people were getting oppressed and those who spoke up were tortured in dungeons and some never got to see the light of the day. Many started leaving the kingdom. In the kingdom there lived four friends. One was a rich businessman, the other an intellectual, the third was a medicine-man and the fourth was a simpleton. Though they belonged to different professions and background they were good friends. Like the others, they too one day decided to leave the kingdom, much against their wishes.

The businessman wanted to leave as he was not able to invest and conduct business safely in the kingdom. The intellectual’s views were being suppressed and were seen as an alternate ideologue as he was proposing ideas for a change and the kings goons were against that. The medicine-man wanted to leave as there was no atmosphere for research and thus no development in the field of medicine. The fourth was a simpleton, and wanted to leave as he saw no future in the city for simple folks like him.

So one fine morning they all decided to leave. From the outskirts of the kingdom, they gave one last look to their beloved land and turned their faces in sadness. Just then, they saw a battered woman lying on the ground badly wounded. They immediately knew that she must have been a victim of the oppression of the king’s henchmen. Surprisingly, all the three, except the simpleton seemed to have an idea, as if together!

The medicine-man said that he could manage to revive the woman and give her all the physical powers that she might need, but that would require a lot of money. The businessman immediately agreed to fund the treatment. The intellectual said he would be able to feed her with all the education on ideology that would be required. The simpleton was puzzled – “What for” he asked. As if in unison, they all replied – “The change that we need, you silly! She will be the harbinger of change!!” The simpleton was not sure and said that he wasn’t sure if he was willing to go with them. He tried to dissuade them, but the three would not listen to him. Sadly the simpleton, decided to leave the kingdom all alone.

The three friends were too excited to care for their friend and they got to work. They took her to a nearby empty hut. The businessman paid a lot of money based on which, medicines and some life saving drugs were bought secretly. They nursed the woman, who seemed to be reviving faster than expected. As soon as she was in a position to sit up and listen, the intellectual started reading out the classics and teaching her all about the philosophies of the world. He told her all about the liberal ideologies and how culture flourishes in an open atmosphere. How debate is the foundation of all societies and consensus ought to be the main way of resolving all issues. Soon the woman was ready to be sent to the king’s court.

The woman was named Ma as she was going to give birth to a new regime. On her way to the court, she gathered more supporters who were awed by her very gait, her radiance and her demeanour. She entered the court and challenged the King to a verbal duel on any topic of his choice. The king was too old to challenge, and her goons were too awe-struck to oppose. To cut short the story, Ma won hands down. There was celebration in the entire kingdom as now they would live in peace and harmony and the three friends were called to the court the next day for felicitation.

The three friends put their finest dress and walked in to the court with pride on their face. On reaching the court, they looked at Ma, their own creation sitting on a green throne – green was the colour of prosperity and change. Ma on the throne was looking royal and a leader to look up to. The King was gone and so were his henchmen. However, what took the three friends by surprise was that the replaced people looked no different from the Kings henchmen, but then this was not the time to be cynical, after all this is the day they were waiting for.

The three of them bowed as Ma looked at them from her throne. Ma then spoke. Her first order was that the businessman’s property be confiscated, so that she could usher in a regime of equality where all would be equal. Next she said that the medicine-man be not allowed to practice as he and the businessman could join hands and create monsters which could be detrimental in the new regime. As far as the intellectual was concerned, he was ordered not to teach and debate as his lectures and deliberations could mislead people to an unnecessary revolution and that is one thing that the kingdom did not require. What the kingdom now required was a single point of agenda, to eliminate the old order and change all that she thought it better. In this new order there was going to be change, but change the way she saw, change the way she wanted and not what the others wanted.

She then called the Minister for Education and suggested a series of changes in the text-books and suggested the deletion of many important aspects of history from the books. She then called the Minister of Culture and suggested the kind of music that the people in her kingdom should now onwards listen to, irrespective of whether people wanted to hear or not. She then called the Minister for Law and Order and suggested guidelines on what should be passed as crime and what should not be, irrespective of what people wanted to complain about. She also suggested that all lawlessness charges be levelled on the erstwhile Kings henchmen, and that there was no need to verify prior to levelling of the charges. She and her men were beyond reproach.

The businessman, the medicine-man and the intellectual were shocked to learn that they had created a Frankenstein. If only they had listened to the simpleton and left with him, they would have been better off. But it was too late.

Ma then took to learning to play the sitar. She got so engrossed in it, that she did not bother to see what was going on in her kingdom. Once there was a fire which led to many more fires and it seemed that the whole kingdom was up in flames. When people rushed to tell her about it, she was engrossed in playing her sitar. Disappointed, people went back, saying – “While the kingdom is burning, Ma is busy playing the sitar.” This reminds us of Nero playing the fiddle when Rome was burning.

Does anybody remember what happened to Nero after that?

(Adapted from an old folk-tale – “The Four Brahmins and the Tiger”)

Published in LITIZEN on 03/07/2012

http://www.litizen.com/StoryReading.aspx?StoryId=113

http://litizen.wordpress.com/2012/07/03/twist-to-a-folk-tale-by-utkarsh-patel/

The Unwanted Girl Child

Distraught mother of Baby Ameena

First it was Baby Falak and now Baby Ameena, all in the heart of the metros of India. Thousands of girls are killed every day in what is made to appear as natural deaths, but these two names have shocked the nation recently due to the way the babies were battered. Many more don’t even get to see the light of the day, in what is better known as female-infanticide.

Why is there such a dire need for a male child? Is it because girls are expenses personified in a poor man’s world? Or is it because a girl does not carry on the name of the father?

Is it at all necessary to find reasons as to why people kill the girl child, except for the fact that this is done by inhuman and uncaring blot of a human being, who is misguided in his thinking and bestial (with due apologies to the animals!) to say the least?

Isn’t it ironic that such things should happen in a country where a girl is referred to as Goddess Lakshmi (goddess of wealth) and where the worship of Mother Goddess is prevalent in every nook and corner of the country? A country that celebrates the nine-day Navratri festival which heralds the arrival of the daughter to her parental home should see spates of men killing their infant goddesses is a shame in itself.

Has this a precedence of sorts, though we have seen many cultural practices, or malpractices to be precise? None that I know of; though I don’t claim myself to be someone who knows a lot on such issues. But it has now become a practice to rummage in the past, however, the same is not to justify the happening, but could help understand the age of such customs and its prevalence as a thought-process.

I am reminded of a tale from the epic Mahabharata. This pertains to the birth of Satyavati. Let me begin from the start! Once upon a time, King Uparichara was on a hunting expedition and while resting under a tree, the thought of his wife got him excited and this led to the ejection of his reproductive fluids. The king wrapped this body-fluid as it was an auspicious period when such fluids were not to be wasted and gave it to a parrot to take it to his wife. The parrot was attacked on its way by a falcon and the leaf fell into a river and the fluid was swallowed by a fish. This fist was actually an apsara who was cursed by Lord Brahma to be a fish till she gave birth to human children. Sometime later the fist was caught by the fishermen and they found a boy and a girl when they cut open the fish. The head of the fishermen took the babies to the King of the land, who was none other than King Uparichara himself. The King decided to keep the boy and gave the girl the head of the fishermen! This girl was brought up as Satyavati who later went on to marry King Shantanu and was responsible for Bhishma’s vow. She was also the mother of Sage Vyasa, the author of the epic Mahabharata, and grand-mother of the Pandavas and Kauravas.

In this tale, there is a very clear case of rejection of the girl child, though the rejection has not been discussed in details. The King accepted the boy, who then grew up to be the king of the region and founded the region of Matsya, but the girl was left to be brought up by the head of the fisher-folk. Could this discrimination be the reason for Satyavati’s condition that her sons be rightful heir to the royal throne? Till her presence in the epic, she does take a number of strange steps which bring out her contempt for the men in the epic, but that is a  topic for another day.

To reiterate, the above is not being related to the present day killings of infants. The above was just a case of an unwanted child. However, we do have other instances where an abandoned girl child was given all the love and care a child would need. The case of Sita in the epic Ramayana is a good example. She was found by King Janak in the fields and took her as her daughter. Or the case of the birth of Draupadi who got an equal status along with her brother Dhrishtadyumna, both of who were born out of fire to King Drupada.

Mythology is a mirror of the past and a thought-process of what went through the minds of the people then. Even there, when there was a difference in the status of a woman, such acts of bestiality cannot be found. I think that the modern man is more archaic than the men of the past and no explanation or justification is enough for such cruel methods of eliminating girl child for a boy. To say that poverty drives one to do so, is probably just an excuse for ones inherent desire for a boy child. Hypocrisy and such acts of bestiality should be condoned and punished in the severest way possible.

Social ostracism should be an obvious by-product.

All Fools Day!

With the Financial year coming to an end, the new financial year begins with the All Fools Day!

Is there some significance?

I know not!

But the day does seem to have some significance.....can anybody guess what?

Till then, read my last years post on the same day about the day!

http://utkarshspeak.blogspot.in/2011/04/april-fools-day.html

Cheti Chand

Today is Cheti Chand, the New Year for the Sindhi community and there is a very interesting myth on the origins of this day too.

According to a myth, the Turkish invaders were imposing their might and right on the Hindu’s by forcing them to convert to Islam, in the region of the Sapta-sindhu, the land of seven rivers. Among them was a tyrannical Mirkshah who issued a dictate that all the Hindus should embrace Islam. The people of the region (Sindh, now in Pakistan) went to the banks of the river Sindhu and prayed continuously for forty days to the Lord of the oceans, Varuna (Varuna was a Vedic god). On the fortieth day, they heard a voice which said that the Lord would take a human form (avatar) and be born to one Ratanchand Lohana and his wife, Devaki, who would be their saviour. Soon a child was born to the Lohanas, who was named Uderolal (one who came from the waters). When the child was put in the cradle, the cradle started rocking by itself and thus he popularly came to be known as Jhulelal.

During his birth and thereafter while he was growing up, there are many stories that highlight a number of miracles performed by him. All these miracles only reinforced in the minds of the people and the rulers that this was no ordinary child. In due course of time Jhulelal and Mirkshah came face to face and Jhulelal managed to convince Mirkshah that who he called Allah was none other than who the Hindus called Ishwar and the twain was one. Mirkshah however did not give up till he was threatened by a miracle. It is said that when Jhulelal tried to convince him about the oneness of the religion, Mirkshah ordered the arrest of Jhulelal in the court. As soon as he did, waters gushed into the court drowning all and threatening to do the same to Mirkshah too. At the same time, there was fire all around. Mirkshah was surprised and scared to see what had just happened and begged for mercy. No sooner had he done that, the waters receded and the fire was extinguished.

After this, Jhulelal was worshipped by both the Hindus and the Muslims and it is said that on his death, to commemorate the site, a structure was built, one side of which is a Hindu Samadhi and the other side is a Muslim Dargah – a rare site of the unification or the oneness of the two religions. Cheti Chand is the birth day of Jhulelal, who has come to be known as the patron saint of the Sindhi’s and a messiah of communal harmony.

This is a very unique myth. Very rarely have we found a Vedic god associated with the myths and here we see the association of Varuna who has no significant counterpart in the Puranas. Also, history (the times, the invaders and the rulers can be traced back) has been merged with mythology. Jhulelal has been depicted as an old man sitting atop a ‘pala’ fish (a fish which swims against the tide, again symbolic of Jhulelal's going against the powers-that-be of the times). Since Jhulelal was considered to be the human form of Varuna, the depiction of fish (again a marine life) is not too far-fetched. Also since the civilization and the culture thrived on the banks of the Sindhu River, association of Lord Varuna can be explained. The popular depiction of Jhulelal being old and elderly could be to grant him a sense of acceptance amongst the people of the times as old was always associated with wisdom. Miracles were to grant him a divine status. 

All in all, an interesting combination of history and mythology with a message of communal harmony. On this occassion, here's wishing all my Sindhi friends -
Cheti Chand jyon Lakh Lakh Wadayun Athav

Gudi Padwa

Today is Gudi Padwa, the Maharashtrian New Year. The day is marked with celebration and rituals and needless to say that the day has its significance in the Hindu mythology!

As per the Brahma Purana, it was on this day that Lord Brahma recreated the universe after it was destroyed in a massive deluge where all life had ceased to be alive. Time started from this day and some say, it was the beginning of Sata-yuga, the era of truth and justice. Some celebrate the day as the coronation of Lord Rama on his return to Ayodhya from the 14-year exile.

A gudi is a pole on top of which an upturned pot is fixed and then the same is covered with a coloured silk cloth and hoisted at the entrance of the door. This is hoisted to ward off evil from the house. However, some call it the Brahmadhwaj, the flag of Lord Brahma commemorating his creation.

On this day, traditionally, leaves of neem tree are eaten with cumin seeds and jaggery. This is significant from a medical point of view as the weather has taken a turn towards heat and the combination can act as a good antidote to the onslaught of diseases that heat brings along with itself. To associate this with the day is only to give divine sanction for something that is good for health. A blend of religious ritual with aspects of nature which has been a staple with many a festival.

Well, here’s wishing all my Maharashtrian friends a very happy new year!!

Tomorrow is the new year of another community and we will read about the same tomorrow!

Tandava

Yesterday we read about Bharatanatyam.

Today we will read about another dance form that has a popular mythological association is that of the Tandava-nritya by Lord Shiva. During every dance performance, an idol of Nataraja always adorns the stage and as the name depicts, Lord Shiva is the King of all dance performances (nat – dance/performance and raja – king). In due course of time, the image of Nataraja has become the symbol of India.

There are different versions of the reason behind the dance form by Shiva. Some say that the form depicts the cosmic cycle of creation and destruction wherein Lord Shiva is on a destructive spree before Lord Brahma can begin his creation, also referred to as the ananda-tandava.

According to a legend, once a group of sages from a particular school of thought started neglecting the rituals and worship and tried to find ways of superseding the gods. To teach them a lesson, Lord Shiva walked into the hermitage in the form of a handsome youth while all of them were busy in their yagnas. The wives of the sages were so enamoured by the looks of Shiva that they gave up all decency and started following him. Seeing this, the sages were enraged and thought of teaching a lesson to the youth. Through their powers, they created a ferocious lion, who was skinned in minutes by Shiva and used the skin to adorn himself (some versions say that he had walked in the hermitage nude to lure the wives of the sages). The sages then created a serpent which raised its fangs and Shiva picked it up and flung it around his waist. The sages then created a demonic dwarf, named Apasamara, the demon of forgetfulness. To control it, Shiva started the tandava and soon alighted atop the dwarf and crushed it. Seeing the earth shake and everything tremble under the impact of the dance, the sages came back to their senses and fell at the feet of Shiva. This is supposed to have taken place in a hermitage near the present day Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, where stands the magnificent temple of Chidambaram, one of the few temples to worship Lord Shiva in the Nararaja form.

Some versions also say, that Shiva and Vishnu got together to teach the sages a lesson. Vishnu took the form of Mohini to distract the sages and Shiva took the form of the handsome youth. While the wives ran after the ascetic, the sages got distracted by the presence of the enchantress. But thereafter there is no role of Mohini in the myth, except to watch the celestial dance performance of Lord Shiva.

The temple of Chidambaram also has another interesting aspect of the tandava nritya. According to some legend, there was a dance-duel between Shiva and goddess Kali, who too was doing the cosmic dance of destruction. During the duel, Shiva raised his left foot towards the sky (urdhuva tandava) a definite mail posture, which could not be performed by a female. Kali blushed and accepted defeat and it is said that since then Kali has been relegated to another temple in the outskirts of the city of Chidambaram. This myth is depicted in one of the halls of the temple of Chidambaram.

The Nataraja is generally seen with Lord Shiva standing on his right leg with the left leg raised. But in a rare form, in one of the halls of the temple of Chidambaram, the lord is seen doing exactly the opposite. The legend associated with this is that one of the Pandya kings who was a great devotee of Lord Shiva learnt all the forms of the tandava. While learning he realized how tough the form was and he felt that the lord had been standing in the same form for too long which must be painful and tiring. So he went to the said hall and started praying to the lord to change his form and give his right leg some respite. When nothing happened he took his sword to cut off his head. Seeing this Lord Shiva is supposed to have agreed to change his posture and this is probably the only place where the Nataraja is seen standing on his left leg with his right leg raised!

The angry form of the dance form, or the raudra-tandava was performed when Lord Shiva learnt about the self-immolation of his wife, Sati. Lord Krishna too is supposed to have performed the ananda-tandava atop a serpent in the episode of Kaliya-daman (http://utkarshspeak.blogspot.in/2011/12/two-stories-and-one-meaning.html ).

The philosophers decipher meanings from different aspect of the posture and the form of the dance. Every aspect has a hidden symbolism, which is not something I would delve on. The artistic form of the tandava dance and the myriad myths associated with the form is by itself very intriguing and I hope I have been able to bring out the very spirit of the tough dance form.

Bharatanatyam

Recently I was invited to an Arangetram where a friend’s daughter performed Bharatanatyam for nearly three hours. Needless to say that it was a visual treat and near sublime. During the performance there were instances when the dancer was enacting different emotions and all the references were that of gods and goddesses from Hindu mythology. This set me thinking on the origins of this beautiful and divine dance form.

To begin with – Arangetram is a Tamil word where ‘aranga’ means a raised floor and ‘etram’ means to ascend. In short an arangetram is the first public performance of a disciple who has undergone years of arduous training in the dance form. The first performance is that much a test for the disciple as it is for the guru or the teacher who feels proud to showcase his own skills as he prides over the achievement of his disciple.

As always with Indian aspects, there is mythology behind this too!

According to Hindu Mythology, the gods and goddesses requested Lord Brahma, who was the Creator of all, to create a text which was accessible and understandable to common man – a fifth veda. Considering the request, Lord Brahma created the Pancham-veda also known as Natyaveda, which was the embodiment of all the four vedas, i.e. Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva Vedas.

It is said that Lord Brahma took aspects of words (pathya) from the Rig Veda, aspects of the gesture (abhinaya) from Yajur Veda, song and music (geet) from Sama Veda and emotions (rasa) from the Atharva Veda to create his final Pancham-veda. Lord Brahma then gave this to sage Bharata for him to spread it amongst mankind. With the help of this text, Bharata muni wrote what is better known as the Natyashastra or the science of drama, a complete text on Indian dance, drama and music. Bharatanatyam got its name from sage Bharata.

Another version says that this is the dance form which was taught by Parvati to Usha, who was the daughter of a demon by the name of Banasura and Usha in return taught the same to the gopikas of Dwarka. This is how the dance form reached mankind.

The modern format of the Bharatanatyam is credited to the efforts of four brothers, who were collectively known as the Tanjore Quartet, in the 19^th century. Together, they organized the dance form into progressive lessons to enable teaching of the art form. They also composed additional music for performances which combined with graceful movements added to the sheer divinity of the performance.

Bharatanatyam has mythological association and has a direct ‘involvement’ of the gods. This lends it the divine credence and also the much needed dedication and discipline for such tough and long-drawn learning, which is no less than worship and on achievement, the performers feel nothing short of heavenly bliss. Ask my friends daughter and she would vouch for this!

Next we will read about another important dance form with mythological explanations. Keep reading!

Two of my articles on Lord Shiva which were written on the occassion of Shivratri have been published in the following Website -

http://espiritokashi.wordpress.com/category/journal/

Holi & Women's Day

Today is Holi and also International Women’s Day, so happy holi to all and a very happy women’s day to all the women I know and the rest, whom I would love to know!

Having said that, there is a hidden irony in today’s Holi. On one hand we are celebrating Women’s day, and on the other hand this day is a day when the image of the women has to take a beating! Let’s go thru some of the myths of Holi and it will be apparent.

First and the most common name associated with Holi is that of Holika. Holika was the aunt of Prahlad, who was the son of Hiranyakashyap. Hiranyakashyap was an egoistic ruler who had commanded that only he should be worshipped and none else. However, his son Prahlad used to worship Lord Vishnu and no orders or threats would deter him from doing so. Hiranyakashyap had made many attempts of eliminate his son, but each time Lord Vishnu would save him. Holika had a boon, whereby fire could not touch her or harm her, so on this day, she managed to coax Prahlad to sit on her lap and enter the fire. But due to her evil intentions of killing a pious boy, it was she who got burnt and Prahlad came out unscathed. Holi gets its name from the evil aunt, Holika.

Mathura celebrates Holi by burning the effigy of a demoness (female demon – if I may!!), Putana. According to a legend, the King of Mathura, Kamsa (also Lord Krishna’s uncle) had sent Putana to kill the baby Krishna. She tried to suckle baby Krishna by oozing poison from her breasts. But the Lord knew about her evil designs and sucked her life out leaving her lifeless. Till this day, the Yadava community in Mathura, burn the effigy of Putana who is sometimes also referred to as Holi.

Finally a lesser known myth – the myth of Dhundhi. In the kingdom of Prithu there lived a terrible ogress (a female giant or monster in myths and fairy tales) by the name of Dhundhi. Dhundhi was invincible as she had received a boon that she would not be killed by men or gods; could not be harmed by arms or heat or cold or rain. This had made her a menace and she was known for devouring young children. Prithu was worried about this and so one day he called his priest to see if there was a solution to this menace. The priest said that besides the boons, she also had a curse from Lord Shiva. According to the curse, she was not immune to pranks and abuses from boys. So it was decided that on this day – when it is neither cold nor hot and definitely no rain, the young boys (who are not men as yet and definitely not gods) would consume bhang (to get them delirious), and make a lot of noise and abuse her out of the kingdom, which Dhundhi could not resist. Till date this behavior of young boys can be seen and no offence is taken on this day!

As we have seen, that the festival celebrates the elimination of a female form, be it an aunt or a demoness or an ogress. To add fuel to fire, the day is also known as the day to celebrate the victory of good over evil!

Heavens!! Where do I hide today?

Happy Holi and a great Women’s Day to all the lovely women of the world!!!!

What would the world be without each one of you!! Phew!!!

Read last year’s article on Holi – “Holi – Festival of Colours”

http://utkarshspeak.blogspot.in/2011/03/holi-festival-of-colours.html

Iravan – the South Indian Barbareek

In the last two articles, we read about Barbareek, aka Khatu Shyam Baba, a North Indian deity prevalent in parts of Rajasthan and adjacent areas. Today we will read about a similar myth from the South India. Please note the striking similarities.

This is the myth of Iravan which is prevalent in Tamil Nadu and the nearby areas.

Iravan was the son of Arjuna and Uloopi, the Naga princess. During the 13 year exile for the Pandavas, one year was spent by Arjuna as a penance and during this year he is supposed to have travelled far and wide. This was actually done for him to forge alliances and acquire weapons and powers. It was during this one year that, he visited what is present day North-East of India. There he came across Uloopi and they get married. However, the relationship was a very brief one as Arjuna had to move on soon after his marriage. Iravan was born out of this brief relationship. However, Arjuna gets to see his son only prior to the war of Kurukshetra and asks him to join the war, which the brave Iravan agrees to.

There are no major reasons or events leading to his sacrifice, except for the fact that he was a brave warrior and the principle of offering sacrifice prior to the war. There are different versions of the sacrifice in the case of Iravan. Some say that he offered to be sacrificed on the 18^th day of the battle to Ma Kali. The more prevalent belief is that he was sacrificed at the beginning of the war. However he was rewarded by a couple of boons for the heroic deed. One was that his head would witness the entire battle from a hilltop. The other boon was that since he wanted to die a heroic death, he wanted to be mourned by a widow after his death.

Ritual enactment of lamenting the
death of Iravan by eunuchs

Having agreed to the boon, there was one problem. No woman wanted to marry him and be his wife for a night as he was to die the very next day. Seeing this Krishna decides to take his previous form of Mohini, the enchantress, gets married to Iravan and spends the night with him. Later in the morning, after his death, Mohini mourns the death of Iravan like a widow. There are different versions to this aspect, in different parts of the state and its neighbourhood with some eliminating the episode of Mohini’s mourning completely. Even to this day, in a ritual enactment of the mourning, many transvestites and eunuchs enact the ritual mourning by crying, beating their chests and breaking bangles on the day of the said sacrifice of Iravan. In some Krishna temples, he is decked in a white saree for a day, to mark the day as the day of widowhood.

What is interesting to note is that more than worship or a religious following, Iravan is a very popular folklore and a common theme or subject of folk theaters and plays. This myth could just have been woven to lend divinity to Iravan the folk hero by associating him with Arjuna and Lord Krishna of the epic Mahabharata. His face makes for very colourful masks and is a great hit with the locals in the rural areas. He is also referred to as the god of the transvestites and the eunuchs who are locally referred to as Ali’s also referred to as Aravani (that of Iravan).

In some of the plays which dramatizes the whole episode of Iravan, he is compared with the likes of Puru and Bhishma who are known to have sacrificed for their fathers, Yayati and Shantanu respectively. Iravan’s sacrifice of his life for the victory of his father is seen as bigger than that of Puru who gave up his youth for his father Yayati and Bhishma who gave up the throne and matrimony for his father, Shantanu.

Though there are similarities with that of Barbareek, there are some prominent differences, besides the parentage of the two.

First and foremost, the heroic allusions are missing in the case of Iravan, though the same does find mention in the dramatic enactments of Iravan. Nowhere is there reference of his infallible arrows and his participation in the war having a pre-condition.

Second, Lord Krishna does not have the role of testing Iravan; rather here he is central to being part of the sacrifice. He does suggest the sacrifice, but he does not make it obligatory as a word given for charity as done in the case of Barbareek. Thus in this myth, Krishna actually comes out as a savior who bails out Iravan with his last wish.

Third, the association with the transgender and transvestites is a bit of an enigma. How this practice of Iravan being a god for the community and the ritual enactment of mourning by them came about is unknown. However, one can theory could be that the marriage could not be said to be consummated as ultimately Mohini was a male and the relationship was thus not normal. Also, except for the mourning by the widow of Iravan, there wasn’t anything of a marriage as he was still deprived of a coital bliss, something that the community is deprived of too. The identification of the Ali’s state with that of Iravan and thus the lament is quite understandable. (If there are any other theories, then please feel free to forward the same to the Blog..).

During this period a number of fertility rites are also performed. One of them is that prior to the ceremony, a goat is killed and the blood of the goat is smeared with cooked rice and the same is offered to idols of Iravan. It is believed that this rice eaten by women can help them conceive. The presence of such rituals actually bears testimony to some ancient practice (even tribal practive) which has got assimilated with the popular epic. The strong folk-connotation also refers to some folklore associated with a popular folktale.

An interesting myth, but localized as per the region.

It is said that there are similar characters in other parts of India like Bundelkhand, Orissa and Himachal Pradesh. There is a popular version of Iravan in Java too, but that’s for another day!