Saturday, September 2, 2023

Mahabharata Quiz - 48

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Question – 48

Usually, people check Rahu Kala or Yamaghanta or an auspicious hora for doing any work or starting a journey, but Krishna seemed to have relied on Muhurta. Was Muhurta given precedence over others in those times?  

Answer:   

There is no explicit reference to Rahu Kala or Yamaghanta in the Mahabharata, but Muhurta is mentioned even for birth times. For example, while expressing the birth of Yudhishthira, it is said that he was born in Abhijit Muhurta. A Muhurta by name Maitri was running when Krishna started his journey. So, it appears that Muhurta was given greater importance in the Mahabharata times. Why?

Like tithi, Muhurta represents the nature of Time. While tithi refers to a whole day, Muhurta represents a short time of the day, say, 2 Nadika-s (ghati-s), equal to 48 minutes. A sidereal day is divided into 30 Muhurta-s consisting of 15 diurnal Muhurta-s and 15 nocturnal Muhurta-s. Each Muhurta is given a name and is meant to indicate the nature of time. Like hora, a Muhurta may indicate good or bad of the time of the day or night. Thus there are Shubha Muhurta-s and Dur-muhurta-s which are avoided. We must recall that even today we choose Shubha Muhurta for wedding and mention so in the wedding invitation. 

Maitri Muhurta chosen by Krishna to start his journey is a Shubha Muhurta coming as the 3rd Muhurta after sunrise everyday. By this we can calculate the time he started. He started one and a half hours after sunrise. 

The word 'Maitri' refers to ‘friendship’. Since the purpose of the journey was to seek friendly relationship with the Kaurava-s expecting them to give back the land and wealth of the Pandava-s, Krishna had chosen the Maitri Muhurta. 

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6 comments:

Shimla said...

Please complete the post.

Maitri Muhurata in MB times means under Anuradha Nakshatra.

Shimla said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Shimla said...

Maitri muhurat translated by many translators as Anuradha nakshatra.

Jayasree Saranathan said...

@ S

Do we have such lousy translators who cannot read the verses properly? Or haven't you read the previous Q-A properly?

In the answer to Question - 47, I have stated the verse "kaumude māsi revatyāṃ śarad ante himāgame” - Revati - what is that? Is it Anuradha?

When it is clearly stated that Krishna left on a Revati day, how could a translator ignore it but instead interpret "maitre muhūrte" as Maitri star Anuradha?

I am sure the translator would not have messed up, but the so-called researchers would have messed up without knowing the terms - but twisting the meaning to suit their date.

Please understand the verse says in Revati star and in Maitri 'Muhurta'. Only those who don't know anything about Muhurta will mix it up with Mitra, the deity of Anuradha star.

Go through Q-A 13 to know how the star deities are mentioned in the Mahabharata.
Bhāgyaṃ nakṣatram (the star of Bhaga)
prājāpatyaṃ hi nakṣatraṃ (the star of Prajapati)
maitre nakṣatra (the star of Maitri)

Compare with the verse for Krishna's mission.
It is Maitri Muhurta. (the Muhurta of Maitri)
The star of the day is also given in the verse as Revati.

With such lousy understanding, you are telling me to complete the post.

This verse is not even a "Ganesha moment" but look how people are messing up.







Shimla said...

Sorry for multiple posts on a single issue due to irregular response from Blogger while posting comments.

Your response is as expected.
"kaumude māsi revatyāṃ"
Is this the star of the day or of the lunar month?

Both translations are correct.
However to ascertain correctly which one is applicable is the Ganesha moment.

Hint: Movement of forces from Upaplavya to Kurukshetra.

You are well within your rights to disagree.

Jayasree Saranathan said...

@Shimla,

Your response also is on expected lines of exhibiting non-comprehension.

You asked,
//
"kaumude māsi revatyāṃ"
Is this the star of the day or of the lunar month?
//
Is there a lunar month in the name Revati?

Then you go on to claim that both translations are correct.
Then talk about the right to disagree.

Is Mahabharata date some concept that depends on whether you agree or disagree?
It is a date - a solid date which you cannot disagree.
You disagree at your own will of exhibiting idiocy.

There is a limit to tolerance to stupidity.
I won't approve comments like this hereafter.
I decided to approve this comment to show the future readers the mental caliber of the so-called Mahabharata dating enthusiasts.