Lovely, Arshi, as concise but still as telling as ever, especially as regards the emotional nuances.
I loved the way in which Rudra was shown with his human frailty on full display, tired of losing and losing all those who made his life bearable, just because of this thing on his back. No wonder he feels it is accursed. But he seems to have forgotten his earlier attempt to get rid of it, with that rope, when too the skies roared in protest and the sea was whipped up by a storm, and the sign came right back again.So, given that Rudra does not have eyes on the back of his headđ, Shivanand has to give him a full on demo.
It is not easy for a young man, left mostly on his own for the last 24 years as far as learning about his
niyati evam prarabdha goes
, to be able to convince himself that nothing in his life matters but this mission, to which everything must be sacrificed, and without any hesitation. But he does come around soon, because this is what he has been created for.
I also loved not only the muted joy of the Shivanand-Daadi reunion, but also the fact that the doughty and obstinate old lady has not budged a millimetre from her unqualified disapproval of Shivanand's
garud+amrit obsession.
For her, all that matters is that her family live up to its own moral standards, regardless of how low their opponents fall; thus her Gandhian comment that the 'Veshes were following their bent of mind but that they, of the Brahma Nisht Panth, should not seek revenge. Instead, they should get along with their tradition of self-abnegating service to the needy, free of ego and the feeling that they were obliging their patients. She dislikes any kind of personality cult centred on the
garuda chinna, and she is not going to dilute that because her long lost son has resurfaces after 24 long years.
And I loved Daadi's bright eyes, not in the least faded with age, but dark like little
jamuns and alive with emotions that she does not feel the need to verbalise. A wonderful performer, Surekha Sikri!
It is really clever of Utkarsh to have picked up the idea of 7
nagas to try and take on our 7
garuds, for as you have noted, it fits in very neatly with our pauranic lore. I am very glad he did not go in for some outlandish thing like remixed Dementors!đ
These
sapta nagas do not seem to be different one from the other, however, unlike the
garuds, for they seem to be all in lock step making exactly the same moves.
Let me share with your readers a fascinating story about the origins of the
garuda-naga enmity that Mishti has posted on my thread. I am sure she will not mind. Here it is.
+++++++++++++++++
Kasyapa rishi was father of Garuda and Vinata was his mother...the other wife of Kasyapa rishi was Kadru, mother of serpents or naags.
There is a story of a wager over the color of the horse of Indra...in which Vinata lost and she became a slave of Kadru, as decided upon in case of losing. Garuda requested his step mother to release Vinata, and Kadru asked for elixir or amrit from Devatas in return...Garuda defeated Devatas and got elixir with him, impressed Lord Vishnu made him his vahan...and Indra made a deal, such that the elixir be returned to Devatas...
Garuda took the amrit to the nagas and freed his mother Vinata ... Garuda asked nagas to first purify and cleanse themselves and covered the amrit pot with durva grass...when the snakes were gone, he let Indra, to take away the elixir...when the serpents returned, they licked the grass, thinking the amrit pot is beneath it...and thus, their bifid tongue cut due to sharp durva...thus, Garuda and snakes became arch rivals...and Garuda feeds on snakes but the latter also found a way out to counter Garuda by swallowing stone and making themselves heavy...the war continues.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The garuda-naga conflict is a staple of our mythology, and it recurs in the Mahabharata, when the Pandavas go to Khandavaprasta. Only there the naga king Takshak features prominently, and there are no 7 elite nagas, which are an Utkarsh special!
Incidentally, as you would know but some of your readers might not, Rishi Kasyapa was also the husband of Aditi, a daughter of Prajapati Daksh, who was, as you would know, the father of Sati. Shiva's first wife. The 4 sites of the Kumbh - Prayag, Haridwar, Nasik and Ujjain - are those where parts of her burnt body, that Shiva, devastated by her atmadahan, was carrying across the world in his arms, fell to the earth. The Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi, where Rudra and Maimuyi were living, is said to be the place where her earrings landed.
Aditi was the mother of all the Devas. His other wife Diti was the mother of all the Asuras. These Rishis seem to have really got around, with so many high powered wives!đ
To revert, Naanu and Balivesh have genuine samarpan towards their Guru Maharaj, just like a robber who prays with full faith to the Goddess Bhavani to make him succeed in his nocturnal venture!đ Whereas Greyerson is like Big Pharma in the West, eager to bottle and market amrit at $100 million a spoonful!đ
My question here is this: Why would the naagas, who have longed for the amrit for eons, hand it over to the 'Veshes if they succeed against the garudas this time? Not a chance!! How come the 'Veshes are not worried about this prospect?
Lastly, re:the Guru Maharaj's comment that the Garudas would vulnerable only when they are weakened by emotional pulls, I felt that this would apply to Rudra in the context of Maya, as hinted at in the promo.
From next week, the real action begins, but Arshi, we have still covered only a little over a quarter of the 120 episodes, so there are bound to be lots of twists and turns. Utkarsh is going to have his hands full, but he has made an excellent beginning.
Shyamala
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