Mahabharata – 169
by
Sankar Mukherjee
and
Dr Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya
Aadivamsavatarana Parva
Story of Dirghatama continued
Dirghatama was blind. His wife used to maintain him.One day his wife became very angry with him. She asked the children to throw him away into the waters. The children Gautama and others, tied Dirghatama to a raft and floated the raft away into the waves of the river Ganga,saying -- Why should we support this old man? They returned home without any compunction.
The blind old brahmin Dirghatama floating along the stream of the river Ganga on that raft, passed through numerous countries by god’s grace. One day a righteous king named Vali went to the Ganges to have a bath. And the virtuous king Vali saw the raft to which Dirghatama was
tied. And as it came near, the king rescued the old man from the raft.Then the king learned who the man was. He was none else than the great sage Dirghatama.The king had no issues.So the king requested Dirghatama to co habit with his wife the queen Sudeshna so that a son was born to him. Dirghatama agreed to the proposal. It appears that Dirghatama seems to have contradicted his legitimation that no wife should co habit with any male other than her husband. Or else it appears that a wife of a person can co habit with another person only
with the consent of the husband to the end of procreating a male child so that the family line continues.If we stretch this legitimation a little far, then we can say that the husband at whose command the wife who goes for so called prostitution is never in the wrong. Be that as it may, the king Vali asked his wife the queen to go to Dirghatama’s bed. But she did not feel like sharing the bed with a blind and old brahmin. So she sent her sudra maid to share the bed with Dirghatama. Consequently the palace of king Vali became blithe with the noise of eleven babies. Cheerfully the king Vali exclaimed that they were his children. But Dirghatama said no to it. They were Dirghatama’s children. How come? Dirghatama told that the queen did not turn up at the bed. Instead a maid came to him when he was abed. As per the tradition in the days of the Mahabharata if a wife goes to another person for mating, with the consent of the husband, the children thereof will belong to the husband and not to the other person who
mated with the wife. But it seems that if the maid of the wife goes to another person at the command of the wife the children thereof should belong to that other person not to the husband of the wife who sends her maid to lie with a man. King Vali was no doubt shocked at the behaviour of his wife. He sent his wife Sudeshna once again to Dirghatama. Dirghatama simply touched her and told her -- You shall have five children like the Sun himself in glory. They should be named respectively Anga, Vanga, Kalinga, Pundra and Suhma. And many countries shall be known on earth after their names.
The king’s wife became pregnant. She brought forth sons who should be acknowledged as the sons of king Vali. Dirghata ma’s prophecy came true.
Bhisma narrated this story of the past to illustrate how people can continue their family line by way of sending their women to other men. Thus in the past the lineage of king Vali was perpetuated, by a great sage. Apart from this, many mighty righteous archers and great chariot -warriors took birth as Kshatriya from the seed of Brahmanas.
Thus Anga established the country Anga,Banga established the country Banga.From Kalinga the country Kalinga,from Pundra the country Pundra and from Suhma the country Suhma came into being.
In the society today men who have political or economic or physical might, might exploit the weak and the poor. But in the days of the Mahabharata spiritual might has often been employed to physical and material ends.
It should be noted that the children by Dirghatama’s first wife Pradweshi included the great saint and philosopher Gautama who was perhaps the author of the Nyaya system.Dirghatama’s children by the second sudra wife included the sage Kakshivan.
by
Sankar Mukherjee
and
Dr Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya
Aadivamsavatarana Parva
Story of Dirghatama continued
Dirghatama was blind. His wife used to maintain him.One day his wife became very angry with him. She asked the children to throw him away into the waters. The children Gautama and others, tied Dirghatama to a raft and floated the raft away into the waves of the river Ganga,saying -- Why should we support this old man? They returned home without any compunction.
The blind old brahmin Dirghatama floating along the stream of the river Ganga on that raft, passed through numerous countries by god’s grace. One day a righteous king named Vali went to the Ganges to have a bath. And the virtuous king Vali saw the raft to which Dirghatama was
tied. And as it came near, the king rescued the old man from the raft.Then the king learned who the man was. He was none else than the great sage Dirghatama.The king had no issues.So the king requested Dirghatama to co habit with his wife the queen Sudeshna so that a son was born to him. Dirghatama agreed to the proposal. It appears that Dirghatama seems to have contradicted his legitimation that no wife should co habit with any male other than her husband. Or else it appears that a wife of a person can co habit with another person only
with the consent of the husband to the end of procreating a male child so that the family line continues.If we stretch this legitimation a little far, then we can say that the husband at whose command the wife who goes for so called prostitution is never in the wrong. Be that as it may, the king Vali asked his wife the queen to go to Dirghatama’s bed. But she did not feel like sharing the bed with a blind and old brahmin. So she sent her sudra maid to share the bed with Dirghatama. Consequently the palace of king Vali became blithe with the noise of eleven babies. Cheerfully the king Vali exclaimed that they were his children. But Dirghatama said no to it. They were Dirghatama’s children. How come? Dirghatama told that the queen did not turn up at the bed. Instead a maid came to him when he was abed. As per the tradition in the days of the Mahabharata if a wife goes to another person for mating, with the consent of the husband, the children thereof will belong to the husband and not to the other person who
mated with the wife. But it seems that if the maid of the wife goes to another person at the command of the wife the children thereof should belong to that other person not to the husband of the wife who sends her maid to lie with a man. King Vali was no doubt shocked at the behaviour of his wife. He sent his wife Sudeshna once again to Dirghatama. Dirghatama simply touched her and told her -- You shall have five children like the Sun himself in glory. They should be named respectively Anga, Vanga, Kalinga, Pundra and Suhma. And many countries shall be known on earth after their names.
The king’s wife became pregnant. She brought forth sons who should be acknowledged as the sons of king Vali. Dirghata ma’s prophecy came true.
Bhisma narrated this story of the past to illustrate how people can continue their family line by way of sending their women to other men. Thus in the past the lineage of king Vali was perpetuated, by a great sage. Apart from this, many mighty righteous archers and great chariot -warriors took birth as Kshatriya from the seed of Brahmanas.
Thus Anga established the country Anga,Banga established the country Banga.From Kalinga the country Kalinga,from Pundra the country Pundra and from Suhma the country Suhma came into being.
In the society today men who have political or economic or physical might, might exploit the weak and the poor. But in the days of the Mahabharata spiritual might has often been employed to physical and material ends.
It should be noted that the children by Dirghatama’s first wife Pradweshi included the great saint and philosopher Gautama who was perhaps the author of the Nyaya system.Dirghatama’s children by the second sudra wife included the sage Kakshivan.
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