In the previous episode, we had witnessed the commencement of the next “Upa-Parva” called “Pouloma Parva” under the main “Aadhi Parva”. As King Janame-Jaya was preparing himself for the Sarpa Yaaga, we had come to the end of the “Poushya Parva”. Now at this stage, we put a break on King Janame-Jaya’s Sarpa Yaaga, and we would come to this again a bit later. Now as we commence with the “Pouloma Parva”, we digress a bit from this and we go into an important discussion of the “Bruhu Vamsa”. We are going to witness an accord on Sage Bruhu and his wife Pouloma. As we had witnessed yesterday itself, Sage Bruhu was Bhagawan Brahma’s “Maanasa Putra” and he took birth in the world to serve a definite purpose. We shall witness the story of Pouloma and then come back into King Janame-Jaya’s Sarpa Yaaga in a bit.
As we’re witnessing the “Charitra” of Sage Bruhu, he gets married to Puloma. They later had a child by name “Chavana”. This might be a bit confusing here, but I shall try and explain in a lucid way. As Puloma attains pregnancy (“Garbha”) with “Chavana” in her womb, one fine day, the “Garbha” falls down on the ground accidentally. Since the baby was born out of the womb that accidentally fell on the ground, he was named as “Chavana”. This baby was also a great sage by birth itself. As the baby was born, a “Raakshasa” came to Puloma. This “Raakshasa” was also having the name “Puloma”. This “Raakshasa” started having an interest on Puloma after seeing her for the first time. He decided to abduct her and claim that she is his wife! As this was happening, Sage Bruhu had gone out for some work. However, there was a fire (“Agni”) that was constantly burning at their house. As Raakshasa Puloma approaches Puloma, he asked “Agni Bhagawan” thus, “Oh Agni Bhagawan! Tell me the truth here – I’m the actual husband of Puloma, isn’t it? How come she is married to someone else?”
Upon hearing this from Raakshasa Puloma, Agni Bhagawan got confused for a moment! After a while, he realizes an important event – When Puloma was a little girl before marriage, her father used to threaten her thus, “Oh Puloma! If you’re not leading a life with responsibility, you’ll be harmed and attacked by a Raakshasa!” Upon recollecting this, somehow, Raakshasa Puloma came with this claim – He had been listening to these words of Puloma’s father. Since these words came out of a “Brahmana Rishi”, they should be made true. Hence, Raakshasa Puloma saw this as a chance to come and claim Puloma. Agni Bhagawan was pulled into this as a “witness” for the whole thing, and hence, now, Agni Bhagawan becomes speechless!
On the other hand, after Puloma attains the marriage age, she marries Sage Bruhu as per the traditional method of marriage. All “Mantras” are chanted as per the protocol and with that, she had married Sage Bruhu. Now this is also legal in terms of our “Sanaatana Dharma”. What does Agni Bhagwan do now? He’s clearly caught in between two hurdles. Both seem to be valid, isn’t it? On one hand, a Brahmana Rishi’s words should always come true. On the other hand, Sage Bruhu has “legally” married Puloma. This Raakshasa Puloma is now claiming that Puloma (Sage Bruhu’s wife) is his! Whose side is Agni Bhagawan going to take? Let us wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 