Pauloma Upākhyāna

The Pauloma Upākhyāna is the first long narrative of the Mahābhārata after the opening lists of contents. It makes up Chapters 3 to 12 of the Pauloma Parva section of the Ādi Parva. It joins several accounts: the three disciples of Dhaumya, the abduction of Pulomā, wife of Bhṛgu, and the blazing birth of Cyavana, the śāpa (a curse) on Agni and how Bhagavān Brahmā changed it, the love of Ruru and Pramadvarā, and the meeting of Ruru with the snake Dundubha, which ends in the teaching of ahiṃsā (non-violence).

Janamejaya and Dhaumya (Chapters 3–5)

The Pauloma Parva opens with a short account that comes before the main narrative. The servants of King Janamejaya meet Śārameyī, the daughter of the divine hound Saramā. They beat her for no reason. When Saramā hears of it, she comes to Janamejaya’s court and gives the servants a śāpa: “Since you struck my daughter without cause, you shall be struck by an unseen fear.”

The śāpa troubles Janamejaya. He looks for a purohita (a priest who guides a king in rites) who can remove it through ritual purity. He is sent to the ācārya (teacher) Dhaumya, and he makes Dhaumya his purohita. Janamejaya is the king who later performed the great sarpa-yāga (the snake yajña). This meeting with his first priest is the place where the three well-known accounts of Dhaumya’s disciples are told.

Āruṇi’s trial

Dhaumya sends Āruṇi to mend a break in the bank of a field during the rains. Āruṇi cannot stop the water by ordinary means, so he lies down in the break himself and stops the water with his own body. Dhaumya finds him there and praises him before everyone. He names him Udbhāsaka (the one who lights up) and blesses him with mastery of all the Vedas.

Upamanyu’s trial

Upamanyu is sent to tend the cattle and is given no food. He eats from what he gets by begging, and Dhaumya forbids it. He drinks the foam from the mouths of the cows, and Dhaumya forbids that. He eats the poisonous leaves of the arka plant, loses his sight and falls into a well. There he prays to the two Aśvins. They appear and offer him a cake. He refuses to eat it before he has offered it to his guru. The Aśvins are moved and heal him by their grace. Dhaumya blesses him with mastery of the Vedas.

Veda’s trial

Veda is kept in Dhaumya’s house through all the seasons and does all the household work for years. He gets no formal teaching and no encouragement, and he is told no end date. He bears all of it with perfect patience. In the end Dhaumya lets him go with his full blessings.

Bhṛgu, Pulomā and Cyavana (Chapters 5–9)

The main narrative begins when the ṛshis at Naimishāraṇya ask Ugraśravā to explain the line of the Sūtas. The account goes back in time to show how the Bhārgava line began.

Bhṛgu and Pulomā

Bhṛgu Maharshi had married Pulomā by the proper Vedic rites. A rākshasa, also named Pulomā, had wanted her earlier and had taken her hand in an informal act outside the Vedic rites. That act had no standing in dharma, but it had happened.

One day Bhṛgu left the āśrama (hermitage). The rākshasa came in and asked Agni to confirm who she was. Agni could not lie. He confirmed that she was Bhṛgu’s wife, and he also admitted the earlier informal claim. The rākshasa used this as his reason, lifted Pulomā up and ran away with her.

Cyavana’s birth

While the rākshasa was running, the child in Pulomā’s womb was born before its time. This was Cyavana. He blazed with divine tejas (inner radiance) so strong that it burned the rākshasa up at once. Pulomā was free. Her tears flowed and became the river Vadhūsarā. Bhagavān Brahmā appeared and comforted her.

Bhṛgu’s śāpa on Agni

When Bhṛgu came back and learned what had happened, he gave Agni a śāpa: “You shall eat all things without choosing.” Bhagavān Brahmā stepped in and changed the śāpa so that Agni’s work in sacred rites stayed whole.

Ruru and Pramadvarā (Chapters 8–11)

Love and loss

Ruru was the son of Pramati and the grandson of Cyavana. He fell deeply in love with Pramadvarā. She was the daughter of the apsarā Menakā and the Gandharva Viśvāvasu, and she had been raised by the ascetic Sthūlakeśa. Their betrothal was agreed. On the eve of the wedding a snake bit Pramadvarā and she died.

The gift of life

A divine messenger came to Ruru and showed him a way: give half of your remaining life to Pramadvarā. Ruru agreed at once and with his whole heart. Dharmarāja accepted the gift and brought Pramadvarā back to life. They were married. After that Ruru vowed to kill every snake he met.

Ruru meets Dundubha

Dundubha was a harmless grass-snake. He was in truth the brahmin Sahasrapāt, who had received a śāpa from his friend Khagama. He met Ruru in the forest while Ruru was going about killing snakes. Dundubha told him that the weapon of a brāhmaṇa is tapas (austerity) and speech, not a staff, and that brāhmaṇas protect living beings and do not destroy them. He said that Ruru’s grandfather Cyavana had held to this, and he asked Ruru to return to his true nature.

Ahiṃsā paramo dharmaḥ

Non-violence is the highest dharma.

Ruru’s coming had been fixed beforehand as the end of Sahasrapāt’s śāpa. Sahasrapāt was freed and took back his brahmin form. Ruru gave up his vow to kill snakes.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Pauloma Parva, Chapters 3–12