Episode 61

The Story of Indradyumna – Mokha vis-à-vis Heaven [i]

The story of Indradyumna is highly interesting from the perspective of understanding the concept of heaven and its limitations. It is very popular story and we find this story both in Maha Bharata and Srimad Bhagavatam. The story is also an illustration or a good case study for one of the most often quoted sloka of Bhagavad Gita.

What should be the ideal for a human being? – Swarga or moksha? Is the place in heaven permanent? What is the importance of performing meritorious deeds upon the earth? Why sinful actions need to be shunned? The episode answers all these questions by way of narrating a story.

I dedicate this episode to my mother who breathed her last on 4^th April 2020.

The Story

In the last episode, we have seen Mārkaṃḍeya narrating the story of king Sibi and we have also seen the way a charity has to be done. After listening the story, Yudhishitira was inquisitive to know if there was anybody in the world who was born before  Mārkaṃḍeya. Mārkaṃḍeya was a Maharshi who survived the pralaya (the great deluge) and had seen thousands of kings and rishis and yet remained youthful.

Mārkaṃḍeya smiled at Yudhishtira and told, ‘Yes! I have seen and heard of a king who was my predecessor’.

‘Oh! That is interesting. Please narrate his story’, Yudhishtira begged the Maharshi. Mārkaṃḍeya began narrating his story.

Once upon a time, there was a Dravidian king, Indradyumna who was ruling the Pandyan kingdom. He was firm in his devotion towards Lord Vishnu. He had performed innumerable number of yagnas and gave out everything as charity. Upon his death he spent thousands of years in heaven since his punyam (merit) was enormous.

One day, Lord Indra came up to Indradyumna and told, ‘Oh, Rajarshi! Your merits have come to an end. No one on earth remembers your charities or even your name. Once the punyam (merit) gets exhausted, one has to go back to earth and born again’, saying thus, Lord Indra threw out Indradyumna from heaven.

Indradyumna was sure that his merit was not yet exhausted. He pleaded with Indra that someone on earth must be remembering his noble deeds and asked Indra to give some time to prove himself. Indra obliged.

Indradyumna started talking the oldest people upon earth and initially approached Mārkaṃḍeya as he had lived thousands of years and had survived the great deluge (pralaya). He asked, ‘Oh, Mārkaṃḍeya maharshi! I am Indradyumna, the king of Pandya kingdom of southern part of Bharat. Have you heard my name?’.

Mārkaṃḍeya told, ‘Oh king! I always remain firm in meditation and devotion and keep wandering from one village to other village for food. I have no house, and I sleep below the shades of trees. So, I cannot recognise you and I do not know your name’.

‘Well, Oh Marshi, is there anybody who is elder to you upon this earth?’

Mārkaṃḍeya thought for a while and told, ‘Yes! There is an owl by name, Prāvāra karṇa who lives in Himalayan mountains. It may be knowing your name’.

Immediately Indradyumna assumed the form of a horse and took Mārkaṃḍeya to Himalayas. He asked the owl, ‘I am Indradyumna, the king of Pandya kingdom of southern part of Bharat. Have you heard my name?’. The owl was not remembering his name. But it told, ‘I remember a crane by name, Nāḍījaṃgha who lives near a huge Indradyumna lake and it is elder to me’.

Immediately Indradyumna took both Mārkaṃḍeya and Prāvāra karṇa and reached the place of Nāḍījaṃgha. He asked him, ‘I am Indradyumna, the king of Pandya kingdom of southern part of Bharat. Have you heard my name?’. But alas, the crane could not recollect the name. But it told, ‘There is one old tortoise, Akūpāraṃ in this very lake and I believe he is the oldest living being on earth and he may be knowing your name’.

Then the crane called aloud, ‘Oh my dear tortoise, one king by name Indradyumna wants to see you and he is very much here. Can you please come out of your hole?

On hearing the name of Indradyumna, the tortoise rushed out of the hole with tears in its ears. It prostrated before Indradyumna and offered a place to sit. Then Mārkaṃḍeya asked, ‘Do you remember his name?

With tears in the eyes, the tortoise told, ‘How can I forget a king like Indradyumna? He was living upon this earth thousands and thousands of years back and he was giving out charity to whoever that approached him. The yagnas performed by him were countless. He gave out millions of cows as charity in this place and this lake was made by the rubbing of hoofs of those cows on this very floor. From that day we named it Indradyumna lake and I have been living in this auspicious lake from that time’.

Sooner the tortoise finished telling, a chariot sent by Lord Indra appeared on the scene. The charioteer came up to Indradyumna and invited him to heaven. ‘Oh, Rajarshi! Your fame is eternal, and you deserve a seat in heaven’.

Indradyumna politely requested him, ‘I shall drop Mārkaṃḍeya, Prāvāra karṇa and Nāḍījaṃgha at their respective places before coming to heaven’. Then he dropped them at their place and left for heaven.

Mārkaṃḍeya concluded the story and all Pāṃḍavās including Yudhishtira felt very happy.

Understanding the story

The story of Indradyumna is highly interesting from the perspective of understanding the concept of heaven and its limitations. The story is so popular that it appears both in Maha Bharata and Srimad Bhagavata.

According to Hindu philosophical thought heaven is a higher abode with lot of pleasures and it is full of happiness. Heaven is ruled over by Lord Indra and all the persons who reach heaven are his guests. Persons who perform Yagnas, yagas and indulge in rich charities are believed to reach this place upon their death. They stay there as long as their fame (not our celebrity fame like film actors, or pure politicians, dancers etc) is remembered by the donees upon the earth.

दिवं स्पृशति भूमिं च शब्दः पुण्यस्य कर्मणः।

यावत्स शब्दो भवति तावत् पुरुष उच्यते ॥[ii]

(meaning- the sound of meritorious deeds of a person touch up to heaven. As long the sound touches and reverberates in heaven, the person stay secured in heaven).

Simply it means that if some one remembers you upon earth for your meritorious deeds, you can stay in the higher abodes of heaven.

To make it clearer, Maha Bharata also says:

अकीर्तिः कीर्त्यते लोके यस्य भूतस्य कस्यचित्।

स पतत्यधमाँल्लोकान्यावच्छब्दः प्रकीर्त्यते ॥[iii] - Vana Parva 199.14

(meaning – As long as a person’s sins come up for discussion upon earth, and they are felt, the person has to stay in hell).

The message of the story and the idea behind Veda Vyasa is that one should always perform meritorious deeds and shun the sinful deeds.

We have also need to understand that heaven has its limitations. It is not a permanent place for any person. Once the merits (punyam) get exhausted, the person has to come back to earth and assume another body (humans or animals or plants) depending upon his merits or demerits of the past.

Then what is the ideal one should aspire? Our philosophy emphasizes four puruṣārthās (dharma, artha, kāma and moksha) and moksha should be the ideal. Moksha is personal realization (not intellectual understanding) that ātma and paramātma are one and the same and moksha gives out liberation from the cycle of births and deaths. As against moksha, heaven is just a higher abode and it is akin to a poor person suddenly getting sumptuous rich food or a poor person winning a big lottery.

The second important aspect of this story is that it is just a case study for a famous Gita sloka which runs like this:

ते तं भुक्त्वा स्वर्गलोकं विशालं

क्षीणे पुण्ये मर्त्यलोकं विशन्ति।

एव त्रयीधर्ममनुप्रपन्ना

गतागतं कामकामा लभन्ते।।[iv] - Gita 9.21

(meaning: When they have enjoyed the vast pleasures of heaven, the stock of their merits being exhausted, they return to the earthly plane. Thus, those who follow the Vedic rituals, desiring objects of enjoyment, repeatedly come and go in this world – translation by Swami Mukundananda).

The third important aspect of the story is dharmic consciousness of Indradyumna even when Lord Indra’s envoy come down to invite him to heaven. He drops all the persons- Mārkaṃḍeya, Prāvāra karṇa and Nāḍījaṃgha at their respective places and leaves towards heaven.

The fourth aspect of the story is that owl, crane, and tortoise have high longevity. This is something which the zoologists have to research and explain.

The final aspect of the story is about Indradyumna’s next birth which is found in the 8^th canto of Maha Bhagavatam. Indradyumna, as we know, was a famous devotee of Vishnu. One day, when he was in deep meditation, he failed to see and respect sage Agastya who was going through the same place. Agastya cursed him to born as an elephant and thus Indradyumna, after exhausting his Swarga loka, born upon the earth as an elephant. He had forgotten the memories of his previous birth. Only when got exhausted fighting with the crocodile (please see the story of Gajendra Moksham), he remembered Lord Vishnu and surrendered his ego at the feet of Lord Vishnu. Vishnu immediately appeared before him and rescued the elephant by cutting off the crocodile with his sudarsana chakra. The Hindus, and more particularly the Vaishnavas have a strong belief that only his steadfast devotion in his previous birth helped him in remembering Lord Vishnu at the final battle with the crocodile (For detailed story, one should read the story of Gajendra Moksham in Srimad Bhagavad Gita). Readers may note that the Gajendra (elephant of Gandra Moksham fame) could be the same Indradyumna or any other king by same name as no where in Maha Bharata or Maha Bhagavatam it is confirmed.

Sidelines of the story

Incidentally we have the Indradyumna lake even by today and it is one of the tīrtha yātra spots. It is very near to the famous Jagannatha temple of Puri and it is believed that the temple was constructed by Indradyumna. Incidentally, Akūpāraṃ’s progeny can still be visited at Gahirmatha Beach which is very nearer to Puri and it is the world's greatest nesting habitat for olive riley sea turtles.

It is also believed that Lord Vishnu incarnated as turtle (kūrma avatāra) near present day Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh (India) and this place (Srikurmam temple) is less than some 370 kms distance from Puri.

Points to ponder

1.  What is heaven? What is the difference between Swarga and moksha?

2.  What is the importance of remaining steadfast in meritorious deeds and shunning sinful deeds?

3.  How can a person attain ātma jñāna and there by Liberation?

Footnotes

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[i] This Story is taken from Vana Parva of Maha Bharata and also from Srimad Bhagavatam written by sage Veda Vyasa.

[ii] divaṃ spṛśati bhūmiṃ ca śabdaḥ puṇyasya karmaṇaḥ।

yāvatsa śabdo bhavati tāvat puruṣa ucyate ॥ - Vana Parva 199.13.

[iii] akīrtiḥ kīrtyate loke yasya bhūtasya kasyacit।

sa patatyadhamām̐llokānyāvacchabdaḥ prakīrtyate ॥

[iv] te taṃ bhuktvā svargalokaṃ viśālaṃ

kṣīṇe puṇye martyalokaṃ viśanti।

eva trayīdharmamanuprapannā

gatāgataṃ kāmakāmā labhante।।

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Episode 60

Indra Baka Saṃvādaṃ; Sibi’s bounteousness[i]

This is an interesting episode discussing two small stories narrated to Yudhishtir by sage Markendeya. What are the objects that give happiness to people of extreme longevity? What objects cause pain to them? What is the importance of cooking and eating the food in one’s own house? These are questions that revolve around ‘दिनचर्या- dinacaryā’ as we do find in Ayurvedic texts for longevity.

The episode also discusses the importance of charity and the qualities of the giver. Can we boast of our own charity? Can we despise the donee? What is ordained for the donor as per the Sanatana dharma? Like many other episodes of Vana Parva, this episode revolves around the importance of purification of the self for spiritual rejuvenation.

The Story

In continuation of our previous episode, Yudhishtira inquisitively asked Mārkaṃḍeya to narrate the story of Baka Maharshi and the secrets of his longevity (Baka Maharshi, as per legend, had lived for one lakh years). Mārkaṃḍeya started telling the story.

Once upon a time there occurred a ferocious war between gods and demons. Gods became victorious and Indra became the lord of all worlds. Indra intended to survey all the worlds and explore the great people of his land. He was roaming on the back of his mighty elephant, Airāvata and reached a beautiful hermitage nearer to a seacoast.

Indra was impressed by the serene surroundings of the hermitage and alighted from his Airāvata and he saw a maharshi, Baka. Baka received the lord of gods with courtesy and presented him all pleasantries. The rishi had lived a life of more than one lakh years and his experiences impart marvelous life lessons and Indra did not want to waste even a single moment.

Indra asked, ‘Oh great sage! Please tell me the things that cause misery to long living people (किम् दुःखं चिर जीविनाम् - kim duḥkhaṃ cira jīvinām, Vana Parva 193.17). Baka smiled and started telling.

‘Oh, Indra! Living with persons whom we dislike and the departure of people whom we like – this is the misery for people with extreme longevity’.

‘The death of spouse and children, the death of close friends and thriving the life by depending on someone else – this is the misery of people with extreme longevity’.

‘A person devoid of wealth is despised by the society – what more misery is there in the world for people with extreme longevity?’

‘The learned people become servants to foolish people and wealthy people enslave the poor people. This has to be seen by the people with extreme longevity. What more misery can I explain to you?’

Indra listened attentively and wanted to know what gives pleasures and what are secrets of extreme longevity. Baka again started telling.

अष्टमे द्वादशे वाऽपि शाकं यः पचते गृहे।

कुमित्राण्यनपाश्रित् किं वै सुखतरं ततः ॥

यत्राहानि न गण्यन्ते नैनमाहुर्महाशनम्।[ii]

(Oh, Indra! If one can live on the food being cooked in one’s own house even on the eighth or twelfth day and if one can live independently, and do not count the days- that is the greatest pleasure for people of extreme longevity. Those people cannot become gluttons)

अपि शाकं पचानस्य सुखं वै मघवन्गृहे ।

आर्जितं स्वेन वीर्येण नाप्यपाश्रित्य कञ्चन ॥[iii]

(‘Oh, Indra! If one can earn independently without depending on anybody and cook in one’s own house – that gives pleasure for people of extreme longevity’)

‘Eating fruits and vegetables in the house without any sorrow is far superior to eating great meal in someone’s house under despise’.

‘The man who craves food in other man’s house is like a dog that sucks blood. Pious people avoid enjoying the pleasures in other people houses’

‘Oh, Indra! Listen! The man who can eat the remains after sumptuous feast to guests and other living beings is the man who is happy, and this attitude promotes longevity and happiness to people of extreme longevity’.

Indra heard the wise words of Baka. He took blessings from Baka and left to his place.

Sibi’s Glory

In Episode 53, we have read the story of Sibi and his bounteousness. We have read as to how he pierced his own body and gave out his flesh as charity to an eagle (Indra disguised as eagle). Yudhishtira wanted to know much more about Sibi and his glorious deeds. Markendeya started telling the story.

One days the son of Viswamitra viz Ashtaka,.and his brothers, Pratardhana, Vasumana and Sibi were travelling on a chariot. They saw Narada on their way and asked him to alight the chariot. Narada obliged their request.

All the four brothers were men of great character and known for their liberal charitable nature and dharmic deeds. All were sure of reaching heaven after their demise; yet they wanted to know who would stay long in heaven and who would come out of heaven first. They requested Narada to enlighten and answer their question.

Narada immediately told, ‘Yes! Ashtaka shall come out of heaven first’.

‘Why is it so?’, they asked.

“Once I was travelling with Ashtaka in his chariot. We saw thousands of cows on the path. I asked- ‘whose cows are these?’. Then Ashtaka told, ‘All these are donated by me’. Since he was boasting his own charity, he cannot stay in heaven for long’.

Then they asked, ‘We agree Swamiji! Who has to come out of heaven after Ashtaka?’

Narada thought for a moment and told, ‘Next turn shall be Pratardhana’.

‘Why is it so?’, they enquired.

Narada told, ‘One day I was travelling with Pratardhana in his chariot. A brahmin came and asked a horse. Pratardhana was willing to give on the following day. But the brahmin wanted it immediately and so he gave away one horse. By the time one more brahmin appeared on the scene and asked one more horse. Pratardhana obliged and gave out the other horse. He started pulling the chariot. But alas! He told, ‘these brahmins do not possess discriminating intellect’. Pratardhana gave everything that is asked but exhibited anger against the donee. So, he shall have to leave heaven’.

All the brothers were inquisitive to know about the third person who was supposed leave the heaven after Pratardhana.

Narada told, ‘Vasumana has to leave the heaven later on’.

‘Why?’, they asked.

“One day I was travelling with Vasumana in his flower decked chariot. I told- ‘it is so beautiful’. Vasumana immediately told me, ‘Swamy the chariot is yours since you have praised it’. But he has not given the chariot”, Narada told to the surprise of everybody.

Only Sibi was left out. All others asked, ‘Oh sage Narada! If you and Sibi happen to be in heaven, who has to leave the heaven first?’

Immediately Narada told, ‘I have to leave the heaven. I am not as great as Sibi’.

It was surprising. They wanted to know the reason.

Narada began telling, ‘One day a brahmin approached Sibi for food. He asked the flesh of Sibi’s son. Sibi cut off the head of his son and got the dishes ready with his flesh. Then the king pleaded the brahmin to eat it. Then the brahmin asked him to eat it first. Sibi sat and started eating as asked by the guest without any agony or anxiety in his face. Then the brahmin told, ‘Oh, Sibi! You have conquered the anger. You have given out everything as charity and nothing is left with you’. Sibi lifted his head and there was no brahmin. Lord Brahmā was standing before him to bless him’, Narada concluded.

Everyone was awestruck and no one was knowing the story. Narada again started telling, ‘The Brahmā blessed Sibi and gave back the life of his son. All his ministers approached Sibi and asked him as to why he was so adventurous. Then Sibi told,

नैवाहमेतद्यशसे ददानि न चार्यहेतोर्न च भोगतृष्णया।

पापैरनासेवित एष मार्ग इत्येवमेतत्सकलं करोमि ॥[iv]

(I am giving charity not anticipating fame, wealth or any future luxury. Sinners cannot follow this path. So, I am following this path’)

Everyone admired Narada’s intellectual analysis and left to their places.

Understanding the story of Indra- Baka Saṃvādaṃ

It is an interesting story from the perspective of ‘दिनचर्या- dinacaryā’ as we do find in Ayurvedic texts for longevity. We see Indra asking Maharshi to explain the objects that give pleasures and pains to a person of extra longevity (चिरजीवनः - cirajīvanaḥ) and also the secrets for longevity. The things that give pleasures and sustain longevity can be classified as follows:

1.  Eating the food of one’s own house (पचते गृहे- pacate gṛhe). We find Maharshi Baka emphasizing this point at least three times. It means that our seers encouraged cooking in the house. Maharshi also condemns those who crave for outside food and compare them as blood-thirsty dogs (श्ववत् कीलालपो यस्तु परान्नं भोक्तुमिच्छति। - Vana Parva 193. 31).

2.  Eating the food after serving to guests, insects and birds give out pleasure and promote longevity.

3.  Earning the food on one’s own labour and do not depend on others (आर्जितं स्वेन वीर्येण - ārjitaṃ svena vīryeṇa) even if it entails eating once in eight or twelve days. Scholars interpret it in two ways – 1. In Maha Bharata times, rishis and highly learned and humble brahmins were leading a life of penury and their focus was never on food but on learning, meditation and teaching. ‘Eat to live but not live to eat’ was their tenet which they had scrupulously adhered. 2. A few scholars opine that one should eat with a gap of eight or twelve hours and nothing in between.

Any way the idea is avoiding taking food very frequently so that they should not become gluttons.

4.  It is better to sustain on leaves and fruits than to crave for dishes in other’s houses.

From the above, we can know that probably, this was the bhojanam (food) for the seekers or rishis. To keep one’s own body healthy, it was always advised to avoid frequent meals. Frugal meals were encouraged, and frequent heavy meals were frowned at. Even when the little food that was taken was half stomach full.

 Aṣṭāṃga hṛdaya famously states:

अन्नेन कुक्षेर्द्वावंशौ पानेनैकं प्रपूरयेत् |

आश्रयं पवनादीनां चतुर्थमवशेषयेत् ||[v]

 

(Meaning: Half of the stomach is to be filled with food and one fourth with water. The rest of the stomach is to be left empty for the doṣās (to aid normal physiology of digestion)). 

Eating full stomach is never an ideal for people of sātvik nature.

To sum up, when we strictly avoid food made in other places and maintain the daily rhythm, the body gets purified and helps in avoiding many diseases. आहार सम्भवं वस्तु रोगाश्चाहार सम्भवाः (The body is made of food and alas, diseases also come from food).

Ved Vyasa also discusses the miseries of cirajīvanaḥ. Gerontology is a vast subject discussing the caring of the old. The misery of the old, excepting a few, is pathetic. The passing away of the friends before their own eyes is painful. When the body fails to cooperate, relying on someone for day today activities bring forth mental depressions. Maharshi Baka story is utilised by Ved Vyasa to highlight the plight of old people.

Understanding the story of Sibi

The predominant narrative of this story revolves around one issue, ie, charity. How should one give charity? By introducing four brahmin characters, Ved Vyasa has given out a message as to how a charity has to be done.

a.  If a man boasts of his charity, it does not merit as great charity

b.  If a man donates but despises the donee, his donation does not deserve as great charity

c.  If a man announces a donation, but backtracks, his donation is not a charity.

d.  But, if a person donates anything of donee’s choice with sraddha (faith or devotion) and sahana (patience), that alone qualifies real charity.

In fact, we come across a sloka in Taitiriya Upanishad which goes like this:

श्रद्धया देयम् अश्रद्धया अदेयम् श्रिया देयम् ह्रिया देयम्। भिया देयम् सम्विदा देयम्।

(Meaning: Thou shalt give with faith and reverence; without faith thou shalt not give. 

Thou shalt give with shame, thou shalt give with fear; thou shalt give with fellow-feeling). 

Taitiriya Upanishad says that while giving charity, we should do with shame because it may demean the dignity of the donee. We should give with respect and treating him as equal to you. Why should we give with fear? It is because the donee may refuse to take donation from you. The spirit and glory of Hindu philosophical thought never advocated charity for boasting or for exhibition.

In the same vain, Gita delineates charity into three varieties- sātvik, rājasik and tāmas (Gita 17- 20,21 and 22) and eulogises the charity that does not expect any reward from the donee and denounces charity that is given for wrong person and for wrong cause.

By highlighting the character of Sibi, Veda Vyasa has highlighted the importance of charity in one’s life. The exaggerated demand of brahmins is just an allegory to sustain the grand narrative which is of course the ‘virtues of charity’.

Points to ponder

1.  What are the secrets for longevity?

2.  How is food both sustainer and killer of a person?

3.  How should a charity be done? Discuss.

Footnotes

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[i] This Story is taken from Vana Parva of Maha Bharata written by sage Veda Vyasa (Gita Press)

[ii] aṣṭame dvādaśe vā'pi śākaṃ yaḥ pacate gṛhe।

kumitrāṇyanapāśrit kiṃ vai sukhataraṃ tataḥ ॥

yatrāhāni na gaṇyante nainamāhurmahāśanam। - Vana Parva 193. 27, 28

[iii] api śākaṃ pacānasya sukhaṃ vai maghavangṛhe ।

ārjitaṃ svena vīryeṇa nāpyapāśritya kañcana ॥ - Vana Parva 193. 29)

[iv] naivāhametadyaśase dadāni na cāryahetorna ca bhogatṛṣṇayā।

pāpairanāsevita eṣa mārga ityevametatsakalaṃ karomi ॥ -Vana Parva 198. 26

[v] annena kukṣerdvāvaṃśau pānenaikaṃ prapūrayet |

āśrayaṃ pavanādīnāṃ caturthamavaśeṣayet || -Aṣṭāṃga Hṛdaya, sūtra sthāna - Chapter 8.46 (English translation by Dr T.Sreekumar)

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