Episode 28
Escapades of Arjuna with Ulupi, Chitrangada and Subhadra[i]
This
is a simple story of Arjuna spending a night with Ulupi and marrying
Chitranganda and Subhadra during his vanavasa period. The story discusses the
primary role of a king, and his obligations towards his people. The story
discusses the nuances of Grihasta dharma and the normal etiquette that brothers
should follow vis-à-vis ladies in the same house. Abduction of girl for
marriage, the issues of kanya sulka etc are also discussed from sociological
perspective. For details read the story below.
The Story
We
have seen in our earlier episode Draupadi’s marriage with five Pandavas. We have
also read that sage Narada came down to Pandavas and upon his advice they had
come to an understanding that Draupadi would stay with each brother for a year
and others should not disturb their privacy. If anyone
disturbs the privacy, he should go for exile for twelve years[ii].
When
things were going on a good stead, there occurred an incident of theft of a Brahmin’s
cow in the capital city of Indraprastha. The Brahmin came running and reported
the matter to Arjuna. As a true Kshatriya, Arjuna assured support and rushed to
royal arsenal where the weapons of all Pandavas are kept. He was about to enter
and observed his elder brother Dharmaraja in privacy with Draupadi. There was a
great ethical dilemma that gripped Arjuna. If he enters
the place, he would be violating the code of conduct among brothers. If he
refrains from entering the place, he cannot have his weapons to chase and
punish the thief. He would be either committing a sin of commission by disturbing the privacy or sin of omission by not punishing the thief.
A king takes one sixth of his subjects’ income and if he does not
protect the same subjects (people), the latter will call him a sinner[iii].
A kshatriya’s basic duty is to protect his people. By violating the code of
conduct, he may invite the punishment of exile for twelve years. Arjuna decided
to enter the chamber. He took his weapons and chased the thieves and punished
them. Arjuna reached his brother Yudhishtira (Dharmaraja) and volunteered to go
on exile for twelve years.
Dharmaraja
was shocked to hear the words of his beloved brother. After all he had done his
duty befitting a Kshatriya and protected the people. ‘Oh, Arjuna! You have done
what I expect you to do in the given situation. In fact, I am happy. When elder brother is in privacy with his wife, the younger
brother can enter, and it is in tune with dharma. But if the younger brother is
in privacy with his wife, the elder brother’s entry is not permitted as per
dharma’[iv],
Dharmaraja told in a consoling tone.
But Arjuna did not want to deviate the
path of Truth and insisted that he would leave for forests. Yudhishtira
relented and Arjuna left for forests.
Arjuna’s
journey started with visiting beautiful river coasts, seashores, pilgrimage
centers, thick forests, mountain peaks and what not. Ultimately, he reached the
popular pilgrimage point Haridwar and wanted to take bath in the celestial waters.
There a serpent princess, Ulupi suddenly spotted Arjuna and instantaneously
fell in love with him. With her magical powers, she sucked Arjuna into the
river and later reached her palace in Patala loka (पाताळ). Arjuna saw fire in the palace and immediately
sat straight and performed the oblations to the Fire (Agni Karya). Then he
turned towards Ulupi and with a gentle smile on his lips asked, ‘Who are you? Why
did you do this adventure?’
Ulupi
with blushes on her cheeks laid herself before Arjuna and asked him to bless
her that night. She was the daughter of Kauravya, the king of Iravata desa
inhabited by Nagas. Arjuna thought for a moment and told, ‘Oh Kalyani! I have
on Vanavasa (staying in forests) and observing Brahmacharya (celibacy). You are
asking me to be with you for the night. Your wish and
my oath cannot go together. Suggest me a way that justifies dharma’.
‘O
Lord! I know the code of conduct that you brothers have imposed upon yourselves.
I can tell you one thing. By being with me you are saving
my life. What great charity is there in the world that equals the charity of
giving life?[v] Please do good to
me and enliven your greatness’, Ulupi pleaded. Arjuna spent the blissful night
with Ulupi and on the following day Ulupi left him on the shores of the Ganges
and left to her place. In due course of time she got a son, Iravanta.
Arjuna
told about Ulupi to a few of his associates and moved towards Manipuri. There
he happened to see a very beautiful lady, Chitrangada. She was the only daughter
of Chitravahana, the king of Manipuri. He approached the king, revealed his identity
and informed his intention to marry her. The king had no problem, but he put
forth a condition. He wanted the son of Chitraganda to remain in Manipuri and
the king would treat him as his own son. Giving out his son to the king would be
the ‘kanya sulka’ (कन्या शुल्क). Arjuna agreed and married Chitrangada. He
stayed in Manipuri for three years and got blessed with a child, Babruvahana.
Once the son is born, Arjuna put his son into the hands of the king as part of his
promise and got relieved from the debt.
He
bid goodbye to everybody and proceeded towards Prabhasa Teertha. Sri Krishna
heard about the arrival of Arjuna and immediately reached there. Krishna
enquired as to why he was doing tirtha yatra (pilgrimage) and on hearing from
Arjuna, he felt happy. They roamed the surroundings of Prabhasa tirtha on the
whole day and reached the peak of Raivataka mountain by night. Arjuna was
narrating the whole of his life events and the places he had seen in his
entourage. On the following day, they reached Dwaraka in a golden chariot amidst
rousing reception by the citizens of Dwaraka. Arjuna spent a few days happily
in the court of Sri Krishna.
While
things were going on like this, there occurred a mountain festival for all
Yadavas, Vrishti and Andhaka people. People started coming in hordes towards
the mountain Raivataka with all festivities. The kings, the ministers, the army
chiefs, the poets, the singers, the dancers and all-important wing commanders
set out towards Raivataka with their queens and family members. In the company
of Sri Krishna, Arjuna mingled in the crowd and enthusiastically participated
in all events.
There
Krishna and Arjuna spotted a young beautiful lady sizzling among a bevy of
beauties. She was none other than Subhadra, the beloved sister of Balarama and
Krishna. Arjuna became the slave of his Indriyas and his discriminating intellect
fell flat before the divine beauty. Sri Krishna could easily spot Arjuna’s eccentricities
and smilingly told, ‘Hi, Arjuna! You are on the mode of
vanavasa and how can your intellect wavers on seeing beautiful girl? She is my
sister, Subhadra and if you are interested in marrying her, I shall bless you and
convey to my father’.
Arjuna’s
joy knew no bounds. The beautiful girl with whom his mind got entangled was
none other than the sister of Krishna and the daughter of Vasudeva. He asked
Krishna to suggest a strategy to take her hand in marriage. Krishna told,
स्वयंवरं क्षत्रियाणां विवाहः पुरर्षभ!
स च संशयितः पार्थ! स्वभावस्यानिमित्ततः।। - (Adi Parva 218-21)
svayaṃvaraṃ kṣatriyāṇāṃ vivāhaḥ purarṣabha!
sa ca saṃśayitaḥ pārtha! svabhāvasyānimittataḥ।।
meaning - ‘For Kshatriyas marriage by Svayamvaram is the rightful
path. But the mind of a lady is wavering (there is no certainty that she may
marry you in svayamvara. A lady falls to a handsome man without trying to know his
background – Nilakanta Vyakhya).
For a valorous warrior, possessing the girl by force is permitted.
So, I advise you to abduct her by force. We are not sure whom she would select
in svayamvara’[vi].
Arjuna
agreed to the counsel of Sri Krishna. Then then a sent a word to Dharmaraja for
his consent. Dharmaraja and Bhima were quite happy at the turn of events and instantaneously
consented.
A
few days went by and on one day Subhadra, accompanied by her friends went to
Raivataka to pay tributes to the mountain god. On the advice of Krishna, Arjuna
set out in the chariot of Krishna to Raivataka on the pretext of hunting. On
spotting Subhadra coming out from prayers, he picked the
smiling Subhadra by force and started towards Indraprasta. The soldiers
got frightened and came running to Dwaraka and reported the abduction to the
king Balarama. There was a clamor in the court to teach a lesson to the
abductor. But Balarama, though very angry, wanted to know the mind of Krishna
before using force.
Krishna
started telling:
“Arjuna
has never insulted our Yadava race and during his entire stay, he respected us.
He cannot give kanya sulka and take Subhadra since we have plenty of money and
we don’t require kanya sulka. To gain her in svayamvaram would have been an
option but he does not want to take a chance since no one knows with whom
Subhadra marries in Svayamvara. If he takes Subhadra by way of gift, he may be
looked down by society. So, he acted as per the dharma befitting a
kshatriya. Further what is lacking in
Arjuna? He is a great warrior and only lord Shankara alone can defeat him in a
battlefield. If we send forces and he win, our prestige would be at stake. Let
us invite him and perform the marriage’.
Everyone
in the court agreed and Arjuna was brought back to Dwaraka for a glorious
marriage. Abhimanyu was the son born to Arjuna and Subhadra.
A short analysis of the story
Veda
Vyasa has given elaborate description of the geographical itinerary of Arjuna
during his vanavasa which exactly matches the current geographical map of
India. Like Sri Rama’s long march from Ayodhya to Sri Lanka where each and every next spot of
his visit is exactly matching with the geographical map, thus indicating the
knowledge of overall India’s areas, the vanavasa of Arjuna is also full of
places, mountains, rivers, mountain peaks exactly dotting the map of current
day India in sequence.
Coming
to the story, it is a romantic story taken by many writers in the later ages. The
theme formed the basis of many film scripts across all regional languages.
Amidst the romantic escapades, Veda Vyasa never failed to mention nuances of
dharma in one way or other way. What is the primary duty of a king? Undoubtedly
protecting the people is the very purpose of the king who takes one sixth of
the people’s income. Yajnavalkya Smriti elaborates the duties of kshatriyas and
vysyas as follows:
प्रधानं क्षत्रिये कर्म प्रजानां परिपालनम्।
कुसीद कृषि वाणिज्य पाशुपाल्यं विश: स्मृतम् ।। - (Yajnavalkya Smruthi 1.119)-
pradhānaṃ kṣatriye
karma prajānāṃ paripālanam।
kusīda kṛṣi vāṇijya
pāśupālyaṃ viśa: smṛtam ।। - meaning a Kshatriya’s main duty is protecting people;
and doing business, rearing cattle and agriculture are the domain of vysyas.
The
king is sinner when he fails in his primary duty. Code of conduct among
brothers is an internal matter which cannot take primacy in the ‘must to do’
objectives of a king. This is precisely what Arjuna did.
For
every sin there should be punishment. Arjuna had to go on vanavasa to atone his
mistake. Dharmaraja justifies that it is not a sin if younger brother disturbs
the privacy of elder brother and not the other way around. Scholars say that
the logic behind this argument is again based on dharma. In Hindu way of life,
elder brother is considered to be a father and his wife is a mother. In
Upanayana samskara, the elder brother initiates Gayatri in the ears of his
younger brother when father is not alive. Thus, for all practical purposes, the
elder brother is father. Again, in our
tradition, we have five ladies to be treated as mothers-
गुरुपत्नी राजपत्नी ज्येष्ठभ्रातुः कुटुम्बिनी।
पत्नीमाता स्वमाताच पञ्चैताः मातरः स्मृताः।।
gurupatnī rājapatnī jyeṣṭhabhrātuḥ kuṭumbinī।
patnīmātā svamātāca pañcaitāḥ mātaraḥ smṛtāḥ।।
–
the wife of a Guru, the wife of a king, the wife of the eldest brother, the
mother of wife and one’s own mother are considered five mothers by our smritis.
In
the story, Arjuna’s entry is akin to the entry into parents’ chamber. So, it is
dharma. But the eldest brother should not disturb the privacy of his younger
brother since his wife’s position vis-à-vis the eldest brother is not discussed
prominently anywhere as father-daughter relationship.
Ulupi-
Arjuna
Arjuna
saw fire in the palace of Ulupi and performed Agni karya and then spoke to Ulupi.
The significance of mentioning this aspect by Ved Vyasa is that one should not
forget the basic duties (nitya karma and naimittika karmas) in the mire of
worldly affairs. In this episode the dilemma is whether to adhere to celibacy in
vanavasa or protect the life of a lady. Ulupi was prepared to sacrifice life if
her wish was not accomplished. Arjuna choose to save her life and spent a night
with her.
Chitrangada-
Arjuna
Here
Arjuna fell in love with Chitranganda. Why is he not thinking of his oath of
celibacy? A few scholars feel that the oath has already been broken to save a
life of a lady and so Arjuna sought the hand of Chitrangada. Further Arjuna
thought of building allies for the future war of Kuruksetra. But all these are of
course conjectures and belong to the domain of scholastic imaginations and
interpretations.
Subhadra-
Arjuna
Abducting
a lady for marriage is morally reprehensible according to current day moral
standards but was acceptable for valorous kshatriyas in those days. Dharma, like laws, is never static and undergoes
changes according to the tunes of times. Hindu way of life allows flexibility
and any moral that stands to the test of reason, equity, truth, honesty and integrity
overwrites the dharma of the previous years and regulates the affairs of society.
Hence dharma is subtle and should be interpreted by one who has deep knowledge
of our traditions, value systems and the general popular trends prevailing in a
society.
In
the story, Veda Vyasa writes that Arjuna abducted the smiling Subhadra which
indirectly indicates her tacit acceptance of taking up the hand of Arjuna.
Krishna only suggested Partha to ponder over the possibility of abduction.
In
both Chitrangada and Subhadra episodes, we hear the practice of Kanya Sulka
which was in vogue in ancient society. Beautiful girls of great lineage were sought
after by men by paying huge gifts and wealth to the brides’ fathers. Whether
dowry system was going hand-in-hand along with kanya sulkam or was it dominant
over a period of years was the subject matter of discussion for sociologists. Anyway
Manu Smruthi categorically denounces the practice of kanya sulka (Manu Smruti
3.51).
Things to unlearn
Majority
of the film stories depict Arjuna going to Dwaraka in the guise of a muni and
Krishna deputed Subhadra to serve him. This story is not there in the Maha
Bharata of Ved Vyasa.
Points to ponder
1.
Who are considered as five types
of mothers by Hindu society?
2.
What are the eight different
types of marriages described by the smriti literature?
3.
Can the practice of abduction of
woman is morally and legally acceptable in the current century?
4.
How is dharma subtle? Does it change over a period of time? How do
you distinguish dharma from sanatana dharma which is eternal?
Footnotes
[i] This story is
taken from Adi Parva of Maha Bharata written by sage Ved Vyasa
[ii] Adi Parva
211.29
[iii] अरक्षितारं राजानं बलिषड्भागहारिणम्।
तमाहु: सर्व लोकस्य समग्रं पापचारिणम् ।। - Adi Parva, 212. 9
तमाहु: सर्व लोकस्य समग्रं पापचारिणम् ।। - Adi Parva, 212. 9
arakṣitāraṃ rājānaṃ baliṣaḍbhāgahāriṇam।
tamāhu: sarva lokasya samagraṃ pāpacāriṇam ।।
[v] Adi Parva
219.29.
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