The one with bellyful of ‘and’s

There is an anecdote that is told about poet Kalidasa. It is widely accepted that he was highly inspired by the works of Vyasa and that he had great admiration for his predecessor. But, he was also very proud of his own accomplishments, especially, after he became famous.

Vyasa was considered so great that he was revered as a sage and even worshipped. There are a few temples, not many though, where the poet is the main deity. It is said that Kalidasa, one day, came across such a temple.

It is customary to worship deities in temples with suitable prayers which are either short stanzas of poem or even a phrase called a Mantra. Kalidasa was at a loss for a suitable Mantra to pray to Vyasa in the temple. So, he quickly made up one – “I pray to that one whose belly is filled with the conjunction ‘and’ (cakaara jaTharaaya namah)”. There was a dig in that prayer at the sage for using innumerable ‘and’s (ca) in his works. We find so many ‘and’s in works like Mahabharata, especially while listing many characters like the hundred sons of Dhritarashtra. Often poets use even nouns which do not add much meaning to the stanza. The need to stick to the meter of the poem demanded them.

Satisfied with his imaginative Mantra the poet was about to step out of the temple. At that moment he was accosted by a stranger. The visitor addressed Kalidasa. “I have heard a lot about you and I request you for a favour. Please make a small poem on today’s weather”. May be, he wanted to take the poem to the king nearby. That was no problem for Kalidasa. He quickly made one stanza and chanted it aloud to the visitor. The stranger listened to the poem and innocently asked, “why, I pray, the use of ‘and’s (cakaaram kimartham)?” Kalidasa was dumbfounded by the unexpected question. True, there were three or four ‘and’s in a stanza of four lines. He realized that the stranger was none other than Vyasa trying to drive a point. Vyasa wanted Kalidasa to realize that there was no surprise that the long poems, like Mahabharata of a hundred thousand stanzas especially with hundreds and thousands of characters, contained very many conjunctions.

It is said that Kalidasa fell at the feet of Vyasa and asked for forgiveness.

The birth of Parasurama

We have briefly narrated the story of Parasurama (Rama with the axe as weapon) in Samskruthi. The following is the interesting story of his birth as told by Krishna to Yudhishthira as they traveled to meet Bhishma lying on his bed of arrows.

There was a king by name Kusika (kuSika), a descendant of Yayati in the lunar dynasty. He had a son by name Gathi (gaathi). The latter had a daughter by name Satyavati.

Rceeka was a Brahmin who was a descendant (great grandson) of the famous sage, Bhrigu. This Bhrigu was one of the sons of Brahma, the creator. Gaathi married his daughter, Satyavati, to Rceeka acknowledging the powers from meditation of the young Brahmin. The sage was pleased with the devotion he received from him wife and wanted to bless her with a son. He made an offering in fire by chanting suitable Mantras and gave the left over (Caru) to his wife. He told her. “You partake this and you shall be blessed with a son with great meditative powers”.

As was the life style in those days, his mother-in-law, Satyavati, was also young enough to bear children. Rceeka wanted to pay tribute to his mother-in-law through a similar reward. The sage prepared a separate Caru by invoking different Mantras this time and gave it to his wife, saying, “you take this to your mother. She shall, in due course, beget a child who will become a powerful warrior of great repute”. The obedient wife did accordingly.

But, Satyavati must have thought that Rceeka had used a better recipe in preparing the Caru for his wife and cleverly interchanged hers with that of her daughter. The two ladies soon got in the family way.

Rceeka observed his wife one day and remarked. “I can see just looking at your belly that you are going to give birth to a son full of valour. He will rise to the rank of a world renowned warrior by waging several great wars and cruel killings. He will have none of the composure (satva guna) of a Brahmin. There must have been some mix up. I have no doubt about it. How did this happen?”.

Satyavati was perplexed and approached her mother. She finally got the secret of the exchange from her mother and reported that to Rceeka. She pleaded with her husband. “I have no role in this exchange. Kindly forgive me. I do not want a warrior son. You have the powers to change the whole world. Please give me a son who will be more like you. ”

Rceeka thought for a while and said. “I cannot nullify the effect of the powerful Caru. But, I can keep its action pending. Let it be your grandson who will be born with the effect of the Caru”.

Viswamitra

Sage Gathi soon got a son by name Viswamitra. He became a great sage in due course and rose to the rank of a Vedic seer. The most famous of the Mantras, the Gayatri of the sun (Savita), is attributed to Viswamitra. Every time it is chanted the name of the sage (Rishi) is remembered as Viswamitra, the son of Gathi (Gathino Viswamitrah rishih). Viswamitra is also referred often as the descendant of Kusika (kauSika viSwamitra).

The birth of Jamadagni and Parasurama

Satyavati gave birth to Jamadagni who became a reputed sage in time. Jamadagni married Renuka who gave birth to the celebrated Parasurama. We have already learnt many of the pursuits of Parasurama.

We know how closely linked is the main story of Mahabharata with that of the powerful Rama with the axe.