Jaratkāru Nāgī

Jaratkāru Nāgī is the sister of Vāsuki, the Nāgarāja (king of the nāgas). She is the wife of the ascetic ṛṣi Jaratkāru and the mother of Āstīka. She shares her husband’s name, and this met the exact condition he had set for marriage.

Vāsuki kept her unmarried for years, as the one through whom Brahmā’s plan to save the nāgas would be fulfilled. She lived with her husband for a short and difficult time. She woke him and so lost him. She raised Āstīka among the nāgas. When the sarpa-yāga began, she sent her son to stop it. Her story is told in the Āstīka Upākhyāna.

Who she is

She is known only as Jaratkāru. This is also the name of her husband, the ṛṣi Jaratkāru, and this was the exact condition he had set for any marriage. The Mahābhārata does not tell how she got her name. It was her name from birth, and it proved to be the key to the marriage Brahmā had ordained. She is the full sister of Vāsuki, born of Kadrū and Kaśyapa Prajāpati.

Kept safe by Vāsuki

Elāpatra told the council that Brahmā had ordained a son of the ṛṣi Jaratkāru, by a woman also named Jaratkāru, as the saviour of the nāgas. Vāsuki then knew that his sister was this woman. He had kept her unmarried through all the years before. He now sent serpents in every direction to find the wandering ascetic, the ṛṣi Jaratkāru.

The meeting and marriage

The ṛṣi Jaratkāru came wandering and calling for a wife. She had to meet three conditions: she must share his name, she must be freely offered and not sought, and she must be able to sustain herself. Vāsuki brought his sister forward and offered her as bhikṣā (alms). The ṛṣi asked her name. Vāsuki said, “Jaratkāru.” The ṛṣi accepted, because all three conditions were met. The marriage was performed. Jaratkāru Nāgī entered the life of a brāhmaṇa ascetic’s wife.

Life with the ṛṣi Jaratkāru

She served him faithfully and with great care. The ṛṣi had laid down one condition: if she ever displeased him, he would leave. She arranged her whole life so as not to displease him. She attended to him, served his needs and did nothing that might give offence. The Mahābhārata stresses that her svabhāva (inner nature) was devoted and patient.

Waking her husband

One day the ṛṣi fell asleep as sandhyā (the sacred twilight hour) was coming near. If he slept through it without performing sandhyā-vandana (the twilight prayers), he would fail in his sacred daily duty. This failure is called dharma-lopa. She had to choose between letting him sleep, and so letting the dharma-lopa happen, or waking him and risking his displeasure. She reasoned that a wife’s duty is to protect her husband’s dharma, even at a cost to herself. She woke him gently.

The ṛṣi answered at once and sharply. He said: “By waking me, you have implied that my tapas cannot protect my own dharma, that you doubted me. This breaks the trust on which our marriage rests. I must leave.”

She pleaded with him. The serpents were in danger, the sarpa-yāga was coming, and she asked if there would be any child to save them. He replied: “You carry my child in your womb. He will be wise, powerful and deeply learned. Do not grieve.” Then he left.

Raising Āstīka

She gave birth to Āstīka in Vāsuki’s house. The boy was raised there among the nāgas. Cyavana taught him all the Vedas. She watched her son grow. He was a brāhmaṇa through his father, and a nāga by birth and upbringing.

Sending Āstīka

When the sarpa-yāga began, Vāsuki came to her in despair. His limbs were burning, and thousands of his kin were falling into the fire. She called Āstīka and told him everything: why Vāsuki had given her to his father, what Brahmā had ordained, what the sarpa-yāga threatened, and what Āstīka alone could do. She spoke plainly and calmly.

Āstīka heard her and took her words fully into himself. He said, “I will stop the yāga.” He went, and he did.

Her place between two worlds

She is a nāga by birth and a brāhmaṇa’s wife by destiny. She woke her husband knowing it would cost her his company. She put his dharma before her own comfort and security, and she accepted the separation that followed. Raising Āstīka and sending him to the yāga followed from that choice.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Āstīka Parva, Chapters 39–58