Saturday, June 16, 2012

Sanatan relationships through Ages - Sat to Kali

"किं भ्राता सद्यद् अनाथं भवति? किमु स्वसा यत् निरऋतिः न गच्छात्" - यमी (ऋग्वेद)
For the benefit of my fellow Sanatanis , let me give a context to this sentence quoted. This is what Yami said to her brother Yam or Yamraj as we know him. They were siblings. For the uninitiated in Sanskrit, this when translated into english would mean..What is (the use of) brother, who keeps me "Anaath (Uncovered/Unprotected)?" What is (meaning of being) Svasaa who cannot even follow her drive?"


Now puzzled as everyone is, let me explain the context through the usage of word 'Svaasa' . Yami refers to herself as "Svasu". स्वान् सरति इति स्वसा. One who imitates (अपभ्रंष for Anusarana which means to behave in accordance to) her "own" (in hindi "Apne"). जो अपनों का अनुसरण करती हैं वह स्वसा. Here, it means one who cohabits with one's kin is svasaa.


It simply means, yami wanted to cohabit with Yamraj and he refused thus earning the sobriquet of 'Dharamraj' . What it also means that It was not uncommon for siblings to engage in fornication & thus the refusal of 'Yam' surprises & hurts 'Yami'. It is hereafter that a fertile sibling was referred to as "brother" or "sister" and was off limits for procreation. Relationship with a fertile sibling got a "name". 


This shows evolution of man.It also means that our sages were indeed truthful & brave to write, mention the trials and tribulation as a society that we went through. they have recorded the 'Yug Dharma' as it changed over the years.Greatest of the warriors & one of the most learned mind 'Pitamaha Bhishma' said the following in 'Shanti parva' .. dialogues between him and Dharmaraj Yudhsthir


न चैषां मैथुनो धर्मो बभूव भरतर्षभ
संकल्पादेवैतेषां अपत्यं उपपद्यते - 37


ततः त्रेतायुगेकाले संस्पर्शात् जायते प्रजान
ह्य भूः मैथुनो धर्मस्तेषां अपि जनाधिप - 38


द्वापरे मैथुनो धर्म प्रजानां भवन्नृपःतथा
कलियुगे राजन द्वन्द्व मापेदिरे जनाः - 39

"In satya yuga, intercourse happened as desire arose in minds of fertile men and women. There were no words for mother, father, sibling etc. In Treta Yuga, when men and women touched each other and welcomed the touch, dharma allowed them to copulate for time-being. (this is stage where concept of "favourite" mate started emerging). IN Dwapara Yuga, Men and women started cohabiting as couples but not as stable and committed pair-bonding couples. In Kali Yuga, the stable pair-bonding (what we refer to as institution of marriage) emerged."


Also remember what Sutaji said to Sage Saunak while he narrated 'Garud Puran' at naimisaaran teerth.
Lord Vishnu's eight incarnation was Rishab dev, the son of Naabhi & Meru devi. This incarnation he set the norms of 'Grihastha Ashram' which became the guidelines for Dharmis. It also essentially means that Sanatan Dharmis had moved beyond the male - female relationships & it became imperative to lay down some rules for their dealing with each other. 



This is the time when you see the use of the word, 'Sahodar' meaning lived in the same womb.In fact Garud purana is a treasure trove of our history along with other Purana. It also brings out the story of Brahama & his 10 'Manapsputra' .


The story of Daksha prajapati , After being reborn in the clan of 'Dhruv' the child worshiper of Lord Vishnu post the curse of Lord Shiva.Daksha was born to Prachetraas & Merisha. He married the beautiful Asikni, daughter of Viran and had 60 beautiful daughters & 1000 sons in the begining. Then a brahmachari Naarada appears and counsels them about economy. This discourse of Narada found in Harivamsha is first of its kind in human history which talks about economics and necessity to keep numbers less and spread across different regions for efficient utilization of resources without burdening the earth.


Those 1000 sons agreed with Narada and scattered in all directions looking for the circumference of the earth and settled in distant lands, never to return. Seeing that children are gone, Prajapati and Asikini gave birth to 1000 more kids who also spread in all directions like their predecessors. This not only shows expansion of aryans all over earth from here, but also shows how certain individuals by sacrificing their primal drives earned knowledge and respect from rest. So it also settles the nonsensical Aryan invasion theory.


"Thus this prajapati system resulted in 3 important changes in humans and dharmiks.
1. Emergence of Gotras
2. Tendency to spread out and colonize other lands
3. Tendency of few to indulge in Brahmacharya willingly.


Our memories have stories when there were no "names" for relations. Only relation was that between a fertile man and woman. In fact here have been references to The references of free cohabitation, sibling cohabitation, offering one's "stri (woman)" to friend OR guest" (Kindly note that the word "patni" had not evolved), references towards intercourse with alive and dead animals, intercourse with wife of one's guru, cohabitation with multiple males, temporary cohabitation, contract marriage all these are mentioned in Puranas & is the history of Indic people."You can also add Shiva's Aasakti on Mohini & the chase. Subsequently the birth of Harihara.


Here we have stories of Brahmadeva and his daughter Sandhya indulging in coitus in beginning of time. There are many stories as such. This may sound incestous to today's minds but the fact that we all originated from Brahma &  his 10 manasputras.


Later as man graduated to social hunter-gatherer, we slowly see emergence of matriarchal identities. There was yet no need for an offspring to be identified by its father as no one was sure who the father was. But one was sure about one's mother. Here we see the categories of people referring to themselves  as sons Daanav or Daitya as per their mother's name. Even during the younger days Arjun refers to himself as 'Kaunteya' (meaning Son of Kunti) & Karan refers to himself as 'Radheya'. These were the end days perhaps as Bhishma mentioned, quoted above.


All these are "स्त्री   of Prajapati" but none of the offsprings are identified by father's name & that is logical considering the Prajapati's responsibility was to populate the earth & thus cohabiting or having intercourse with many women. The fact that the necessity arose to have some "clan name" also shows evolution of man into higher level of social organization. The evolution seen from Indian scriptures from early human to modern human is somewhat as follows.

"Alpha male system (one dominant male owing all females in clan) >> many males many females cohabiting together without defined pair bonding >> many males and many females of same lineage cohabiting together without defined pair-bonding >> one male cohabiting with multiple females of same lineage AND one female cohabiting with multiple males of same lineage >> multiple females cohabiting with with one male of different lineage (emergence of Gotra system)."


Out of 60 daughters, Daksha prajapati gave 14 to Sage kashyap Aditi, Diti, Danu, Kala, Anayu, Sinhika, Muni, kadru, Saadhya, Ira, Vinta, Surabhi & Khaga. remember the Danavs or Rakshas are sons of Danu & Kashyap. They did not descend from anywhere, they were brahmins, may be following their own set of rituals which later on became unacceptable. It is interesting to note that Aditi's sons were called AAdityas, Diti gave birth to two 'Daityas', Hiranyakshyapu & Hiranyaksha. Prahalad was 3rd son of Hiranyashyapu. Similarly offsprings of Danu called themselves 'Daanav'. Note the lineage from Mother.

Considering our Puranas record the history till Maurya dynasty & Chandragupta being 126 generation from Mahabharat (Fought between grandsons of Ved Vyas - Kaurav/Pandav) , I being of Parashar gotra (meaning born of Sage parashar, father of Ved Vyas), will fall to 225th generation from Mahabharat (Every generation being 25 years average.


As mentioned by Kal Chiron in his blog too, Emperor Janamejaya was justly shaken and expressed horror and disgust at earlier stories of copulating siblings, parent-offspring duos, parent-siblings with offsprings along with others. Rishi Vaishampayana replied, "Oh king, in those ancient times, that was the yuga-dharma"


So let me ask you again what Yudhisthir asked Bhishma & later asked by Janamejaya (Son of Parikshit), What is Dharma?


Continuation of pursuit & acceptance of history , the way Ved Vyas did without shame & embarrassment even though co habitant had started in Dwapar & Gotra system was established with certain relationships with certain women off limits. Still what stands out is Draupdi marrying all the 5 brothers. The practice was not prevalent but was in the memory as stories from grand father's times.


Bhishma also said O, King, just as the foot of an elephant covers every other foot, so does Rajdharma cover every aspect of Dharma, in all conditions, (chap.63/25). Among all Dharmas, Rajdharma is supreme, as it provides nourishment to people of all Varnas (professions). Rajdharma encompasses all sacrifices. The sages, since ancient period, praise sacrifice as the best form of Dharma, (63/27). The Sanatan Dharma got destroyed hundreds of time, but (each time) it was redeemed and spread again by Kshatra-dharma. In every age, Kshatra-dharma has to be active. Therefore, Kshatra-dharma is the best in the world, (64/26). Sages praise sacrifice or renunciation, but the greatest sacrifice is that of the kings who lay down their body in fulfillment of their Raj-dharma, (65/3).


Bhishma also said that 'Kama' is the जननी (mother) of all 'purushaasrtha'. may be that is the reason that Abrahamic memes have woven around norms to control 'kama' through control of women. Since X'tianity reformed itself, it has moved beyond but Islam's power structure is such that change is difficult till such time women rise against it & free themselves.

Lessons for Indian politicians & hair brained anglophiles who read Tsu-tiyapanti books & hold on Machiavelli as some sort of christ of real politic. Yes Raj Dharma defines to "Yug Dharma" too. So if the kings desired to have population, they did that.

Let me go back to the root of it all. The root is 'Sanatan' . the word itself can be broken down to Sat -anant or as some bifurcate it as, Sat + Aa + Tan.The meaning is, 'Pursuit since Sat' . Wherin Sat can be construed as Satyug or Truth. So the continuity of civilization is the 'Dharma'


Quotes from Kaal Chiron's brilliant blog article on evolution of marriage.. Consider it an extension,addition of the thoughts he initiated..



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