Krishnavatara V: The Book of Satyabhama Read online

  BHAVAN’S BOOK UNIVERSITY

  KRISHNAVATARA

  VOLUME V

  THE BOOK OF SATYABHAMA

  By

  K.M.MUNSHI

  2020

  BHARATIYA VIDYA BHAVAN

  Kulapati K.M.Munshi Marg

  Mumbai – 400007

  All Rights Reserved

  © Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

  Kulapati K. M. Munshi Marg

  Mumbai - 400007

  First Print Edition: 1968

  Second Print Edition: 1974

  Third Print Edition: 1981

  Fourth Print Edition: 1988

  Fifth Print Edition: 1990

  Sixth Print Edition: 2006

  Seventh Print Edition: 2010

  Eighth Print Edition: 2012

  Ninth Print Edition: 2017

  First e-edition: 2020

  KULAPATI’S PREFACE

  The Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan—that Institute of Indian Culture in Bombay—needed a Book University, a series of books which, if read, would serve the purpose of providing higher education. Particular emphasis, however, was to be put on such literature as revealed the deeper impulsions of India. As a first step, it was decided to bring out in English 100 books, 50 of which were to be taken in hand, almost at once.

  It is our intention to publish the books we select, not only in English, but also in the following Indian languages: Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.

  This scheme, involving the publication of 900 volumes, requires ample funds and an all-India organisation. The Bhavan is exerting its utmost to supply them.

  The objectives for which the Bhavan stands are the reintegration of Indian culture in the light of modern knowledge and to suit our present-day needs and the resuscitation of its fundamental values in their pristine vigour.

  Let me make our goal more explicit:

  We seek the dignity of man, which necessarily implies the creation of social conditions which would allow him freedom to evolve along the lines of his own temperament and capacities; we seek the harmony of individual efforts and social relations, not in any makeshift way, but within the frame-work of the Moral Order; we seek the creative art of life, by the alchemy of which human limitations are progressively transmuted, so that man may become the instrument of God, and is able to see Him in all and all in Him.

  The world, we feel, is too much with us. Nothing would uplift or inspire us so much as the beauty and aspiration which such books can teach.

  In this series, therefore, the literature of India, ancient and modern, will be published in a form easily accessible to all. Books in other literatures of the world, if they illustrate the principles we stand for, will also be included.

  This common pool of literature, it is hoped, will enable the reader, eastern or western, to understand and appreciate currents of world thought, as also the movements of the mind in India, which though they flow through different linguistic channels, have a common urge and aspiration.

  Fittingly, the Book University’s first venture is the Mahabharata, summarised by one of the greatest living Indians, C. Rajagopalachari; the second work is on a section of it, the Gita by H.V.Divatia, an eminent jurist and student of philosophy. Centuries ago, it was proclaimed of the Mahabharata: “What is not in it, is nowhere.” After twenty-five centuries, we can use the same words about it. He who knows it not, knows not the heights and depths of the soul; he misses the trials and tragedy and the beauty and grandeur of life.

  The Mahabharata is not a mere epic: it is a romance, telling the tale of heroic men and women and of some who were divine; it is a whole literature in itself, containing a code of life, a philosophy of social and ethical relations, and speculative thought on human problems that is hard to rival: but, above all, it has for its core the Gita, which is, as the world is beginning to find out, the noblest of scriptures and the grandest of sagas in which the climax is reached in the wondrous Apocalypse in the Eleventh Canto.

  Through such books alone the harmonies underlying true culture, I am convinced, will one day reconcile the disorders of modern life.

  I thank all those who have helped to make this new branch of the Bhavan’s activity successful.

  K.M.Munshi

  New Delhi

  1, Queen Victoria Road,

  October 3, 1951

  INTRODUCTION

  Everyone has heard of Sri Krishna who delivered the message of the Bhagavad Gita and whom the Bhagavan calls 'God Himself.'

  From the earliest days my memories go back to, Sri Krishna has, in a sense, dominated my imagination. In my childhood I heard of his adventures with breathless amazement. Since then I have read of him, sung of him, admired him and worshipped him, both in a hundred temples and every year on his birthday at home. And day after day, for years and years, his message has given strength to me in my life.

  Unfortunately, his fascinating personality, which can be glimpsed in what may be called the original Mahabharata, has been overlaid with legends, myths, miracles and acts of worship.

  Wise and valorous, he was, loving and loved, far-seeing and yet acting in the living present, gifted with sage-like detachment and yet intensely human; a diplomat, a sage and a man of action with a personality as luminous as that of a divinity.

  The urge, therefore, came upon me, time and again, to embark upon a reconstruction of his life and adventures by weaving a romance around him.

  It was an almost impossible venture, but like hundreds of authors, good, bad and indifferent, from all parts of India for centuries, I was impelled by an irrepressible urge and I could not help offering him the little imagination and creative power I possess, feeble though they are.

  I have called the whole work Krishnavatara, The Descent of the Lord.

  The First Part, which ends with the death of Kamsa, has been named The Magic Flute, for it deals with his boyhood and is associated with the flute which hypnotized men, animals and birds alike, of which innumerable poets have sung with such tenderness.

  The Second Part, which ends with Rukmini Haran, has been named The Wrath of an Emperor, as the central theme is the successful defiance by Sri Krishna of Jarasandha, the Emperor of Magadha.

  The Third Part is entitled The Five Brothers – the five sons of Pandu, the Emperor of Hastinapura-and ends with Draupadi's swayamvara.

  The Fourth Part, entitled The Book of Bhima, leads up to the founding of Indraprastha.

  This, the Fifth Part, is entitled The Book of Satyabhama. It revolves around what appears to be an authentic incident in Sri Krishna's life, the Syamantakamani (or magic jewel) episode, which is described in several Puranas, though each version differs from the others in several details; sometimes even in the same version, the events are self-contradictory. Besides, all of them do gross injustice to the noble figures concerned, including Sri Krishna himself, and they are totally irreconcilable with their characters and personalities as reflected in other episodes.

  It was, therefore with some difficulty that I have been able to reconstruct the core of this episode in consistence with the general tenor of Sri Krishna's life and personality.

  The Sixth Part is entitled The Book of Vyasa, The Master.

  I hope to carry forward the series till the episode when, on the battle-field of Kurukshetra, Krishna reveals himself as the Eternal Guardian of the Cosmic Law-Shashvata Dharma Gopta - to Arjuna, if it is His will that I should do so.

  It has been a difficult task because the Mahabharata refers to Krishna only insofar as he affects the life of the Five Brothers; there is also a personal tradition in Hari Vamsa and other Puranas which consists in describing the episodes in his life unconnected w
ith the lives of the Five Brothers. I have had to weave them together.

  Since 1922 I have reconstructed the episodes connected with Chyavana and Sukanya in Purandara Parajaya (a play); with Vasishtha and Arundhati in Avibhakta Atma (a play); with Agastya and Lopamudra, Vasishtha and Vishwamitra, Parashurama and Sahasrarjuna in Vishvaratha (a romance), Deve Didheli (a play), Vishwamitra Rishi (a play), Lomaharshini (a romance) and Bhagavan Parashurama (a romance) summarised in English in one volume entitled Bhagavan Parashurama. I am now reconstructing the events in the life of Sri Krishna and the heroes and heroines of the Mahabharata in these volumes of Krishnavatara.

  Time and again, I have made it clear that none of these works is an English rendering of any of the old Puranas.

  In retelling Sri Krishna's life and adventures, I had, like many of my predecessors, to reconstruct the episodes inherited from the past, so as to bring out his character, attitude and outlook with the technique of modern romance for portraying a sustained personality. I also had to give flesh and blood to various obscure characters referred to in the Mahabharata.

  In the course of this adventure, I often had to depart from legend and myth, for such a reconstruction by a modern author must necessarily involve the exercise of whatever little imagination he has in presenting a connected and cohesive narrative.

  I trust He will forgive me the liberty I am taking, but I must write of Him as I see Him in my imagination.

  K. M. MUNSHI

  Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan,

  Chowpatty Road, Bombay – 7

  August 15, 1967

  CHARACTERS IN THIS STORY

  SRI KRISHNA

  BALARAMA – his elder brother;

  SUBHADRA - his younger sister;

  VASUDEVA - his father;

  DEVAKI - his mother;

  GARGACHARYA - his family preceptor and the High-Priest of the Yadavas;

  UDDHAVA - his cousin, the third son of his uncle Devabhaga;

  BRIHADBALA - his cousin, brother of Uddhava;

  RUKMINI - his wife, Princess of Vidarbha;

  SHAIBYA - his wife, Princess of Karavirapura;

  YUYUDHANA

  SATYAKI - his intimate friend

  KRITAVARMA - his another intimate friend, a Yadava chief and the son of Satyabhama's maternal uncle;

  KING UGRASENA - the head of the Andhaka clan of Yadavas, 'king' of Dwaraka;

  SATYAKA - the head of the Vrishni clan of Yadavas, father of Yuyudhana Satyaki;

  AKRURA - the saintly chief of the Vrishni clan of Yadavas, who looks upon Sri Krishna as a god;

  KAPILA, PINGALA - twin sisters, wives of Uddhava.

  SATRAJIT - an elder Yadava chief;

  PRASENA - his brother;

  BHANGAKARA - his elder son;

  SATYABHAMA - his daughter;

  MUGI - Satyabhama's foster-mother;

  JAYASENA - a young Yadava chief;

  SHATADHANVA - a Yadava chief and follower of Satrajit;

  URVASHI - Satyabhama's pet cat;

  MENAKAA - Urvashi's child.

  JAMBAVAN - the king of the bear-world;

  SAMBA - his grandson, the holy man of the bear-world;

  ROHINI - his daughter.

  ANANTA - the Cosmic Serpent.

  CONTENTS

  KULAPATI’S PREFACE

  INTRODUCTION

  CHARACTERS IN THIS STORY

  CONTENTS

  1. SATRAJIT’S DAUGHTER

  2. URI, THE CAT

  3. AN EMPTY WORLD

  4. THE RAJYA SABHA OF THE YADAVAS

  5. SATRAJIT OFFERS A DEAL

  6. KSHAATRA DHARMA

  7. A STRANGE HAPPENING

  8. ‘LEAVE IT TO ME’

  9. SYAMANTAKA IS STOLEN

  10. KRISHNA’S VOW OF SELF-IMMOLATION

  11. SATYAA DISAPPEARS

  12. THE MISSING LINES OF THE SONG

  13. KRISHNA DISAPPEARS

  14. PRASENA’S FATE

  15. URI DOES IT

  16. THE SACRED CAVE

  17. A GHOST

  18. THE SINGING GHOST

  19. IN THE BEAR-WORLD

  20. THE BLACK GOD’S ORDINANCES

  21. ROHINI WANTS TO ENTER THE FIRE

  22. ROHINI’S WEDDING

  23. THE MAGIC OF SYAMANTAKA

  24. THE TRAIL

  25. THE BLACK GOD

  26. SATRAJIT THROWS AWAY SYAMANTAKA

  APPENDIX

  NOTES

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 19

  GLOSSARY

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  KRISHNAVATARA

  VOLUME V

  THE BOOK OF SATYABHAMA

  1. SATRAJIT’S DAUGHTER

  It was nearing midday.

  Satrajit’s mansion, painted in white, was the most spacious in Dwaraka, with a verandah running all round it. Near it, on its extensive grounds, on the shores of the sea of Saurashtra, stood small houses and huts for dependants and servants, a large stable for horses and a larger one for cows.

  Satyabhama—Satyaa as she was generally called—was returning to her father's mansion by the back door. The door opened into the courtyard of the temple built by her father in honour of his guardian deity, the God Surya (the Sun-God).

  Satyaa was small and plump. Her face, normally fair and glowing like a white lotus, was now pink with heat and exertion. There was a voluptuous grace in her movements; and a flashing brilliance in her dark eyes.

  Her heart was singing; she felt it was the happiest moment in her life. She looked at the waves of the sea which lashed against the shore and felt that they were dancing to express her own happiness.

  There was no one in the antahpur (the women’s apartments). Her stepmothers—she had lost her mother in her infancy—and the other womenfolk of the family were busy in the front courtyard, serving their meal to her father, his guests and the Brahmans officiating at the sacrificial session which was being held in the mansion.

  Stealthily Satyaa entered the room in which the pots and vessels for water were kept, and restored the gold-plated pots, which she had carried away with her, to their proper shelves.

  There was no use in joining her stepmothers while the menfolk were dining, for joining them now would make her recent absence from the house conspicuous. She went to the verandah, sat on a swing suspended by chains gilded with gold, whistled and called softly ‘Uri.’

  Urvashi, called by the family ‘Uri,’ came into the room with majestic steps, looking like a bunch of white blossoms walking on four white legs. Satyaa extended a friendly hand; Uri climbed on to her knees, put out her tongue and fixed her bright green eyes on her mistress.

  ‘Uri, do you know who has come?’ asked Satyaa. She got no answer, but an affectionate “mi-aaow.” She framed the cat’s face between the palms of her hands and whispered: ‘We have seen him today, Uri!’

  There was no response from the cat. Uri was not interested in what Satyaa had seen or done; she was hungry and had been waiting for her mistress to return in order to join her at her meal as usual.

  Satyaa slapped her gently. Uri mewed unhappily. ‘Listen, idiot,’ said Satyaa, whispering into the cat’s ear, ‘he smiled at me and I smiled at him.’

  In joyful excitement, Satyaa began to swing furiously, continuing to stroke Urvashi, who settled down on her lap with eyes closed, resigned to the prospect of starving till her mistress decided to go for her meal.

  Satyaa went over the events of the morning, her imagination painting various pictures of what had happened. She had succeeded in joining the Yadava young ladies who, with water-pots on their heads, had mingled with the crowd gathered at the city gates to give a ceremonious welcome to Krishna, Balarama and other Yadava atirathis returning to Dwaraka after having won spectacular victories in Aryavarta.

  It was wrong of her father, she thought, not to have taken part in the reception and not
even to have allowed the members of the family to do so. There was rejoicing all over Dwaraka and there was no sense in her family not joining in it.

  She knew all about the exploits of Krishna. She had avidly heard about the reports about them, which no one in Dwaraka was tired of repeating: how Krishna had brought the Five Brothers, the sons of Emperor Pandu, who had been burnt alive by the wicked Duryodhana, to life; how single-handed he had induced Jarasandha, the mortal foe of the Yadavas, to leave Draupadi's swayamvara; how he had helped the Five Brothers to win the proud daughter of King Drupada; how he had kept the promise he had given to the dying Bhanumati, the wife of Duryodhana, that her husband would rule over Hastinapura; how he had helped the Five Brothers to build a great, new city, which was named Indraprastha.

  Most of the people in Dwaraka, hearing these reports, shared the view that Krishna was almost a god; but not her father and his friends and a section of the Yadava families who looked upon him as their leader. They openly laughed at what they heard. Satyaa felt very hurt at their derisive comments.

  She was also in distress at her father’s hostile attitude towards Krishna. He even held the venerable King Ugrasena in contempt, and made no secret of his attitude.

  Her father had very good reasons for hating these proud chiefs, she told herself. They were all envious of his wealth and the hold he had over many of the Yadava chiefs.

  In order to cement the bond between the highly placed Yadava chiefs and himself, he had even made an offer that she should marry Yuyudhana, the son of Satyaka, a powerful chief allied to Krishna’s family. The offer was unceremoniously rejected. Her father's pride was mortally wounded, and, since then, he had been taking every step to humiliate anyone he could from an exalted family.

  However, Satyaa was glad that Yuyudhana’s father, Satyaka, had rejected her father’s offer. She did not fancy the young man, handsome and brave though he was. She wanted to marry Krishna, son of Vasudeva, the most influential Yadava chief.

  She dared not mention her intention to her father or stepmothers. She knew that they would not dream of offering her to Krishna, to whom her father attributed every misfortune that had overtaken the Yadavas.