Relatives in Mahabharata - Page 3

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Posted: 1 years ago
#21

The eminent 18th century Marathi poet Moropanta in his Mahābhārata used "Suyodhana" in a rhyme:


Matsya-pur'ottara-bhāgīṃ prātaḥ-kāḷīṃça ye Suyodhana ho

Jyāsi jaya-prāpti manīṃ mhaṇatī Bhīṣm'ādi-hī suyodha na ho


On the Matsya capital's north side, right at dawn, Suyodhana arrived, listen!

To win victory for whom even Bhīṣma etc. in their minds said, it will not be an easy battle!


The poetic metre is Gīti, a variation of Āryā, which I am discussing here:


https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/topic/5298936

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Posted: 1 years ago
#22

Very pun-ny indeed😆 

Posted: 1 years ago
#23

Being blind, Dhṛtarāṣṭra was known by the name Prajñācakṣus (intelligence-sighted) throughout his lifetime.


In the very first chapter of Mahābhārata, this name is used by Dhṛtarāṣṭra himself, saying to Saṃjaya, you will know whether I am really Prajñācakṣus after you hear my thoughts - all the incidents that made me despair of victory.


In the story of Sāvitrī, Satyavat refers to his blind father Dyumatsena as Prajñācakṣus.

Posted: 1 years ago
#24

Udyogaparvan 175.15-16:

Hotravāhana uvāca

Hotravāhana said -


dauhitrī'yaṃ mama vibho Kāśi-rāja-sutā śubhā

jyeṣṭhā svayaṃvare tasthau bhaginībhyāṃ sah'ānagha

This is my daughter's daughter (dauhitrī - nominative), lord! The Kāśi king's eldest (jyeṣṭhā - nominative) attractive daughter (sutā - nominative), who stood for svayaṃvara with her two sisters (bhaginībhyāṃ - instrumental), sinless one!


iyam Ambe'ti vikhyātā jyeṣṭhā Kāśi-pateḥ sutā

AmbikĀ'mbālike tv anye yavīyasyau tapo-dhana

This one is famous as Ambā, the Kāśi lord's eldest daughter (jyeṣṭhā sutā - nominative); Ambikā and Ambālikā, the others, are the younger two (yavīyasyau - nominative), one whose wealth is penance!

Edited by BrhannadaArmour - 1 years ago
Posted: 1 years ago
#25

Several kinship terms are used when Arjuna sees his relatives in both armies at Bhīṣmaparvan 23.26-27 and 23.34 (Bhagavad-Gītā 1.26-27 and 1.34).


tatr'āpaśyat sthitān Pārthaḥ pitṝn atha pitāmahān

ācāryān mātulān bhrātṝn putrān pautrān sakhīṃs tathā

śvaśurān suhṛdaś c'aiva senayor ubhayor api

tān samīkṣya sa Kaunteyaḥ sarvān bandhūn avasthitān

Pṛthā's son saw his fathers (pitṝn - accusative - e.g. Bhūri, Bhūriśravas, Śala, and Indra's friend Bhagadatta) standing there, plus his paternal grandfathers (pitāmahān - accusative - e.g. Bhīṣma, Somadatta), preceptors (ācāryān - accusative - e.g. Kṛpa, Droṇa), maternal uncles (mātulān - accusative - e.g. Śalya and his brothers, Śakuni and his brothers, and on his own side, Purujit Kuntibhoja), brothers (bhrātṝn - accusative - e.g. Duryodhana and his brothers), sons (putrān - accusative - e.g. Lakṣmaṇa, Dauḥśāsani, Caitraseni, and on his own side, Ghaṭotkaca, Irāvat, Abhimanyu, the Draupadeyas), grandsons (pautrān - accusative - e.g. on his own side, Añjanaparvan), and also friends (sakhīn - accusative - e.g. on his own side, Yuyudhāna), fathers-in-law (śvaśurān - accusative - e.g. Govāsana Śaibya, Śalya and his brothers, and on his own side, Drupada), and indeed, well-wishers (suhṛdaḥ - accusative), even in both armies. Examining them, all relatives (bandhūn - accusative) gathered, that son of Kuntī ...


ācāryāḥ pitaraḥ putrās tath'aiva ca pitāmahāḥ

mātulāḥ śvaśurāḥ pautrāḥ syālāḥ saṃbandhinas tathā

Preceptors (ācāryāḥ - nominative), fathers (pitaraḥ - nominative), sons (putrāḥ - nominative), and indeed paternal grandfathers also (pitāmahāḥ - nominative), maternal uncles (mātulāḥ - nominative), fathers-in-law (śvaśurāḥ - nominative), grandsons (pautrāḥ - nominative), wife's brothers (syālāḥ - nominative, e.g. on his own side, Dhṛṣṭadyumna, Śikhaṇḍin, Yudhāmanyu, Uttamaujas, Satyajit, Janamejaya etc., Yuyudhāna, and non-fighting Kṛṣṇa himself), also sister's husbands or son's/daughter's fathers-in-law (saṃbandhinaḥ - nominative, e.g. Jayadratha) ...

Edited by BrhannadaArmour - 1 years ago
Posted: 1 years ago
#26

A matrimonial alliance is negotiated with these kinship terms (Virāṭaparvan 67.7-9):


snuṣā'rtham Uttarāṃ rājan pratigṛhṇāmi te sutām

svasrīyo Vāsudevasya sākṣād deva-śiśur yathā

dayitaś cakra-hastasya bāla ev'āstra-kovidaḥ

Abhimanyur mahābāhuḥ putro mama viśāṃ pate

jāmātā tava yukto vai bhartā ca duhitus tava


As a daughter-in-law (snuṣā + artham - accusative), King (rājan - vocative)! I accept your daughter (sutām - accusative) Uttarā. The sister's son (svasrīyaḥ - nominative) of Vasudeva's son is exactly like a divine child (deva-śiśuḥ - nominative), beloved (dayitaḥ - nominative) of the one with a discus in his hand, expert in missiles even when young (bālaḥ - nominative). Abhimanyu, my large-armed son (putraḥ - nominative), lord (pate - vocative) of the civilians (viśāṃ - genitive)! is a suitable son-in-law (jāmātā - nominative) for you and a husband (bhartā - nominative) for your daughter (duhituḥ - genitive).

Posted: 1 years ago
#27

Here you can see how some kinship terms in a battle scene (Bhīṣmaparvan 44.2-3) change their grammatical forms (declensions) as defined on page 1 of this topic:


na putraḥ pitaraṃ jajñe na pitā putram aurasam

na bhrātā bhrātaraṃ tatra svasrīyaṃ na ca mātulaḥ

mātulaṃ na ca svasrīyo na sakhāyaṃ sakhā tathā


The son (putraḥ - nominative) did not recognize his father (pitaraṃ - accusative), nor did the father (pitā - nominative) recognize his legitimate (aurasam - accusative) son (putram - accusative), nor did the brother (bhrātā - nominative) recognize his brother (bhrātaraṃ - accusative) there, nor did the maternal uncle (mātulaḥ - nominative) recognize his sister's son (svasrīyaṃ - accusative), nor did the sister's son (svasrīyaḥ - nominative) recognize his maternal uncle (mātulaṃ - accusative), nor did the friend (sakhā - nominative) recognize his friend (sakhāyaṃ - accusative), moreover.

Posted: 1 years ago
#28

A paternal uncle was usually called simply "father" (pitṛ). For example, Saṃjaya speaking to Dhṛtarāṣṭra in Bhīṣmaparvan refers to his paternal uncle Bhīṣma nineteen times as "pitā Devavratas tava" - your father (pitā - nominative) Devavrata.


Wherever Vyāsa is called Dhṛtarāṣṭra's father, the audience for whom Mahābhārata was composed would have understood that it was simply the polite way to refer to Vicitravīrya's kānīna brother, regardless of Vyāsa begetting Dhṛtarāṣṭra.


To be unnecessarily specific, a paternal uncle could be called an oldest/older/middle/younger/youngest father (Udyogaparvan 145.8), similar to Telugu kinship terms:


pitā yavīyān asmākaṃ kṣattā dharmabhṛtāṃ varaḥ

putra-śok'ābhisaṃtaptaḥ kim āha Dhṛtarāṣṭrajam


Yudhiṣṭhira asks Kṛṣṇa, "Our younger (yavīyān - nominative) father (pitā - nominative), the steward (Vidura), the best of those who adhere to dharma, who is afflicted by grief for his sons, what did he say to the one born of Dhṛtarāṣṭra?


The word yavīyān means the younger of two, and implies that Yudhiṣṭhira regarded Dhṛtarāṣṭra as jyāyān, the elder of two. The sons of Somadatta were also of Pāṇḍu's generation, but I don't think they are ever given the status of fathers by the Pāṇḍavas. Curiously, they seem to be regarded as the Pāṇḍavas' brothers (Udyogaparvan 30.21, Droṇaparvan 118.29).


There is a specific word for paternal uncle - pitṛvya ("equal of a father"), which is used only twice in the entire Mahābhārata text. One occasion is Droṇaparvan 24.25, where Sutasoma pierces his own paternal uncle (svapitṛvyaṃ - accusative) Viviṃśati - Bhīma's patrilineal cousin - with arrows. The other is Bhīṣmaparvan 86.6-9, where Irāvat is disowned by his paternal uncle (pitṛvyeṇa - instrumental), Ulūpī's first husband's brother or patrilineal cousin.


Arjunasy'ātha dāyāda Irāvān nāma vīryavān

sutāyāṃ Nāga-rājasya jātaḥ Pārthena dhīmatā

Airāvatena sā dattā anapatyā mahātmanā

patyau hate Suparṇena kṛpaṇā dīna-cetanā

bhāryā'rthaṃ tāṃ ca jagrāha Pārthaḥ kāma-vaś'ānugām

evam eṣa samutpannaḥ para-kṣetrE'rjun'ātmajaḥ

sa Nāga-loke saṃvṛddho mātrā ca parirakṣitaḥ

pitṛvyeṇa parityaktaḥ Pārtha-dveṣād durātmanā


Now, Arjuna's heir (dāyādaḥ - nominative) named Irāvat was valiant, begotten in the Nāga king's daughter (sutāyāṃ - locative) by the intelligent son of Pṛthā. Childless (anapatyā - nominative), she was given by the grand-natured Airāvata (presumably her father-in-law, not her father Kauravya), when her husband (patyau - locative) had been killed by Suparṇa (Garuḍa) and she was pitiable, depressed in mood. And Pṛthā's son took her as wife (bhāryā'rthaṃ - accusative), when she followed the command of desire. So he was born in another man's field (para-kṣetre - locative), Arjuna's son (ātmajaḥ - nominative). He was raised in the Nāga world, guarded by his mother (mātrā - instrumental), and disowned by his bad-natured paternal uncle (pitṛvyeṇa - instrumental) who hated Pṛthā's son (perhaps because he wanted to beget children with Ulūpī himself, or perhaps because Arjuna killed Takṣaka's wife, Aśvasena's mother).


We can infer that the specific word pitṛvya was only used when the paternal uncle was hostile to his nephew, and the everyday use of pitṛ connoted the societal expectation that paternal uncle and nephew should behave like father and son.

Edited by BrhannadaArmour - 1 years ago
Posted: 1 years ago
#29

One's paternal uncle's wife had the status of one's mother, and thus, her brother was regarded as one's maternal uncle.


Duryodhana never even met Mādrī, and yet Śalya is called his maternal uncle (mātulam - accusative) at Udyogaparvan 8.11, and Duryodhana addresses Śalya as maternal uncle (mātula - vocative) when he offers him the command at Śalyaparvan 5.26.


Likewise, at Droṇaparvan 13.22, Śakuni is called Sahadeva's maternal uncle (mātulam - accusative), even in a sentence that refers to Sahadeva as Mādrī's son (Mādrī-sutaḥ - nominative).

Posted: 1 years ago
#30

The ideal of family unity, that brothers share each other's grandchildren and second cousins regard each other as brothers, is expressed by Saṃjaya's use of kinship terms when he narrates to Dhṛtarāṣṭra how Lakṣmaṇa fought with Abhimanyu (Bhīṣmaparvan 51.8-10):


Lakṣmaṇas tava pautras tu tava pautram avasthitam

abhyavartata saṃhṛṣṭas tato yuddham avartata

Dauryodhanis tu saṃkruddhaḥ Saubhadraṃ navabhiḥ śaraiḥ

vivyādha samare rājaṃs tad adbhutam iv'ābhavat

Abhimanyus tu saṃkruddho bhrātaraṃ Bharata-rṣabha

śaraiḥ pañcāśatā rājan kṣipra-hasto'bhyavidhyata


But your son's son (pautraḥ - nominative) Lakṣmaṇa all excitedly came before your son's son (pautram - accusative) who was nearby, and then battle proceeded. Duryodhana's son, all enraged, pierced Subhadrā's son with nine arrows in battle, King; that was like a marvel. But Abhimanyu, all enraged and quick of hand, Bharata-bull! next pierced his brother (bhrātaraṃ - accusative) with arrows to a fifty, King!