Mahabharata

Published on 30th January, 2022, in Mid-day. The maternal uncle plays a very important role in Hindu scriptures. He is called the ‘Maama’. He is the brother who visits his sister’s house during the rakhi festival. She visits his house during Bhai Dooj, the final day of Diwali. He watches over her welfare. It is an acknowledged phenomenon in Hindu families. In Purana, mountains are considered brothers of rivers. Many stories in the great Indian epics such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata involve maternal uncles. Ram’s maternal uncle is Kausalya’s brother. In some versions of the tale, it is said that Dashrata, king of ..

Published on 2nd January, 2022, in Mid-day. There are two big mysteries in Hindu mythology. One, why does Kaikai ask Ram to be exiled only for 14 years? Two, why does Duryodhan demand that the Pandavas be exiled only for 13 years? Why did Kaikai not ask for Ram's permanent exile? Or why did Duryodhan not ask for the permanent exile of the Pandavas? Why was the exile in the Ramayana and Mahabharata for a fixed tenure and not permanent? The answer may lie in the idea that, in Indian thought, nothing can be permanent. The only thing that has permanence is the soul or ..

Published on 14th March, 2021, in Mumbai Mirror. The Bhil Bharata is a tribal version of the Mahabharata. There is much it shares with the classical Sanskrit Mahabharata. However, when it comes to women, it has an altogether different take. In this retelling, Goddess Shakti takes the form of an eagle and impales herself on the trident of the seven sages. From its bones is born Gandhari, the mother of the Kauravas. From its flesh and blood, is born Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas. One night the Pandavas discover the true nature of their mother Kunti. They find the gods, including Indra, coming down ..

"When Might Is Right: Seeing Mahabharata from the Point of View of the Forest." Published on 6th March, 2021, in The Economic Times. Hindu philosophy makes no sense without appreciation of the constant comparison of the forest (aranya) with settled communities (grama). This division begins with the Sama Veda. Since the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata were meant to propagate Vedic values, it is not surprising that forests play a key role in both epics. It is the place where princes go to when in exile; it is where they encounter sages, demons, animals and all kinds of strange creatures. A study of the Mahabharata makes ..

Published on 21st June, 2020, in Mid-day. In Vedic mythology we hear how the Ashwin Kumars were unsuitable gods, not allowed to partake the Soma offering. To get the offering, they approached Dadichi, who said that if he chanted the verses, then his head would split into a thousand pieces. So, the Ashwins replaced Dadichi's head with that of a horse. With the horse head, Dadichi made the offering. Dadichi's horse head split into a thousand pieces, but Ashwins, rich with Soma, replaced the head. Ashwins were now suitable gods, one of the 33, always cheerful, saving people from shipwrecks and rescuing children thrown in ..

Published on 26th January, 2020, in Mid-day Badrinath and Kedarnath are two major centres of pilgrimage in Uttarakhand; both are shut during winter months. Both centres are closely associated with Adi Shankara, the scholar who revived Vedic scholarship, about 1,200 years ago. He was the one who identified pilgrim spots and connected intellectual Hinduism (gyana marga) with emotional Hinduism (bhakti marga). Along with Gangotri and Yamunotri, the traditional sources of the Ganga and Yamuna rivers, Badrinath and Kedarnath form the choti-char-dham, or the minor four-point pilgrimage. Badrinath, Kedarnath and the entire hilly region of Garhwal are linked to the epic Mahabharata. It is here that ..

Who is a Hindu? Published on 29th September, 2019, in Mumbai Mirror In the Vedas, there are references to many kings (raja) and to their poet-priests (rishi). Their stories are elaborated in the Puranas. There is a gap of two thousand years between the Vedas and the Puranas, and clearly much is lost in transmission. But it does not matter to the faithful. In the Rig Veda, we hear of how King Sudas, son of Divodasa, of the Bharata tribe, chooses Vasistha as his poet-priest angering Vishwamitra who raises a confederacy of ten tribes, including the Puru, the Anu, the Druhyu, the Yadu and the ..

Published on 28th June, 2019, in Economic Times One of the key principles in Hindu mythology is the idea of rebirth. It means that no child is born on earth with a clean slate. He comes to the world with debt (rinn). This debt is of various kinds. We owe debt to our ancestors. Because they gave birth to us, we owe our ancestors the production of the next generation. We are indebted to our ancestors for our legacy and the lineage that we come from and we inherit the obligations that come with them. We owe debts to the gods and so, we must ..

Published on 21st April, 2019, in Mid-day. To understand Hindu mythology, it is critical to understand the metaphor of forests. Forests represent the default wild world, where might is right, where strong prey on the weak; while culture represents the world, where the forest has been domesticated, where might is no longer right, and the strong take care of the weak. In fact, the transformation of human settlements into civilisations is seen as the journey from the desire to dominate and be territorial, like an animal, to a space where the mighty help the meek and even the helpless can thrive. Thus, we find the ..