Dr. Ganesh (Wikipedia) has been discoursing on Vyasa's Mahabharata now for over a month. His reverence for Mahabharata is evident, and he is the right speaker on such an encyclopaedic work of India's greatest rishi poet. He reads extensively from the critical edition and also many other sources, with his own highly insightful interpretations. This series, which will continue for many more weeks, is all mercifully archived on You Tube and I share the embed link above to one of the episodes I liked very much.
Mahabharata is full of wonderful stories and episodes apart from the main narrative of Kauravas and Pandavas. Dr. Ganesh says that Mahabharata excels Upanishads, Puranas and all other literature for its immeasurable breadth and depth of narrative on almost all human affairs.
In this lecture, he covers the story of how the Ashvini Devata twins were secured the rights to Soma Havis by Sage Chyavana, son of Bhrigu Maharishi. Chyavana during his austeries invented and partook of the herbal preparation we now call by the famous name of ChyavanPrash.
Duirng his severe and long austerity, a huge anthill grows over Chyavana much like in Valmiki's case. Just then Sharyati Maharaja with his entourage arrives in the forest. His only daughter Sukanya is wandering around and comes across this peculiar anthill. She peeps into its holes and sees two shining objects ( Chyavana's eyes). Curiously she pokes a stick at the objects and blinds Chyavana.. An enraged Chayavana curses her entire family that they should lose the ability to excrete and defecate for her sinful act of blinding him. Sukanya confesses to her father that she had poked the sticks to prise out what she thought were shining insects but it turned out to be the sage's eyes that shone from within.
At the king's pleading for revoking the curse, Chyavana agrees provided young Sukanya becomes his wife and takes care of him. A contrite Sukanya agrees, despite her being a young, beautiful, princess, and this sage being very old and blind. Dr. Ganesh comments that the Bhrigu lineage was full of sages who were easily incensed, and this princess showed a great responsibility in atoning her inadvertent misdeed and making up to sage Chyavana.
After some time, the famed twin gods Ashvinis arrive there. Throughout Vedas and Puranas, they are known to have rendered great service and healed many. When they see this beautiful young princess serving her old and blind husband, they are curious. They offer to redeem her and offer that one of them can even marry her. But she flatly refuses, saying she is devoted to her husband and in fact, if they are indeed endowed with divine powers, let them kindly restore youth and eye sight to her husband, Rishi Chyavana. They smilingly agree, and take Chyavana for a dip in the nearby lake. When the three emerge, they are all identical in youth, splendour, and divine ornamentation and dress. They ask her to identify her husband. With her Pativrata insight, Sukanya is easily able to identify the sage. Dr. Ganesh comments here that external appearance is secondary when someone or some subject is close to someone's heart. He says how scholars, goldsmiths and others have an insight and not dependent on external data.
Sage Chyavana, in his gratitude, offers to secure for the Ashvinis the Soma Yajna offering which has been so far denied to them by Indra. This is an audacious effort, and Dr. Ganesh comments that the Bhiru clan is well known for such courageous and impossible aspirations, In fact, only by striving for something normally beyond one's reach can one discover one's true potential and also realize where the divine comes in and when the human effort stops short. Only then does true Bhakti dawn in one's heart. He quotes, " साहसे श्रीः".
Thereafter Chyavana requests his father in law, the king Sharyati, to join him in the conduct of the Soma Yaga where he will offer the Soma to the Ashvinis. At this stage Dr. Ganesh tells us that traditionally, medicine men are considered a bit impure as they deal with the sick and even the dead. This prejudice is the reason that the Ashvinis have been kept out of Soma Yagas thus far. Indra refuses to let the Ashvinis partake of Soma, saying they are mere workers going around communities seeking to do good and do not exhibit the dignity warranted by the status of Devas. At this stage, Dr. Ganesh quotes the story of Kannada's great litterateur and humourist T.P. Kailasam, who had returned with high qualifications in geology from England and was appointed in Kolar Gold Fields as an officer. But the local brown sahibs and the English frowned on his practice of spending his evenings singing his huge collection of songs and folklore with his harmonium, inviting one and all to his courtyard. Of course Kailasam didn't budge.
Dr. Ganesh also quotes the case of Prof. B.G. L. Swamy, (son of Dr. D.V. Gundappa, a great force in Kannada culture and literature), who headed the botany department in Madras University. Not being one for formalities, Dr. Swamy always went about in his Khaki shorts and short, a true scientist. When an English delegation was visiting, he was requested to stay out of the way as his demeanour would spoil the decorum needed for the occasion. He stayed quietly in his lab, which he had constructed behind a cloth curtain in his office. As the visitors came around for inspection, they were curious to see what was behind that curtain. When they saw him and his lab, they were delighted and told the officials that he truly exemplified the idea of a science professor in England.
This episode of Chyavana highlights what kind of prejudice and false dignity can run in our lives. This story should not be construed as a struggle between gods.
Continuing the story, Indra is incensed as Chyavana begins to offer Soma to the Ashvinis. He comes to strike Chyavana with his Vajrayudha. Chyavana uses his Tapas power to freeze Indra and his upraised Vajra. He also wants to teach him a lesson and conjures up a big Pishacha monster who comes to swallow Indra. His mouth is miles wide and with terrible fangs. Indra is terrified and relents with an apology. Chyavana releases Indra to Indra's great relief. Indra admits the Ashvinis to the circle of Devas who can partake Soma havis and the Ashvinis are properly accepted.
Dr. Ganesh shows that such acts of selfless righteousness, full of magnanimity, are seen only in great sages and in neither gods nor men nor demons. Even the way Brahma gave the Natya Shastra only to Bharata Muni and not to gods or men or demons is an example of how rishis and sages of great Tapas prowess and universal magnanimity are a cut above the rest. They stand above the triumvirate of mortals, gods and demons in Hindu Dharmic world purely because of their selflessness and Tapas prowess they use for universal good.
Meanwhile what happened to that Pishacha monster? Chyavana, having created him, needed to give him his food too. He told him to get his food from the four misdeeds of men - drinking (surapana), promiscuity (lampatya), gambling ( aksha) and hunting ( mrigayaa). Such acts present those men as fodder to this monster.
I wanted to share this story and give the link to Dr. Ganesh's talks. His talk series is simply wonderful for immense knowledge, insight and a sense of pride it invokes in our culture.
By the way we are Bhargavas in our family gotra! Our Pravara Rishis are Bhrigu, Chyavana, Apnavaana, Aurva and Jamadagni.
