Unconventional Protest

(Pic Courtesy-Times of India)

The recent ‘protest’ by the CM of Delhi has been called names, chief among them being ‘anarchy’. The CM is accused to have driven the state to an anarchical state by leading the protest. Friends and foes were up in arms about the means and the unconventional modus operandi of the protest. How can the CM force an established system to change ways? Are the state and its CM beyond the purview of the constitution? Has he not violated the constitution by taking his protest public when his prime job is to quash all public protests, which could have led to violence?

 

(Pic Courtesy - NDTV.com)

I am appalled to say the least when I heard and read the ‘learned’ make such comments in such pompous and holier-than-thou attitude and words which were quite a mouthful, meanings for many made me scamper towards the dictionary. I am not learned enough to understand the jargon and matters around the Constitution, Republic, etc. I don’t know much about Governance as I have seen more of the lack of it, so let me refrain from commenting on the 9pm-intelligentsia.

But what is beyond me is the raising of perfectly threaded eyebrows to certain issues. What are people upset with – is it David unsettling the Goliaths or the unconventional means of protest? As far as the confrontation of the fledgling political outfit of a David with the established political parties with all the paraphernalia at their beck and call – the world has seen the outcome and people are rejoicing at some glimmer of hope on the horizon. We have seen many instances of overconfident giants being relegated to defeat by relatively unknown or minor entities who stood no chance prior to the confrontation.

What baffles me the most is the hue and cry on the unconventional method of protest. Since childhood, we have been exposed to many unconventional methods of protest and none have bothered to question them.

When Gandhiji first mooted the idea of burning the ‘passes’, an obligatory identification document for all non-South African citizens in Johannesburg, wasn’t that against their constitution? When he further advised people to protest non-violently, wasn’t that unconventional? When he advised equality of all castes, wasn’t that against the then social order? When he suggested protests by burning all foreign imports, wasn’t that against law of the land? I can go on, but what is important to realize is that it was exactly these unconventional methods of protest that ushered in a change and need I mention, change for good.

Mythology too is witness to many an unconventional methods of protest. Sati jumped into the sacrificial fire to protest against her husband, Shiva’s insult. Today people will call it suicide, but then it was unconventional even for the gods, and it was so disturbing to Shiva that he literally lost his cool! In Ramayana, towards the end, when Rama is united with his sons, it was hinted to Sita that she should prove her chastity once again. Sita protested against the unfairness and decided to find refuge in Mother earth than submit. Wasn’t this an unconventional protest for a woman who had stood by every said and unsaid norm of the then society? Didn’t she question the laid down societal norm or convention?

Conventions lead to status-quo and a state of complacency for any establishment. While the unconventional disturbs the fabric of order, it does set in new rules of the game. Martin Luther King had once said, "One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change. Every society has its protectors of status quo and its fraternities of the indifferent who are notorious for sleeping through revolutions. Today, our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change."

While the ‘protectors of status quo’ are up in arms, I am sincerely hoping that ‘fraternities of the indifferent’ will rise to the occasion, since ‘our very survival’ depends on our ability to accept this ‘challenge of change’.

While I am not holding a brief for the new David on the block, I do think that the nation needs a revolution. We need a change and change is what we need.

When a child is born, it causes unimaginable pain to the woman, but is the most joyous moment for the mother. On this Republic Day, we as citizens of India need to take a call, we want to endure like the woman in pain or enjoy like the joyous mother – a little discomfort notwithstanding.

You decide.

Nala Damayanti – Concluding Part

In the previous part we read about the love story of Nala Damayanti, how they met, married and separated and met again to live happily ever after. 

Let us look at the significance of this tale and its placement from a narrative perspective.

When Yudhishtir had lost his kingdom and he was sent to exile for thirteen years along with his four brothers and Draupadi, he was suffering from extreme self-pity. He could not reconcile with what he had done and how his actions had led to the pitiable state of his brothers and wife. It was important to bring him out of the self-pity mode and have him overcome this grief, which was being made evident in his brother’s eyes and Draupadi’s untied hair.

While in exile Sage Bhardwaj comes to meet the Pandavs and in his moment of self-pity, Yudhishtir asks the sage, if there was any king before him, who was as unfortunate like him, who had lost his kingdom and everything and was driven out to exile. He felt that there was none as unfortunate as him and though he followed the path of Dharma, he was in such a sorry state. It is at this stage that the sage tells him this story and makes him realize that he was still better off, as he had his brothers and his wife with him, while Nala was all alone.

The similarities between Nala and Yudhishtir were quite striking. Both had beautiful wives, both had a weakness for the dice and both were not very good at it and both lost their kingdoms in the game of dice. In the case of Yudhishtir, the dice were doctored by Shakuni and in the case of Nala, Kali had played foul. At the end of the game, both are driven to exile, while Nala spent twelve years in exile, Yudhishtir had an additional year.

Nala became the charioteer of the King of Ayodhya and Yudhishtir became the personal assistant of King Virata. What is equally significant is that during exile both Nala and Yudhishtir master the skill of playing dice with the respective kings that they were serving. Nala’s disfigurement could be seen as similar to the last year of disguise that Yudhishtir had to undertake while serving King Virat, just as Draupadi was serving the Queen in disguise similar to Damayanti serving the Queen without their knowledge of who the two ladies were.

It is said that when Nala lost everything at the game of dice, his brother had suggested that he stake Damayanti, but Nala declined. While here Nala differs from Yudhishtir, Nala still does stake Damayanti later. Both do stake their wives, one out of sheer desperation, while the other out of confidence; one when his was weak while the other when he was strong in the game.

According to Dr. Pradip Bhattacharya, a prolific writer on Mahabharata, the tales have an important difference. The tale of Nala Damayanti is a pure romance with all the romantic trappings. It stands out to be a stark difference from the original flow of the epic, especially in the treatment of Damayanti and Draupadi. While Draupadi’s character is strong and determined, Damayanti comes out as a soft and a quiet woman, thought she occasionally does display the typical traits of a ‘Vyasan’ woman, like when she refuses the gods to marry Nala. This could be a case of the story being told by a young Vyasa! The initial wooing through a swan, the magical powers of Nala the pining of Damayanti, are all a case of a classic romantic tale and that sure does make a significant diversion from an otherwise mature tale of the Pandav’s in the epic.

The tale of Nala Damayanti has been rewritten in many forms as standalone romance and I too came across the tale as a romantic story that warmed the cockles of my (then young) heart!!

But as I mentioned at the beginning of the article, one shouldn’t miss the significance and the positioning of the story in the epic, which had its own rationale in the narrative.

Nala Damayanti – Part 1

The story of Nala Damayanti was probably the first mythological story I read as a child, way back (really way back!). For me, then, it was a simple love story from mythology. A recent reading however, turned out to be much more than a simple love story. But first the story.

Nala was a well known and a handsome ruler of Nishadh region. Damayanti was the princess of

Vidarbha and was known for her beauty and virtues. Once Nala caught a golden swan, but before he could do anything, the swan cried out asking for his life to be saved and in return, it would sing praises of Nala to Damayanti and make her fall in love with him. Damayanti was well known for her beauty and it was rumored that even gods wanted to wed her. Nala released the swan. The swan went over to the palace of Damayanti and sang praises of Nala, as to how he was the most handsome man on earth and so on. Soon the swan became the carrier of messages and to cut short the story, both fell in love with each other, without having met in person.

Soon Damayanti’s father decided to hold her swayamvar, to which kings from far and near were invited, including Nala. On the way to the swayamvar, Nala met the gods, Indra, Agni, Varuna and Yama and they insisted that he ought to convey to Damayanti and she should select any one of them for a husband. Nala tried to decline, but was forced to do so. Nala communicated the message to Damayanti, but she was determined that she would choose Nala only.

When Damayanti came with the garland to choose her husband, she noticed that there were five of them looking like Nala, as the four gods had decided to change their appearances, to confuse Damayanti. Damayanti understood that this was a ploy by the gods, but she also knew that man was not perfect like the gods. Some versions say, that she noticed drops of sweat on one of them, and thus knew that that was Nala, while some versions say that the real Nala was the only one blinking his eyes. Anyways, Damayanti got married to Nala and the rest departed.

While the gods were leaving, they came across a demon by the name of Kali (also a personification of the Kali-yuga), who was late for the swayamvar and was both angry and disappointed to know that Damayanti had selected Nala. He could not bear to hear this and decided to avenge this insult!

Nala had one weakness and that was playing dice. While he was not very good at it, he could not resist playing the game. After Nala’s father’s death, he had become the King and conducted Ashwamedha Yagna and expanded his kingdom. Nala’s younger brother was getting jealous of Nala’s fame. Seeing an opportunity, Kali instigated his brother to challenge Nala in a game of dice. His lack of expertise in the game, but the addiction to play on, cost Nala of everything that he possessed and was soon banished from the kingdom with his wife. All this aided by Kali who had taken the form of the dice, unknown to both the brothers.

Nala and Damayanti sent their children to Damayanti’s father, and left the kingdom without anything, except the clothes that they wearing. One day, Nala’s loincloth too was taken way by the birds when he was trying to use it to ensnare them. They were left with Damayanti’s saree to cover them, which limited their movements. It was nearly three days since they had last eaten any food and Nala realized that it was unfair to have Damayanti suffer because of him. He urged Damayanti to leave him and stay with his father, but Damayanti would not hear about it and wanted to stay with him and bear the hardships together. Nala realized that she would never leave him and things would only get worse as time went by.

One night when they were sleeping, Nala tore off a portion of the saree to cover himself and left her alone at night, hoping Damayanti would join her father. When Nala was going his way, he found a snake on top of a tree which had caught fire. Nala saved the snake and as soon as it was out of danger, it bit him which changed Nala into a dark and hunchbacked person. A surprised Nala wondered if this was the way, the snake preferred to repay his kindness. The snake said that it had bitten him for his own safety. The changed look would act as a disguise for him enabling him to get some work, as none would hire Nala as he was. The snake also gave him an ornament, which would bring him back to his original form by wearing it whenever he wished to.

When Damayanti woke up and found herself alone, she was disturbed. As she started walking, she came across a demon who tried to attack her. When Damayanti bravely resisted the demon, the demon showed his true self as a god, who was testing her. The god blessed her and told her that she would unite with her husband after twelve years. Damayanti did not go to her father’s place but took up the job of the queen’s maid at a nearby kingdom. Nala too found a job as a charioteer to King Rituparna of Ayodhya.

Many years passed and Damayanti’s father found Damayanti and brought her home. He decided to hold a swayamvar for his daughter once again. The king that Nala was serving decided to attend the swayamvar and brought Nala along with him. At the swayamvar, Nala wore the ornament given to him by the snake and assumed his original looks and was thus garlanded by Damayanti. Later Nala challenged his brother to another game of dice luring him with the promise that he was willing to stake Damayanti if he accepted the challenge. Nala had by now become adept at the game of dice, which he had mastered by playing with King Rituparna. In the game of dice, he managed to defeat his brother and gain everything back.

The above is probably the most unromantic version of a supposedly romantic tale from the Mahabharat and the reader needs to pardon me for that! Also, it is a brief version with lot of juicy details left out. What is important about this tale is the timing of this tale being told and to who and why.

We will look into that in the second part of this article. Keep reading......

The above pictures are of the "Nala Damayanti" series of paintings by Raja Ravi Varma, Wikipedia.

Ganga-Sagar Mela

Kapil Muni Temple at Sagardwip

Today is Makar Sankranti; a day when the sun makes a transition northwards to Capricorn from Sagittarius (Read more in This is Utkarsh Speaking: Makara Sankranti )

Besides maker sankranti, this day is also known for the famous Ganga-Sagar mela, a fair which is second only to the famous Kumbh Mela (For more on Kumbha Mela, This is Utkarsh Speaking: Kumbh Mela). Ganga-sagar mela, or the fair of the river Ganga and the sea, is however an annual event, unlike the Kumbh Mela. Ganga-sagar mela is held at Sagardwipa, the confluence of the river Ganga and the Bay of Bengal and on this day millions of devotees take a dip at the holy confluence to seek salvation from the cycle of birth-death-rebirth.

Not far from the confluence is a temple dedicated to Kapil Muni and the pilgrims make it a point to visit the temple after taking a holy dip at the confluence. Let us know Kapil muni a little better.

According to a myth, King Sagar of Ikshvaku dynasty of Ayodhya had organized ninety-nine Ashwamedha yagnas. During the hundredth one, the sacrificial horse was let loose, as was the practice. The horse was followed by sixty thousand sons of King Sagar, who fought the opponents valiantly and had made King Sagar the head of a huge empire. Seeing King Sagar presiding over a massive empire, Indra felt intimidated and he hid the horse inside Kapil Muni’s ashram, who was meditating at that moment. When the sons saw the horse at the ashram, they assumed that the muni had stopped their horse. They were

Kapilmuni idol at the temple

angry, but since they could not kill a sage, they started to disturb him. This angered Kapil muni and cursed them to be burnt to ashes and within no time, the sons were a heap of ashes.

Anshuman, the grandson of King Sagar learnt about the death of his father and uncles and approached Kapil muni to seek a way for their salvation. Kapil Muni suggested that the only way to the salvation of their souls, was by getting the river Ganga to flow on earth, however that would need to propitiate the holy trinity and other deities too. Later, Bhagirath, the only great-grandson of King Sagar decided to perform the final rites of the sons of King Sagar.

Bhagirath undertook severe penance to appease all the gods and finally Ganga agreed to descend on earth. However, her torrential force needed to be held; else all on earth would blow away in her forceful descent. Lord Shiva’s entangled hair was the only way, to arrest the force of the river, and by the time it managed to find its way out of his locks, the river would have lost its force significantly. Lord Shiva is thus referred to as Gangadhar, in this form, where he accepts Ganga in his locks.

Gangadhar

Before heading towards the sea, the river Ganga washed over the heap of ashes of King Sagar’s sons, leading to their salvation. It is said, that Kapil Muni had his ashram not far from the confluence. The local lore says that earlier the temple of Kapil muni was far away from the present day spot of the fair and the waters would recede on the Makar sankranti day enabling pilgrims to get a view of the temple. From the very next day of the sankranti, the waters would start moving in and the temple would be submerged for a year till the next sankranti. (There aren’t too many people alive to vouch for the veracity of this, though). Today, a permanent temple of Kapil Muni stands on firm ground. Ganga came to earth due to the efforts of Bhagirath and thus sometimes the river is also referred to as Bhagirathi.

An interesting aspect of this myth is that it was said that King Sagar had an ambition of become a Charavarti, one who is the ruler of a large empire, but had a tough time and failed in his final attempt. He had to bear the sad news of the death of his sixty thousand sons. His sixty thousand sons too had the same aggression of his. The grandsons of King Sagar, Anshuman and Dilip, undertook penances to get Ganga to flow on earth, but they too did not achieve their objective. Bhagirath, renounced everything and performed severe penance at the Himalayas and attained his objective as he was devoid of ego and greed. Many say that the later rulers of the Ikshvaku dynasty bore resemblance to Bhagirath, one of them being Ram of Ramayan.

Ganga-Sagar mela in West Bengal is considered to be one of the major festivals and pilgrims come from far and near. A popular adage says, ‘saare tirth baar-baar, ganga-sagar ek baar’, meaning all pilgrimages can be undertaken more than once, but ganga-sagar can be undertaken only once. While I am not sure if this has any religious reason to it, one thing for sure is that the infrastructure to reach and return from the pilgrim spot is extremely poor. The place has received no attention from the tourism perspective and everything is in a state of wanting. The religious significance and that too for only one day, with no decent and adequate accommodation facilities, the fair turns a nightmare at times.

But what are a few irritants on the way to achieve salvation? If Bhagirath could endure penances for his ancestors in the Himalayas, and get the heavenly Ganga to flow on earth, cant the modern day devotees undertake a few hardships to achieve their own salvation??

The Bizarre Tale of Oghavati

At the onset, let me mention that this myth is trifle disturbing. This tale is told by Bhishma while he was on the bed of arrows, to Yudhishtir, during the war at Kurukshetra, in the Anushasan Parva, of Mahabharata.

Oghavati, a princess was married to a learned sage, Sudarsana. Sudarsana had vowed to conquer death without leaving the path of a householder. He continued to lead a family life, while maintaining his vow. As a part of his vow, he told his wife, Oghavati, that it was their prime duty to be of service to any guest, whosoever came to their cottage, at whatever time and whatever be his need or request. If that meant that she had to offer herself to him, then so be it!

Death, who heard this, kept following Sudarsana wherever he went, hoping to find a loophole in his vow. One day, when Sudarsana was out collecting firewood, a Brahmin guest came to the cottage and sought to be welcomed as a true householder would do. Oghavati welcomed him and offered him water and comfort. She then asked if he needed anything more. The guest replied that he wanted her and as part of the tradition, she should not object to it. Oghavati, tried to offer other alternatives to keep her virtue, but the guest was determined that nothing but her would suffice. It was at this moment, that Oghavati remembered her husband’s words, and reluctantly gave in. Both the guest and Oghavati went to bed together.

Just when the guest had finished making love, Sudarsana arrived and called for Oghavati, but Oghavati was too ashamed to respond to him as she felt that she was defiled and not worthy of her husband, as she was touched by another man. After repeated calling for his wife, the guest from inside the cottage replied that he was a guest and his wife was catering to his bodily needs and that he would have to wait.

Death who was stalking Sudarsana found his chance of the vow being broken and at the slightest tinge of anger or jealousy; it would club him to death. But Sudarsana, without any tinge of jealousy replied that he would wait till they were done and he also hoped that he had enjoyed the act. He also mentioned that he was glad that he was of some help and service to the Brahman guest.

Just then a gush of wind came from the cottage and he heard a voice saying that the guest was none other than the Lord Dharma and that he had arrived to test him and being pleased with him, Sudarsana had conquered death (Dharma being same as Yama/Death). He further proclaimed that Oghavati was one of the most chaste woman on earth and was protected by the virtues and qualities of devotion to her husband. From then onwards, half of her would remain with Sudarsana and the other half would flow as a river, named after her, Oghavati (sometime mentioned as the river Sarasvati), which would help people purify them of their sins.

I did mention at the onset that this was a trifle disturbing as a myth. If we try to unravel the reason of this myth, then one can broadly surmise that a guest is an important person and that he or she should be looked after, as gods sometimes take the form of guests. This goes well with the concept of Atithi devo bhava. So far so good. But there are deeper connotations. To prove that god could take the form of a guest and so the guest should be taken care of, there could have been a rather different myth and not necessarily like the one above.

While Dr. S. Dange had dissected this myth very differently as a study of human-morph, the union of river and fire, etc., ¹ for me, the myth raises many an uncomfortable question. Whose test was it, Sudarsana’s or Oghavati’s? By Oghavati reluctantly offering herself to the guest, how did Sudarsana benefit (conquering of death)? Was this perpetuated by a certain class of people to benefit them, as and when they visit someone’s place?

If all myths have a social cause and the way it was told to Yudhishtir, raises some more questions - Was this myth told to Yudhishtir to extol the virtues of Dharma (who also happened to be Yudhishtir’s father)? Was it told to justify the fame of the river Oghavati that bathing in it could rid one of one’s sins, like they do with many other rivers? Did it imply that the sacrifices of a wife could lead to virtues for the husband? Or simply put, did it hint at a case for sex hospitality?

The last seems to be an issue which has a number of cases in Mahabharata, the other being the case of Kunti. Kunti was left to serve Sage Durvasas for a year and she was told that no request, whatsoever, of the sage should be turned down. She was rewarded with an incantation to call for any god when she wanted to. Why would a learned sage give such a ‘blessing’ to a virgin girl? Wasn’t it out of place, even if we see it as a need of the narrative later?

Many have said that the tale of Oghavati directly and that of Kunti indirectly hinted at the presence of sex hospitality in the society, which probably suited a certain class of people and extolling virtues could only make their demands more acceptable, even if there was reluctance. Not to be overlooked is the fact that in both the cases, the guests were Brahmins.

Mahabharat raises many questions, and quite often uncomfortable ones. Not all have answers. The authors of such epics probably wanted people at different times to discuss them and arrive at their own answers, suiting the milieu, if it does at all!

¹ Myths from Mahabharat, By Dr. S. Dange