Oru oorile oru raja

Kids throw tantrums. There are a few ways to handle it - shout them down, calm them down in nice words, bribe them with iPhone or Wii games or divert their attention. The last is probably the most effective because kids' attention span is so less but comes with boundless energy, it is just easier to deflect that energy than to confront it. I have one effective way of diverting a kid's attention - say "Once upon a time...". The tantrum stops and I get back the question: "Are you going to tell me a story now?..."

Whom doesn't a fairy-tale delight when begun with "Once upon a time there was a princess..."? But have we ever been tired of listening to "Once upon a time there was ..."? Upanishads recourse to hilite very powerful concepts of Brahman, Atman using stories like that of Nachiketas and Shvetaketu. Some stories like Panchatantra and Hitopadesha are very simple. Some stories, like modern soaps and mega-serials just try too hard to impress. All the wealth of the showtime industry is based on just one thing: people's willingness to give an ear to hear a story, isn't it? Whatever be the case, its hard to resist the tagline "Once upon a time...".

Once upon a time in India lived a poet called Bana Bhatta. He probably must have listened to "Once upon a time..." a thousand times and got tired of the same gag. So he starts his Kadambari with a stylish introduction:


आसीत् अशेष नरपति-शिर: समभ्यच्चित्त शासन: पाकशासन: इवापर: चतुरुदधि माला मेखलया भुवो भर्त्ता प्रताप अनुरागवानत समस्त सामन्तचक्र: चक्रवत्तिलक्षणोपेत: चक्रधर इव करकमलोपलक्ष्यमान शंखचक्र लाञ्छन: हर इव जितमन्मथ: गुह इवाप्रतिहतशक्ति: कमलयोनिरिव विमानीकृतराजहंसमण्डल: जलधिरिव लक्ष्मीप्रसूति: गङ्गाप्रवाह इव भगीरथपथप्रवृत्त: रविरिव प्रतिदिवसोपजायमानोदय: मेरुरिव सकलोपजीव्यमानपादच्छाय: दिग्गज इवानवरतप्रवृत्तदानाद्रीकृतकर: कर्त्ता महाश्चर्य्याणाम् आहर्त्ता क्रतूनाम् आदर्श: सर्वशास्त्राणाम् उत्पत्ति: कलानाम् कुलभवनम् गुणनाम् आगम:काव्यामृतरसानाम् उदयशैलो मित्रमण्डलस्य उत्पातकेतुरहितजनस्य प्रवर्त्तयिता गोष्ठीबन्धानाम् प्रत्यादेशो धनुष्मताम् धौरेय: साहसिकानाम् अग्रणीर्विदग्धानाम् वैनतेय इव विनतानन्दजनन: वैन्य इव चापकोटिसमुत्सारितसकलारातिकुलाचलो राजा शूद्रको नाम ।

आसीत् there was
अशेष नरपति-शिर: समभ्यच्चित्त शासन: bowed by all the kings without any exception
पाकशासन: इवापर: like a second Indra (Indra killed an asura named paaka, so he is called paakashaasana)
चतुरुदधि माला मेखलया भुवो भर्त्ता husband of the earth who is encircled by four oceans as a garland
प्रताप अनुरागवानत समस्त सामन्तचक्र: always in the company of warm-friendship of neighboring princes
चक्रवत्तिलक्षणोपेत: with the lakShaNa of a cakravarttI
चक्रधर इव करकमलोपलक्ष्यमान शंखचक्र लाञ्छन: like Vishnu, with a comparable lakShaNa of cakra and shaMkha(discus & conch) in the hands
हर इव जितमन्मथ: like Siva, the conquerer of manmatha
गुह इवाप्रतिहतशक्ति: like kaarttikeya, undefeated in might
कमलयोनिरिव विमानीकृतराजहंसमण्डल: like Brahma,
जलधिरिव लक्ष्मीप्रसूति: like the Ocean, who is the source of lakshmI
गङ्गाप्रवाह इव भगीरथपथप्रवृत्त: like Ganga, who followed Bhagiratha
रविरिव प्रतिदिवसोपजायमानोदय: like Sun, who rises freshly everyday
मेरुरिव सकलोपजीव्यमानपादच्छाय: like the Meru mountain, his foot honored by all living beings
दिग्गज इवानवरतप्रवृत्तदानाद्रीकृतकर: like the elephants, always a stream of generosity
कर्त्ता महाश्चर्य्याणाम् one who offers sacrifices
आहर्त्ता क्रतूनाम्
आदर्श: सर्वशास्त्राणाम् a mirror of all the Sastras (ie one who follows Sastras)
उत्पत्ति: कलानाम् a creator of all arts
कुलभवनम् गुणनाम् abode of virtue amongst his scion
आगम:काव्यामृतरसानाम् a spring of nectar of poetry
उदयशैलो मित्रमण्डलस्य the brightest sun among all the suns
उत्पातकेतुरहितजनस्य a comet to his enemies
प्रवर्त्तयिता गोष्ठीबन्धानाम् founder of poetic or literary societies
प्रत्यादेशो धनुष्मताम् a terror to archers
धौरेय: साहसिकानाम् chief among the brave men
अग्रणीर्विदग्धानाम् prominent among the wise
वैनतेय इव विनतानन्दजनन: like the Garuda who brought happiness to his mother
वैन्य इव चापकोटिसमुत्सारितसकलारातिकुलाचलो
राजा शूद्रको नाम a king called shUdraka.

The main point constitutes the beginning and end of the sentence -

"aasIt raajaa shUdrako naama - Once there was a king called Sudraka".

The rest forms the attributes of the king in complex samasa-s and beautiful alankara-s. This is a free translation and is bound to be inaccurate. I have even given up translating a few as the metaphors are just not translatable.

Thus goes Kadambari, a fascinating story, with multi-hierarchical-flashbacks, delightful puns and plot-twists and a fairy-tale ending with some of the longest sentences written in Sanskrita literature.

Notes:

I tried not naming this blog in Tamil, but I could not feel the effectiveness in any other language. "Oru oorile oru raja" roughly translates to "Once upon a time there was a King", "Ek gaon mein ek raaja thaa", "Ondu oorinalli ondu raja idda" etc. - Pick the one of your mother tongue that delights you the most!

Trivikrama Panditacharya

Anyone who scouts the streets of India to buy cheap reprint books, be it Mumbai Churchpark, Bangalore Jayanagar, Connaught Place in Delhi or Mount Road in Chennai, would surely have come across the hugely popular "A brief history of time" by Stephen Hawking. Although it contains several interesting theories, it had one dampening remark: "in modern times, to do something in Physics, one has to be already at the top". In other words, if one wants to make a name in Physics, one has to thoroughly know pretty much all fields - mechanics, thermodynamics, electricity, magnetism, optics, relativity, astronomy, cosmology, plus the word 'quantum' randomly prefixed to any of the above. If you create a new theory, there is just too much scrutiny from fellow Physicists waiting to fire-drill it.

Rewind to the period of 7th to 14th centuries in India. Europe may have been in dark ages, but not India. She was a cauldron of richness in physical, financial and intellectual wealth. Sanskrita literature was fluorishing with some of the greatest minds ever, each with their own sobriquets. On one hand were the dramatists and poets - be it Captain of similies Kalidasa, Word-player Dandin, Master-blaster of meanings Bhaaravi, All-rounder Magha, Word-machine Bana bhatta and more. On other hand were great aachaarya-s like Shankara, Ramanuja, Madhva and a host of others who are known more for their philosophies than for the  mastery of Sanskrita, that is taken for granted. If we look at only the religious meaning and not understand the beauty of the language handled by them, we will be missing something very important. The carrier is as compellingly fascinating as the content.

During these times, to be declared as a Pandita, one had to be knowledgeable in several fields - the four veda-s, all the six angas of veda (siksha, kalpa, nirukta, vyakarana, jyotisha, chandas) vedanta, nyaya, mimamsa, kavya, alankara and what-not. Just like the difficulty to be recognized in field of Physics these days, it would have been hard for one to be recognized as a kavi, let alone be called maha-kavi, vara-kavi, kavi-ratna, kavi-raja, kavi-sekhara, kavi-kesari and not the least kavi-kula-tilaka "the foremost among the society of poets".

One such luminary was Sri Trivikrama Panditacharya. You wont find his name mentioned among "Classical Sanskrita literature", but poets like him made significant contributions to the language. He was born near Mangalore to Subrahmanya Suri, around 13th century. His elder brother was Shankara Panditacharya. His son Narayana Panditacharya wrote the grantha sumadhva-vijaya, of which we saw one spectacular sloka earlier. Not for no reason Trivikrama Panditacharya holds the distinction of being called as kavi-kula-tilaka. Even as a young man he had written a maha-kavya called "Usha-haraNa". His mastery of Sanskrita seems to be inborn as can be seen from the following story:

Once a bhikshuka (beggar) came to his house for alms. As a boy, Trivikrama replied with the following sloka:

एक क्षपणक शाक कर्ता बहव: क्षपणक शाक दादा: ।
यत्र क्षपणक बहु शाकादा: तत्र क्षपणक शाक शाक ॥

eka kShapaNaka shaaka kartaa bahava: kShapaNaka shaaka daadaa: |
yatra kShapaNaka bahu shaakaadaa: tatra kShapaNaka shaaka shaaka ||

Meaning: Only one mendicant (his father) is the money-maker; Other mendicants (relatives) are there just to eat. Where there is one money-maker and many to eat, in that place what food are you really expecting?

In other words, we ourselves are like beggars, what are you begging us for?

Trivikrima Panditacharya became a disciple of Sri Madhvacharya following a 15-day debate in which the former accepted the superiority of Madhva's tattva-vada. His famous work is Harivayu stuti (a stuti on Sri Madhvacharya) which consits of spontaneously composed 41 slokas. It is in a fascinating meter (vritti) called sragdharaa (srak = garland, dharaa = wearing/moving). It has 21 syllables per quarter, with a pause after every 7th syllable, making it 84 syllables per sloka! Sri Vedanta Desikan has also handled this meter in his Tatva mukta kalaapam and Nyaya Vimsati. Kalidasa (abhijnana shaakuntalam) and Bhartrhari (trishataka) also have handled this meter.

Notes:

Source of the quoted sloka: Vayustuti Pravachana by Sri Vyasanakare Prabhanjanachar,

a

अ

If you observe the Sanskritized words in regional Indian languages, you can see specific modifications to word endings, which can usually identify the speaker's state orientation. Tamilians say rAman or kriShNA with a "an"-ending or elongation of a. In Telugu it becomes rAmudu. North Indians say it as rAm, with the last "a" disappearing altogether. Bengalis prounounce "a" with a tendency towards "o", so pArtha becomes pArtho, ajay becomes ajoy. But what is the correct pronounciation of अ itself in Sanskrita? What is the effort put to say अ ?

अथ शब्दानुशासनम् । This is how Panini begins his aShTaadhyaayI. His work revolves around word formations. Panini's work relies on earlier literature of Vedanga called शिक्ष or प्रतिशाख्य that deals with phonetics. Two factors influence production of each varNa: aasya (place of sound) आस्य and prayatna प्रयत्न (effort). Prayatna in-turn is classified into aabhyantara-prayatna आभ्यन्तर-प्रयत्न  (effort during origination of sound) and baahya-prayatna (effort during ending of sound). aahbyantara prayatna is of 5 varieties (स्पृष्ट: touched, इषत्-स्पृष्ट: somewhat touched, विवृत: open, इषत्-विवृत: somewhat open and संवृत). baahya prayatna is of 11 varieties, we will see those some other time.

Consonants are classified as "touched", because the toungue touches other parts of the mouth during pronunciation. All vowels are classified as vivRuta - "open" because the mouth is open during pronunciation. That is, all vowels except "a". "a" should be pronounced with the same time taken to prounounce the a in "cut", "but", but not as in "fast", "mask". This effort is called saMvRuta. It singularly belongs to the varNa अ.

If you have the Vaman Shivaram Apte's Sanskrit-English dictionary, check out the very first meaning of "a", which itself is the very first entry.

Meanwhile let us look at a sloka.

याम: श्रयति याम् धत्ते यैन यात्याय याच्च या ।
याऽस्य मानाय यै वान्या सा मामवतु पादुका ॥
That which viShNu takes up, that which bears viShNu on itself, that which moves about because of viShNu, that which is for viShNu, that which originated from viShNu for his purpose, that which secures respectability for viShNu, that which is attainable to us at viShNu, may that pAduka protect me.

Notice in the sloka that there is not a single mention of the word viShNu or even any other name of the Lord, yet the sloka seems to refer the Lord continuously. Is the word viShNu hidden? Really? Hmm...

The key to any sloka is in splitting the sandhi-s correctly. Slokas like this need commentaries. Let's first split the sloka and then analyse.


याम् अ: श्रयति या अम् धत्ते या एन याति आय या आत् च या ।
या अस्य मानाय या-ए वान्या सा माम् अवतु पादुका ॥

Once we split the sandhi, the sloka is pretty straight-forward in meaning. All the yaa's refer to "that which" which is qualified later by "saa paaduka". Sri Vedanta Desikan, the creator of this sloka, plays on the letter, actually a shabda in this context, अ  and conjugates different vibhakti-s on it. Sanskrita students may remember the vibhakti-s of अकारान्त पुंलिङ्ग एकवचन राम शब्द:  as राम:, रामम्, रामेन, रमाय, रामात्, रामस्य, रामे etc. Now instead of राम शब्द, conjugate just for ’अ’ शब्द. The vibhakti-s are अ:, अं, एन, आय, आत्, अस्य, ऐ ! Since we know that अ means viShNu, the conjugations simply mean viShNu (subject), viShNu (object), by viShNu, for viShNu, from viShNu, of viShNu, in viShNu respectively.


Meanwhile, vishnu sahasranama mentions a thousand names of Vishnu. So is अ one of the names there? You betcha! The 25th sloka says:

आवर्तनो निवृत्तात्मा संवृत: संप्रमर्दन: ।
अह: संवर्तको वह्नि: अनिलो धरणीधर: ॥
From this we can extrapolate the meaning of saMvRuta: as one whose prounounciation is that of अ who is viShNu !

So much for a simple अ ! Those who are interested, may pursue why paaNini ends his ashtaadhyaayI with a mind-blowing sUtra with just two characters:

अ अ ।

Sources:

• Meaning of Sri Vedanta Desikan's sloka is sourced from Paduka sahasram.
• More information on pronounciation of a and other varNa-s can be heard in Sri DJ Vaidya's audio blog.

The Ashtadhyayi Framework

In Software Programming, namespace is a very important concept. It is a context for identifying something uniquely. I strongly believe if a proper namespace or naming convention is not conceived, the ideas conveyed within the namespace will also be poor. Some examples are: domain names, namespaces in xml/xsd, package names in java which are mandatorily related to a folder hierarchy. In .Net also there are namespaces, though its not correlated to folder hierarchy, which I believe allows for ample confusion. The more the conventions, the lesser the code complexity.


Over the years I have reviewed how programmers have used package naming conventions in the Java world. In general there are two flavors of naming conventions: type-based and feature-based. Some used both conventions at the same time, I'm ignoring them as mutants.


Some examples of type-based conventions are com.acme.data, com.acme.controllers, com.acme.service, com.acme.exception. Here all the classes are grouped under "types" of the classes. While its easy to create and maintain such a structure, its really hard for a new-comer (or even for a revisit) to understand the functionality, unless all the classes are fully scanned and understood.


Imagine a "Purchase Order" functionality, which has the following classes:


com.acme.data.OrderInfo, com.acme.data.PaymentInfo;
com.acme.controllers.OrderForm, com.acme.controllers.PaymentForm;
com.acme.service.OrderService, com.acme.service.PaymentService;
com.acme.exception.OrderException, com.acme.exception.CreditCardException, com.acme.exception.StockUnavailableException


To understand the Purchase Order functionality, one should scan the whole hierarchy and associate the objects mentally. In a complex project, this would take several days to understand the code when there are several controllers, services etc especially if the classes themselves are named poorly or ambiguously.


The feature-based approach will define namespaces like: com.acme.order, come.acme.payment. So the classes will be


com.acme.order.OrderInfo, com.acme.order.OrderForm, com.acme.order.OrderException, com.acme.order.StockUnavailableException;
com.acme.payment.PaymentInfo, com.acme.payment.PaymentForm, com.acme.payment.CreditCardException.


Such grouping immediately draws focus on understanding the functionality. It is also easy to reverse-engineer the code into subject areas. One is not better than other as both techniques have merits. Every programmer would have written some kind of framework code. In a typical non-business framework code type-named conventions make more sense. For eg, the Spring-framework is arranged based on type-based packages. If I need to extend from a controller, it makes most sense for me to search for a "controller" package. In an application, feature-based package makes a lot of sense.


Now, what does pANini have to do with all this? Its illustrative to infer that there exists a very similar structure parallel in the sanskrita grammar literature. pANini's ashtadhyAyI is known for its outstanding brevity. However one cannot understand its application without pretty much scanning the whole work. Take for example the formation of word "rAma:"


arthavat adhAtu apratyaya: prAtipadikam (1.2.45)
svaujasamautchhastaabhyaamngebhyaambhyasngasibhyaambhisngasosaamngyossup (4.1.2)
upadeshe ajanunaasika it (1.3.2)
tasya lopa: (1.3.9)
sa sajusho ru: (8.2.66)
kharaavasaanayo: visarjanIya: (8.3.15)


Just to form the word rAma: ("application") one has to understand 1, 4, 8 chapters, pAda-s and several sutra-s and anuvritti-s within. Why? Because pANini has grouped his sutras based on "types". Package is called "adhikAra" in sanskrita. Each adhikAra is a namespace: pratyaya, samasa, samhitaayam, paribhasha etc. The order of these sutras are extremely important. Just like the folder hierarchy: com.acme.order is not the same as com.order.acme. Changing of the order sutras will invalidate the structure and the meaning too. There are no examples within Ashtadhyayi, just like you wont find an example within a framework itself.


The sanskrita vyAkarana literature that followed (a big list including Katyayana's vartika, Patanjali's Mahabhashya, Kasika vritti, Siddhanta Kaumudi, Laghu Siddhanta Kaumudi, Paribhasha indusekhara and so on) attempted to re-arrange sutras according to functionality  or "prakriya". They also supplied numerous examples ("test cases") and counter-examples ("negative test cases"). There are fantastic precise examples and counter-examples in Siddhanta Kaumudi by bhattoji dIkshita.


As a good programmer, lets end with good comments. If pANini had to write a javadoc header for his grammar, this is pretty much how it would have looked:


/**
* The Ashtadhyayi Framework
* vyAkaraNa.sUtrapATha.ashtAdhyAyI.framework
* @author pANini
* @since 1500 BC
* @version १.०.०
* @see SAkalya, SAkatAyana, SphotAyana, yAska etc. frameworks
* @see Siva-sutra, dhAtupATha, gaNapATha, uNAdi, Chandas
*
* This framework provides a complete set of base sutras, definitions, interpretations, sandhis, rules and exceptions for generating an infinite number of sentences in natural language using a finite set of rules.
*
*

* WARNING: Do not modify the order of the sutra-s without understanding the complete framework.
*

*
* Code Metrics:
* Number of lines of code: 3986
* PMD index: 0
* Cyclomatic complexity: 1000
*
*/

The c(o)urse of events

The Puranas are a great source of stories, generally counted as 18. Unfortunately these are wrongly refered as "Mythological stories". The context of "mythology" is more of Greek and Roman origin. The puranas were named "mythology" based on comparison of other cultures. Even Amar Chitra Katha, a pioneer in Indian story comics, categories these stories under "Epic and Mythology", which is according to me a misnomer. People who narrated the puranic stories to others are called paurAnikas and commanded great respect. If Puranas are mythology, can we call the paurANika's as mythologists? Several Puranas seem to be based on actual historical events, of course with a great flight of imagination, that took place in and out of the land of Bharata. I make a conscious effort to never call these 'mythology', instead call them as puranic.

In the fables like panchatantras, jataka and hitopadesha the story moves towards establishing or concluding a certain moral. While in purAnas, moral is not central, though the overall moral-base is "good triumphs over evil". The purAnic stories may not have any logical beginning, proceeding or an ending. Events happen due to fate, somebody's wish or just because it is so. There is a lot interplay, connections, tangential references between stories, yet there are plenty of contradictions too.

But There is one fundamental theme that occurs throughout the puranas and itihasas. Before we getting into that, lets try to answer a few questions:
Why did

• Vishnu take 10 avatars?
• Krishna die ?
• vAli die at the hands of Rama ?
• Dushyanta forget Shakuntala ?
• Hanuman hesitate to cross the ocean?

The answer is a simple "Because of a curse". Every little incident that happens in a Purana has a story behind it and it usually begins or ends in a curse. Curse makes fiction or adaptation very easy, I wonder why the modern writers do not use it effectively; it could be used as an effective tool for turn of events.

Let us pause for a moment and think about the word "curse". It does not even come close to convey the meaning of the actual word used in Samskrita - "shApa". The word shApa has so much overloaded context in it, the word 'curse' simply does not carry that. Just like dharma, papa, punya, guru do not have any direct translations, it is hard to bring out the complete meaning of shApa in "curse". I will try to use the word shApa throughout this blog.

In saying "Im giving you a curse" vs "Im giving you a shApa", the latter definitely sounds effective and more realistic. Try and say it in different Indian vernaculars. And try to use a mega-serial heroine (or a truly filmy mother) tone: 'mein tujhe shAp deti hoon, tum vinAsh ho jaoge'; 'unakku shAbam kodukkaren, nI nasamai povai'; 'ninage shApa kodtini, nI nAsavagi hogu'. All these certainly sound effective and make good one-liner cliches for mega-serials.

In the PurAnas every one or other is found to be giving shApa to others. To some extent one is lead to believe that ones fate is not in one's hands but in the mouth of others. There are certain characters in the purAnas, whose only job is to just give shApa to somebody.

The famous among them is durvAsa, who literally has a "template shApa" in his mouth. If somebody sneezes and he doesnt like it, poof, there is a shApa. If he comes for alms, and you are little bit late in giving it, poof, he lets another one. He is a very interesting character though; lot of stories would not have happened without him. Do you know the actual birth of durvAsa? Once Shiva was just getting angry at silly things. Parvati was getting very uncomfortable at Shiva's behavior. So she says to Shiva "durvAsam bhavati me" (Your presence is very difficult to me). Shiva realises it, feels ashamed and does a classic "spin off" of this anger into a new person and thus durvAasa is born. He appears in several purAnas, the primary aim being to give shApa to someone. The puranic writers have a convenient character in Durvasa where he is summoned at-will to alter the fate of any character.

Sometimes the shApa is very complex, other times the reasons are plain ridiculous. In general the rules of a shApa can be categorized thus:

• A shApa can be given for the silliest of reasons
• Every one - all mortals, gods, asuras, rakshasas, even the Supreme Lord are subjected to shApa; there is literally no-one guaranteed to be shApa-free.
• Once given, the shApa can never be taken back
• shApa-s cannot be amended directly, but an escape route can be provided, or 'eased-out' in phase
• - All shApa-s have a mandatory expiration date and ends in shApa-vimochana.
• At the end of the expiration period, the receiver can either be restored to original state or become somebody new
• In most cases, the shApa can be redeemed only by the giver, others cannot change this
• A shApa can be counter-shApa-ed. The reciever can in turn give another shApa to the giver

There are cases where A curses B and B curses A in turn. This is called a shApa-deadlock. They really have to timeout each other to obtain the shApa-vimochana. There are also cases where a subsequent shApa renders a previously given shApa ineffective (although temporarily) because of the impossibility of the event. Once Silavati was carrying her leper husband Ugratapas. Sage Mandavya sees the amorous state of Ugratapas and curses that he will die at sun-rise the following day. Silavati, now curses that sun will not rise the next day, thus making the first shApa impossible to happen.

Most purAnic characters are prompted to act only because they are given a shApa. In fact we see this even in Samskrita literature. The most original of Samskrita works, Kalidasa's mEghadhUta, starts off with a brilliant line: "A certain yaksha, because of some shApa put upon him, was separated from his love and lives in the foothills of rAmagiri in the vindhyA mountains". KalidAsa doesnt bother to say what is that shApa, but just a passing mention of it was sufficient enough to convince us that the yaksha had indeed done something miserable and is suffering from it. Think about it: just one word puts the whole poetry on course. If the concept of shApa was not that powerful, kAlidasa would either have to explain why that yaksha got stuck there, or give some other logical reason behind it.

Even though we think that shApa can be effecitvely given only by rshis, there are stories where any Ram, Shyam and Hari gives shApa to anybody. Were people's words that really powerful in those times? Why were the rishis the primary shApa-givers? Was their life-long meditation not helping them to restrain heir anger? And where is all that power now? Why is shApa not that effective in kali yuga?

Here are some of the popular shApa-s and the course of events:

Giver - Receiver - Course of events

• Durvasa - Sakuntala - Sakuntala forgets to invite Durvasa; Dushyanta forgets Sakuntala
• Gautama - Ahalya - Indra seduces Ahalya; Gautama turns her into stone; Rama rescues her
• Durvasa - Airavata - Airavata tears Durvasa's garland gift to Indira; Durvasa curses Gods will become old; Leads to finding of Amrutam
• Vasishta - Apa (Dyau) - Ashtavasus took cow Nandini by force; Vasishta cursed 7 would be born as men and die immediately except the main thief, who would live long (Bhishma)
• Bhrgu - Vishnu - Vishnu kills kAvyamata, mother of Sukracharya in a battle; Bhrgu curses Vishnu to have countless incarnations to atone the sin of killing a woman
• Some sages - Yadava dynasty - Yadavas make fun of some sages; they curse the whole dynasty will be destroyed, including Krishna
• Srngi - Parikshit - Parikshit puts a dead snake around a rishi; Rishi's son curses that Parikshit will be killed by snake Taksha in 7 days
• Matanga - Vali - Matanga curses Vali cannot enter RshyamukhA mountains; so it becomes a safe place for Sugriva

Avatar 9.5

Narada, the celestial sage was restless. It has been ages that he had done any "kalaha" in devaloka. I don't think that there is any better word than "kalaham" to describe Narada's acts. The closest I can come to translate is "mischief" though that word carries more connotations to it than just "mischief". If you know of any such word in English, let me know. But I bet there isn't.

Sage Narada is a composer and singer. Just as Lord Kartikeya got a favorite raga Shanmukhapriya, just as Goddess Lakshmi has a favorite raga Ramapriya, just as Nandi has a favorite raga Rishabhapriya, just as Lord Shiva has a favorite raga Rudrapriya, and Vishnu has a favorite raga Shri, Narada too has a favorite raga - "Kalahapriya". I dont know its arohana or avarohana - but I can take a guess to say that it has too much of vakra sancharas in it. He probably is the creator of this raga and therefore he is sometimes called as "Kalahapriya Narada".

When was the last kalaham he did? He couldnt even remember it. It was probably in Thiruvilayadal. But now he was determined. But the most difficult part is: "Where shall I start?".

"Ah! By the way Indra is throwing a party tonight. They had won a cricket match against the Asuras. In Krita yuga, devas and asuras fought over each other by churning the milky way. Now that those galaxies are already much dispersed and left with reduced density, there is nothing much to churn. As far as Kali yuga is concerned, a simple one day match could decide who won. Yugas have really changed. Whoa! That was a really exciting and gripping match. The Asuras fought really well, I should admit. Their coach Kripacharya is really shrewd one. And their tail-end is really good. The last pair of tail-enders, Rahu and Ketu batted out the final five overs. For the Devas, Agni was the best pick of the bowlers. His fiery first few overs stands a class apart. And Varuna's spell is worth mentioning.

"The devas chase really interesting. The physiotherapist Danvantri was around to heal the wounds if any caused by asura bowling. Anyway the devas have won and have a reason to celebrate. It would only be proper to imagine that they are all getting drunk over the victory". Thinking thus Narada reached the hermit of Tumburu.

Tumburu wasn't home. What happened to this guy? Has he gone to party out? He too has changed a lot in recent yugas. Earlier he used to be a lonely singer roaming in Himalayas. Now he has got a band! Imagine the nerve of him to form a band! It has a funny name too - "The Band Harvas".

The sound from the Indrasabha hall was loud and garrulous. Chanting the mantra "Narayana! Narayana!!" Narada reached the party. He stood in a corner and started observing the dancing devas and devis. Thumburu was on a podium with his Thambura, joined with a couple of Gandharvas from Chitrakoota. One had a veena attached with a strap hanging around his shoulders. Another was carrying a dholak on one hand, a WinZipped version of dumru on the other hand and some flute like instrument was in front of his mouth. Don't ask me how he was holding it. It is a gandharva magic. Chitrakoota, the capital of Gandharvas has now got a new sobriquet - "The Gandharva Motown". The people born there are prenatally skilled in music. When the citizens rise in music, take bath in music, go to bed in music and give birth in music, it is no surprise that everyone is skilled in music. "The Band Harvas" were singing a song that was hardly legible. Is the song really in Sanskrita? wondered Narada.

The devis were dancing in the center of the hall. Fresh faces were seen apart from the traditional Ramba, Urvasi and Thilothama. The Devas were also dancing scattered around the hall, some with devis and some alone. There in the corner is Indra, seated in a table, all alone. He had a large pitcher in his hand and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the soma rasa. Well, his enjoyment is going to be short-lived, as Narada approached him.

"Narayana, Narayana, Congratulations on your win O Indra", Narada began in his inimitable style.

"Oh! Is it Sage Narada I see? Pranam O venerable sage! What is a sage doing in a party for Devas?" Indra too wasn't less political in his reply.

"Just checking on you, in case I have anything to report to Shiva, the God of Gods". Narada said in his inimitable sarcastic tone. Indra now realized that he was talking to Narada, the unbeatable in creating kalaham-s and is a favorite of Lord Vishnu. He thought to himself "If this guy reports to Lord Vishnu about the fun the other devas are having in this party, I could be in trouble. I better not mess with him". What he didn't realize was he had already fell for the sage's plot.

"What can I do for O veritable Sage" asked Indra.

"Nothing Indra, I just came to congratulate you. Your captain's knock helped the team win the trophy! I could not have imagined what would happen if the Asuras had won..."

"You are right! It is because of your support we won..."

Narada hadnt yet finished his previous sentence: "...especially when the stakes are high !"

Indra willing to change subject said: "Victory is all that matters! O Narada"

"You are right O Indra! But aren't you getting a little selfish?"

"Wh... what .. what? Can you explain me O Celestial Singer?" Indra stumbled a bit.

"Your bhaktas in Bharatavarsha are getting humiliated with defeats. The weakest teams, when they meet the Indian team on the field, emerge the strongest with greater self-confidence. Is it enough if you win against the Asuras? Should you not help the Indian Cricket team? They pray you and Agni for helping them. They even pray Varuna to bring rains when they are on the edge of defeat! But nothing seems to happen. If I may say so, Lord Vishnu is a bit upset that bhaktas are ignored..."

Indra was frightened. He remembered how Vishnu protects his bhaktas at anybodys cost. If this guy complains to Vishnu that he is ignoring the bhaktas and partying out, he may find himself in trouble. He quickly wanted to amend for that.

"O Narada, the giver of generous boons! It is due to my ignorance that I am in such an ignorance. Could you please advice me on what can I do?"

"I don't really know O the best among Devas! But I think its time for Indian cricket team to have some person who can really win matches. May be you can think something along those lines..."

Indra became cautious. What is this guy getting at? If I send some deva to play in the Indian team and if the team still loses, because of other 10 members, he would yet be blamed. If he didn't send any deva to join the team he would be blamed again for not taking care of bhaktas. A catch 22 situation. This Narada is very clever. But wait a minute, here is an idea...

"O Sage Narada! The Indian team loses consecutively and the commentators are heard saying that 'only Bhagavan can help them'. Why dont we ask Lord Vishnu to take an avataar to play for Indian team?"

Narada was smarter than Indra on any account. "O Indra! That is a fantastic idea! But dharma hasn't really been defeated yet. Vishnu is scheduled to take the Kalki avataar only at the end of the Kali Yuga. Measured in bhuloka-years there are about 427000 years left... But if you along with other devas can convince Vishnu to take a temporary avataar for the protection of his bhaktas, he may concede to your request. After all he is the all merciful Paramatma..."

Indra got the hint. The next morning he summoned all the devas and briefed them about the mission. The devas hadn't recovered from hang-over and so didn't have much to object. And so they all marched to "Kshirasagara" chanting the thousand names of Vishnu.

The dvArapAlakA-s were surprised to see the devas' sudden visit. Indra approached them and offered salutations "Pranam to dvArapAlakA-s"

"Pranam O Indra" they said in unision. "And congratulations on winning the trophy!"

"Why thank you" replied Indra. "I have come to offer my prayers to Lord Vishnu and talk to him about a burning issue."

The dvArapAlakA-s said "You are very welcome O King of the Devas"

Indra followed by other devas reached the sanctum sanctorum. "Namo Narayana" said the devas in unision.

"Welcome O Indra and Devas! I congratulate you on winning the trophy..."

"Its all your mercy O Lord! Without you can a ball swing or reverse-swing? Without you can a bat be wielded? Without you can a wicket be taken? Without you can the umpire raise his finger? Without you can a fielder catch a catch? Salutations to you whom the ball cannot beat, whom the bat cannot miss, for whom there are no boundaries. Salutations to you the effulgent one, who is neither the game played nor the game not played nor both, neither the victory nor the loss nor both! Salutations to you O Existence-Knowledge-Bliss!"

Lord Vishnu smiled and said "What brings you here O Indra?"

Indra said "O Lord! It is said that the wise ones should not lose their head on their victory. Even though we won against the asuras we still are not rejoicing. We are worried very much about how our bhaktas are being defeated day-in and day-out against all the opposition teams. We have come here to request you to help our bhaktas in re-strengthening the team and instilling confidence in them. We would like you to take an avataar to play for Indian cricket team"

Lord Vishnu smiled again and said politely "O Best among Devas! I take avataar only on purpose of defeating adharma and not because of the defeat of Indian cricket team. The Indian team doesn't win because they don't bat well, bowl well or field well. They are paying for their own karma. It is nothing that I can do about!"

Indra didn't relent "But is it not in your realms to take care of the suffering and the anguish of the bhaktas? If not for the Indian team you should at least take an avataar for the cricket fans. It is aching to see the fans spend money and cheer up for the team, but return back from the stadium disappointed. Is it fair? Even poor Indian families buy new TV sets to watch their team play, yet they are disappointed by their team due to lack of application? Is it not disheartening? At least for the sake of the fans you should take an avataar and play in Indian team! Only you can take an avataar so that not only will the Indian fans relish your game, but every cricket fan in the world would love to watch your game. It is possible only by you, O Lord of Lords, O Purushottama, not by us, mere devas!"

The All-merciful Paramatma was moved by the pleading of Indra and other devas. "Your wish will be granted O Indra! Even though I am scheduled to take Kalki avataar only by the end of the Kali Yuga, for the protection of the Indian cricket, and the defeat of other teams, and to establish the Cricket Dharma, I concede to take an avataar".

The Devas were pleased. They showered flowers on the Lord. They chanted mantras to please Lord Vishnu and shouted "Om Peace be with all Om".

As always, Narada's kalaham has ended in a good note. For Vishnu now has a job to do. For the Indians the Lord himself has arrived to save Indian Cricket.

And for the rest of the audience in the world - well, they simply have to watch Sachin Tendulkar bat.

(Note: I wrote this article almost 12 years ago when Sachin made a superlative century against Australia in Sharjah. I think the article still holds true and is a tribute to him for his 200 in ODI).

Fonetiks

Recently when I was driving my kid to school, I thought of playing on phonetics with him. With my increasing frustration and disillusionment with the amount of effort one has to put to spell English and remember the alphabet-sequence and my increasing understanding of Sanskrita, I wanted to see how kids react to phonetics of something they have not heard so-far.

The experiment contained of pronouncing a letter and finding out the origination of the letter in the position of the mouth. It also helped he was not seeing my face and just hearing the sounds. The SikSha SaStra (lit. science of phonetics) goes very deep into the subject and literature has been written around it over the span of 2500+ years.

The conversation went like this (all his responses were after some thought).

Me: Tell me where does the sound 'a' come from?
He: (after some thought) throat.
Me: Tell me where does the sound 'ka' come from?
He: throat
Me: Whats the difference?
He: the tongue touching.
Me: Tell me what happens with 'ca' ?
He: the tongue goes and touches up.
Me: Now repeat after me ka kha ga gha ~nga (like the ng in sing)
He: (repeats)
Me: Where does the sound ~nga come from?
He: throat
Me: where else?
He: (does not catch on first, then very doubtfully) nose?
Me: Tell me what happens with Ta (like T in Patrick)
He: tongue rolls up.
Me: Whats the difference? Stop the tongue at T and tell me
He: (thinks a bit more) tongue rolls back
Me: Now repeat ca, cha, ja, jha, nya, Ta, Tha, Da, Dha (I stop).. What comes after ?
He: (Repeats, keeps rolling the tongue backwards and pronounces Na) (Like the N in Pundit, Mandala, but not navy, nine)
Me: Now tell me what comes after pa.
He: (catches on to the pattern and says) pa pha ba bha ma.
Me: Finally now just repeat 'ka ca Ta ta pa'
He: (tries it, but does not catch on)
Me: Do you observe that the tongue travels from throat all the way to the lips?
He: (Nods, but i hardly think he understood)

But the point is how natural it is - I only make half the effort for him to understand the 'alphabets', he just latched on to others naturally (or analytically). I was not fully convinced about placement of varNa-s in Sanskrita, but I think I'm slowly beginning to see the originality and superiority. I still have confusions about Ra, La, Sa, zed, zha -- about placement/omission of these in the scheme, but that's only due to my very limited knowledge of phonetics.

The retro-flex is probably the most important and obvious difference between a "desi" pronunciation and a Westerner's pronunciation. Even among the Indians, you can see the Tamilians use the retro-flex a lot more than other South Indians because of the presence of the Ra and Zha, both of which are not present in other Indian languages. In fact there is even a Tamil adage that says the tongue has to roll for proper pronunciation. Sri DJ Vaidya-ji in his audio blog on phonetics mentions that Sanskrita retro-flex is most likely the effect of Dravidian languages on her.