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Secondary Tales of the two Great Epics widely practised one. The MBh-heroes, Dhṛtarastra-Pandu-Vidura, the three sons of Saradandayani, the son of Kalmaṣapada, Anga - the son of king Bali, rather the entire fresh race of Ksatriyas after they were once totally exterminated by Rama Jamadagnya,-all these are illustrations of the births due to the custom of Niyoga
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The latter is sought to be explained by resorting to the famous motif-structure of action-fruit-rebirth. Draupadi, as a virgin ascetic in her previous birth, has performed penance as a result of which she has obtained the boon of five husbands from Lord Sankara. She must enjoy the fruit in this birth now. The curse-motif is just another form of the same basic structure. All actions have their fruit - good or bad. They are accumulated. When ripe they must be enjoyed by their doer for which He should be reborn. His actions thus become his destiny. Boons or curses are nothing but only symbols of the fruit of his own actions. And destiny is unalterable. So was Draupadi's marriage.
Obviously, in both the above cases, the secondary epic poets were dealing with customs which had become obsolete and unpalatable in their contemporary societies but which, at the same time, were undetachably welded to the original principal tale. The difference in the treatment given to those two is significant. The mystery around the births of the heroes is sought to be explained by the custom of Niyoga which is shown to be widely prevalent among Ksatriyas. The fact of the polyandrous marriage, however, is justified not by prevalence but by the destiny or the karma-phalaprinciple. This difference in treatment is in accordance with the attitude of Manusmrti which condones Niyoga as an apad-dharma but does not countenance a polyandrous marriage under any circumstances. The influence of Manusmrti on MBh is clearly visible at a number of places. Manu is often mentioned by name and quoted verbatim and in extenso. This relation of Manusmrti and MBh may have some bearing on the problem of the period of the first recast of the MBh.
In connection with the custom of Niyoga, it should be noted that the custom is shown to obtain in the Ksatriya class only. And the procreators are almost invariably the Brahmins or the sages. The custom is never shown to be practised among the Brahmins, because they rank with gods (Cf. Bhü-devas) and sages and we have seen that the seed of gods and sages is believed to be infallibly fertile.
In connection with the karma-phala theory, it is observed that the principle is resorted to for motivating almost each and every detail of the principal narratives. Such a tendency seeks to explain everything as predestined in accordance with the karma-phala theory, completely undermines the human interest and often damages the subtle characterisation of the original poem by reducing the characters to broad simplifications and destroying thereby their finer shades. If Ravaṇa kidnaps Sītā, he is lewd, he cannot be gallant; but if he did not so much as touch Sita, that must be due to the curse of Nalakübara.
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