Monday, October 2, 2023

Mahabharata Quiz -74

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Question – 74

Is there any other source – outside the Mahabharata - referring to the earlier than normal Amavasya falling in Trayodasi in the Mahabharata?  

Answer:

Yes, there is an oral as well as a written legend suggesting an unusually earlier Amavasya. This story related to the Bodhāyana Amavasya is traced to the Trayodasi Amavasya of the Mahabharata.

As per this story, one of the Pandava-s, Sahadeva was good at astrology. He was approached by Duryodhana to fix a date favorable for the Kaurava-s to win the war. Sahadeva suggested the upcoming Amavasya.

On coming to know of this, Krishna decided to prevent the advantage to the Kaurava-s and started doing Tarpana well before Amavasya started. The entire world was stunned. Perplexed by Krishna’s action, the sun and the moon approached him saying that the Amavasya had not yet come.

Krishna asked: What does Amavasya mean?

The Sun and the Moon: The coming together of the sun and the moon.

Krishna: Both of you had come together now. So Amavasya now!

Saying so, Krishna started doing Amavasya tarpana and others also followed suit.

Since Amavasya had come earlier than the expected day, when the Kaurava-s were getting ready for the rituals to grab the advantage of winning the war, they lost the war.

This story has a flaw. Krishna could not have done the tarpana because his father lived as long as he lived. But the main theme is the arrival of Amavasya well before the normal time. Importantly the story is about the advanced Amavasya.

The written story found in a Jyotisha book in Tamil refers to Yudhishṭhira doing tarpana as directed by Krishna and the sun and the moon appearing together to ask Krishna why he made him do tarpana when Amavasya had not yet started.  This story makes people remember the unusual Amavasya.

This story orally transmitted for generations was depicted in the Tamil movie ‘Karna’.

The unusually earlier Amavasya was immortalized into memory forever by evolving the concept of Bodhāyana Amavasya

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