Mahabharata – 114

by 

Sankar Mukherjee

&

Dr Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya
                                   Aadivamsavatarana Parva

Conversation between Devyani & Yayati

Devyani along with Sarmishtha the daughter of the demon king & two thousand maids went to the forest to pass the time in merry making & fun.There was a chance meeting of Yayati with Devayani & her maid of royal line Sarmishtha.Yayati & Devyani introduced each other. After a short  & pleasant conversation  Yayati wanted to take leave of Devyani.

Devyani replied --- 'With my two thousand young girls  & my personal maid Sarmishtha, I wait for  your commands. You are blessed with good fortune & you be my friend & husband.'

Yayati replied, Oh Beautiful One! I do not deserve to become your husband. You are the daughter of a Brahamin & I am a Kshatriya. Therefore your father cannot bestow you upon me.It is not logical. As per the scriptures --- never make love with the wife of others. The bride & the bridegroom must not belong to the same gotra or the same family line. Never marry the daughter in law. Never marry a beggar – woman. Don’t marry your sister or brother. Never marry the woman of a higher caste. Marrying a prostitute is sacrilege. One must not marry a diseased person. 

To this Devayani replied, 'Brahmanas had before this been united with the Kshatriyas, and Kshatriyas with Brahmanas.You are the son of a Rishi and you yourself are a Rishi. Therefore marry me.

 Yayati, replied, 'Oh Devyani! the four orders have, indeed, originated from one body. But their duties and purity are not the same, the Brahmana being truly superior to all.

Devayani answered,Oh king! Once a man holds the hand of a woman the man can not refuse the woman.Therefore,do I accept you as my husband.How shall any other man touch my hand which has been  touched by yourself earlier.And you are a Rishi!

It seems that Devyani alludes to the earlier episode in which Devyani was thrown into a well by Sarmishtha the daughter of the demon king & right now who is a maid of Devyani.Devyani was rescued from the well by Yayati.So Devyani may have  an a  priori tender love & respect for Yayati.

Yayati then said ---  The wise know that a Brahmana is  to be avoided.If you are between  a snake & a Brahamin avoid the Brahamin first.An angry Brahamana is more dangerous than an angry snake of virulent poison.An angry Brahamin is more fearsome than a blazing fire of the spreading flames.

We have already seen how the angry Brahamin Sukracharya wreaked disastour in the fortunes of Sarmishtha the daughter of the demon king.

Devayani then told the king.Why do you, indeed, say that a Brahmana is more dangerous than an angry snake of virulent poison or a blazing fire of spreading flames? Yayati answered, The snake kills only one. The sharpest weapon kills but a single person. The Brahmana, when angry destroys the whole city and the kingdom!

This is very much true in puranic society.Towards the end of the Ramyana Ram sat in secret conference with Kala or Time.Kala said  that no third person should come when they would talk to each other.Rama posted Lakshamana at the gate so that no one could enter Rama’s private chamber when he would be conferring with Kala.While Rama was busy talking to Kala Durvasa showed up.And Lakshmana could not stop him.Because if Durvasa the Brahaman were angry he might burn the whole kingdom of Ayodhya.

  Yayati said to Devyani ---  Oh Beautiful One!, I think that  a Brahmana is more dangerous than a snake. I cannot hence wed you, unless your father bestows you upon me. Devayani then said, you are, indeed, chosen by me. And, O king, it is understood that you will accept me if my father bestows me unto you. You need not  fear to accept me bestowed  upon you. You do not, indeed, ask for me.You please wait for sometime here. And Devayani quickly sent a maidservant to her father.

Yayati in his conversation alludes to the Vedas. Yayati is right when he posits that according to the Vedas all the four castes sprang from the same body but there by   in our opinion it is not proved that the Brahamins are superior to all other castes. Intercaste marriage has been a taboo in Hindu society for thousands of years. This has not been beneficial for the Hindu society. Exogamy invokes multi culturalism. No one should be pent up in the castle of one’s culture.The caste system as practiced today stands in the way of ones expansion of outlook.Expansion is life & contraction is death.By the by the Mahabharata has seen intercaste & intercultural marriage over & over again.