Mahabharata – 106

by 

Sankar Mukherjee

&

Dr Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya
                                   Aadivamsavatarana Parva

The strife between gods & demons has been ceaseless since time immemorial. It still continues.The gods sent Kacha on dangerous errand to the enemy camp of the demons.It was no less an adventure than that of say Jason. Jason had to bring the golden fleece & he was about to be killed. But Medea helped Jason to escape with the golden fleece. Jason married Medea & went back home being successful in his errand.Here Kacha did not go for any material wealth.He went to learn the art of  reviving the dead.He was assassinated over & over & again by the demons.But Devyani like Medea helped Kacha & revived him over & over again.Kacha proved his spiritual prowess & attained his object.Like Medea Devyani was also fond of Kacha.But Kacha looked upon Devyani as his sister. He bade her farewell & set out for home from the demesne of the demons after he had succeeded in his errand.This story distinguishes Indian aesthetics from western aesthetics. While the West excels in physical prowess, India is proud of its spiritual prowess.While the Western hero might not ignore the demands of lust,the hero of an eastern mythology is in control of lust.

Be that as it may when Kacha entered into heaven, his home district the joys of the gods knew no bound. Kacha had come back home having learned the mantra of reviving the dead Victory to him !The king of the gods, Indra at once left his throne & accompanied by numerous gods & goddesses embraced Kacha  at the very lion gate of heaven. The security guards did not ask for his passport. They also saluted Kacha. And Indra declared that henceforth Kacha would be deemed as a god & he should share all the offerings made to gods during the fire sacrifice.

Now the gods sat again in a conference & there the gods advised Indra to start a conflict with the demons with renewed vigour.Indra took the gods seriously & planned how to put the demons in disarray.