If we still nourish some discomfiture that a woman of Draupadi’s stature would use her sexuality for political ends, let us remember that Svayamvara-marriage in those days was nothing but ‘legalised’ display of male sexuality for marriage with political ends.
Draupadi-Sachi leads us to another aspect of Draupadi’s character.
‘shácii’ means ‘the rendering of powerful or mighty help, assistance, aid; kindness, favour, grace; skill, dexterity; speech, power of speech, eloquence ( Monier-Williams).’
Draupadi could not have been conceived as Sachi unless she had been Yudhishthira’s powerful and mighty aid; and the Draupadi-Satyabhama dialogue is evidence enough how Draupadi participated actively in Indraprashtha administration.
Another important point to note here is the connotation of ‘speech, power of speech, eloquence’.
Thus Draupadi’s Sachi-aspect also associates her with two other Rig Vedic Godesses – vak and Sarasvati – infact, One Goddess, as Sarasvati and vAk are often conceived as One.
If the Pandavas fight with weapons, krsna-Vyasa-Narada with Policy, then Draupadi fights with speech – vak. Who would forget her arguments in Kuru Sabha? Who would forget her chastisement of Virata in Virata-Sabha? Weren’t the Pandavas frightened of the power of her tongue?
Now, Draupadi is not only ‘vak’ she is also ‘danda’ personified- and both the vak and danda aspect again connect her with Sarasvati. In Rig Veda, Sarasvati is identified with Indra. In the Rig-Veda, Sarasvati is credited, in association with Indra, with killing the serpentine being Vritraasura, a demon which hoarded all of the earth's water and so represents drought, darkness, and chaos. This is Indra/Indrani aspect of Sarasvati, also connecting Draupadi with Pandava-Indras.
Draupadi as vak and Sarasvati is indeed Pandavas’ danda.
Of course we are not interested in discussing any phallic symbolism here; but as a passing sidelight we may remind ourselves that even if there is any such symbolism working here, that only confirms further Draupadi’s sexuality, and her Indrani aspect, because when Indra destroys Sambara, his power is called Sachi- ‘Thou smotest to the ground the hundred castles, impregnable, of Sambara the Dasyu, When, Strong, with might thou holpest Divodasa who poured libations out, O Soma-buyer, and madest Bharadvaja rich who praised thee (RV-6.31.4).’
One form of danda is vak-danda. The Dharmashashtras too endorse that.
The danda-vak connection is quite evident in the way Draupadi applies vak-danda to Yudhishthira on various occasions – sometimes in the shrillest of tongues (and therefore truly adhering to ‘housewife-dharma’, as any married man would certainly confirm!)– and also in the way she gives vak-danda to different men like Virata, Jayadratha, Kichaka, and to the Kuru elders and preceptors in open Sabha. We also see her chastising Virata in open sabha when he shows reluctance in meting out danda to Kichaka.
Draupadi always reminds Yudhishthira of the necessity of ‘danda’. In a powerful speech, she exhorts Yudhishthira –‘A Kshatriya without the rod of chastisement can never shine. A Kshatriya without the rod of chastisement can never enjoy the earth. The subjects of a king that is without the rod of chastisement can never have happiness.’
And in Bhisma’s danda-discourse to Yudhishthira, all aspects of Draupadi – shri, Sarasvati, vak, Sachi and Visnu get unified. Some names of danda are Dharma, shri, Vijaya, Mantra, the Soul of Rudra (asango.rudra.tanayo), doer of good (zivam.karah) - clearly suggests the link of Yudhishthira, Draupadi, Arjuna, Rudra, Shiva.
Bhisma says that visnu created danda in the mould of his own self by himself - aatmaanam.aatmanaa. From that, in exercise of Dharma, Sarasvati created danda-niti. Thus Sarasvati is instrumental in creating a ‘policy’ (i.e. nIti) from an abstract created by visnu. And Sarasvati can do that with Dharma.
Needless to say, Yudhishthira and Draupadi represent the dharma and nIti connection. Draupadi’s danda-aspect also connects her with the other three Krishnas – all of whom discourse Yudhishthira on danda on various occasions – and we get in particular Arjuna-Draupadi connection and krisna-krisna connection as Sakha-Sakhi.
The visnu-Sarasvati connection mythically pre-shadows krisna’s relationship with Draupadi, and opens up another unique possibility - the fact that krisna-Draupadi is the original visnu-incarnate conceived by Vyasa, only to be usurped and distorted by later patriarchal poets. To put it more clearly Draupadi is perhaps the original visnu-avatara in Vyasa’s Ur-Mahabharata – the original krisna.
Just as female-Indra is a reality in Rig Veda, female-visnu is so in his Mohini avatara in Mahabharata and Purana - a femme fatale who uses her sexuality to destroy Asuric power.
Indra’s danda is vajra. Draupadi as danda is also the vajra of pandava Indras.
With all due apologies to Mr. Freud, Indra’s danda or instrument of danda Vajra is not the patriarchal ‘Phallus’. The Rishis conceive Vajra as a woman; in Rig Veda 10.74.5 Indra is called shachipati and ‘varta’ of vajra, implying vajra is feminine. Vajra is – ‘paáviiravii tanyatúr ékapaad’ - ‘the lightning's daughter (Griffith: RV-10.65.13).’ The word ‘paáviiravii’ is used twice in Rig Veda (6.49.7 and 10.65.13), and in both cases it has association with Sarasvati, bringing into connotation all the rich associations with Sarasvati, implying for instance, wise and judicious use of Vajra. Thus proper use of Vajra-danda pre-requisites wisdom or buddhi – a feminine aspect – svamini of pura as Vyasa calls it. We may remember here that Sarasvati is also credited with killing Vrtra, further bringing into mind the role of Draupadi-Sarasvati in use of danda.
Bhisma says Danda’s ‘visage is like Agni - ruupato.agnir’, a point we have earlier seen in Arjuna’s conception of danda as ever awake– ‘and the complexion is dark and like blue lotus - niila.utpala.dala.zyaamaz (12.121.13).’
The Agni and Blue Lotus connection of danda naturally reminds us of krisna-Draupadi
Draupadi’s Sarasvati-aspect also connects her with the Power of sexuality.
She is certainly not the ‘sexy-Sarasvati’ – a perception that Hossein’s portrayal was subjected to and managed to raise quite a storm in cribbed pools of religious sentiments – a perception that lurks in the consciousness of many a truant students in Bengal, brain-washed in believing in Revolution-without-Education, and celebrating the Annual Sarasvati-Puja festival with a Godless ideology.
Draupadi-Sarasvati-Sexuality has been endorsed by none other than Vyasa.
Vyasa compares Draupadi with Sarasvati in describing how she spent her days with her five husbands in Khandavaprashtha-
‘And krisna became obedient unto all the five sons of Pritha, those lions among men, of immeasurable energy. Like the river Sarasvati decked with elephants, which again take pleasure in that stream, Draupadi took great delight in her five heroic husbands and they too took delight in her.’
By this unique comparison Vyasa shows Draupadi’s sexual energy and husband-wife sexual bliss of the Pandavas and their wife through a harmonious relation.
The delight is in both ‘Naga’ and ‘water’, signifying the ‘phallus’ and ‘Soma-Rasa-Rta-fertility’.
Draupadi is Agni, but her sexuality is also water. In our common knowledge, water douses Agni, but the ‘water’ of sexuality kindles the passion-Agni and purifies it. In Vedas, water is a symbol of fertility and sexuality. In Atharva Veda, the Rishi refers to Indrani and prays – ‘Love's consuming longing, together with yearning, which Indrâni has poured into the waters, that do I kindle for thee by the law of Varuna (6.132).’
Interestingly, in traditional Vedic astrology, the ‘water’ houses i.e. the 4th, 8th and 12th houses in a horoscope are called the moksa houses, yet all are connected with sex and sexual pleasure. In other words, transformation is not possible without sexual fulfillment and without meeting kama face to face!
Ahalya has no feeling of guilt because she is transformed through sex, and Gautama suffers from guilt unless he realizes the need of transformation through sex.
It is through Draupadi’s sexuality that the Pandavas can attain moksa.
Even Draupadi’s shri-aspect shows the Power of her Sexuality.
In the context of India (and till-date ‘communist’ Bengal of course!), an epithet ‘Lakshmi-stri’ is often used to denote a loyal and domesticated wife, while the hidden connotation is often that of a wife ignorant of her sexuality, or a wife ‘content’ with her repressed sexuality. However, that is not the way the Rishis conceived. Lakshmi-shri is a woman who frequently changes her husband, implying that the husband must constantly be worthy to have her as consort.
Uparichara’s wife Devika is compared to shri, and it is Devika’s thought that ‘melted’ Uparichara resulting in Satyavati’s birth.
catvari vak parimita padani tani vidurbrahmana ye manisinah |
guha trini nihita nen^gayanti turiyam vaco manusya vadanti ||
Griffith translates: ‘Speech hath been measured out in four divisions, the Brahmans who have understanding know them. Three kept in close concealment cause no motion; of speech, men speak only the fourth division. (RV-1.164.45)’
Sayana-Wilson translates: ‘Four are the definite grades of speech; those Brahmana as who are wise know them; three, deposited in secret, indicate no meaning; men speak the fourth grade of speech.’
Thus shri represents feminine beauty that makes it impossible for a man to retain his semen and makes him restless. The same thing happens to Kichaka, who wondering at Draupadi’s beauty calls her shri, and finally invites his death. shri-Draupadi and Indrani-Draupadi aspects merge into one as Draupadi tempts Kichaka to his death. Who would forget how kama-mugdha Kichaka eulogized Draupadi as SrI before falling a prey to her invitation-trap?
Shri is directly connected with Indrani in Rig Veda 8.92.20; it is said that ‘shri is established in Indra.’
The shri-Sarasvati connection through sexuality is not co-incidental. In Rig Veda, Sarasvati is very clearly associated with shri. [i]
Draupadi’s shri Aspect connects her with Sarasvati and also another Rig Vedic Goddess – Usha – Dawn – and her Dawn-aspect is indeed another aspect of Indrani. Goddess ‘Dawn’ in Rig Veda signifies ‘hope.’
Time gives hope, yet hope is beyond Time; the Rishis, the ever optimists, conceives Goddess Dawn – the Hope – as beyond the reach of Time. So, the Rishis see –
‘This Dawn hath yoked her steeds afar, beyond the rising of the Sun:
Borne on a hundred chariots she, auspicious Dawn, advances on her way to Men. (1.48.7)
Hope ‘tames’ Time – ‘Like as a young man followeth a maiden, so doth the Sun the Dawn, refulgent Goddess (1.115.2).’ ‘Sun’ in Rig Veda is one manifestation of Time.
Now, let us try to find out the significance of Draupadi’s falling first with respect to her various Goddess-aspects.
For that, let us ‘re-examine’ Yudhishthira’s pronouncement regarding Draupadi’s fall.
When Bhima asks Yudhishthira the reason of her fall, Yudhisthira says that the reason of her fall is her partiality for Arjuna-
pakshapato mahanasya visheshena dhana~njaye
tasyaitatphalamadyaisha bhu~nNkte purushasattama (C.E-17.1.6)
Does the pronouncement show Yudhishthira’s meanness at having lost the war of love to his younger brother? Many a feminist and many a Mahabharata-thinker tend to interpret Yudhishthira’s pronouncement that way, and yet again we are glad to allow them that liberty for the sake of democracy.
If we are under the misbelief that the polygamous marriage was forced on Draupadi, then all our symapathies go with Draupadi for the immense psychological trauma that she had to undergo at having to reluctantly embrace men whom she had no love for, and for the further humiliation she had to undergo at his elder husband’s judgment on her for truly loving the one man of her life. May be she was still languishing when Yudhishthira made that terrible pronouncement.
However, we choose not to believe that way, because there are enough indications in Mahabharata that it was by her own will that she chose a polygamous marriage and that all her husbands were equal to her – though there are indications enough that Arjuna has always been ‘special’ to her. If Draupadi loved Arjuna more than her other husbands, it is certainly a human glory – for despite our polygamous instincts, somewhere deep in our heart, we crave for a pure monogamous relationship. Otherwise there would not have been psychological matters like ‘possessiveness’ and ‘jealousy.’ That inherent contradiction of human nature is the humane essence of human beings. However, if Draupadi was a willing partner to the polygamous marriage, then Yudhishthira’s pronouncement holds ground, because her special love and partiality for Arjuna is certainly a lapse of dharma that she accepted by her own will.
Those who favour Yudhishthira-bashing tend to forget out of a queer complacency that to Yudhishthira, Draupadi’s lapse is ‘pakshapato’ and not ‘love’ for Arjuna. Are ‘pakshapato’ and ‘prema’ the same thing? That we often tend to equate the two – is the fault of a hypocritic temperament of our age, and the liability does not go to Yudhishthira.
Dhritarashtra, the father, was partial to Duryodhana, which we may call ‘blind love’ but certainly not ‘love’ because it was owing to him that Duryodhana et al met their tragic end. No doubt, Dhritarashtra is called the root of Duryodhana manyu-tree. And Gandhari certainly had deep love for her son, though she refused to be partial in blessing him with victory and pronounced ‘yatha dharma tatha jaya’. Kunti commanded Bhima to face Baka-Rakshasha – which might appear to fools only as her partiality for her other sons – however, can we doubt her love for Bhima?
Even in our own wretched time, any Hindi movie lover will remember that in the movie ‘Shakti’, the police officer father (Dilip Kumar) refused to be partial to his son (Amirabha Bacchan), which certainly does not mean that the father had no love for his son.
Coming back to our present discussion, Arjuna is ‘Mind’ of the Pandavas (- a point we would soon discuss). No doubt Draupadi would love him the most because – as the Aitareya Upanishad states ‘yadetaddhr^idayam manashchaitat.h’ – heart has the most affinity with mind. The Pandavas knew of Draupadi’s special love for Arjuna and instead of evoking the green monster that only made their heart ever green and strengthened their love for Arjuna and Draupadi.
As the heart of the pandava purusa, Draupadi has no fault; it is as vak and danda that her lapse is ‘pakshapato’. Speech and danda has partiality for the mind, because speech and danda tends to become personal and partial to the inclination of mind. Draupadi-vak-danda’s partiality for Arjuna-mind is therefore the corruption of vak and danda.
In Shaanti Parva, Bhisma refers to Manu and says that the embodiment of dharma (samyag.dharma; eva.sa.kevalah) is impartiality to both his dear ones and disliked ones
- supraniitena.dandena.priya.apriya.sama.aatmanaa.
Draupadi is not impartial, so she represents essential corruption of danda. That is not to say Draupadi was ‘corrupted’, like the female politicians of our time erecting self-images at the cost of state exchequer or buying three hundred pairs of shoes with public money.
Draupadi’s fall therefore symbolizes the pandava purusa’s discarding of danda which is partial in essence notwithstanding the impeccable dharma garb of an earthly ruler. Human society must live with that inherent weakness in danda and endeavour for perfection, but for a moksa-seeker everything must be seen ‘as it is’- and all false appearances must be discarded.
Draupadi’s sexuality helps the Pandavas maintain balance between ascesis and domesticity – a balance which often eluded even the most renowned of Rishis as in the case of Gautama.
And Draupadi-Indrani’s fall signifies the pandava purusa-Yogi’s abstention from sex, and the Yogi’s harnessing the Sexual Power, which is his first duty when he sits for meditation.
Yudhishthira learns all through his life that shruti is not enough and that one must implement theory in action. Ironically, his major actions rely more on shruti i.e. hearing.
Even the Kuruskhetra war became inevitability thorough words alone. ‘Never the twain shall meet’ – Yudhishthira and Duryodhana did not meet each other face to face during the preparatory days of the war. They only exchanged words through emissaries, thus they got to know each other’s mind only through words.
It is the most serious short-coming of Yudhsihthira’s dharma – his reliance on words. That is why in Svarga his learning process continues and he learns to go beyond language and become silent.
Human speech is limited and fragmentary – as the Rig Veda states long before Bakhtin came to the world.
Griffith and Sayana-Wilson translate ‘nen^gayanti’ as ‘cause no motion’ and ‘indicate no meaning’ respectively, but if we look at the wide connotations of ‘na in^gayanti’, the meaning in the context of Indian Philosophy seems to be ‘silence’ or ‘mauna.’
The root of ‘in^gayanti’ is ‘ing’ meaning - "to go, go to or towards; to move or agitate , to move, agitate, shake, etc" (Monier-Williams)
Thus this silence is not a passive silence; it is abstention from words or sounds with a dynamic spirit. Thus Draupadi’s fall is actually the pandava purusa’s giving up reliance on fragmentary vak.
Sayana-Wilson notes ‘vak, speech, was created fourfold, three kinds of which are in the three regions, the fourth amongst the pas'us; the form on earth, associated with Agni is in the rathantara.’ Here we get vak-agni connection that gives us the clue why Draupadi is Agni or Agni-born.
The pandava purusa must calm ‘heat’ of earthly association to gain the spiritual heat of ‘tapah’.
Again, the word ‘padani’ also in RV-1.164.45 has wide connotations like ‘step, pace, stride; a footstep, trace, vestige, mark, the foot; a sign, token, characteristic; a footing, standpoint; position, rank, station, site..." (Monier-Williams), which again bring us back to shri.
Draupadi as shri is indeed the ‘position, rank, station’ of the Pandavas, which is fragmentary, and therefore to be discarded to attain true ‘position, rank, station’ in Svarga. Draupadi as the Pandava-wife is also their ‘trace, vestige, mark’ on earth, because it is through her that their lineage survives on earth. Draupadi’s fall is the pandava purusa’s sacrifice of such earthly achievement.
In short, Draupadi as shri must fall first, since as shri, Draupadi represents Prosperity. Draupadi-shri’s fall is the pandava purusa’s giving up of Prosperity. Draupadi is rastra – for vaka says ‘aham rastri‘. Thus Draupadi’s fall is the pandava purusa’s abdicating sovereignty.
Since, Yudhishthira can no more protect Draupadi, he ceases to be ‘pati’, not only Draupadi’s pati, but ‘pati’ of rastra, Draupadi being shri – the consort of rastra-pati.
Draupadi’s fall is shri’s leaving rastra-pati – or taken otherwise – the pandava purusa-Yogi’s abandoning ‘pati’-Ego, the severing of all ties with the ‘system.’
Draupadi-Sarasvati’s fall might also suggest the end of River Sarasvati, and the symbolic end of the glorious Sarasvati civilization with the advent of Kali-Age.
Mahabharata attests that Sarasvati was drying up at that time. Balarama, elder brother of krisna undertook a pilgrimage, starting from Dwaraka, along the banks of Sarasvati and visited a number of holy places during the Kurukshetra war. During his pilgrimage, he visited Vinasana, the place where the Sarasvati disappears in the desert. In Mahabharata 9.53.11, we know that Balaram visited karapacava (where the Yamuna originates) shortly after visiting Plaska Prasravana (where the Sarasvati originates).
The fall of Draupadi-Usha (Dawn) is the pandava purusa-Yogi’s giving up of Hope. Svarga is not Dante’s Hell, nevertheless it seems to say – ‘"Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate - Abandon all hope, ye who enter here’, for hope is not necessary here!
Aitareya Upanishada states ‘It is this heart and this mind that were stated earlier. It is sentience, rulership, secular knowledge, presence of mind, retentiveness, sense-perception, fortitude, thinking, genius, mental suffering, memory, ascertainment resolution, life-activities, hankering, passion and such others. All these verily are the names of Consciousness.’ (Translated by Swami Gambhirananda; Published by Advaita Ashram, Kolkata)
Thus Draupadi’s fall is necessitated for the silencing of the pandava purusa’s functioning of consciousness. And that presages and enables the subsequent fall of the Pandava’s.
Draupadi is the heart of the pandava purusa, but it is the heart that creates emotional bondage through consciousness. According to Katha Upanishad, ‘Purusha of the size of a thumb, the inner Self, is ever seated in the heart of all living beings (Katha Upanishad- 2.3.17; Translated by Vidyavachaspati V. Panoli).’ Thus the conscious heart must fall to enable the pandava purusa move closer to the true purusa. Draupadi is ‘all the knots of the heart’ which must be ‘cut asunder here’, so that ‘a mortal becomes immortal (Katha-2.3.15).’
Does Draupadi’s fall suggest her demerit in comparison to her husbands? Does it suggest a patriarchal view that Draupadi, being a woman is incapable of attaining moksa?
There is an allegorical narrative of death in Brihadaranyaka Upanishada as follows–
‘This deity after taking away death, the evil of these gods, next carried them beyond death –
sa va esa devataitasam devatanam papmanam mrtyum apahatya athaina mrtyum atyavahat.
‘It carried the organ of speech, the foremost one, first. When the organ of speech got rid of death, it became fire. That fire, having transcended death, shines beyond its reach
– Sa vai vacam eva prathamam atyavahat, sa yada mrtyum atyamucyata, so'gnir abhavat, so' yam agnih parena mrtyum atikranto dipyate. (1.3.11-12)’
Draupadi-vak is the Organ of Speech, who goes beyond Death first.
Draupadi’s fall also establishes her in her true Agni self –
‘When the organ of speech got rid of death, it became fire. That fire, having transcended death, shines beyond its reach (BU.1.3.12).’
Draupadi, born of Agni, living like Agni, must be the transcendental Agni at the end.
Draupadi – the buddhi of pandava purusa dies, implying that buddhi as external manifestation of brain is no more required; the pandava purusa’s buddhi is now returning to its origin – the heart; buddhi is now going to be firmly established in heart – where true purusa dwells.
In Svarga, Indra tells Yudhishthira that his wife and brothers reached Svarga earlier.
Thus Draupadi’s falling first is actually her merit, for, dying first, she reaches Svarga first.
Nakula-Sahadeva’s Fall
After Draupadi, Sahadeva and Nakula fall.
‘Then Sahadeva of great learning fell down on the Earth. Beholding him drop down, Bhima addressed the king, saying, He who with great humility used to serve us all, alas, why is that son of Madravati fallen down on the Earth?’
Yudhishthira said, ‘He never thought anybody his equal in wisdom. It is for that fault that this prince has fallen down.’
They walked on, and then – “Beholding both krisna and the Pandava Sahadeva fallen down, the brave Nakula, whose love for kinsmen was very great, fell down himself. Upon the falling down of the heroic Nakula of great personal beauty, Bhima once more addressed the king, saying, ‘This brother of ours who was endued with righteousness without incompleteness, and who always obeyed our behests, this Nakula who was unrivalled for beauty, has fallen down’.”
Yudhishthira, replied – ‘He was of righteous soul and the foremost of all persons endued with intelligence. He, however, thought that there was nobody that equalled him in beauty of person. Indeed, he regarded himself as superior to all in that respect. It is for this that Nakula has fallen down. Know this, O Vrikodara. What has been ordained for a person, O hero, must have to be endured by him.’
After the purusa silences himself of speech, restrains sexual power and severes all ties with the ‘system’, he must now sit in meditative posture.
In their God-aspect Nakula and Sahadeva are the part-incarnations of the Asvinikumaras or the twin sons of Asvinikumaras. Asvinikumaras being ‘Shuudra-Gods’ are the feet of the Rig Vedic purusa, and therefore they are the ‘feet’ of the pandava purusa.
Their ‘fall’ implies the cessation of the functioning of the pandava purusa’s feet. In other words, the pandava purusa Yogi sits in meditative posture with legs folded.
Asvinikumaras symbolize shushrusa – service.
Their fall thus signify pandava purusa’s discarding all worldly dependence, and dependence on ‘others’ service – shushrusa.’
Nakula-Sahadeva together is the eye and ear of the pandava purusa.
In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishada allegory mentioned earlier, the sense organs got rid of death after speech –
‘Then it carried the nose. When it got rid of death, it became air. That air, having transcended death, blows beyond its reach.
Then it carried the eye. When the eye got rid of death, it became sun. That sun, having transcended death, shines beyond its reach.
Then it carried the ear. When the ear got rid of death, it became the quarters. Those quarters, having transcended death, remain beyond its reach. (1.3.13-15)’
Sahadeva is the ear. He took pride in his wisdom, therefore he is shruti. When wisdom earned through shruti is considered best, it becomes obstacle for attaining moksa. Reliance on ear must go.
As krisna says in Gita –
yadaa te mohakalilam buddhirvyatitarishhyati .
tadaa gantaasi nirvedam shrotavyasya shrutasya cha ..
When your intellect will completely pierce the veil of delusion, then you will become indifferent to what has been heard and what is to be heard (from the scriptures). (2.52)
The pandava purusa Yogi’s buddhi – purified after Draupadi-buddhi’s fall – no more needs shruti or pramana; it is in the process of further purification.
Nakula is the eye. He took pride in his physical beauty; hence he is the visual aspect. He falls because he could not bear Draupadi and Sahadeva’s fall. Eye is attached to the Ear.
The World is dominated by Audio-Visual and Language. A Man is mostly dependant on Audio-Visual and Language. So, for a moksa seeker these three should be discarded first.
As the sense organs, they served language – vak. With vak gone, i.e. after the pandava purusa silences himself, it is time for further withdrawal. The doors of sense organs – that connect the pandava purusa with the manifest reality must now be closed.
After a moksa seeker silences himself, his Dependence on sense organs, particularly dependence on ear and eye must go. The root meaning of moksa is "to let loose, let go"; the pandava purusa is indeed letting go…all that was dear.
From now on, there would not be any guide, any path shown by scriptures. For the Yogi, now, - to quote J.Krishnamurti – ‘Truth is a pathless land.’
Continued to Fall of Arujuna and Pandavas
