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        (continued from Part 10 posted earlier)
------------------------------------------------------
Dear friends,

With the recounting of a popular story from the
Mahabharatha, this posting will conclude the series on
the theory of the Vedic origins of the Tamil word
"maattu-pONN".

The main focus of the theory, if you will all
recollect, was to show that there is a credible
alternative to the popular notion of "maattu-pONN"
being a colloquial term derived from the Tamil
"maatru-pEnn" or "naatu-pEnn" (as some members too
pointed out in their feedback mails). I strongly
believe, however, that there is far more weight to the
argument that the use of the word, over centuries of
past custom, owes its origin more to the age-old Vedic
"gruhya-" or "vivAha-sUtras" rather than to colloquial
usage of some recent Tamil past.

In the course of explaining the theory, I quoted
extensive but relevant passages from the various
"gruhya-sUtras". They were all meant to show how in
those Vedic times, the selection of a bride
("maattu-poNN") or groom ("maappillai") was made with
the utmost care, circumspection and anxiety. Also, the
various rites, ceremonies and sacraments performed
during the course of the wedding, and prior to and
after the event as well, were all designed by the
"sUtras" to ensure the choice of a "maattu-poNN" was
made with due regard to "dhArmic" principles and
practices. More specifically, it was to ensure the
chosen bride underwent all necessary "samskArAs"
together with her husband, and the couple began the
marital journey of their life duly purified by Vedic
"mantra" and fortified by Vedic "vivAha-shubha-karma".


A very well-known story from the Mahabharatha reveals
how the choice of a "maattu-pOnn", if made recklessly,
without paying due heed to "sAstra", and even if
inspired by noble intention, can turn out terribly,
terribly wrong and what disastrous consequences follow
from it.         

The story is none other than that of
"Bhishma-pitAmaha", the most venerated and noble
character of all in the Mahabharatha.

                   ************

Greater than many men, as he indeed was in several
respects, Bhishma was still very much a tragi-heroic
character in the "itihAsa". Though powerful and
valorous, and an unquestioned leader of men and
affairs, Bhishma fell victim to Fate which, time and
again, seemed to deal him a cruel and crushing hand.
And the most cruel of Fate's blows on Bhishma was
dealt by -- or rather caused to be dealt by -- none
other than the "daughters-in-law" of his house, the
"maattu-poNNs", who came into his life by act of his
own choice. They came and simply turned his life
upside down, inside out. 

One "maattu-poNN" deprived Bhishma of all his earthly
birthrights. And the other "maattu-poNN" became his
sworn, life-long enemy. Towards the end of Bhishma's
long life, marked as it was by tragedy and pathos, it
was the "maattu-poNN" who became his final nemesis.   
   

Let us recount the story.

                    ***********

The great monarch, King SAntanu was the father of the
young crown-prince, Devavrata (which was the name of
the young Bhishma in his youth).

Even in his advanced years, King SAntanu succumbed to
romantic impulses. One day while the aged King was
touring a coastal district, his eyes fell upon a
common but bewitchingly beautiful maiden amongst the
fisher-folk community. On further enquiry, SAntanu
came to learn that she was the daughter of the local
chieftain, an elder of the fishing community. Her name
was Satyavati. SAntanu, by now completely overcome by
amorous feelings for the young Satyavati, asked the
fisherfolk chieftain for the hand of the beautiful
daughter. 

The chieftain was not only a dear and caring father
but a shrewd businessman too, well-versed in the
tricks of the fish-mongering trade. Fishermen can
usually smell a gathering windfall even when it is
still only a faint whiff of breeze. When it is upon
them and they will do anything to grab the
opportunity, quickly and firmly.

The shrewd chieftain told King SAntanu that Satyavati
was his wife for the asking on one condition. A son
born to her must succeed his father, SAntanu as King. 

The condition, so bluntly and boldly stated, abruptly
put a stop to SAntanu's rosy and romantic dreams.
Though his heart ached for Satyavati, his head -- a
mighty King's crowned head -- said "No!"... There was
no way SAntanu would sacrifice his first-born Prince
Devavrata's natural right to the Crown.

Thoroughly disappointed in love, the frustrated King
SAntanu returned to his palace. For several months
thereafter he pined away in silent but desperate
anguish. He simply could not forget the beautiful
Satyavati....

In due course of time, Prince Devavarata, (the
latter-day Bhishma) came to know through palace
courtiers the real reason for his father's forlorn
state of mind. The Prince's love for his father was so
great that he resolved no price was too great to pay
to ensure the King regained his old happy, robust
self. The Prince decided to proceed to the fisherfolk
chieftain and negotiate again for the hand of
Satyavati.

Devavrata thus set out to seek and secure a
daugher-in-law, a "maattu-poNN", for the royal house!
A new queen for his father and a step-mother for
himself! Normally, it is a father who exerts himself
to find a suitable match for a son. In Bhishma's case,
the boot was on the other foot! It was an
extraordinary irony of circumstance and one which only
the hand of Fate could have fashioned.

When Devavrata met Satyavati's father and began
matrimonial negotiations, he implored the latter to
give in and fulfill King SAntanu's all-consuming
desire of the heart. The wily chieftain, Satyavati's
father, said, "You are a noble-hearted prince indeed,
O Devavrata, that you should come in search of a bride
for your old father when you are yourself such an
eligible match for the best of maidens in this
kingdom. But as long as you remain crown-prince, I
know a son born to Satyavati and your father shall
never be King. Of what use then, O Prince, is marriage
to a king, if a son born thereof shall have no claim
to the monarch's crown?".  

Finding the chieftain adamant in his demand for the
price of Satyavati's hand, Bhishma knew he must make a
fateful choice. Either he must let his love-lorn
father continue to pine away in sadness or he must
renounce forever his claim to his father's kingdom. 

The noble-hearted Devavrata chose the latter option.
Turning to the chieftain he said, "If the throne of my
father is the price to be paid for your daughter's
hand, then so be it. Let Satyavati wed my father, and
I shall hereby renounce once and for all time, my
claim to be king!".

Everyone, including the crafty chieftain, was
astonished by Devavrata's act of extraordinary
self-sacrifice. But the greed of Satyavati's father
was that of a fisherman out to extract the best price 
going for his catch. He wanted better than the best of
deals for his daughter and would not let up effort
until it had been secured.

"O Prince, you are far nobler than I thought! But even
granting you renounce your claim to your father's
throne in favour of Satyavati's sons, how shall one be
sure that your own sons, when they are born, shall not
one day in the future want to reclaim  it? What is to
prevent them saying their father, that is you,
wrongfully renounced away what was rightly theirs? How
is one to be sure my daughter, Satyavati's sons shall
not someday in the future be embroiled in a blood-feud
over your present act of renunciation?".

When Devavrata heard this, his heart broke. He knew he
was now about to make another cataclysmic choice in
life --- one that would forever change him and his
destiny ... in ways he would never be able to fathom.
But he knew he must make the terrible choice ... for
the sake of his father, the King SAntanu.

That was the moment when Prince Devavrata took the
terrible, frightening vow in life. It was the vow that
earned him the name "Bheeshma" -- "the one of the
terrible Vow"!

Bhishma told Satyavati's father, "O Chieftain, my sons
should first be alive if they are to make future
claims to SAntanu's throne at the expesne of
Satyavati's sons. If my sons never at all come to
exist, how shall they make the claim? Thus, do I swear
by God now, I renounce life itself! I renounce  my
unborn progeny! I shall embrace celibacy all my life!
The seed of my existence shall die with me! There
shall be nobody remaining on earth after me of whom it
might be said that "There goes Devavrata's son!" or
"Here are Devavrata's children". I vow solemnly never
to wed and never to beget a son to carry my name! Now
shall ye give Satyavati in marriage to my father?".

The Mahabharatha describes how the skies trembled and
the earth shook to its very roots in the moment that
Bhishma swore and took such a terrible oath of
self-renunciation....

                  ************

Bhisma won a "maattu-poNN", a new bride, that day for
his father, King SAntanu but, in the bargain, he had
to lose everything in life... everything that was 
birth-right for a young, royal prince like him. 

Satyavati, the young and beautiful "maattu-poNN" was
herself utterly blameless in the whole affair but it
was Fate itself that had it so destined that the day
she stepped into the house of Bhishma, he would lose
everything, every joy and wealth of life....

Satyavati, the demure and beautiful bride
("maattu-poNN"), was utterly innocent of course, but
it nevertheless left everyone wondering why such a
good person as she also brought along with her such
ill-luck and evil presence into her new home? Was it
some evil influence of the family she hailed from? Was
it some malevolent natal asterism ("nakshatra") of
hers that followed her into her new home? Was it the
influence of her avaricious father? Was it the plain
soil, or the smell of the earth, of the fishing
village on which she had been born and bred? No one
could fathom the reason....

              ***************

Many decades later, at Hastinapur, when the Kauravas
were about to drive out the Pandavas out of the
kingdom, everyone who was witness to the royal feud
could not help asking:

"Why are the Kauravas so cruel and avaracious? The
poor Pandavas are asking for only Indraprastha; if not
the whole of Indraprastha, then just 5 provinces
within it; and if not 5 provinces, then at least 5
villages in a province! Can't the Kauravas grant their
brothers at least that? How heartless can Duryodhana
and his kin be that they want to deprive the Pandavas
of everything that is their birthright?"

Only Bhishma who was also witness to the feud
understood why! To him the events of the palace at
Hastinapur was a merely a re-play and re-run of what
had been already experienced by him long before the
time of the Kauravas and Pandavas. It filled him with
a sense of morbid 'deja-vu'. His recollections went
back to the fateful day when Satyavati's father ---
the great-grandfather of the Kauravas ---- had shown
equal avarice and ruthlessness in demanding his pound
of flesh from young Bhisma in return for Satyavati's
marriage to SAntanu... It was like a grim flash-back! 

Watching the Kauravas and Pandavas locked in a feud
that others found cruel, heartless and
incomprehensible, we should imagine, Bhishma alone,
however, might have understood it all; he alone could
have offered some semblance of an explanation for the
senseless events unfolding around him.... 

"It is no surprise to me that the Kauravas behave in
such a ruthless manner", Bhishma might have bitterly
thought to himself, "After all, they are of the same
flesh and blood of Satyavati, aren't they? They come
from the womb of the daughter-in-law of the house
("maattu-poNN") whose father took away from me all the
goodness of life, everything that the Kauravas too now
seek to take away from their Pandava brothers!"....   


Long after Satyavati and SAntanu were gone, we may
thus conclude from the story of the Mahabharatha, the
dark shadow of the "maattu-poNN" and her presence, as
well as that of her fisherman father, continued to
cast its dark and evil spell around the house of
Hastinapur, to haunt, to torment Bhishma, again and
again and again....  
                   ************
                 (to be concluded) 
Regards,

dAsan,
Sudarshan



























                
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