Mahabharata – 79

by 

Sankar Mukherjee

&

Dr. Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya
                                            Aadivamsavatarana Parva

The fisher men caught quite a big fish.They were surprised to find a boy & a girl leaping forth from the stomach of the fish.Now the fisher men went to the king Uparichara & told him the whole story.They took the boy & the girl to the king.The king adopted the boy.But he asked the fishermen to adopt the girl.

Time went by.The little girl attained her youth.She had world winning beauty.But she had the bad odour of a fish.

Once upon a time the great sage Parashara in course of his pilgrimage came to the river Yamuna. And there he found the youthful lady who had leaped from the stomach of the aforesaid fish. She was rowing a boat. In fact she was a ferry woman who used to help passengers to cross the river. And now Parashara boarded on the boat. The celestial lady in human body struck Parashara. The all knowing sage immediately saw into the mystery of her birth. She was earlier a celestial woman made in the image of a few sages who lived in the Pitriloka. But she was not aware of that. She thought that one king Vasu was her father. Vasu was the son of Manu. This was the fault for which she fell from her celestial abode. There is a legitimation. If one knowingly or unknowingly disowns his /her father one must fall from grace. Parashara said --- “Your fathers visited you in three celestial air crafts. But they were so small that you could not espy them. You cried Oh Father! Your fathers blessed you at that time & explained that you must not be scared. There after you pleased your fathers. And the fathers told that it was you who were responsible for your fault earlier. You had many extra sensory powers. Now they are no longer with you. Gods have different bodies than those of the human. They expiate the sins with the aid of that body presently only. But men have to transmigrate into fresh body to expiate the sins.”Parashara added that she was destined to beget three sons – one by Parashara himself & the other two by Santanu the great king of Hastinapur.

Consequently the sage Parashara himself became excited to co - habit with the ferry woman in the boat itself. But she in all her womanly humility & shyness protested. She said that the sages on the shore could espy her mingling with Parashara. But Parashara pointed out that there would be no passenger at that time. He would see to that the rowing of the boat must not be difficult. And Parashara created a mist enveloping himself & the ferry woman who was originally a faery. The co - habiting over the ferry woman who was exceedingly beautiful wanted that the bad odour of her body should be removed. Parashara blessed her & at once the odd fishy smell about her was done away with. Her fragrance became as pleasent as that of a lotus & it drowned the environment for miles together.Earlier she introduced herself as Matsyagandha.But now she became Padmagandha or one who has the fragrance of lotus. She was also hence forth known as Yojanagandha or one whose fragrance covers miles together. The boat went across the river. Parashara reaching the other shore of the river blessed the lotus smelling boat woman & bade her good bye !  

Presently a male child was born to the beautiful & fragrant lady in an island or dvipa. So his name became Dvaipayana. He was grown up immediately. He asked for leave of her mother to devote himself to penance. He ,however, assured her mother that whenever his mother would seek him he would show up before her mother in no time.

Dvaipyana was no other person than Vedavyasa. He found that with the passage of time the impact of religion was waning. The life expectancy of the people was becoming less & less. Hence out of compassion for the Brahmins & the people, he edited the Vedas & divided the same into four - Rigveda,Samaveda,Yajurveda & Atharvaveda. Hence he is known as Vyasa or Vedavyasa.

Thus the Mahabharata is a unique narrative that dwells on the very birth story of the author or the narrator.