Who laughed and who did not laugh?

Question: Did draupadi laugh when duryOdhana fell in a water fountain at the assembly hall? (maya sabha). Did see comment that a blind man's son was also blind? Did this ultimately lead to her de-clothing and the mahAbhArata war?

Answer:

---

tatah sphATikatoyAm vai sphATikAmbujaSobhitAm- vApIm matvA sthalam iti savAsAh prApataj jale^

---

Sabha043006 jale nipatitam drishTvA kimkarA jahasur bhriSam- vAsAmsi ca SubhAny asmai pradadU rAjaSAsanAt^

---

Sabha043007 tathAgatam tu tam drishTvA bhImaseno mahAbalah- arjunaS ca yamau cobhau sarve te prAhasams tadA.

---

Sabha043008 nAmarshayat tatas teshAm avahAsam amarshaNah- AkAram rakshamANas tu na sa tAn samudaikshata^

---

Sabha043009 punar vasanam utkshipya pratarishyann iva sthalam- Aruroha tatah sarve jahasus te punar janAh

---

dvAram ca vivritAkAram lalATena samAhanat- samvritam ceti manvAno dvAradeSAd upAramat.

ybrems1 From the above verses, readers may observe that bhIma and arjuna laughed at duryOdhana. Not, draupadi. Where is the question of her commenting that a blind man's son would be blind?

ybrems2: Balladeers, Preachers and priests are capable of inserting unproven scenese into narrations, to add spice to their presentations. Can we rely on them?

Why swapacha (tanner) and canDAla should be excluded?

Sage atri was said to be 'intellect-born' son of the Creator brahma.

Sage nimi was one sage, of the atri dynasty.

Sage nimi lost his son.

nimi performed a shrAddha (ancestor feeding and worship) for his son. He invited seven priests and fed them on seats spread with kusa grass.

nimi, suddenly started feeling that he had done something wrong.

He recalled Sage 'atri' who was his first ancestor.

Sage atri appeared before nimi and gave him the 'dos and don'ts' of ancestor worship.

(To continue.)

Part 10 of mAdhavi's story - TTD has changed what viSvAmitra had said

TTD is the second richest prayer house in the world after the Vatican. TTD's full name is well known -Tirumala Tirupati DevasthAnams.

The deity at the place is Lord vEnkateswara, an incarnation of Lord VishNu, as per legends.

The temple has a TV channel by name SVBC full form: Sri Venkateswara Bhakti Channel.

SVBC very popular in India and abroad.

SVBC broadcast a part of the mAdhavi's story at prime time (approx. 8 p.m.) on the 19th April 2012.

We need not say that they have changed the dialogues.

The most disturbing thing in the episode is, they have added a lecture to Sage viSvAmtra.

Context: gAlava brought mAdhavi plus the 600 horses he could obtain by exchanging her, to his preceptor visvAmitra. He fell at his guru's feet, requesting to accept them, in lieu of the 800 horses asked by him.

At that time what should have been viSvAmitra's reply, as per vyAsa mahAbharata?

Ganguli's translation: Viswamitra then, beholding Galava in the company of the bird, and that highly beautiful maiden, said, Why, O Galava, didst thou not give me this maiden before? Four sons then, sanctifiers of my race, would all have been mine alone.

I accept this maiden of thine for begetting upon her one son.

As regards the steeds, let them graze in my asylum.

Saying this, Viswamitra of great effulgence began to pass his time happily with her.

Sanskrit verses: chapter 117 verse 014 to 016.
nArada uvAca
viSvAmitras tu tam drishTvA gAlavam saha pakshiNA-
kanyAm ca tAm varArohAm idam ity abravId vacah

kim iyam pUrvam EvEha na dattA mama gAlava-
putrA mamaiva catvAro bhavEyuh kulabhAvanAh

pratigrihNAmi tE kanyAm EkaputraphalAya vai-
aSvAS cASramam AsAdya tishThantu mama sarvaSah

ybrems
Readers can see in part 9 of mAdhavi's story ybrem about viSvAmitra's reply.
Readers, can try to procure a video of the SVBC channel's serial, directed by Shri dharmavarapu SubrahmaNyam, and study viSvAmitra's preach to gAlava. I am unable to reproduce it verbatim as I do not have the video or the script.


Its gist as I heard and perceived on the TV: Critics in future generations will fault the story of mAdhavi as something undesirable. They do not know the subtle principles of ethics and morals imparted in mahAbharata. They will pass comments etc. etc.
(hence his hesitation to accept mAdhavi).


This lecture inserted by TTD is contrary to media ethics. As per the current media ethics and professional codes, (of course not practised by the commercial broadcasting and print media), they have to separate facts and their comments/opinions separate. In other words, if TTD wanted to defend the horse trading and women trafficking which had taken place in the mahAbharata story, they should have added a strip of an epilogue in the end, containing a speech/conversation/discussion by its director /scholars about the interpretation of the transactions which had taken place in mAdhavi's story. TTD is free to make any comments, but it cannot load them on people through the mouth of viSvAmitra.


Sanskrit vyAsa mahAbharata is a very lengthy epic, and people do not have the interest/skill/time to study it in depth by going through the original text. They, therefore, depend on TV serials for knowing anything. They cannot disbelieve what an official channel run by a Trust managed by the Government of Andhra Pradesh. Hence, the SVBC channel, the TTD, and the Govt. of A.P. have a duty to broadcast a corrective announcement that what viSvAmitra said in their serial was their own addition.

for mahAbharata related stories, TTD will have to confine itself to Sanskrit vyAsa mahAbharata only and no other purANA (other chronicles) which have their own narrations in tune with their own goals.

ybrem 2
A simple regret by TTD/ or the director of the serial, for what had happened in mahAbharata would have been sufficient, as such things are not happening in Hinduism today. Or even silence would have been sufficient , after presenting the mahAbharata conversations verbatim.

Defending an undefendable thing, will only add more soot to the cause of Hinduism and its temples.

This 'defending undefendable things' may be happening in all the religions of the world, yet it can be a defence for any one particular religion. This is because two mistakes do not make a thing 'right'.

mAdhavi's story part-9 - Was viSvAmitra's intellect well-driven or not?

ybrem: Sage viSvAmitra was said to have gifted the great chant 'gAyatri mantra' to India. But his intellect didn't seem to have been motivated well by the great chant. The object of the chant was to get the intellect illuminated by being motivated towards realisation of what is 'sat' and 'asat' (what is eternal and what is transient).

This gAyatri mantram is very important in the lives of chaste and pious persons in India, even today. This mantra is taught to every person who undergoes the 'thread' ceremony. This ceremony is strictly to take place when a boy is eight years old, when his intellect starts to learn things from the environment. Father/spiritual teacher of the boy imparts the mantra three times into the ear of the boy, without being heard by others. The boy starts meditating on the mantra, everyday and tries to sharpen his intellect which is driven by the illuminating God. The illumination of his intellect progresses in tandem with his learning of other subjects from the teacher. In the 20/21st Centuries, this practice of thread-wearing ceremony at the early age of 8 got deferred to ages 20-40. People are undergoing the ceremony as a compulsory step before wedding ceremony. The sanctity of the mantra- to get the intellect illumined -along with education is thus lost.

This ceremony is also called 'upa-nayanam'. upa='sub'. nayanam='eye'. With 'upanayanam', a person gets his third eye. This third eye is the eye of 'gnAna' or 'knowledge/awareness.' This eye is the illumination of the intellect.

Anyway, in our mAdhavi's story of viSvAmitra and GalavA's, can we say that viSvAmitra acted like a Sage whose intellect was illumined and driven, after thousands of years of penance?

Context:
srIkrishNa went to dhritarAshTra's court as emissary of pAnDavas.
After his initial message to kauravas, elders counselled duryOdhana to accept truce.
nArada counselled duryOdhana, using about 390 verses that obduracy, obstinacy and persistency can cause harm. To illustrate, nArada narrated the story of sages viSvAmitra's disciple gAlava's and mAdhavi's story.

Disciple gAlava was persistent in asking viSvAmitra, to pay his teacher's fee. Sage viSvAmitra asked gAlava to get 800 moon-light white horses with just one black spot on their ears.

On the advice of garuDa (kite-God), gAlava approached king yayAti. yayAti didn't have the white horses with just one spot on ear. He gave his daughter mAdhavi to gAlava, giving him freedom to exchange her for horses.

gAlava exchanged mAdhavi with three childless kings for 200 horses each for one year term each with the avowed object of begetting a son through her. They got sons and returned her to gAlava as per arrangement with each king.

Unable to procure the remainder 200 white horses, gAlava, on advice of kite-God, fell at the feet of viSvAmitra, praying him to accept the 600 horses + mAdhavi in lieu of the balance 200 horses.

Vol. 5 udyoga parva (Vol. of efforts for war between pAnDavas and kauravas)
chapter 117 verse 014 to 016.
nArada uvAca
viSvAmitras tu tam drishTvA gAlavam saha pakshiNA-
kanyAm ca tAm varArohAm idam ity abravId vacah
^
|| kim iyam pUrvam EvEha na dattA mama gAlava-
putrA mamaiva catvAro bhavEyuh kulabhAvanAh


pratigrihNAmi tE kanyAm EkaputraphalAya vai-
aSvAS cASramam AsAdya tishThantu mama sarvaSah

Viswamitra then, beholding Galava in the company of the bird, and that highly beautiful maiden, said, Why, O Galava, didst thou not give me this maiden before? Four sons then, sanctifiers of my race, would all have been mine alone.

I accept this maiden of thine for begetting upon her one son.

As regards the steeds, let them graze in my asylum.

Saying this, Viswamitra of great effulgence began to pass his time happily with her.

ybrem 1
*Why does a sage like viSvAmitra need horses, that too exotic horses? He could have sent the horses to yayAti or some other king. Maintaining a stable of 800 horses is not easy. Did he have slaves or workers to feed and massage the horses?

*viSvamitra already had some wives, with names: Haimavati, Shalavati, Drishadwati, Renu. He had nearly 100 sons through them.

*Besides, he had his lustful days with the heaven's nymph mEnaka.
*Should he now need mAdhavi also?

*We have to see the manner in which viSvAmitra spoke to gAlava: "O Galava, didst thou not give me this maiden before? Four sons then, sanctifiers of my race, would all have been mine alone." Why so much craze for sons?

ybrem 2
viSvAmitra was said to have gifted the gAyatri mantra (chant of Goddess gAyatri).
He was said to have incorporated it into the 3rd manDala (chapter?) of rigvEda, the first of the four sacred scriptures.

Om Bhuh(r) Bhuvah Svah
Tat Savitur varEnyam
Bhargo dEvasya dhImahi
dhiyo yo naha PracOdayAt.

Gist: The illuminator of the three worlds and the cleanser of sins, the Greater Sun God, enlighten and motivate our intellects.

Notes: There are different versions of the translations, with numerous interpretations ranging from "extremely reverent" to "non-chalant". I have tried a middle path.

What we are interested in this particular blog post? : A Sage who could give such a beautiful verse like gAyatri mantram, how could he stoop to so low a level as to ask for 800 horses or accepting a lady who was already the object of intercourse of three other kings. viSvAmitra's lust for exostic horses drove gAlava to trade women for horses.

Was the intellect (dhI= intellect) of viSvAmitra, being properly driven-steered- and motivated (pracOdiyAt= drive-motivate-steer)?

If God savitur/bhargOdEva of the gAyatri mantra properly drove viSvAmitra, he would have sent mAdhavi back to her father yayAti immediately, with due apologies. He would not have lived happily with her for one more year, in addition to the three years of the three kings who used mAdhavi earlier.

Lofty chants, but mean behavior, how can they go hand in hand?

mAdhavi's story, Part 8, Was the Chief God of Heavens, just a killer of pigs?

vyAsa mahAbhArata Sanskrit verse reference in udyOga parva (vol. 5), chapter 106, verse 015.

prokshitA yatra bahavo varAhAdyA mrigA vanE-
SakrENa yatra bhAgArthE daivatEshu prakalpitAh

Ganguli's English translation:

It was in that region that myriads of boars and other animals were killed by Sakra (Indra) and offered as sacrificial portions unto the gods.

Context
Sri Krishna went to Dhritarashtra's court, as an emissary of pAnDavas. This scene is popularly known as 'Sri krishNa rAyAbAram' and was very popular as a play in the pre-cinema days, and as a film component during the silver screen era.

After Sri Krishna briefly spoke, Sage kanva gave a lengthy counselling to durYOdhana. An important component of this counselling was the story of 'garuDa garva bhangam' (Taming the pride of the 'kite-God garuDa', a vehicle of Supreme God vishNu.

Then nArada gave another lengthy discourse, which included mAdhavi's story. (alias gAlava's story)

gAlava had to procure 800 white horses and satisfy his teacher. gAlava's friend kite-God garuDa was counselling gAlava. As a part of that counselling, he took gAlava on his back on a tour of the entire world. First East, then South, then West and finally North.

This verse is part of Guide garuDa's presentation of the EAST side of the Earth to gAlava.

This verse says that the Chief of Gods 'Indra' (or Sakra, vAsava) killed bahavo = numerous pigs in sacrifices to Gods.

ybrems
The first and foremost sacred book of Hindus: Rig vEda contains 1029 verses.
Kind courtesy Wikipedia and Griffith:

RigvEdic Gods by prominence

List of Rigvedic deities by number of dedicated hymns, after Griffith (1888). Some dedications are to paired deities, such as Indra-Agni, Mitra-Varuna, Soma-Rudra, here counted doubly.


Indra 289
Agni 218
Soma 123 (most of them in the Soma Mandala)
Vishvadevas 70
the Asvins 56
Varuna 46 [1]
the Maruts 38
Mitra 28[1]
Ushas 21
Vayu (Wind) 12
Savitr 11
the Rbhus 11
Pushan 10
the Apris 9
Brhaspati 8
Surya (Sun) 8
Dyaus and Prithivi (Heaven and Earth) 6, plus 5.84 dedicated to Earth alone
Apas (Waters) 6
Adityas 6
Vishnu 6
Brahmanaspati 6
Rudra 5
Dadhikras 4
the Sarasvati River / Sarasvati 3
Yama
Parjanya (Rain) 3
Vāc (Speech) 2 (mentioned 130 times, deified e.g. in 10.125)
Vastospati 2
Vishvakarman 2
Manyu 2
Kapinjala (the Heathcock, a form of Indra) 2

ybrems contd.
It is very clear from the above, that rigvEda placed God Indra (other names Sakra,vAsava) on the top with 289 verses, about 25% share.

He is the recipient of all the havis (offerings in all the sacrifices).

VishNu's share was only 8 verses. Shiva was not in the reckoning for havises (offerings in sacrifices). This is the whole story of daksha yagnam (Sacrifice by daksha - where he did not invite God Siva (other name rudra) for receiving the havises).

Indra is thus supposed to be recipient of sacrificed animals.

How is it that he was slaughtering swine, performing sacrifices at places located in the Eastern direction, and offering them to Gods? Who were the Gods? vishNu? rudra? Creator brahma?

Who degraded Indra from the chief God of rigvEda to a slaughterer of pigs to satisfy other Gods? Were the priests confused? Apparently not.

The Kings who claimed to be followers of Lord VishNu and the royal priests of such kings, deliberately degraded him to slayer of pigs and made him stealer of sacrificial animals (See ambarIsha's story in vAlmIki Ramayana). rAmayana made indra a debauch with the story of his entering into the cottage of gautama and his wife ahalya. mahA bhAgavata made indra to fall at the feat of krishNa in the episode of gOvardhana hill lifting by krishNa. indra's role was slightly better in mahAbhArata, as father of pAnDava prince arjuna.

ybrem 2
If indra could slay pigs and offer to Gods, what was wrong in yudhishThira doing the same thing in rAjasUya sacrifice and aSvamEdha sacrfice? So-- a paradise of ham eaters! Won't Gods be just satisfied with one or a few pigs? Why do they need 'bahavO'? Ganguli aptly called it 'myriad'. The phrase 'varaha -adya - mriga' is to be kept in mind. Adya = etcetera . What were these etceteras, apart from bores and deer? monkeys? parakeets? peacocks? crocodiles? Imagine the God Indra holding the animal in his left hand and brandishing his dagger/sword (called vajrAyudha) in the wind to behead the pigs and monkeys! Animal blood may be flowing on the ground, like rivulets with splinters of flesh and bone strewn all around!

I do not find any difference between a tent/hall for sacrifices and a Chicago slaughter-house or the kitchen of an Inter-Continental Hotel in Hong Kong serving frogs, snakes, and stinky Tofu. Smithfield Packing Company, Tar Heel, North Carolina, according to Wikipedia, has a facility to butcher 32,000 pigs a day. They can take Lord Indra as their principal adviser!

Part 7 of mAdhavi's story - When did vasishTha die?

Sanskrit mahAbharata verse in mAdhavi's story, told by nArada
Sanskrit version you can see in Part 2 of this mAdhavi's story
--------------------------------------------------------------
Vol. 5 udyOga parva (war preparations), chapter 106, verse 13.

atra pUrvam vasishThasya
paurANasya dvijarshabha-
sUtiS caiva pratishThA
ca nidhanam ca prakASatE

Ganguli's translation
I gave in Part 3 of this mAdhavi's story

It was here, O bull among the twice-born, that the birth, growth, and death of the ancient Vasishtha took place.

Context: Galava was worried about getting the 800 white horses asked by visvAmtra. Galava's friend kite-God garuDa appeared before him.

garuDa saw the predicament of his friend. garuDa assured him that he spoke to vAsava-i.e. Indra /his brother VishNu about gAlava. Ganguli's translation: "Before this, I spoke to him on thy behalf and he hath been pleased to grant my wishes.". There is some problem in translation here: "vibhavaS cAsti mE vipra vAsavAvarajo dvija- pUrvam uktas tvadartham ca kritah kAmaS ca tEna mE". Any way, it will not make much difference whether Indra or VishNu who agreed to grant the wishes of garuDa and gAlava.

ybrem 1
If Indra/VishNu had granted wishes of garuDa/gAlava, this unhappy incident of repeatedly exchanging the girl mAdhavi for horses could have been avoided. What did Indra/VishNu/garuDa really do to really help gAlava? Nothing, except asking him to go and beg kings. This, anyway he would have done.

ybrem 2
The kite-god carried his friend gAlava to all the four directions, explaining the important features of each particular direction EAST, SOUTH, WEST AND NORTH. nArada (presumably temple preachers), unnecessarily enlarged nArada's advice to duryOdhana, by including the geography of the four directions. By explaining geography, how will duryOdhana's mind change?

This inserting extraneous things approach of later-day preachers, helps us immensely the geographical perceptions of people during the period of evolution of mahAbharata, which was devoid of highways, railways, cars and buses, trains, airports, aircrafts and airways. What was beyond say a day's journey by walk/bullock cart/horse carriage becomes a figment of fantasy and imagination. This helps us to assess the socio-economic-industrial-trade conditions of those days.

The above verse pertaining to death of Sage VasishTha relates to the direction "EAST".

I am not sure about Ganguli's translation. I am unable to trace any scripture/book/vAlmiki rAmAyan which mentions the death of Vasishtha, timing of death, cause of death, whether natural or some visvAmitra's cruel act or something else. I request the readers for references about vasishTha's death, other than what I am furnishing below.


Ganguli seems to have ignored the word 'sUti'. 'sUti' means 'son' vasishTha's 100 sons, Sakti (father of parAsara) died, even when vasishTha was alive. Were garuDa, nArada, VaisampAyana, gangUli, referring to the death of vasishTha's sons in the DIRECTION OF 'EAST'? Seems so.

I do not find any fault with Ganguli's translation because his work was a nearly impossible monumental job of explaining the 115000 verses of mahAbharata with hundreds of footnotes.


I could catch from internet, one reference to vasishTha's death. This reference was ramaNa maharshi's discourses. I have not so far touched ramana maharshi's preachings and practices in my blogs.


Here is the link: http://bhagavan-ramana.org/ramana_maharshi/books/sp/sp074.html.

This is ramana maharshi's talk No. 261. One devotee of ramana maharshi raised the complicated question of soul's fate after death. ramana maharshi told the story of vasishTha's death and his rebirth as King Padma. The story was said to have been told by Goddess saraswati (Goddess of Learning and, creator's wife)
to one 'Lila' w/o King Padma, who was said to be the reincarnation of vAsiShTh'a.

He even made out Lila 1 and Lila 2 to show that soul can exist at two locations simultaneously. One gets an impression that ramana maharshi wanted to impress on his devotee that a soul can be reborn in body No. 2, even before it leaves body No. 1.

yb rems

Two important questions arise:

1. Sage vasishTha is revered as the greatest of not only the seven sages (saptarshis), but also the greatest of all the Indian Sages. He was guru of Rama. He was said to have taught the great philosophical treatise 'yOga vAsishTham' to rAma. How can such 'greatest Sage' have rebirth just as an ordinary king? He should directly have had liberation i.e. 'mOksham' (relief from the cycle of births and deaths.). arundhati was also a pious woman. She could also get liberation from rebirths.

Otherwise, what is the sanctity of being vasishTha maharshi (=Great Sage)? Hindu mythology has stories of ordinary, sometimes even habitually sinful persons, being re-born as kings. vasishTha's disciple Shri rAma as per scriptures gave liberation (=freedom from birth-rebirth cycle) even to ordinary animals. How Shri Rama could allow vasishTha to be reborn just as an ordinary king and that too twice?

2. In ramaNa maharshi's story vasishTha was first reborn as king "vidurata". While "vidurata" was still alive, he was reborn as king "padma". In both the cases, his wife was 'LIla". For avoiding confusion, ramaNa maharshi renamed them as LIla 1 and LIla 2.

This brain-teaser, I had to break through by searching for a full text of yOga vASISTHA on the net. As full text was not available, a 'laghu yOga vASISHtha English translation of 742 pages could be downloaded. Link:

Quote from the book: Page 140. Translation by Shri Narayanaswami.

It is, in such an incomparable Mayavic dome, that there was a town called Girigrama in the midst of a certain tract on one side and that, in a certain spot of that dome. That town was a fertile tract boasting of the possession of hills, rivers and forests. There lived in it a great Brahmin householder who had sacrificial fire and was well versed in Sastras and Dharmas, away from the reach of kings. He equalled Vasistha in beauty, wealth, age, humility, actions, and education, but could not be called Vasistha himself in real knowledge. In name at least, this Brahmin may be called Vasistha. The name of her who worshipped his feet (as his wife) was equal unto Arundhati but had not her knowledge; yet she passed by the name of Arundhati. The wife of Vasistha was this lady on Bhu loka (earth) but the true Arundhati in Deva loka."

The above story of duplicate namesake VasishTha's death story was told by Goddess Saraswati to LIla. This ramaNa-maharshi's lecture to his devotees was about the death and rebirth of the duplicate VasishTha and not the original Vasishtha. I am not sure how listeners took it, but ramana maharshi should have cautioned his devotees that his story was about the Brahmin duplicate Vasishtha living in Girigrama and not the IkshvAku Guru VasishTha living in Ayodhya. Else, devotees might have taken it as that it was original Sage vasishTha who died.

The Yoga vAsishTha was a discourse by original vasishTha to Sri Rama. Obviously, he cannot tell a story about his own death and incarnation to Shri Rama.

Ganguli's translation of the direction EAST being the place of death of VasishTha, it is difficult to sustain. We can, by the use of the word 'sUti', the deaths must be those of his sons.

Link for those who want to download laghu yOga vAsishTha 742 pages, quite an informative book: link from google search -click here.

Part 6 of Madhavi's story - Narada's list of couples made for each other

7 tathety uktvā dvijaśreṣṭhaḥ prādāt kanyāṃ mahīpateḥ
vidhipūrvaṃ ca tāṃ rājā kanyāṃ pratigṛhītavān
8 reme sa tasyāṃ rājarṣiḥ prabhāvatyāṃ yathā raviḥ
svāhāyāṃ ca yathā vahnir yathā śacyāṃ sa vāsavaḥ
9 yathā candraś ca rohiṇyāṃ yathā dhūmorṇayā yamaḥ
varuṇaś ca yathā gauryāṃ yathā carddhyāṃ dhaneśvaraḥ
10 yathā nārāyaṇo lakṣyāṃ jāhnavyāṃ ca yathodadhiḥ
yathā rudraś ca rudrāṇyāṃ yathā vedyāṃ pitāmahaḥ
11 adṛśyantyāṃ ca vāsiṣṭho vasiṣṭhaś cākṣamālayā
cyavanaś ca sukanyāyāṃ pulastyaḥ saṃdhyayā yathā
12 agastyaś cāpi vaidarbhyāṃ sāvitryāṃ satyavān yathā
yathā bhṛguḥ pulomāyām adityāṃ kaśyapo yathā
13 reṇukāyāṃ yatharcīko haimavatyāṃ ca kauśikaḥ
bṛhaspatiś ca tārāyāṃ śukraś ca śataparvayā
14 yathā bhūmyāṃ bhūmipatir urvaśyāṃ ca purūravāḥ
ṛcīkaḥ satyavatyāṃ ca sarasvatyāṃ yathā manuḥ
15 tathā tu ramamāṇasya divodāsasya bhūpateḥ
mādhavī janayām āsa putram ekaṃ pratardanam

The above verses are from the Sanskrit Vyasa Mahabharata, available on the Sacred-Texts.COM website. http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/mbs/mbs05115.htm. There, the Chapter N. 115 in Vol. 5 Udyoga Parva or the Volume of War Efforts.

Observe from my post "Part 2 of Madhavi's story" here, which contains the full text of Madhavi's story in Mahabharata. The verses I quoted, tally with the Sacred-Texts. Probably our source is same.

List of ideal couples in the above verses
-----------------------------------------
prabhAvatyAm yathA ravih- -- Sun God with prabhAvati;
svAhAyAm ca yathA vahnir -- Fire God with svAhA devi
SacyAm sa vAsavah -- Indra with SacI dEvi
candraS ca rohiNyAm yathA dhUmorNayA yamah-
varuNaS ca yathA gauryAm yathA carddhyAm dhanESvarah
^
yathA nArAyaNo lakshmyAm jAhnavyAm ca yathodadhih-
yathA rudraS ca rudrANyAm yathA vEdyAm pitAmahah
^

udyOg 115 011 adriSyantyAm ca vAsishTho vasishThaS cAkshamAlayA-
cyavanaS ca sukanyAyAm pulastyah samdhyayA yathA
^
|| agastyaS cApi vaidarbhyAm sAvitryAm satyavAn yathA-
yathA bhriguh pulomAyAm adityAm kaSyapo yathA
^
|| rENukAyAm yathArcIko haimavatyAm ca kauSikah-
brihaspatiS ca tArAyAm SukraS ca SataparvayA
^
|| yathA bhUmyAm bhUmipatir urvaSyAm ca purUravAh-
ricIkah satyavatyAm ca sarasvatyAm yathA manuh
^
|| tathA tu ramamANasya divodAsasya bhUpatEh-
mAdhavI janayAm Asa putram Ekam pratardanam
^

udyOg 115 016 athAjagAma bhagavAn divodAsam sa gAlavah-
samayE samanuprAptE vacanam cEdam abravIt
^
|| niryAtayatu mE kanyAm bhavAms tishThantu vAjinah-
yAvad anyatra gacchAmi SulkArtham prithivIpatE
^
|| divodAso atha dharmAtmA samayE gAlavasya tAm-
kanyAm niryAtayAm Asa sthitah satyE mahIpatih

prabhAvatyAm ravih- -- Sun God with prabhAvati;
svAhAyAm ca vahnir -- Fire God with svAhA devi
SacyAm sa vAsavah -- Indra with SacI dEvi
candraS ca rohiNyAm -- Moon and rOhini
dhUmorNayA yamah- -- God of death with dhUmOrNi
varuNaS ca gauryAm -- Rain/Water God with gauri.
carddhyAm dhanESvarah -- God of Wealth kubEra with riddhi
nArAyaNo lakshmyAm -- Lakshmi with VishNu
jAhnavyAm ca yathodadhih-- God of Ocean with jAhnavi
rudraS ca rudrANyAm -- rudra with rudrANi (presumably Siva with pArvati)
vEdyAm pitAmahah -- Creator with vEdi (probably sarasvati)
adriSyantyAm ca vAsishTho -- Sakti s/o vaSiShTha with adriSyanti
vasishThaS cAkshamAlayA- -- vaSishTha with arundhati
cyavanaS ca sukanyAyAm -- chyavana with sukanya
pulastyah samdhyayA -- pulastya with sandhya
agastyaS cApi vaidarbhyAm -- agastya with lOpAmudra
sAvitryAm satyavAn - -- satyavan with sAvitri (satI SAvitri fame)
bhriguh pulomAyAm -- bhrigu with pulomi
adityAm kaSyapo -- kaSyapa with aditi (Mother Indra, VishNu)
rENukAyAm rcIko -- jamadagni with rENuka
haimavatyAm ca kauSikah- -- viSvAmitra with haimavati
brihaspatiS ca tArAyAm -- Brihaspati (Jupiter) with tAra
SukraS ca SataparvayA -- Sukra with (Sataparva)
bhUmyAm bhUmipatir -- bhUmipati with bhUmi (Vague. Vishnu and BhUmi?)
urvaSyAm ca purUravAh- -- purUrava with UrvaSi
ricIkah satyavatyAm -- ricika (father of jamadagni) with satyavati
ca sarasvatyAm manuh -- manu with sarasvati

This list has total 27 couples.

Let us now compare this list with Ganguli's English translation which I have given in part 3 of mAdhavi's story, at this blog.

Surya with Prabhavati,
Agni with Swaha,
Vasava with Sachi,
Chandra with Rohini,
Yama with Urmila,
Varuna with Gauri,
Kuvera with Riddhi,
Narayana with Lakshmi,
Sagara with Jahnavi,
Rudra with Rudrani,
the Grandsire with Saraswati,
Vasishtha's son Saktri with Adrisyanti,
Vasishtha with Arundhati (called also Akshamala),
Chyavana with Sukanya,
Pulastya with Sandhya,
Agastya with the princess of Vidarbha Lopamudra,
Satyavan with Savitri,
Bhrigu with Puloma,
Kasyapa with Aditi,
Richika's son Jamadagni with Renuka,
Kusika's son Viswamitra with Himavati,
Brihaspati with Tara,
Sukra with Sataprava,
Bhumipati with Bhumi,
Pururavas with Urvasi,
Richika with Satyavati,
Manu with Saraswati,
Dushyanta with Sakuntala,
the eternal Dharma with Dhriti,
Nala with Damayanti,
Narada, with Satyavati,
Jaratkaru with Jaratkaru,
Pulastya with Pratichya,
Urnayus with Menaka,
Tumvuru with Rambha,
Vasuki with Satasirsha,
Dhananjaya (Arjuna) with Kamari,
Rama with the princess of Videha Sita, or
Janardana with Rukmini.

Observe: Ganguli's list has 39 couples. His source might have been Bengal version of Sanskrita mahAbhArata.

ybrems
Notable omissions in the West-India version:
1) Sita and Rama
2) Arjuna and kamari - who is this kamari? What is the etymology (origin of the name) ? Definitely she may not be draupadi. She may not be subhadra (krishNa's sister).
3) krishNa and rukmiNi
4) tumburu (celestial singer) with rambha (celestial damsel)
5) UrNAyu with mEnaka. UrNAyu was a gandharva, a leader of6 celestial singing tribe.
6) pulastya with pratIci
7) husband Sage jaratkAru with his wife jaratkAru
8) nArada with satyavati (nArada was telling mAdhavi's story to duryOdhana. Why did nArada omit his own name?)
9) nala with damayanti
10) dharma with dhriti (This 'dharma' seems to be different from the God of Death 'dharma).
11) dushyanta with Sakuntala
12) king of snakes 'Vasuki' with 'SataSirsha'.

These are probably DIFFERENCES ARISING OUT OF GEOGRAPHICAL VERSIONS AND VARIANCES. I shall not make a fuss of this. Readers may make their own deductions and inferences.

What I want to highlight:

Sage gAlava sold Madhavi for 200 horses to king divOdasa (or exchanged or gave her for dower or whatever it may be). The contract was for one year. The King and Madhavi were (or only the king was?) enjoying for one year. Okay. Was this really comparable to the 39 ideal couples quoted by Ganguli and the 27 couples quoted by Bombay version?

Why did nArada compare only divOdasa and mAdhavi with the ideal couples? Why didn't nArada compare the Ayodhya King Haryasva (first fellow who bought mAdhavi) and mAdhavi to the 39/27 ideal couples? Nor did he compare king No.3 usInara + mAdhavi with the 39/27 ideal couples?

Why did nArada omit his own name from the ideal couples list in the Bombay version?
Wasn't nArada a celibate?

If nArada could include his own name, Arjuna's name, krishna's name, (as per Ganguli-Bengal list), why could n't he include some names like dhritarAshTra - gandhAri, visvAmitra - mEnaka, duryOdhana - bhAnumati?

Telugu actor and former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Late NTR made a film named 'dAna vIra SUra karNa', popularly known as DVSK. He filmed even a love song for duryOdhana and bhAnumati. The approximate gist of the song was 'ayyArE vicitram! hE Great spectacle! Kings who remain always busy with political affairs and administrative burdens, spending some time in a secluded corner with their wives, is it not real fun?'

Sage nArada gave a near 350 verse discourse to duryOdhana, which would have taken at least 700 minutes (@ 2 minutes per verse) or about 12 hours. The Epic didn't mention whether duryOdhana went to ease himself to the loo or asked his attendants to bring some water and tiffins/meals to himself and the Sage. Before nArada's discourse, duryOdhana heard kanva's didactics. That would have taken another 2 or 3 hours. duryOdhana didn't revolt against nArada, probably, only because the Prince had already suffered once in the hands of Sage maitrEya, for revolting.

ybrems

nArada telling gAlava's story (mAdhavi's story + 1000 unnecessary things) as a part of his advice to duryOdhana was very inapt and senseless. Consequently, duryOdhana preferred to die in battle rather than face the boredom of discourses by so called elders.

If krishNa, nArada, bhIshma, drONa, kripa, aswatthAma, were convinced that yudhishThira's claim for his share of Kingdom was genuine and just, they should have forced dhritarAshtra to issue a partition decree, granting at least the five villages claimed by pAnDavas. If duryOdhana revolted, bhIShma and other elders should have got duryOdhana, karNa, Sakuni and DuS-Sasana arrested. Or nArada should have used his divine powers (if he had such powers) and cursed duryOdhana to become a stone, then and there.

ybrems
RamayaNa and mahAbhArata were sung by chroniclers in temples and at other public places, with financial patronage from the rulers. Discourses were given by scholars in temples narrating the family trees of the ruling dynasties. The chroniclers and scholars, naturally, had to compare the kings and their women with the top and the best in the heaven. Hence, the comparison with Creator, VishNu, Rudra, Rama, Krishna, Arjuna, Rain God,Fire god, God of Heavens, God of Death, what not! The 39 couples and 27 couples have thus appeared in mahAbhArata, out of context.

Today, human civilisation is trumpeted as greatly advanced and progressing. Media prepares lists. Top 100 influential persons, Top 100 most powerful women, Top 100 ideal couples, Top 100 Universities etc. Won't the include the names of Obama couple, Sarkozi couple, Cameroon couple, Elizabeth and Philip, some Williams and Duchess Cat, Putin and his wife, some pop singer couples, some foot-ballers, some golfers, some Toms, Dicks and Harries who have moolah.

Just as "prostituion' is one of the oldest professions in the world 'PAID NEWS' is also one of the oldest professions in the world.

Part 5 of Madhavi's story: What is the difference between horse trading and dower?

A brief review of the transactions in Madhavi's story:

1. Save Galava went to King YayAti. Yayati gave away his daughter Madhavi to Galava, because YayAti didn't have the 800 white horses. He gave express permission to Galava to exchange her for the 800 horses.

2. Galava first went to king of Ayodhya and gave her to the king, in exchange for a dower (sulkam) of 200 white horses. The King has to get a son through Madhavi and return her to Galava after the work is done.

ybrems
Upto this point it is ok. Reason: It is world-wide custom for fathers of brides and bride-grooms to offer them in marriage, after collecting sulkam or dower or dowry or whatever name you call it. It is not regarded as sales or prostitution, though in reality it is a sale or prostitution.

2. Galava, after one year took back Madhavi from the King of Ayodhya. He, then went to the King of Kasi. He exchanged Madhavi with the King for another 200 horses. The King of Kasi has to keep her for one year and get a son.


ybrems
In case of dowry marriages, the sale takes place only once in life time. If a divorce becomes inevitable or some death takes place, probably a second sale for dowry may take place. But that is not preplanned.

Here Galava took Madhavi back from the King of Ayodhya and sold her to the King of Kasi taking another 200 hearses. This repetitive nature of the transactions is resulting in a business with the girl Madhavi, of course with her and her father's consent.

3. Madhavi gave birth to a son to the King of Kasi. Galava took her back from the King of Kasi and went to Usinara, the King of BhOja Kingdom. Galava exchanged her for another 200 horses with one year tenure.
ybrems
This is the third round of sale. What should we call this? Galava called it dower!

4th round:
Galava could so far collect only 600 horses against his target of 800. Further 200 remain unfulfilled in spite of his efforts. The kite-God Garuda told gAlava that it was impossible to mobilise the balance 200 because there were only 600 such horses in the entire world.

The kite-God advised gAlava to approach the teacher visvAmitra with the 600 horses and mAdhavi, and pray him to accept mAdhavi in lieu of the remainder 200.

gAlava went to teacher visvAmitra and prayed him to accept mAdhavi and the 600 horses and discharge him from his debt.

visVAmitra accepted horses and mAdhavi; lived with her and got a son.

visVAmitra, after the birth of son through mAdhavi, returned her to Galava. visvAmitra went to forest to re-penance.

Galava returned expressed his gratitude to mAdhavi and returned her to her father yayAti.

yayAti then announced a "self-selection of husband meet" for mAdhavi at the confluence of Rivers Ganga and Yamuna. mAdhavi chose Forest as her husband and went to forest.
ybrems

mAdhavi was fortunate. yayAti didn't auction her for the highest bidder.
Why did mAdhavi chose "forest" as her husband? She should have chosen another king for her marriage.
Ans: She might have been thoroughly vexed with the three kings she lived with and the teacher visvAmitra.

Ganguli's translation:

Reducing her body by means of fasts of various kinds and religious rites and rigid vows, she adopted the deer's mode of life.

ybrems
Won't it be better to become a deer, rather than become a baby-producing machine of kings, after being sold for horses?

2. We get news from New York that pimps operate even in Manhattan and offer girls for prostitution on web-pages. Whether it was the mahAbharata period or the 21st Century, women on this Earth have the same fate of 'women trafficking', by whatever name it may be called and for whatever ostensible purpose it is undertaken. They are exchangeable commodities.

Will continue in Part 6..

Part 4 of Madhavi's story - Was Go Go the reward for 100 years of waiting?

Late Rakta kannIru fame nAgabhUshaNam, a great actor of histrionic talent, said in one Telugu film (my mother tongue), which approximately translates as under. Late Bollimunta Sivaramakrishna, I believe was the dialog writer.

"While leaders are spending their time in LECTURING, people are pulling their lives in STARVATION (unable earn two square meals a day).

A few days back, Shri L.V. Subrahmanyam, the Executive Officer of the TTD - Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, Tirupati, said that we can reach God only by approaching Gurus (preceptors). Mr. Rosaiah, the Governor of Andhra Pradesh was also present on the occasion of the 80th birthday of a Guru. The Governor said that Hindu traditions were great. Well, they are all great people. They can say anything. The job specifications of Governors and I.A.S.Officers, involve lot of lecturing.

We shall come back to our context of Mahabharata and Madhavi's story. What type of Guru was VisvAmitra?

He was royal sage. He wanted to become a Brahmin (priestly) sage. He wanted this approval to come from his bete noire Sage Vasistha. VasishTha and his six other associate Sages arrived to examine VisvAmitra's endurance. VisvAmitra got steaming food ready and he was holding the pot over his head. He did not want to keep it on the ground. The Sages promised to come back shortly and take their food. They made him to wait for 100 years, holding the pot on his head.

VisvAmitra's disciple GAlava waited on his teacher, all these 100 years, serving him faithfully and meeting all his needs. VisvAmitra survived all these 100 years, eating air (vAyu bhakShaNE). Verse 5/104/016.

Obviously, Galava too did not take any food except 'vAyubhakshaN'.

The Sages came back, consumed the steaming food served by visvAmitra, and happily declared that he was a Brahmin Sage.

We shall leave aside the hyperbole of 100 years waiting. It could never have been. Even hundred days wait was not possible.

Anyway, we shall concede. What is the reward did Galava get for his faithfulness and dedication?

It was good that Visvamitra was pleased with Galava's perseverance and released him from service and asked him to go as per his likings. (yathEShTam gachcha gAlava).


So far so good. Did Visvamitra show Galava, the path of self-relisation? What skills did V impart to Galava?

ybrem: We can say with confidence that VisvAmitra cannot show. This is simply because he did not know. He was enamoured with his earthly ambition of securing the approval of Sages for his Brahminhood. In the ladder of realisation, becoming a Brahmin was not a rung at all.


In return for his discharge, Galava wanted to pay his fee (guru dakshiNa), as was the custom of those days. It was good that VisvAmitra did not want anything, as he was already very much pleased.

The youth Galava might have persisted in his request to the teacher for prescribing the last instalment of fees, out of an erroneous belief that only with "fee" the action of 'learning' comes to its fulfilment.

Here, the preceptor could have spent a few moments, imparting true knowledge (gnAna) to Galava. This would have been a true reward for the merit of Galava. The teacher, instead, simply said "Go go!". (SEE the verse 5/104/025 in my post No. 040 reproducing full text of mAdhavi's story.). "gachcha gachchEti acOdayat".

The student was again persistent. Now, the teacher asked the student to bring 800 moon-light-white horses with just one black spot on their ears.

Was it possible for a poor disciple like GAlava?

This Galava, under advice from his friend the kite-demy-God GaruDa, approached the King YayAti for help. YayAti gave his daughter to Galava with a suggestion to him, to exchange her for horses, by gifting her to Kings.

ViSvAmitra was a Great Sage who had undergone the travails of penance. Why did he need 800 horses? Why did he need moon-light colored white horses? Why should there be a black spot on their ears?

These questions, poet vyAsa did not answer. He cannot answer. possibly. Another important point is, it was not Visvamitra the first teacher to ask this type of crazy gift. In verse No. 5/117/004, the Kite-God GaruDa alia SuparNa alias vainatEya, told Galava that earlier, King Gaadhi asked Sage Ruchika to bring a thousand horses of moonlight color with blackspots on ears.


The craze of teachers for rare and precious things did not confine to mahAbhArata period. It extended into the 20th and 21st Century.

It was how, the modern Guru Sathya Sai Baba accumulated hundreds of kilos of gold, silver, diamonds, gems, cars, chariots and helicopters and what not from his disciples!

(Part 4 of this serial post) Write something good about MahAbhArata and mAdhavi's story

Question: You have a negative character or a negative style of writing. You always point out deficiencies and shortcomings of Indian Epics ignoring and overlooking all their merits. Before you start writing your feelings on Madhavi's story, write something good about it!

OK, sir.
Here is one important merit of mAdhavi's story.

1. Most Indians do not like begetting female children. (There are some exceptions of castes, families, tribes, and individuals.). For this reason only doctors conducting pre-natal sex identification tests and abortions of female foetuses have minted or probably even now minting money. This is in spite of the Government of India banning such tests and abortions. We also find abandoned female babies in dust bins, buses and bus stands, river banks, trains and railway stations etc. This may be mainly owing to the burden of paying dowry for a daughter's marriage and the heavy wedding expenses and maternity expenses. President, Prime Minister and Women/Child Welfare Ministers make some ceremonial speeches with no sincere intentions.

2. Madhavi's story highlights the advantages and merits of having good daughters and daughter's sons.

Traditional Hindu rituals do not give much importance to daughters and daughter's sons. The English word 'daughter' has an Indo-European origin and the Sanskrit equivalent is 'duhita' (another word putrika is more popular). Duhita's son is 'dauhitra' or daughter's son. Son's son is 'pautra'. Religious ceremonies paricularly funeral and yearly-worship ceremonies give great importance only to father and his predecessors and sons and their successors. That means, all along only "male" rights and duties are recognised.

3. Madhavi's story, exceptionally highlights that dauhitras (daughter's sons) can also contribute to the restitution and upliftment of their ancestors.

4. Demonstration of this in Madhavi's story. Madhavi was the daughter of Emperor YayAti. (Same gentlmen who was the husband of dEvayAni and SharmishTha and the son-in-law of the preceptor of demons SukrAcarya. This story kacha-dEvayAni-yayAti-pUrUrava-yadus is in Adi Parva of mahAbhArata. If that is part I of Yayati'
story, this is the part II of it).

Yayati gave her as a gift to Sage Galava, to enable him to lend her/sell her/marry her off -whatever we may like to call- to other kings, for obtaining dower of moon-white horses with a single blackspot on their ears.

Galava gave lent (rented?) her to three different kings, one by one, for getting the horses.

She accepted her task without demur or expostulation or protest or remonstance or weeping. She got one son for each king and left the son to that king.

After three turns, Galava gifted mAdhavi to his Guru visvAmitra, who too got a son through mAdhavi.

Later he gifted her to Galava. Fortunately, Galava without using her, returned her to yayAti.

yayAti then kept her in a Fair as "svayamvara" (self-selection of groom) as was the custom in those days for princesses.

mAdhavi might have sufficiently been vexed with the three kings and the last one Sage VisvAmitra. She chose "forest" as her husband and lived like a deer in a forest.

Her three royal sons became great kings.

Her father Yayati died and went to heaven, because of his good deeds like great rule of the kingdom, performance of sacrifices, etc.

Yayati was well-respected in heaven. One day in a moment of self-pride, he indulged in self-pride. Pride self-praise seem to have been prohibited qualities and acts in heaven. The keeper of heaven pushed YayAti downwards.

YayAti was falling on the earth, shorn of all his heavenly and royal splendor. Given a choice of selecting the place on earth to fall on, he chose a place where virtuous people met in an assembly.

He was falling on a place where his own daughter's sons were conducting a sacrifice.

To rescue their maternal grand father, mAdhavi's sons gave away all the credits of their meritorious and virtuous acts to yayAti. Madhavi too gave away her own credit balances to her dad. These benevolent transfers of the credits by a daughter and her sons (mAdhavi and her sons) lifted yayAti back to Heaven with full splendor.

Today's Indians, if they were to learn any lesson from MahAbhArata, this is the best lesson-- honor daughters and their sons on par with male descendents.

POST-independence
Of course, after independence some good changes have taken place in Hindu Law in India. Today Hindu daughters and wives have equal property rights on par with other male legal heirs.

Unmarried employed daughters are getting good respect from their parents, when compared to the past. Employed wives too command respect from their husbands, and children. This respect and strength, may partly be, from their earning capacity which is a key element in a Capitalist Economy where money controls behaviors. But this respect and strength must extend to unemployed daughters and wives also. Should stem from genuine love and not love of money earned.