Hey! Don’t get too excited. I am
not here to discuss how babies are born or about sex. Read the topic again. The
topic says, “How babies ‘WERE’ born”. I am always excited and curious to know
how babies ‘were’ born in our ancient epics. If I come across with any new
character from our epics, first thing that comes to my mind is how he or she
was born. I have been hearing stories of Ramayan and Mahabharat since
childhood. Birth of few characters in
those epics has always amazed me. I am not challenging the stories or its
creation or hurting any Hindu sentiments here. I always believed that we were much
more advanced in those days than we are today. But it’s a fact that few babies
born in those days were not natural.
Hanuman: is a son of Kesari and Anjana. Story of Hanuman
birth is also very complicated. Kesari
and Anjana prayed to lord Shiva for a child.
By Shiva's direction, Vayu or Pawan transferred his male energy to
Anjana's womb. Accordingly, Hanuman is identified as the son of the Vayu/Pawan.
Thus Hanuman is also called as Pawanputra.
My Note: Wow! I have learned about wind, water, insect
pollination etc. wherein pollen grains are carried from one place to another
and where wind, water or bees acts as a pollen vector. But these types of
pollination are restricted to plants. I have never heard of any human beings or
animals being pollinated in that fashion.
Just imagine wind- pollination
working for human beings. How scary it sounds.
Makardhwaja: is the
son of Hanuman and a crocodile. It’s said that, Hanuman took a dip in the water
after burning Lanka. While doing so, a drop of his perspiration fell in to the
mouth of giant crocodile making her pregnant.
My Note: Now hearing this story, few questions arise in my
mind.
How can someone’s perspiration
make anyone pregnant?
Except for a Mule, I have not
heard of two different species give birth to someone.
Thank god, today we don’t have
these facilities. We all might be worried while going out for a swim. And with
two different species mating with each other we would definitely not have any
pets at home. PHEW!
Pandawas: The birth story of all Pandu putra is also very
amazing.
It’s said that, Brahmin rishi,
Kindam and his wife were making love in the forest when Pandu accidentally shot
them, mistaking them for deer. Before dying, Kindam cursed the king to die when
he engages in intercourse with any woman. Due to this curse, Pandu was unable
to father children. After Pandu's disability, the Pandavas were conceived in an
unusual way. His wife, Queen Kunti, had in her youth been granted the power to
invoke the Devas by Rishi Durvasa. Each Deva, when invoked, would bless her
with a child.
Kunti gave birth to Karna by
invoking lord ‘Surya’. Afraid of being an unwed mother Kunti, placed the baby
in a basket and set him afloat on a river.
Yudhisthira was born by invoking
the Lord of judgement, ‘Dharma’.
Bhima by invoking the God of
wind, ‘Vayu’.
Arjun by invoking the god
‘Indra’
It’s said that Kunti also shared
the boon with Pandu’s second wife Madri, who then invoked Ashwin Kumar to beget
Nakul and Sahadev.
My Note: Thank god, Kunti was the last one to receive this
kind of blessing. Just imagine we are blessed with it too. Then, we too would
have names our children in American style. Like in America, mother name her
child as Tomson, Jackson to know who their father is, we would have named our
children as Ravi putra, Vayu putra, Indra putra etc.
Dhritarashtra, Pandu and Vidur : The birth story of these legends is also very
complicated. After Vichitraviry's death, his mother Satyavati sent for her
first born, Vyas. According to his mother's wishes, he visited both the wives
of Vichitravirya to grant them a son with his yogic powers. When Vyas visited
Ambika, she saw his dreadful and forbidding appearance with burning eyes. In
her frightened state, she closed her eyes and dared not open them. Hence her
son, Dhritarashtra, was born blind.
Then when Vyas visited Ambalika,
Vichitravirya’s second wife, she did keep her eyes open but she became pale
after seeing the formidable form of the Sage. Therefore, Pandu was born pale.
Being shocked by Vichitravirya’s
wife Satyavati then decided to send Parishrami, the maid to the queens Ambika
and Ambalika and Vidur was born.
My Note: Were we really so advance in those days that with
yogic power we were able to produce babies? Today if this kind of power exists, then, woman
when detected with infertility would prefer to visit a yogi instead of visiting
a Genealogist. Or probably this kind of power might be included in our
educational syllabus for Genealogist.
Draupadi: She is said to be born from fire.
I am grateful that these things do not happen
in Kaliyug. Just imagine, a girl going out for a job and becoming pregnant on
the way back home. Or going for a swim on a nice lazy weekend and getting out from
the pool with a baby in hand. And two different species giving birth to
something, is just indigestible. I always
believe that our ancestors were much more advanced and technologically sound
that we are today. And if we talk about technologies in those days …
Ramayan :
a.
It’s said that Ravan kidnapped Sita and took her
to Lanka from Pushpak Viman. Today, after so many thousand years we have
developed an airplane.
b.
It’s said we had lots of weapons in those days
like Bhramastra – which is like nuclear weapon, Pashupat astra, Aindra astra,
Agneya astra, Varun astra, Naga astra, vayu astra, Surya astra, Vajra astra,
Mohini astra, Twasthar astra, Pramohan astra and many more. It’s said that
those astra were much more advanced and had power to bring rain, to emit
flames, to release torrential amount of water, create a dazzling light etc. If
we say it’s all fake, then at least we should respect that they have got the
power to imagine these kinds of weapons. And the description of Bhramastra is
just like a nuclear weapon that we have developed today. So how can we say it’s
all fake.
Mahabharat: It had all the miracles and wonders one can
imagine.
a.
Gandhari and Dhritarashtra had 100 sons and they
were born in a pot. Today we have developed a technology of Test-tube babies or
IUV. But probably we have still not reached that level. Today the fertilization
is done in test tube and after some time is inserted back in women’s womb. Gandhari instead had grown all 100 babies in
pots itself. No women and give birth to 100 sons in natural way.
b.
When Kansa imprisoned Devaki and Vasudev, Rohini
came to their rescue and agreed to give birth to their son Balram. Is it not
like a surrogate mother that we have today?
Only the technology we had has to be much more advanced for sure.
On a lighter note, 'How babies WERE born' in our ancient epics has always been and will always be a topic of curiosity.
