Episode-25

Death of Pandu Maharaj- Madri’s Sahagamana[i]

This is an interested story of the demise of Pandu Maharaj and the consequent immolation of his wife on his pyre. This story is frequently referred by some scholars and the British historians for demeaning the ancient Hindu society as a society of superstitions. Is this practice of Sati is permitted by sastras? For details, please read the story written by sage Ved Vyasa.

The story

Pandu Maharaj was the younger brother of Dhritarashtra, the king of Hastinapura (the present-day Delhi). Since Dhritarashtra was blind, he was ruling the country as a de facto king and expanded the frontiers of his empire. He was fond of hunting and always loved to go about into forests and jungles.

One day he was in the forest chasing all wild animals. To his misfortune he saw two deer mating in a bush and he aimed arrows at them instantaneously. The lady deer succumbed to death but the male deer, before dying, looked up and told, ‘Maharaj, you are the king of Hastinapur and supposed to uphold and protect dharma. I agree that as a king you can kill forest animals. But no king is supposed to kill those that cannot run, those that are in sensuous pleasure, those that are suffering from disease, and those that are giving birth to their kids. I am a rishi by name Kindama and I am enjoying pleasure with my wife in the form of deer. Having known the bliss of sensual pleasures, you aimed an arrow when I am in intoxicated sensual pleasures[ii] Since you have transgressed the path of dharma, you and your wife also shall die when you are indulged in sensuous pleasures.

Pandu Maharaj was depressed. No way can he have the pleasures with his two wives- Kunti and Madri. He decided to take up Vanaprastha ashrama leaving the kingdom permanently. But tradition says that no one can attain higher worlds after death without sons. He expressed his anguish to his first wife Kunti and asked her to have children through Niyoga. Thus he got three sons through Kunti and two sons from Madri (Readers who want to know about Vanaprastha, Niyoga way of begetting children and the details of the birth of Pandavas, may see Episode 7 or click the link http://unclekatha.com/?p=109).

Even after having five mighty children, Pandu Maharaj was not happy and wanted to have more children and told his intention to Kunti. But Kunti refused to oblige the words of her husband. “Sastras won’t permit a lady to have more than three children even in distress. If a lady aspires a fourth child, she is a ‘Svairini’ and if she aspires a fifth child, she is none other than Bandhaki”[iii]  ‘You are a king and you need to uphold dharma. Why are you asking me to deviate the path of dharma?’, she added. Pandu Maharaj agreed that Kunti was right in her argument.

Years rolled by and the children reached adolescence. On the fourteenth birthday of Arjuna, Kunti was fully involved in ‘Santarpana’ (mass annadana program), Pandu Maharaj took out Madri to a nearby garden. It is difficult for anyone to control senses and Pandu Maharaj was not an exception to the rule. He grasped the gracious queen, Madri by force and the curse of the rishi struck him with a deadly effect. The Maharaj collapsed and his past karma chased him to death.

यथा धेनु सहस्रेषु वत्सो विन्दति मातरम, ।

तथा पूर्वकृतं कर्म कर्तारमनुगच्छति ।। 

   (yathā dhenu sahasreṣu vatso vindati mātarama, tathā pūrvakṛtaṃ karma kartāramanugacchati) (In the midst of thousands of cows, the calf recognizes and reaches its mother. So also, a person’s deeds follow him, and he must experience its effects).

Pandu Maharaj could not escape his fault and he had to suffer its effect. Madri fell on his feet and was crying bitterly. All Pandavas, Kunti and other elders immediately rushed to the spot. ‘Leave the children there at a distance and you come alone’, Madri’s shrill voice pierced the ears of Kunti. Kunti rushed towards Madri and realized what had happened. She wept bitterly. ‘All these years, I was protecting the king and how did he sleep with you in spite of both of you knowing the curse of the rishi. Why did you incite him? How could the Maharaj who had been depressed all these years got exited in your presence? O! Madri, anyway you are the lucky person. You could able to see the resplendent happy face of the king’[iv].

‘The king could not control himself and did not heed my protest’, was all that Madri could talk. All Pandavas and the elderly sages were mute witness to the tragedy that had taken place. Kunti asked Madri to take care of all the five children and that she wished to follow the king who was dead. ‘I am the eldest queen and I enjoy greater share in the fruits of dharma. So, I shall accompany him’.

“No, my dear Kunti! I should go along with Pandu Maharaj. He died while in pleasure and it is my duty to follow him and fulfill his wish’. By that time, sages interfered and suggested, ‘O ladies! Both of you should not follow the king leaving the young children behind you. We can take them to Dhritarashtra but he is an unrighteous person. He may not take care of the children properly. It may be good for pativratas to follow the husband, but we feel that you should not do at this stage. When husband dies it is enough if the widow follows ‘yama’ and ‘niyama’[v] and indulge in frequent fasting to facilitate conquering the sense organs. Such a kind of lady shall be in the path of dharma and attain higher worlds after death. So we strongly advise both of you to live and that would auger well for both of you[vi].

‘Just as I followed the advice of my husband, I should now follow the advice of noble sages and take care of the welfare of the children’, Kunti said. But Madri told, ‘Let Kunti stays back and take care of children. Neither the king nor I enjoyed the bliss and I must follow him to satiate his thirst. O, Kunti, please permit me’. Then with a heavy heart, Kunti permitted the last wish of Madri. Without any anxiety, Madri entered into the pyre of Pandu Maharaj.

The story – an analysis

A part of this story was discussed in Episode 7 wherein it was explained different methods of begetting children when there was no husband in ancient Indian society. Coming to the present story, there are many issues of dharma inherent here. Now we have Animal Protection Organizations which will look serious at the issue of shooting of animals. But when Maha Bharata took place, the land and man ratio was not what it is today. It was the duty of the king to protect people from wild animals and Pandu Maharaj could not be blamed for his hunting spree in the forests. But there was a dharma that no animal should be shot at if it was indulging in sexual act, or immobile or suffering from disease or giving birth to kids’. Pandu Maharaj was a known person of righteous virtues; and transgression of dharma by him was not tolerated by the rishi.

Secondly, it is a general belief that Hindu society promoted umpteen number of children. Kunti emphatically answers this question by saying that only three children are permitted as per dharma and if any lady aspires fourth or fifth she is no less that a lecherous harlot. Hindu society in those days was aware of the health of the female gender and restricted the births to three. We must also notice that the society was also liberal and never punished if a lady has more than three children. They had set the ideal size and never frowned if the rule is violated. A noted scholar on Maha Bharata, Acharya Salaka Raghunatha Sarma opines that the intention of Pandu Maharaj was to have children to redeem the debt of forefathers. When that was accomplished through Apaddharma, where is the necessity of wishing few more children? Apaddharma is for a special purpose and cannot be a general rule for all times.

We find the assertiveness of Kunti throughout the story. She politely refused to accommodate the request of Pandu Maharaj to have more children as it was against dharma and Pandu Maharaj obliged. She also refused to accede to his request to teach the mantra to Madri for the second time - again invoking dharma. Her firmness of character can be gauged from the fact that she obliged the request of sages and wanted to live for taking care of children. The role of mother is not only to give birth but to nurture the children and Kunti rightly decided to live the life. Since no sastra or dharma promoted Sati as the prerequisite to claim as Pativrata, she wanted to live the life. Even while in grief, she did not directly scold Madri but indirectly castigated her misdemeanor.

Sati Sahagamana

The most important aspect of this story is ‘Sati Sahagamana’. Madri’s death on the pyre of Pandu Maharaj was one of the earliest incidents of the practice of Sati sahagamana frequently quoted by the British before it was abolished by the Governor General Lord Bentinck in 1829.

First let us understand the story part before understanding the historical perspectives of abolishing ‘Sati’. In the story, we witness the noble sages advising both Kunti and Madri to desist from the thought of dying.  Ved Vyasa emphatically writes that if the both queens could not withstand the bereavement of Pandu Maharaj, they could follow the strict regime of austerity and desist from sensual pleasures. But they should not die leaving the children to the evil intentions of Dhritarashtra. Then Kunti agreed to the arguments of noble sages. Why did then Madri die? She must be feeling guilty of her misdemeanor and wanted to follow the king. We must also carefully read the curse of Kindama which ordained that the queen with whom he mates would also die along with the king. The curse cannot go wrong.

We also see that the Madri was not forced by anyone including Kunti for following the king (sahagamana). No one can blame that Sati was a forceful practice in Maha Bharata times. Thousands of kings and warriors perished in the battle of Maha Bharata and none of their ladies followed them. There was no practice of Sati even in Dwapara Yuga and we don’t see Dasaratha’s wives immolating themselves on the pyre of Dasaratha. All wives of Krishna did not do ‘Sahagamana’ when Krishna left his mortal breath. Madri’s death was a stray incident and was out of her own volition. It was not forced by anybody and she died out of her own intentions. The freedom to do a karma depends on karta and the person can do, cannot do, or can modify doing in a particular fashion.  

Then why did the British blame Hindu society as a society riddled with obnoxious practices? Towards the end of eighteenth century, the British Missionaries were desperately trying to legitimize their rule in India, and they started preaching that Hindus was race with no distinct morals or ethical practices. The very existence of British, according to them, was to civilize Hindus and it was ‘White Man’s burden’. They found the practice of Sati to expose Hindu society. 

For understanding the supposed practice of Sati, one should read the book of Prof Meenakshi Jain, “Sati: Evangelicals, Baptist Missionaries, and the Changing Colonial Discourse”, available at Amazon India. She had done an extraordinary research on all recorded incidents of ‘Sati’ and came to a conclusion that in the total history of 6000 years, the recorded incidents were only in hundreds (that too, many were during Muslim invasions) whereas the Britishers exaggerated the figures, created an impression of Hindu superstitions and wanted to save the race from ‘inglorious social institutions’. 

The media-created narratives that we witness in the current century have their origins in the eighteenth century India ruled by the British. (For understanding history behind the abolition of Sati by Willium Bentick, please listen to the ten minute YouTube conversation of Prof Meenakshi Jain with Rajiv Malhotra by clicking https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apTNtSWjsQk )

Nowhere in Smriti and Sruti literature we find any support for the system of Sati, though there are codes of conduct for widows. What our dharma sastras talk about the practice of those codes? What is the subtle difference between Sahagamana and Anugamana? The author proposes to discuss these aspects in his forthcoming book since they do not fall under the ambit of this story.

Points to ponder

1. Our scriptures talk of dharma in all deeds including things like hunting animals. What is the dharma behind hunting animals?
2. Indian society was labelled as superstitious and the British claimed to save this race as part of their duty- White man’s burden. How far it is true?
3. Should we believe media-created narratives before jumping into conclusions? What precautions are required to understand our nation’s pride and our society?
4. Do you feel that reading original scriptures can dispel many myths concocted by foreign historians?
5. Do you feel that women of ancient India were not confined to kitchens but they were experts in the knowledge of dharma? Explain with Kunti’s character.

 Footnotes

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[i] This Story is taken from Adi Parva of Maha Bharata written by sage Vyasa.

[ii] Adiparva 95.60.

[iii] नातश्चतुर्थं प्रसवं आपत्स्यसि वदंत्युत ।

अतः परं स्वैरिणी स्याद्बन्धकी पञ्चमे भवेत् - Adi Parva 122.77

nātaścaturthaṃ prasavaṃ āpatsyasi vadaṃtyuta ।

ataḥ paraṃ svairiṇī syādbandhakī pañcame bhavet – 122.77

[iv] धन्यात्मसि बाह्लीकी मत्तो भाग्यतदा तथा

दृष्टवत्यपि यद् वक्त्रं प्रहृष्टस्य महीपते:  - Adi Parva -124.21

dhanyātmasi bāhlīkī matto bhāgyatadā tathā

dṛṣṭavatyapi yad vaktraṃ prahṛṣṭasya mahīpate:  - 124.21

[v] Yama and Niyama- We come across these principles in Patanjali Yoga. Yama talks about what not to do. Niyama talks of what to do. Yama principles include ahimsa (non-violence), satya (truth), asteya (non-stealing), brahmacharya (celibacy), and aparigraha (non-greed). The five niyamas include shaucha (self-purification), santhosha (contentment), tapas (self-discipline), svadhyaya (self-study) and Iswara Pranidhana (surrendering to Iswara).

[vi] Adi Parva 124.36

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Episode 24

Draupadi’s Svayamvaram[i]

Draupadi’s svayamvaram was a great event. The epic marriage that took place in Panchala desa was the talk of the country in those days.  Ved Vyasa has devoted an exclusive chapter, ‘Svayamvara Parva’ in Adi Parva for describing the events of the marriage. The event has been the source of inspiration for a number of ballads and folklore across the country and abroad.

Draupadi was the daughter of Drupada, the king of Panchala and the arch-rival of Drona. When Drupada was defeated by Arjuna, the beloved disciple of Drona, he took an oath and did tapas. Lord Siva appeared before Drupada and blessed him a son capable enough to kill Drona and a daughter worthy enough to marry Arjuna.

Draupadi was an exceptional beauty and the kings who thronged the palace for svayamvara vie each other to have a look at her and suddenly they became enemies among themselves, though they were good friends earlier.  Such was her beauty that the gods, gandharvas and other celestial nymphs graced the occasion. The clouds were cluttered by the celestial aeroplanes and the earth was reverberated with music and musings (Adi Parva 186.14).

The altar for svayamvaram was an open auditorium and decked with innumerable flowers and garlands. People from different janapadas (kingdoms) came in hordes to witness the event. Drupada had a blessing that his daughter would be the wife of Arjuna but the whole world was believing at that time that all Pandavas including Arjuna were scorched in the fire lit to lak house. If Arjuna was not alive, who would marry her? Can the blessings of Siva would become redundant? There were many unanswered questions in the minds of the general populace. No one could see Pandavas sitting in the guise of brahmins since all eyes were glued to the exceptional beauty, that is Draupadi.

When the ceremonial rituals were over, Drushtadyumna escorted his sister Draupadi to the stadium and spelled out the conditions of svayamvara in a bold voice-

‘Hi kings! Listen carefully. Here is a bow and five arrows. You should take these arrows and aim at the target that is rotating on the top. The man who accomplishes this act and the man who has the aura, strength and caste shall have the hand of my sister. I shall not tell untruth’[ii] .

Then Drushtadyumna started introducing the assembled kings to his sister one after another. Everyone wanted to have her but how could it be possible? The competition was tough, but the compulsions of biological urge bode them to the podium. They came, they saw, and they touched the bow but fell to the ground groaning under the weight of the bow.

Then Karna with an aura of the resplendent Surya stood up to reach the podium. Everyone including Pandavas thought that he would win the bet of the day. The moment Draupadi saw Karna, she cried aloud, ‘I will not marry the son of a suta’ (186.23)[iii]. Karna left the bow then and there with anger shrouded by a loud laughter. He looked at the sun with a sigh and left the podium. Then the mighty warriors of the day like Salya, Sisupala, Duryodhana and Jarasandha tried their luck but in vain.

Arjuna in the guise of Brahmin stood up and everyone looked at him with different emotions. A few brahmins opined that he would bring defame to the brahmin community since he was sure to taste defeat. Others felt that only bramhins, by virtue of tapas, could achieve the unachievable things. Did not the brahmin Parasurama defeat the kings? Did not the brahmin Agastya drink the ocean? They were arguing whether to support Arjuna or not.

The din of the brahmins did not deter Arjuna to design his destiny. He came forwarded, lifted the bow and aimed arrows with precision and shot the target with ease. There was a huge applause and the gods showered flower petals profusely. Draupadi looked at Arjuna who looked like lord Indra and decorated the garland in his neck.

But the kings looked upon the event with disdain. ‘How can Drupada gives his daughter to a brahmin disregarding all Kshatriyas? Further how can brahmins participate in svayamvaram? Let us all kill this Drupada’, thinking like this they pounced upon Drupada. But the mighty Bhima plucked out a tree and stood before Drupada. No warrior could match the might of Arjuna and Bhima.

Karna attacked Arjuna thinking that he was a brahmana. But the amazing mastery of his archery bewildered Karna. ‘It is difficult to win victory over the Brahma Tejam’[iv], thinking like this Karna left from the seen. Bhima swirled Salya around and beaten him to the ground. Krishna was witnessing the events and he told his brother Balarama that the winners were none other than Pandavas. Who else can defeat warriors like Karna and Salya other than Pandavas?

Krishna intervened and pacified all Kshatriyas and all of them left the place. Once the war was over, Bhima and Arjuna escorted Draupadi to their mother. (The subsequent story of actual marriage and its dharmic implications were already discussed in episode 5 – ‘One Lady for five Men’ of the same blog.  For ready reference click the link http://unclekatha.com/?p=103).    

Let us analyse the story

A few scholars argue whether it was really a ‘svayamvaram’? Svayamvaram is a Sanskrit word and its etymological meaning is ‘selecting the groom by oneself’- वरं स्वयं वृणोति इति स्वयंवर:). Here in the story the conditions for marriage were already laid down – that the man who aims at the rotating target and who has the aura, strength and caste status shall marry Draupadi’. Thus, the power to choose the man of her choice was already restricted within a spectrum of certain condition. So, where is ‘svayavaram’ here?

A few other scholars argue that since the power of denying a person from participating in the competition was well within the command of Draupadi (she refused to marry Karna), this event was still a svayamvaram. Of course, this is an intellectual debate.

Can Draupadi deny Karna from participating in the competition based on his caste? Was it not against dharma?

But a careful reading of the conditions announced by her brother Drushtadyumna clearly indicated that only a person of equal caste can marry Draupadi if at all he could satisfy other conditions. Thus the svayamvaram was not open to all castes of people and was restricted to others who have aura and strength. Brahmins were not excluded to participate even though Drupada was a Kshatriya. Karna’s aggressiveness to participate in the event was rightly denied by Draupadi and she was well within the rules of the game. Further, from the perspective of Draupadi, it was a right decision. It is after all her life. She cannot marry a man whom she does not like for any reason and suffer throughout his life. She was a lady of a firm determination and the presence of many kings in the palace did not deter her courage to crop up and cry foul at the turn of events. She was following the rules of the game and also firm enough to deny a person since he was not her choice.

Then why did Karna try to participate? From this story and from other stories of Maha Bharata we find that he was aggressive and was the first person to advocate fighting always. His impetuous overtones were curtailed even before he could embark on his mission. He could have challenged the conditions of svayamvaram; but once they were accepted, he should have stuck to the rules.

Were the conditions fit into the frame of dharma? Even in 21^st century today, we find to-let boards in certain houses- ‘only for vegetarians’. We find in matrimonial advertisements, people seeking same caste and same community boy or girl. Setting conditions are the prerogative of the condition-setter and it is up to the other party to accept or reject it. In this story, Drupada and Drushtadyumna had laid down the condition of caste status in advance and they had announced it for the benefit of the audience.  In the story, Karna would have kept quiet by not trying to participate in the event.

Agreeing that Drupada can set terms of the competition, is it well within the compass of morals of the society? This question is difficult to answer since morals of society change from time to time, place to place and person to person. The current day morals cannot be the scale on which we can measure the morals of Maha Bharata times.

The story talks of a war between all kshatriya kings against Drupada and his brahmin supporters. Everyone thought that Bhima and Arjuna were Brahmins only. Karna appreciated the dexterity in archery by Arjuna who was in the guise of a brahmana and withdrew from the war since Brahma tejam (the spiritual power of a brahmin) could not be won by anybody. Everyone in the audience started arguing that a brahmin does not deserve punishment even if he does wrong sometimes (ब्राह्मणा  हि सदा रक्ष्या: सापराधापि नित्यदा- brāhmaṇā  hi sadā rakṣyā: sāparādhāpi nityadā)[v].

Do these passages suggest that Brahmins occupied pride position in the society? The answer is certainly ‘yes’. But a Brahmin in the context of Brahma tejam has to be understood with reference to the definition given to brahmin. A person was considered brahmin in those days if he possessed Brahma Jnana (ब्रह्म ज्ञानेन ब्राह्मणः - brahma jñānena brāhmaṇaḥ). A person well versed with vedas and sastras and dharmic traditions was believed not to go wrong in those days; and even if goes wrong, it should be tolerated and not to be frowned upon. Character and not the birth was the deciding factor of a true brahmin.  In Maha Bharata days, intellectuals were held in high esteem and people preferred not to harm them.

The svayanvaram as we see is certainly put Karna into shame. Draupadi openly rejected Karna. Karna must have nurtured grudge which eventually resulted in insulting Draupadi in the court of Duryodhana (please see the story- ‘Game of Dice- unanswered questions’  by clicking http://unclekatha.com/?p=1)).

Karna looked at the sun in the sky and dropped the bow below. What was his intention? ‘You are shining in the sky when I am suffering in the ground’ (Swami Sundara Chaitanyananda)[vi], was the thinking of Karna. The dilemma was that he could not disclose his true lineage and at the same time could not afford to accept the shame’.

Things to unlearn

1.    Draupadi’s svayamvaram has been portrayed in different versions by different authors; and many popular films were screened taking those episodes into account. In a few films we witness Karna aiming at the target with an arrow and Krishna sending his chakra (the popular weapon of Krishna) to obstruct it.  In some versions Krishna was seen asking Arjuna to go ahead in the competition.

2.     Story of Draupadi’s intention to marry Karna

The popular tale that was known to many of us is about Draupadi’s intention to marry Karna as her sixth husband. The story runs like this. When Pandavas were wandering in the forest, they saw only one fruit in certain tree. Arjuna aimed at it and the fruit fell to the ground. Krishna immediately alerted that the one fruit was supposed to be the food for a rishi and he may curse them. Then what was the way out? Krishna only suggested that if all of them spell out their secret wishes the fruit could get back to original place in the tree.

Dharmaraja initially told that he wanted all of his subjects (people) should be happy and prosperous. But the fruit just remained on the ground. Then he whispered in Krishna’s ears that he wanted to become emperor. The fruit rose from the ground by an inch. Then Bhima told his wish as killing all Kauravas. Arjuna’s wish was to kill Karna in the battlefield. The wishes of Nakula and Sahadeva were to serve their brothers dutifully. The fruit rose from the ground each time. Draipadi told her wish as serving all her husbands but the fruit did not move. Then Krishna took her aside and she told her secret wish as marrying Karna as her sixth husband. Then the fruit budged and stuck to the tree.

This story of Secrets of Pandavas’ wishes is concoction of someone’s imagination which is nowhere found in Veda Vyasa’s Maha Bharata. Serious readers of Veda Vyasa’s Bharata should be aware of these stories.  When Draupadi rejected Karna in the svayamvaram itself, where is the necessity of building this concocted story?

Points to ponder

1.    Can we set conditions for a deal ignoring the overall morals of the society?

2.    Can we measure the morals of one century on the scale of morals prescribed for another century?

3.    Do you feel that the spiritual power overrides physical power?

4.    Do you feel that Brahma Jnanam is the soft power for anyone in the society?

Footnotes

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[i] This story is taken from Adi Parva of Maha Bharata.

[ii] एतन्महत्कर्म करोति  यो वै

कुलेन रूपेण बलेन युक्त:

तस्याद्य भार्या भगिनी ममेयं

कृष्णा भवत्री  न मृषा ब्रवीमि - Adi Parva 184.36

[iii] नाहं वरयामि सूतं - Adi parva 186.23.

[iv] ब्राह्मं तेजास्तदा जय्यं मन्यमानो महारथः - Adi Parva 189.22

[v] Adi Parva 189.36

[vi] Swamy Sundara Chaitanyananda, ‘Chaitanya Maha Bharatam, vol 1, page 154.

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