Episode 54

Aṣṭāvakra - a sage who challenged his father

from the womb of his mother [i]

Aṣṭāvakra is great character in Maha Bharata who is known for his exceptional wisdom in Vedanta and he is known for Aṣṭāvakra Gita. The saṃvāda between Aṣṭāvakra and Bandi is a masterpiece of Vedantic debate scholarly depicted by sage Vyasa. The democratic bent of Sanatana dharma is in visual display to the readers of the story of Aṣṭāvakra.

The story, incidentally, talks of the rigor given in educational institutions and admonishes it since it saps creativity of students.

The story highlights the importance given to intellectuals in ancient society.

The Story

Lomasa Maharshi was guiding the tirtha yatra of Pandavas and on their journey they came across Samaṃgā river and Lomasa advised them to take bath in the river. ‘What was its importance?’, Dharmaraja curiously asked the Maharshi. ‘It was a place where sage Aṣṭāvakra known for eight bodily distortions (bents) took bath and got his twists straightened’, Lomasa explained. Dharmaraja wanted to know the anecdote of sage Aṣṭāvakra.

Aṣṭāvakra quibbling his own father

Once upon a time there lived a Maharshi by name Uddālaka. Kahola was his beloved disciple and he studied Vedas under the benevolent guidance of Uddālaka. Uddālaka was so pleased with the wisdom and humbleness of his student that he gave his daughter, Sujata in marriage with him. Kahola took grihasta ashram and started teaching his own students.

Kahola was highly studious and he wanted his students also highly studious. The rigor of study was so high that sometimes he used to teach day and night without interruption. One day while he was teaching in the night, the boy from the womb of Sujata called aloud his father thus-

सर्वाम् रात्रि मध्ययनं करोषि |

वेदं पितः सम्यगिवोपवर्तते ||[ii]  -

‘Oh father! You have been teaching throughout the night. But right intonation is missing in your diction’.

When his own son, not yet born, quibbled his father in a challenging tone from the womb, Kahola got wild and cursed him immediately- ‘Even staying rest at womb, you are finding fault with my intonation. Let you be born with eight bodily distortions’ Then Kahola resumed teaching his students.

Intellectual debate between Kahola and Bandi

Sujata was getting worried as the date of delivery was getting advanced. Kahola was putting all efforts on adhyāpanaṃ (teaching) and was never trying to earn a little money needed to take care of his wife’s delivery related expenses. She told her husband to get some money and he went to Janaka’s court to participate in debates with a great scholar Bandi so that he can earn a little money from king Janaka. But unfortunately, he was defeated in the debate. Bandi used to drown the defeated scholars in water; and as per his practice he drowned Kahola also into water.

A few days passed by and Kahola never returned back. Sujata delivered a boy with resplendent face but with eight bodily distortions.  He was aptly christened as Aṣṭāvakra (Ashta denotes eight and vakra means twist).

Uddālaka got the news of Kahola’s defeat in the court of Janaka and he did not want it to be known to the little boy. He started treating Aṣṭāvakra on par his own son Swetaketu and for almost twelve years Aṣṭāvakra was thinking that Uddālaka was his father. One day while he was sitting on the lap of Uddālaka, Sweaketu pulled him aside and asked him to go to the lap of his father.

Aṣṭāvakra got perplexed and asked his mother about the whereabouts of his father. Sujata narrated the entire story. Aṣṭāvakra was pained at the defeat of his father in the debate and he wanted to challenge Bandi in Janaka’s court. He was also inquisitive to sharpen his intellect by hearing the debates of learned scholars.

विचक्षणत्वं च भविष्यते नौ |

शिवश्च सौम्यश्च हि ब्रह्म घोषः || [iii]

(By going there our discriminative intellect and intelligence will get enhanced. The reverberations of vedic mantras resonate with sweet voice).

Aṣṭāvakra’s debate with Bandi

With his uncle Swetaketu, he reached the gates of Janaka’s court. The gate keepers pushed them aside as the entry was restricted to wise and old scholars. But Aṣṭāvakra had a reason to enter. He told:

अन्धस्य पन्था बधिरस्य पन्था: स्त्रियः पन्था भारवाहस्य पन्था: |

राज्ञ: पन्था ब्राह्मणेनासमेत्य समेत्यतु ब्राह्मणस्यैव पन्था: || [iv]   - Vana Parva 133.1

(When a Brahmin was not on the path, a way should be given on priority basis to the blind, to the deaf, to the lady, to the porter and to the king. When a Brahmin is there, he gets priority). The king heard and told, ‘I give my way and give preference to you’.

But the gate keeprs told, ‘This is place of Yagna where intellectual debates happen, and ideas are churned. Only old and wise are allowed as per the dictum of Bandi’.

‘But we are old with wisdom though boys and we are competent to participate in debates.

न तेन स्थविरो भवति येनास्य फलितं शिरः |

बालोपि यः प्रजानाति तं देवाः स्थविरं विदुः || [v]

(‘White hair cannot denote oldness. A boy, if he is wise, he is to be treated as old even by gods’). Please allow us to go inside. The gate keeper was not convinced. He asked Aṣṭāvakra a few questions and while the conversation was going on, the king was patiently listening. Janaka was known as rajarshi (a rishi but a practicing king). He gave an initial test in the field of Vedanta and Aṣṭāvakra could answer his questions. Then the king permitted him inside and introduced him to Bandi.

A great debate took place between Bandi and Aṣṭāvakra on Vedanta and Aṣṭāvakra won the debate. All the wise men in the court got surprised at the turn of events and applauded the boy Aṣṭāvakra. Bandi bent his head down and humbly asked Aṣṭāvakra as to what he wanted from him. Since Bandi had drowned the defeated scholars, Aṣṭāvakra wanted that Bandi also be drowned into water.

Bandi smiled and told, ‘I am the son of Varuna (god of water) and my father has been doing a great yagna for the last twelve years. Drowning of the scholars is a pretext, and in fact, I have been sending them to Varuna’s place for conducting yagna’. Then he prayed his father and presented his father Kahola to Aṣṭāvakra. Bandi released all other wise men who were earlier drowned by him.

Kahola was proud of his great son. He blessed his son and asked him to take bath in the river Samaṃgā. Aṣṭāvakra followed the advice of his father and took a dip in the waters. Surprisingly, all his twists got straightened. From the day Aṣṭāvakra entered into the river, the river gained prominence as a celestial river.

On the advice of Lomasa Maharshi Dharmaraja took bath in the river of Samaṃgā, and with his brothers he stayed a night at that place.

Understanding the Story

In Maha Bharata we come across many characters and each character displays certain special and unique features. While some characters show high degree of righteousness, some other show how to respect parents, how to give charity, and how to treat the people at large etc. A few are violent and cruel characters. Aṣṭāvakra is a character that stands for Brahma vidya or Veda Vidya.

King Janaka was a rajarshi and he was a practicing Vedantin. Aṣṭāvakra was famous since he taught Aṣṭāvakra Gita to such a great king and defeated scholars in his court.

The story opens with a boy from the womb of his mother talking with his father. This is no way odd since we have similar type of stories like Prahlada and Abhimanyu who had learnt a lot even before their birth. In Hindu way of life, it is ordained that the pregnant woman is supposed to avoid hearing or viewing violent incidents/ stories and is supposed to keep the mind in peace so as to maintain right rhythm with the baby in the womb. Anti-natal care is a big subject and मासानुमासगर्भिणी परिचर्या (māsānu māsa garbhiṇī paricarya – taking care of the pregnant lady month after month) has been given lot of importance in Ayurvedic texts.

Indirectly we see in the story Aṣṭāvakra admonishing adhyayana (reading) at odd hours. Our sastras also have come out with anadhyana days (days on which the vedas are not read and it is rest for disciples). On Anadhyana days- Padyami, ashtami, chaturdasi, amavasya or pournami the students are given rest. When Kahola was rigorously teaching even at night, it is likely that the intonation falls, falters and fails. Aṣṭāvakra story is a lesson for educational institutes not to put too much pressure on students so as to hinder their natural creativity.

The story underscores the argumentative nature of Indian mind. While eulogising democracy Ayn Rand [vi] famously writes:

“Ideas cannot be fought except by means of better ideas. The battle consists, not of opposing, but of exposing; not of denouncing, but of disproving; not of evading, but of boldly proclaiming a full, consistent, and radical alternative.” The saṃvāda between Aṣṭāvakra and Bandi is a masterpiece of Vedantic debate scholarly depicted by sage Vyasa. The democratic bent of Sanatana dharma is in visual display to the readers of the story of Aṣṭāvakra.

Apparently, the story highlights the importance of Brahmins, but we need to understand that it is not for caste Brahmin but for a Brahmin by virtues. Our sastras are emphatic that only that man is Brahmin who has Brahma jnana.

जन्मना जायते शूद्रः कर्मणा जायते द्विजः |

वेदज्ञानेषु विप्राणां ब्रह्मज्ञानं तु ब्राह्मणाः || [vii]  – Rigveda

(All persons are born as Sudras. By the nature of their work, they become dvijas-second born. They become vipra by reading vedas. Only by Brahma jnana, they become Brahmins).

A Brahma jnani is an intellectual; and Sanatana dharma respected this intellectual community. So, the story should be understood from this perspective and not from the lenses of current century.

What is Samaṃgā? In Maha Bharata, this is a river (now in Afghanistan) where Aṣṭāvakra got his distortions softened. Incidentally, Samaṃgā is one of the sixty-eight Rasauṣadhi, very powerful drugs known to be useful in alchemical processes related to mercury (rasa), according to Rasaprakāśa-sudhākara. There is a need for further research about the efficacy of the waters of this river for human welfare.

Points to ponder

1.  Why Brahmins were given importance in Maha Bharata period? What is the definition of Brahmin?

2.  How do you justify that the Sanatana dharma encouraged democratic debates in ancient society? Do you find the continuity of this lineage even by 21^st century?

3.  ‘Rigour at the cost of creativity’ – Is it worth an objective for Educational Institutions?

Footnotes

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[i] This story is taken from Vana Parva of Maha Bharata written by sage Veda Vyasa.

[ii] sarvām rātri madhyayanaṃ karoṣi |

vedaṃ pitaḥ samyagivopavartate Vana || - Vana Parva 132. 10

[iii] vicakṣaṇatvaṃ ca bhaviṣyate nau |

śivaśca saumyaśca hi brahma ghoṣaḥ || – Vana Parva 132. 22.

[iv] andhasya panthā badhirasya panthā: striyaḥ panthā bhāravāhasya panthā: |

rājña: panthā brāhmaṇenāsametya sametyatu brāhmaṇasyaiva panthā: || - Vana Parva 133.1

[v]  na tena sthaviro bhavati yenāsya phalitaṃ śiraḥ |

bālopi yaḥ prajānāti taṃ devāḥ sthaviraṃ viduḥ || - Vana Parva 133.11

[vi] Ayn rand (1905-1982) is a famous Russian- American writer and she is famous for her works The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.

[vii]  janmanā jāyate śūdraḥ karmaṇā jāyate dvijaḥ |

vedajñāneṣu viprāṇāṃ brahmajñānaṃ tu brāhmaṇāḥ || - Rigveda

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