“…Two of Pascal’s best-known passages come into play in
connection with the coronavirus. The first has it that “all of humanity’s
problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” The second
speaks to the human condition: “Imagine a number of men in chains, all under
sentence of death, some of whom each day are butchered in the sight of others;
those remaining see their own condition in that of their fellows, and looking
at each other with grief and despair await their turn. This is an image of the
human condition.” The coronavirus has forced almost all of us, either in
enforced or self-imposed quarantine, to sit quietly in our room, and the news
of the continuing deaths it is causing — of the obscure and the celebrated —
concentrates our minds on Pascal’s dark human condition….”
कोरोनाविषाणू मुळे झालेल्या लॉकडाऊन मध्ये महाभारतातील परीक्षित आणि तक्षकाची गोष्ट आठवत राहती.
परीक्षित स्वतः:ला quarantine करून घेतो, social distancing वाढवतो तरी
कडक बंदोबस्तातून तक्षक राजापर्यंत पोचतो. लहानपणी थोडी उंच इमारत दिसली तरी वाटे अशाच कोणा इमारतीच्या टोकाला परीक्षित रहात असावा.
खर सांगायचं म्हणजे पांडवांची मुले
अश्वथाम्याने मारतो, या घटनेच्या सोबत महाभारताचा गिअर बदलतो- यादवी युद्ध (तो सात्यकी इतका आवडायचा आणि इकडे त्याचे चाळे बघा), पांडवांचा हिमालयात मृत्यू , आणि परीक्षिताची गोष्ट. लहान बुद्धीला हादरवून टाकणारे, आतर्क्य प्रकार.
त्या कथेची एक आवृत्ती, मी वाचलेल्या/ ऐकलेल्या गोष्टीपेक्षा जरा वेगळी, अशी सांगितली आहे:
"... On the other hand, the son of Kadru was
worried. He told his followers ” “Assume the shapes of Brahmins. Only
Brahmins are not prevented from entering the ave where the yagna is
taking place. Bless the king with fruits and flowers. Take a fruit and
give it to him. Don’t go fast but slowly. Don’t let the followers of the
king identity you.”
Having said this, Takshak took shelter inside a
fruit. Hearing this, all the serpents assumed the disguise of Brahmins.
They went to the place where the king was seated, with many fruits and
flowers. Brahmins were not prevented from crossing the doors of the
King. They blessed the king will fruits and flowers which the King
accepted with delight. Seeing a damaged fruit, the king damaged it
further with his nails. A tiny red coloured insect was within it. The
king saw its black face and told his ministers “Today’s the seventh day
for which I was cursed. One minute is left for sunset. It is strange
that the Brahmin’s curse is about to fail. This curse is supposed to be
infallible. That’s why my mind is tensed. Let this insect be the Takshak
and bite me so that the Brahmin’s word is not falsified.”
Having
said this, he placed the insect on his head. When the ministers saw
this, they warned” Don’t let this happen”. The king was debating with
ministers about this, when the Takshak assumed it’s shape and roared
like the cloud at the time of end of civilization. The ministers fled as
soon as they heard the sound. Everyone was frightened on beholding the
dangerous look of Takshak. Takshak held the body of the king with its
tail. One thousand tongues of the Takshak assumed the shape of an
umbrella. With a sound, Takshak bit the King’s head, after which it
disappeared in space. The king was burning along with the platform, in
the fire caused by the poison. His body was like a red lotus. The
ministers wept at the demise of the king. This news also made everyone
in the inner courtyard weep. The funeral rites of the King were
immediately performed...."
लहानपणी ऐकल्यापासून ही गोष्ट मला अतिशय भीतीदायक आणि आयुष्यातील अटळता दाखवून देणारी वाटली आहे.
अर्थात ह्या घटनेच्या आधीची परीक्षिताची वागणूक (१) आणि त्याच्या मृत्यनंतर त्याच्या वारसदारांनी केलेले सर्पसत्र (२) हे सगळेच परीक्षिताच्या मृत्यूइतके क्लेशकारक आहे.
(१) “…‘Janamejaya said, “In our lineage, no king has ever been
born who did not look after the welfare of his subjects and please them.
Consider especially the conduct of my grandfathers, who were always devoted to
a great life. How did my father, who was like them, come to his end? Describe
it accurately to me. I wish to hear it.”’
Souti said, ‘Thus asked by the king, the ministers, who were
always engaged in that which brought pleasure to the king, told him everything
that had happened. The ministers said, “O king! Your father was always addicted
to hunting, like the greatly fortunate warrior and great archer, Pandu. He
handed over all matters concerning the running of the kingdom to us. On one
occasion, he was roaming in the forest and pierced a deer with an arrow. Having
thus shot the deer, he pursued it deep into the forest, alone and on foot, with
his sword, quiver and bow ready. But your father could not find that lost deer
deep inside the forest. He was sixty years old and aged and felt tired and
hungry. He then saw a great sage in that great forest. The lord of kings asked
the sage, who at that time was observing a vow of silence and thus the sage did
not reply to any of the questions. In his vow of silence, the sage sat
motionless and peaceful like a piece of wood, and hungry and thirsty and not
knowing that the sage was observing a vow of silence, the king became angry
with the sage. Being angry, your father insulted the sage. O best of the
Bharata lineage! With the end of his bow, he picked up a dead snake from the
ground and placed it around the shoulders of that pure-souled sage. But that
wise one did not utter a word, good or bad, and did not become angry. He
remained as he was, with the snake around his shoulders.”’…”
('The Mahabharata Volume 1' , अनुवाद: Bibek Debroy)
(२) Arun Kolatkar (अरुण कोलटकर),
'Sarpa Satra', 2003/2004, page 56:
"...A nice
yajnya, this.
Not a single sacrificial post in sight.
No ropes, no knives.
There's no need for the queen,
or anybody else,
to lead the animal to the killing field
and take its life by smothering it,
bludgeoning it,
or worse.
No need to carve up the parts
-omentum, liver, lung, bladder,
genitals-
and cook them separately;
or to roast
the victim's still-bleeding heart on a spit.
Oh no. Nothing of the sort.
Nothing crude.
It's all sorcery: mantras do it all..."
'सर्पसत्र', १९२० च्या सुमारास अज्ञात कलाकाराने काढलेले चित्र
सौजन्य : विकिपीडिया
