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CHAPTER FIVE. The Stories and Upakhyanas in the Bhagavatha
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CHAPTER FIVE
The Stories and Upakhyanas in the Bhagavatha
Akhyana and Upakhyana are defined as telling the events of a story seen by oneself and telling a story heard from others respectively. Suta narrated the story of the Bhagavatha to the sages as told by Shuka to King Parikshit. Neither Shuka nor Suta did personally see the events of the story of the Bhagavatha. Both of them heard it from others. Therefore the whole of Bhagavatha can be considered as an Upakhyana. But the word Upakhyana also means a short story or a sub-story, narrated incidentally in the midst of a main story: From this it can be concluded that the story connected with the various Avataras or incarnations of Lord Vishnu is the main story of the Bhagavatha and the stories narrated incidentally and contextually here and there in the middle are Upakhyanas. Lord Vishnu may appear in the Upakhyanas also but that is not the main purpose of his incarnation. In this way, the story of Dhruva, of Gajendra, of Kuchela, etc., are deemed to be Upakhyanas only.
The ultimate purpose of the Bhagavatha is to kindle in the minds of the readers a desire to strive for absolution by expatiating upon the importance of Bhakti or devotion through praising the qualities and the divine eminence of God. There is no doubt that God certainly protects those who worship Him with devotion, having absolute faith in Him. That belief will, without fail, he created in the readers of the Bhagavatha at least in a small measure. God will take birth on earth to put an end to the demons and wicked people who oppress the world, to give protection to the good and to promote the welfare of the world. The following shloka of the Gita enunciates the same fact:
Paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya cha dushkritam
Dharmasamsthapanarthava sambhavami yuge vuge,
Therefore, the incarnations of God are related not only to the establishment of Dharma, but also to the protection of good and devoted people. As God is supernatural, the events connected with Him may have many supernatural incidents and occurrences which may appear unnatural and incoherent from the point of ordinary logic. They are written mainly to impress upon the readers the intention and the ability of God to protect his devotees, and the glory of devotion, and not merely from an artistic point of view. Art subserves religious propaganda or moral preaching in them. But on account of the genius of the poet, the art of story-telling and other characteristics of good poetry will be everywhere evident in them.
The incarnation of Yajnavaraha is one of the twenty-one Avataras taken by God. He manifested Himself in the form of a Varaha or a boar to lift up the earth immersed in the waters of the ocean. Another great event of this incarnation is the killing of the arrogant Hiranyaksha. Hiranyaksha was in search of a warrior who could fight him with equal valour and went to Varuna, after having wandered over all the worlds. Varuna informed him that the only hero who could withstand him was Mukunda staying at Vaikuntha. When he was going to Vaikuntha, Narada met him and informed him that Mukunda was in Rasatala, having taken the form of a Varaha. Hiranyaksha went to Rasatala and fought with the Varaha. Varaha killed him in the battle, lifted the earth from the waters and saved the world. The story of Hiranyaksha clearly indicates that pride and arrogance lead to fall. The story of Varaha Is narrated twice in the third skandha, first briefly and then in detail.
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In the seventh skandha is described beautifully the story of the incarnation of the Lord in the form of Nrisimha (halfman and half-lion). He killed Hiranyakashipu who became very proud on account of the boons obtained by him from Brahma. Hiranyakashipu had a grouse against Hari as He killed his brother Hiranyaksha and protected his son Prahlada. This story brings home to the readers that nobody, however strong and powerful, can harm the devotees of God, that He will be watching his devotees with a thousand eyes, that He will be present everywhere and that the people who always contemplate His lotus-feet do not pay heed to adverse teachings. At the time when Prahlada said that Hari was present in all the shapes and forms of the world and Hiranyakashipu countered his words saying that he was nowhere, the Lord hid himself in all the movable and immovable forms in the shape of Nrisimha and this shows his anxiety to protect His devotees. Prahlada was a born devotee as he received the teachings of Narada, even while he was in the womb of his mother. His fearless declaration before his father enunciating the efficacy of prayer and devotion and the speech he delivered to his classmates explaining the eternal truth are invaluable.
Lord Narayana is always eager to protect the gods. When demons become more powerful and occupy heaven, to the kingdom of gods, He will kill them and restore heaven to the gods again. When Bali occupied heaven, conquering the whole world, the gods could not do anything, left heaven and hid themselves somewhere. Then Aditi, who could not bear to see their sufferings, approached her husband, knew from him the manner of performing the ‘Payobhakshapavrata’ and when Lord Narayana appeared before her, she obtained a boon from Him that He would be born as a son to her. Afterwards, Narayana was born to her in the form of Vamana, approached Bali when he was performing a sacrifice and in the name of receiving three feet of land from him, as a gift, crushed him down to the Patala. Indra could obtain the kingdom of heaven again by His grace. The main purpose of this Avatara is to reinstate Indra on the throne of heaven.
In the ninth skandha is described the story of Rama. There was Occasion to narrate it in connection with describing the history of the kings belonging to the solar race. The main purpose of this Avatara is to kill Ravana and other Rakshasas and to protect the gods and the sages. Rama's story is here described very briefly.
The tenth skandha is the soul of the Bhagavatha and in it are described in detail how Vishnu was born to Yashoda and Vasudeva as Krishna, how he was brought up in the Gokula of Nanda and how he put an end to Kamsa and other Rakshasas. Pothana beautifully describes in this skandha the sportive pranks of Krishna in his childhood and the Madhura Bhakti of the cowherd women. Another interesting story of this skandha is the marriage of Rukmini who is none other than Lakshmi. The love that she had for Krishna is as genuine as it is sacred. Her story is a good example to illustrate the saying that true love triumphs in the end. Chastising the pride of Banasura and killing Shishupala, Kamsa and Naraka are also great deeds of valour performed by Krishna in this skandha.
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The punishment and protection given by Lord Vishnu to wicked and good people respectively in the main incarnations have been described above. In addition to them, there are several other occasions on which he protected His devotees. Those stories and other episodes, which give importance to Dharma and philosophy have been narrated in the form of Upakhyanas. The inner meaning that some of them have will be explained here.
In the fourth skandha is described the destruction of the sacrifice of Daksha in connection with giving an account of his progeny. It was due to arrogance that Daksha could not really understand his position and the pre-eminence of Lord Shiva and wanted to insult him by performing a sacrifice. He disregarded his own daughter showing her no affection when she came to witness the sacrifice. The arrogance and haughtiness displayed by him did harm not only to himself but also to the gods that came to help him. When her self-respect was wounded, Sati could not bear it and abandoned her body by means of yogic fire. This story clearly shows that arrogance leads to calamities and people with self-respect prefer to sacrifice their lives to brooking insult at the hands of others.
The story of Dhruva, the young devotee, is also narrated in the fourth skandha. Maitreya narrated this story to Vidura after briefly telling him about Pratisarga. Svayambhuva Manu had two sons, Priyavrata and Uttanapada, through his wife Shatarupa. Uttanapada had two wives, Suniti and Suruchi, and Suniti gave birth to Dhruva, who was full of self-respect. When one day he went to sit on the lap of his father, his stepmother, Suruchi, prevented him, saving, “You are not fortunate enough to sit on the lap of your father as you were born not to me but to some other woman. Go and worship the lotus-feet of Lord Narayana and He will give you the boon of being my son. ” His father kept quiet without taking him near him. Dhruva was severely hurt by the words of his stepmother and became much depressed, when his mother consoled him and advised him to worship the feet of Lord Vishnu. Dhruva at once started to go to the forest for doing penance. Narada met him on the way and first dissuaded him from resorting to penance saying that Lord Narayana could be approached only by yogis and not by boys like him. But on getting to know his strong resolution, he taught him the manner of performing penance. Dhruva followed his advice and did severe penance. Lord Vishnu appeared before him and granted him that everlasting position (Dhruvapada), which is the highest and which cannot be secured by others.
Dhruva felt sorry that instead of begging for absolution he craved for Dhruvapada, which, though great, is not the final beatitude. This indicates that the highest boon a man should desire to have is absolution or Mukti and not the evanescent pleasure, power and positions. This story also tells us that devotion has no relationship whatsoever with age and that even children will be able to please God and earn His favour if they worship Him with devotion and sincerity. It is also evident from this story that insult and ridicule directed against people of self-respect will sometimes prompt them to achieve higher ends and be indirectly helpful to them. Narada first tried to dissuade Dhruva from penance, not to discourage him but really to increase his steadiness and perseverance. It was only God that sent Narada to teach him the way of doing penance. It is quite evident from this that God will Himself show the means of realising Him to the innocent who are really devoted to Him and worship Him with steadiness.
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The fourth skandha contains the episode of Puranjana, which was narrated by Narada to Prachinabarhi. While Prachinabarhi was spending his time engrossed in performing the traditional rites, Narada approached him, to explain that performance of rites cannot lead to the highest good that dispels evil and fulfills the desires. Then Prachinabarhi requested him to show the path of puce knowledge that removes the bonds of action. Narada pointed to him the numerous beasts that were sacrificed by him in the sacrificial rites and told him that they were awaiting his death so that they might torment him with their iron horns as soon as he entered the other world. Afterwards he narrated to him the episode of Puranjana that would emancipate him from that suffering. This is an allegorical story which is full of many spiritual secrets. Puranjana in this story is Purusha and his friend called Avignata is Ishwara. The body is the city (pura) and the eyes, nose, face, the ears, etc. are the nine gates. The serpent with five faces is prana having five conditions or states. Pramadothama is intellect and Chandavega is the year denoting time. The Gandharvas are the days. Yavaneshvara is death. The blind men are hands and feet and the harem (Antahpura) is the heart. Visuchi is the mind. In this way the whole story is allegorical and states that actions should never be considered as the purpose of life (Purushartha) that the real action is that which pleases the Almighty, that the knowledge which turns the mind towards the Almighty is Vidya, that the Almighty Himself is the soul and lord (Ishwara) of all living beings and that, therefore, His feet are the safest refuge for all.
In the seventh skandha, Hiranyakashipu narrated the episode of Suyagna or the conversation between Yama and the relatives of the dead man while consoling the mother wives, and children of Hiranyaksha after his death. When Suyagna, the king of the Ushinara country, was killed by his enemies in the battle his wives began to weep for him. In the evening, Yama came to the relatives of the dead king in the form of a Brahmin boy and told them, “It is but natural that people take birth and die. Their relatives weep for them as if they do not die. We abandon our parents and dwell in the forest without being harmed by the wild beasts. The power that nourished us when we were in the wombs of our mothers nourished us even in the forest. It is God that is the sole cause of creation, preservation and destruction. According to the actions done in the previous births, men take the body made of five elements, flourish and die when the time comes. It is only the body that is destroyed and not the soul (Purusha). The soul and the body are never identical. Attachment is created by the bonds of actions and disappears when their influence comes to an end. Ignorant people feel happy and unhappy respectively for union and separation. Those who know the truth do not feel sorry or happy about anything. Therefore, there is no use of weeping for the dead king. ” Then he narrated the story of the hunter and the Kulinga birds.
A hunter went to the forest with all the implements of hunt and saw a couple of Kulinga birds flying before him. He caught the female bird in his net and bagged it. While the male bird was wailing for the separation of his mate and feeling sorry for the young ones, still without wings, the hunter struck it with his arrow and it fell down dead.
After narrating this story the Brahmin boy consoled the relatives of the dead king saving that people, however virtuous and meritorious they may be, cannot escape death when the time approaches and that there is no use weeping for them. The relatives of the dead king heard his words, knew the impermanent nature of the world, performed his obsequies and returned home. The episode of Suyagna clearly indicates that birth and death are natural to living beings and to mourn for the dead is quite useless. It becomes clear from the story of the hunter and the Kulinga birds that nobody knows what happens when, that death is inevitable when the time approaches and it is useless to grieve either for the dead or for the living. Generally, while relatives will be weeping for the dead who are near and dear to them, old people will be consoling them, telling them about the evanescent nature of the world and this kind of consolation will give some relief to them. It may appear strange that in this story Yama came in the form of a Brahmin boy and spoke consoling words expected of aged people. But, as they are highly philosophical and are befitting the context, it is possible for the elders to become calm and pacified thinking that when even a little boy was uttering such consoling words it would be ridiculous if they began to weep for the dead man. The boyish form of Yama is also helpful from its own example to prove that God alone protects even little boys who live alone in the forest without the help of the parents and that He is the sole cause for the creation, protection and destruction of the world. It is evident from the words spoken here by Hiranyakashipu that he is highly enlightened though-he is a Rakshasa, haughty and arrogant.
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The story of Gajendra Moksha in the eighth skandha is very well known. This episode occurred during the time of the fourth Manu. Gajendra in his previous birth was Indradyumna, the King of Dravila, and was a devout Vishnubhakta. He was born as an elephant due to a curse of Agastya. When the crocodile caught his foot, Gajendra at first used all his might to get out of its grip. The fight went on for a thousand years. Finding that in the process, the strength of the crocodile went on increasing and his own strength decreasing, he started, by virtue of the merit of punya he performed in his earlier births and with a rare insight, praising the Lord of the universe in the following words, “......... I do not know anyone other than or greater than yourself. Pardon this downtrodden individual. Oh, giver of the boons, come soon (to protect me). ” No wonder Vishnu immediately came and using His Chakra, killed the crocodile and rescued him. Gajendra first fought with manly courage, but it was of no use. Then he began praising the Lord. Even this was of no effect, until he completely surrendered himself before God, when the protection sought for came.
The moral of this story is that whosoever loses his self and surrenders completely to the will of the Lord, Vishnu will always be there to protect him. Devotion to God and that in absolute terms is what is required. Rescuing the Gajendra from the tank and blotting out his tears of exhaustion demonstrate clearly that the Lord is always on the side of His devotees in their difficulties and sorrows. The Lord running to rescue His devotee, without even knowing that a part of the saree worn by Lakshmi was still hanging on him, goes only to emphasise God's nature to be a source of strength to those who are His devotees. The symbolism of this story can be interpreted thus: Gajendra is the Jiva. The tank is the Samsara. The waters therein are the pleasures, etc. The crocodile represents the triple-tapa (tapatraya). When the Jiva, with the intention of enjoying the pleasures of life, enters Samsara, the triple-tapa gets hold of him and inflicts him. If he becomes wise and surrenders before the lotus-feet of the Lord, with unflinching devotion, then the Lord who is the Redeemer will come and break the chain of the triple-tapa binding him and will bestow Moksha on him. The extraordinary delineation of characters, shown by Pothana in his inimitable poetry, and the raising of the virtue of devotion to the highest state, deserve special mention here. Not only human beings but animals too can achieve the grace of the Lord, if they are really devoted to Him.
In the ninth skandha are told the stories of many kings belonging to the solar and the lunar races. Among them the stories of Ambarisha and Rantideva are important. Ambarisha was the son of Nabhaga. He was always engaged in contemplating upon and worshipping Lord Vishnu, who was pleased with his devotion and gave His chakra (disc) to him. Chakra is a divine weapon and deserves to be in the hand of Lord Narayana alone. The fact that a chakra was given away to Ambarisha speaks much of the devotion of Ambarisha, as well as the grace of Lord Vishnu towards his devotees. Ambarisha observed ‘Dvadashivrata’ for one year and was about to break his fast when Durvasa approached him as a guest. Ambarisha received him with due respect and invited him for dinner. Durvasa went to take his bath and having been engrossed in meditation made inordinate delay. Ambarisha had to break his fast before Dvadashi passed but as he was afraid that he would commit the sin of neglecting a Brahmin if he did so, he consulted the scholars who told him that he could take water. Ambarisha did so. Durvasa returned from the river after taking bath, became incensed and creating an evil spirit (Kritya) from his matted hair, directed it against Ambarisha. Lord Vishnu sent his chakra to protect him. The chakra did away with the kritya and chased Durvasa. He first went to Brahma and afterwards to Shiva and begged them to protect him. When they expressed their inability to do so, Durvasa went to Vishnu himself for succour. He advised him to go to Ambarisha and please him. Durvasa ran to Ambarisha and fell at his feet. Ambarisha praised the chakra which became pacified and went away, leaving Durvasa free.
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The inviolable curse of a Brahmin does never become powerless. But it became powerless in the case of Ambarisha, the cause being the unreasonable anger and haughtiness of Durvasa. From this, it is quite evident that anger is an evil that should be avoided and that when it is directed against good people without sufficient cause, it harms the person who directs it. When Durvasa approached Vishnu for protection he told him, “l am increased more in the welfare of my devotees than in that of mine. My devotees are my sole refuge. I shall follow my devotee, wherever he goes, like a calf that follows the cow. My power is diffused among the good people and harms those that cause pain to them like a weapon. ’ Lord Vishnu directed Durvasa to go and pray to Ambarisha for help though he was capable of helping him himself only to display his identity with and the greatness of his devotees. His devotee was able to perform an action that even Brahma and Shiva were not able to do. The fact that Ambarisha shed his ego and pacified the chakra by praying to it and that he saved his enemy from falling a prey to the chakra displays his humility and sattvic nature respectively.
The story of Yayati, the son of Nahusha, has been described in detail in Mahabharatha. That story differs much from that found in the Bhagavatha, which indicates that thirst for enjoyment is endless, that in spite of advanced age the love of life and the desire for enjoyment do not abandon a person and that passion is never satiated, notwithstanding the continuous enjoying of pleasures. Yayati was distressed when he knew that his fall was mainly due to his insatiable desire for enjoyment and narrated to Devayani the episode of the goats, which was exactly parallel to his life.
A goat, while roaming in a forest, saw a female goat which had fallen in a well due to misfortune and falling in love with her, made a side-way out of the well and enabled her to get out of it. Then the female goat wanted the male one to be her mate. This was agreed to and both were living happily in the forest. Later, the male goat fell in love with many other female goats that wanted his company and was enjoying with them. Finding that he was enamoured of some other female goat, which was more charming than her, the first female goat, which was rescued from the well, felt that her husband was ignoring her and went away leaving him. The male goat followed her and tried his best to win her favour but in vain. The Brahmin, who was his master castrated him so that he might not go after female goats. Then he fell at his feet and prayed to him. The Brahmin, who was well-versed in Yoga was moved and grafted the testicles in their place. The male goat then began to enjoy himself with the female one, but could not get full satisfaction.
In this story the male goat is Yayati and the female goat that had fallen in the well is Devayani. The charming female goat is Sharmishtha and the Brahmin Shukra. Cutting off the testicles by the Brahmin indicates the curse given by Shukra to Yayati that he should become old. Grafting of the testicles by the Brahmin symbolizes the consent of Shukra to the prayer of Yayati that he would accept old age after satisfying his passion for enjoyment.
It is said that among animals goats are highly passionate. That is why the passionate Yayati compared himself to a goat. In Sanskrit the word Aja means not only a female goat but also Avidya (ignorance). As long as he was under the influence of Avidya Yayati was longing for enjoyment. Afterwards, he was disgusted and became spiritual trying to realise the Brahman. Devayani could grasp the inner meaning of the story narrated by her husband, abandoned all worldly attachments and could obtain absolution. This episode clearly states that people make their lives vain, being engrossed in sexual and other enjoyments as long as they are surrounded by Avidya and that when the slough of Avidya is removed they become averse to samsara and resort to spirituality, which leads them to the final beatitude.
The story of Rantideva, though small in size, is great in the awakening it arouses. Rantideva had remained without food or drink for forty days. When he luckily got something to eat and drink, he started taking them when a Brahmin appeared as a guest. Rantideva offered half of what he had. Then a Shudra in dire hunger came and begged for food, when Rantideva gave away half of what he then had. A little later, a pack of dogs appeared on the scene and he parted with what remained with him. Again all of a sudden, a Chandala came in crying, “Can't anybody quench my thirst and save my life? ” Hearing this, Rantideva gave him drinking water, the only thing still left with him. Gods were immensely pleased and appeared in their own forms before Rantideva. They told him that all that happened earlier was only to test him and his capacity to withstand difficulties. Rantideva did not feel tempted to ask them for any boon for himself and, with deep devotion for Narayana ever in his heart, attained salvation. The uncommon sacrifice made by Rantideva indicates his sense of courage and his large-heartedness towards his fellow-beings. That at the time of his dire need, he did not ask for any boon from Brahma and others clearly shows that he performed his duties, without expecting any fruits thereof.
The Kuchelopakhyana occurs in the latter part of the tenth skandha. Kuchela and Krishna were classmates. Both, when young, studied at the feet of their master Sandipani. That Krishna, though the Lord of the Universe Himself, went to a Guru to study indicates the fact that he did so for the benefit of the mankind, as a whole. Kuchela also stated the above truth in so many words when he addressed Krishna. Krishna saw Kuchela approaching Him in His palace and suddenly sot up from His bed, ran towards Kuchela and offered him all the honour due to a royal guest. Later, they began reminiscing on the episodes and anecdotes of the days when they both were pupils in Sandipani’s school and Pothana depicts these incidents in quite a natural way. When Krishna asked him what he had brought as a gift to his classmate and friend, Kuchela felt a little ashamed to offer the parched rice which he brought in small quantity. With an idea to bestow on Kuchela all the wealth which even Indra and others could not dream of, Krishna Started eating a handful of the parched rice, hid in a corner of his soiled cloth, all the time relishing its taste. When he took the second handful, Rukmini obstructed Krishna telling Him that to make Kuchela wealthy, one handful was quite enough. The transparent moral of this story is that God will always be satisfied with any offering, either a leaf, a flower, a fruit or a little amount of water, if that offering was made in a sincere way and with love.
Similarly, God will never be satisfied even when precious things are offered, if the persons making such offerings are not sincere. Though Kuchela came all the way, at the instance of his wife, to ask Krishna for some money or wealth, he did not talk anything about that at all. But Krishna knew the purpose of Kuchela’s visit and gave him all the wealth. This only proves the popular belief that God will look after the welfare of the devotees and one need not ask for it. If some devotee is not blessed with wealth, it may’ perhaps be due to the possibility of his going astray, becoming blind to his duties as a devotee because of wealth and thus not reaching Him ultimately, and not to the want of bestowing His grave on the deserved. Kuchela was rolling in wealth afterwards: yet he never desired the pleasures for pleasures’ sake. His faith in the Lord was steady and unchangeable. Thus meditating on Him, he attained salvation. This story confirms the greatness of Kuchela in all respects. In this story, Kuchela and Krishna are the Jivatma and Paramatma respectively. There is an identity between them. By entering Samsara, Brahman becomes Jiva. Jiva, after entering the ‘earthen’ body, begins to feel that he knows very little and that he is devoid of Aishvarya. When Jiva becomes a samsarin, he identifies himself with intellect and thus forgets his real nature and loses contact with Ishvara.
The Upakhyanas mentioned above are from the portions written by Pothana, in the Bhagavatha. The important Upakhyanas of Jada Bharata, Markandeya, Ajamila and Chitraketu are found in the portions written by the other poets of Bhagavatha. The story of Jada Bharata illustrates that a person takes in the next birth the form which he had always contemplated at the time of his death, that by the worship of the Lord, one can get to know the wisdom and the knowledge of his previous births, and that one must get rid of all his sins before one can attain salvation. ‘Even a fallen man or a sinner can wash away all his faults and shortcomings, if he repeats the name of the Lord. Again if one sincerely repeats for his past misdeeds, he will be saved’ — these ideas emanate from the story of Ajamila. The story of Chitraketu demonstrates clearly the nature of births and deaths and the way all living beings behave as previously destined by God, that by learning and seeking advice from the wise one can get at the truth, that there is no difference between Shiva and Keshava and finally, that one should not laugh at the way of the holy elders which would surely bring degradation. The Markandeya Upakhyana speaks of the fact that by doing penance one can retain the grace of God, and by such grace one can conquer not only old age, sickness, etc. but even death. On the whole, all the stories and Upakhyanas in Bhagavatha deal convincingly with the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth.
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