Freud's Mahabharata by Hiltebeitel Alf;

Author:Hiltebeitel, Alf;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2018-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Aravāṉ as Irāvat in the Sanskrit Mahābhārata

Aravān is known without Kālī in the Sanskrit Mahābhārata, where he is called Irāvat, a name that cannot be derived from any word for “snake,” but may possibly be derived from Sanskrit iḍā: the oblatory substance of the sacrifice, which participants consume in common and may vie for in seeking to reap the sacrifice’s fecund benefits.17 Irāvat is the only child born from a brief union of Arjuna and the serpent maiden Ulūpī, and he dies fighting on the eighth day of the Mahābhārata war. The text has only those two segments that concern Irāvat: the stories of his conception and his death on the war’s eighth day. The first can always be counted on as known or implied, but only the second remains a prominent part of his story in the two cults, with much added. I first tell the text’s story of Irāvat’s conception, which only provides background, since his name is not even mentioned in it.

Once the Pāṇḍavas marry Draupadī and Yudhiṣṭhira has been crowned,18 they establish themselves in their new half of the kingdom at Indraprastha.19 Soon, the sage Nārada “by chance arrived.”20 He sees the Pāṇḍavas sitting on five thrones with one queen. Once Draupadī has left the room, he tells the five an upākhyāna, or “side-story,” to impress them with the need to avoid a breach among them. Two demons, Sunda and Upasunda, were safe in the boon that death could come to them only if they killed each other. But they did so over Tilottamā, a femme fatale whom the celestial architect had fashioned at the gods’ bidding to Śrī-like perfection—from diamonds and all the world’s most beautiful things21—to tempt the pair to fight. Having heard this side-story, the Pāṇḍavas make a compact: “Anyone who would see one of the others while he is sitting together with Draupadī must live in the forest for twelve years as a brahmacārin,” or celibate.22 We soon learn that “sitting together” is a euphemism for having sex.23

After a “long time,” a Brahmin comes crying to Arjuna that thieves have stolen his cows; unless the thieves are caught and his cows returned, it will be a rebuke to Pāṇḍava rule. Arjuna says, “Don’t fear,” but faces a dilemma: the Pāṇḍavas’ weapons are “where Dharmarāja Yudhiṣṭhira was with Krishnā [Draupadī].” It would be great adharma, thinks Arjuna, for the king were he to overlook this. He convinces himself to face death in the forest to avoid adharma. “Having followed the king in entering,24 taking leave, grabbing his bow, delighted,” Arjuna “addressed the Brahmin, ‘Come quickly.’ ”25 Catching the thieves and returning the cows are easy, but upon his return Arjuna tells Yudhiṣṭhira, “The compact is completely overstepped by my seeing you. I will go dwell in the forest. That was surely the compact we made.”26 Yudhiṣṭhira, hearing this “disagreeable word unexpectedly,” tries to smooth things over: “What you did, O hero, in following my entry27 is not disagreeable. I forgive it entirely. It is not a transgression in my heart.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.