Book 1, Section 172 lists seven streams
of water: Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati, Vithashtha, Sarayu, Gomati and Gandaki. It
also states that Ganga is known as Alakananda in the celestial sphere and
Vaitarini in the ancestral sphere.
The story of Tapati
suggests that the illuminator of the universe is Vivaswat who is also called
Surya and Tapana. He has a son called Savitru and a daughter called Tapti. This
is interesting because the sun is known by several names which includes Surya, Savitru,
Vivaswat and Aditya. The root words savitru
stands for "illuminating" and tapana (tap) stands for "heat" or "ardor" (also the root word
for tapas).
One statement in the
story of Vasishta: “When someone with
power to prevent a crime being committed does not prevent it, he is also
tainted by that crime”. Another statement in Section 197: “Morality is subtle. We do not know its
course”.
There is an interesting
discussion about whether a woman is allowed to have five husbands. In the
original episode, Arjuna marries Draupadi during his lonely travel. When he comes home and
wants to surprise his mother and calls for her, Kunti is busy and says
“whatever it is, share with your brothers”! Kunti is surprised when she finds out what the surprise
is, but it is too late. Kunti’s words have to be honored
even though she said it without knowing the situation. It is interesting
that everyone’s opinion was asked on how to resolve this dilemma, except that of
Draupadi.
As the story goes, in a
previous life, Draupadi had asked Lord Mahadeva to bless her with a husband
like the Lord himself. She kept asking again and again, in fact, FIVE times.
Therefore, her marriage to five husbands was preordained!
Vyasa’s explanation is
that Lord Narayana came down to earth as Balarama and Krishna and Shri Devi was
born as Draupadi from the sacrificial altar. She was preordained to marry five
Indras’s of previous eons who were incarnate in the Pandavas. The word preordained
is repeated in several places.
We learn that Yudhistra
thught that it will be impossible to win a war with the Kauravas because of the
presence of Bhishma, Drona, Kripa and Karna on their side due to loyalty. That
is why he wanted Arjuna to go and get celestial weapons during the period of
their vanavasa (stay in the forest).
He uses this argument to calm down Bhima and Arjuna (also, moral on timing of actions
and preparations).
In the section where
Arjuna and Ulupi meet, Arjuna says among other things: “Virtue (dharma) is superior to the body and
remains long after the body is gone”. Also, some statements which I interpret
to mean: “Keeping a promise and a pledge is a virtue. We encounter several
situations in life where our duties and morals come into conflict. Each one has
an acceptable solution. Do not be rigid”. Dharma is not a rigid concept in the
Vedic tradition unlike western ideas of ethics and morals. It will be difficult
to write a law book based on the Vedas! Rigid codification seems to be a
product of the western traditions and Greek logicians.
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