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The Tales in Mahabharata
the curse of his teacher's wife.6 The scenes Uttanka saw were explained metaphorically by his teacher. The two women were Dhatṛ and Vidhatr; the black and white warps were night and day; the wheel was the year, the six boys, seasons. The man was Parjanya, the horse, Fire. The great bull was Airavata, king of Nagas; the rider was Indra himself; the excreta was nector itself. And though not explained, the earrings must have been the moon and the sun. The allegory of the tale is explained in the tale itself. The tale is intended to provide Uttaňka a cause to be resentful towards Takṣaka against whom he eventually instigates Janamejaya." The king then takes up the famous serpent-sacrifice. But apart from providing a motivation for sacrifice, the tale is also intended to function as an example of the ideal of obedience to the teacher at any cost; and it is through this function that this tale is linked up with the previous two tales. The teacher-pupil-relationship of the characters of this group of tales is another link, but it is not as strong as the functional ore. The genealogical relations may also be noted here. This Dhaumya is most probably the family-priest of the Pandavas, 10 Thus, Ayoda Dhaumya is said to be the grand-teacher of Uttanka. Arjuna is the great-grand-father of Janamejaya. Even Veda, the teacher of Uttanka, is said to have been chosen as an Upadhyaya by Janamejaya.11 So, the line of Dhaumya-Veda-Uttanka and that of Arjuna-(Abhimanyu)-Parikṣit-Janamejaya can be shown to have maintained relations with each other, and there is enough. justification in Uttanka and Janamejaya joining hands in their common cause of taking revenge upon Takṣaka.12
But the significant fact to be noted is that none of these characters, except Uddalaka Aruni is mentioned anywhere in the Vedic works. Uddālaka Āruņi is a famous Brahmavädin but he is referred to as a student of his father Aruna and of Patañcala Käpya of the Madra country.13 If Ayoda Dhaumya were his teacher and were the giver to him of that name by which he is famous, are we not justified in
6 AdiP. 3.97-164.
7 AdiP. 3.167-174.
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8 There are reasons for this supposition: one, the desire of Takṣaka, the king of netherlands, to possess them; two, the queen who gave them was not seen by Uttaňka when he was impur.. Of course, the earrings, the ornaments of the ears, could as well be some two lores which the Brahmin obtained from a Ksatriya. The only difficulty in emphasising this interpretation is that the demander of the earrings as well as the giver are two ladies, and ladies interested in lores were, after everything is said in their favour, an exception.
9 AdiP. 3.177 & 185ff.
10 At the suggestion of Citraratha, Pandavas choose Dhaumya, the younger brother of Asita Devala as their purohita. Cf. AdiP. 174. In his An Index to the Names of Mahabharata (Reprint Ed., Delhi, 1963), S. Sorensen refrains from identifying the two Dhaumyas but there is more justification in identifying them.
11 AdiP. 3.85.
12 Cf. AdiP. 3.184d. svam eva karyam nṛpateś ca yat tat //
13 Cf. Vedic Index, Vol. I, p. 88.
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