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The Tales in Mahābhārata
he can lay his hands on -- the principle of Karma-phala, the theory of incarnation, the custom of Niyoga, the efficacy of a sacrifice (and even fabricating an entirely new character - that of Droņa - if we believe Mr. Ghose) – all conceivable things are set together in one big bunch to justify one centrally important, obsolete and unavoidable detail of the original Saga. They sometimes even cancel each other. Apparently, the author lacks any sense of propriety and proportion. But through a maze of tales we can see the singularity of purpose and uniformity of pattern. Except for some few narratives of the ancestors of the epic-heroes, all other tales are, in one way or the other, intended to validate and consolidate the polyandrous marriage of the epic-heroes and its heroine.
A minor observation may be added. All the tales of Niyoga are narrated in connection with the ksatriyas only. The brahmins play the role of the procreator, but the kşetra' is always a ksatriya-woman. No brāhmin is shown to be born of Niyoga. Sāradandayani appears by name to be a brāhmin-woman, but she is called there a vīra-patpi. This may be adduced to the superioristic arrogance of the Brāhmins, but another fact is more important. Manu says: "This animal-custom, which is denounced by the learned brāhmins, was laid down even for human beings when king Vena was rulling the territory."295 Brahmins denounced it, but since the time of king Vena, the custom has been prevalent among human beings. This distinction is clearly reflected and consistently maintained throughout in the birth-stories of the epics. The arrogant tendency of the brāhmin-redactors apart this once again provides a close link between the MBh and the Manusmrti.
Another poivt of contact between ĀdiP and Manusmộti also must be noted. We see that Manusmộti gives some allowance, though reluctantly, to the custom of Niyoga. So we also find in the MBh the custom of Niyoga to be widely prevalent, and rather often resorted to. But the polyandrous type of marriage, Manusmrti does not countenance at all. And the author of the AdiP is hard put to justify the stubborn and notorious detail of the polyandrous marriage of Draupadi, and the fellow has to take recourse to the superhuman agency - the fatalistic tendency in the case of Draupadi and divine agency in the birth of the Pāndavas. It will not be missed that no other Niyoga than that of the epic-heroes is ascribed to divine agencies. A normal Niyoga in the case of the heroes would not have been enough to justify and sanctify their peculiar type of marriage. This difference in the treatment of the customs of polyandry and levirate also points to some affinity between the MBh and Manusmộti.
The tales of the AdiP which now follow have already been dealt with in the previous section. The last episode of the AdiP - that of Khandava-burning has also been dealt with in the last section of the first chapter. That brings us to the end of AdiP. 295 Manusmrti. IX.66. Cf.:
ayam dvijair hi vidvadbhiḥ pasu-dharmo vigarhitaḥ / manuşyānām api prokto vene rājyam praśasati //
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