Radha’s Diet Therapy: Part II

In my previous blog: Radha’s Diet Therapy: Part I, I had translated the Sambalpuri song, and had mentioned a similar Odia song rendered by Prafulla Kar. In this blog, I share my translation of the Odia song along with brief comments.

Thus Sang Radha

Odia Song: Boile Radhika…[i]   

(Translation by Prasanna Dash)

Have you any remedy,

O Dooti,

For my unbearable malady,

To soothe the pangs of separation?

What measures have you tried,

O Radha,

Why no medicine works on you,

Tell me of anything you need,

A favourite dish, maybe?

O Dooti,

Please fetch forthwith

Kunja Binodia kanji,

Fried green banana rounds

from the fruit of the plant

Near the Kadamba tree,

A raita made of Narayana janhi,

Patitapabana dali,

Gobinda-Gopala khechedi,

Garnished with ghee in Hari’s name;

Serve all these delicacies

On the leaf-plate from which Madhusudana ate,

Include in remembrance of Mukunda,

A portion of ukhuda with diced ginger, and

Mohan-bhog for which I pine,

Lastly, a slice of Krushna kagezi lemon

To revive my palate;

After this soul-satisfying meal,

For my siesta,

Spread a Ghanashyama quilt

White and soft as lia.

Make haste,

O Dooti,

Fetch all these items

To get me over my nausea,

For me to once again

Savour the sight, smell, and taste

Of Krushna, life, and food.

 

That will cure my fever,

Says Purna Rama Bihari.

***

Odia Song and Sambalpuri Song

The lyricist for the Odia song is Purna Rama Bihari, and that for the Sambalpuri song is Gobinda; the singer and composer for the former is Prafulla Kar, and for the latter the singer is Fakir Pattanaik and the composer is Raghunath Panigrahi.

Which of these two songs is the original? Both these songs were released by Saregama India Ltd – the Odia song on 09/01/1988, and the Sambalpuri song on 25/05/1995. Hence, possibly, the Sambalpuri song is an adaptation from the Odia song.

Odia Song: Brief Comments

The song is a complex prayer. The dishes desired by Radha are incidental to the song - the gentle, playful waves of a deep ocean as it were; Radha’s love for Krishna and her reverence for Vishnu constitute the essence of this prayer. Radha fondly recalls the following names – Kunja Binodia, Narayana, Patitapabana, Gobinda, Gopala, Hari, Madhusudana, Mukunda, Mohan, Krushna, and Ghanashyama; of which a few apply to Krishna, and the others are the names of Vishnu.

Madhusudan’s Leaf-plate

Significantly, Radha asks Dooti to serve all these dishes she had ordered on Madhusudan’s plate, either a khali – a leaf-plate, or a piece of plantain leaf. Why from Madhusudan’s plate? Being so much in love with Krishna, she knows that the dishes she has sought are also her lover’s favourite dishes, and imagines him to materialise (Krishna could appear and disappear at will!) and feast upon it. Also, a married woman eats uchhista only if it be prasad offered to God, or from her husband’s plate. Radha is Sri or Lakshmi incarnate and for her Krishna is God, lover, and husband. That is why she desires to partake her meal from Madhusudan’s plate, after he has eaten.

Radha’s viraha: temporary or permanent?

Is the viraha temporary or permanent? The lyricist gives no clue.

While Krushna was at Gopa, sometimes he neglected Radha who suspected him of favouring one or more Gopis, and was torn by jealousy and anguish. However, Krishna always managed to placate her, once placing her lotus-like feet on his head to seek forgiveness: dehi pada pallavam udaram!

Radha with her confidant, pining for Krishna, Gita Govinda illustration, Kangra style, ca 1775-80. 

(Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons)

But Krishna left Gopa for good, never to return, and the separation for Radha was traumatic and permanent. How did Radha come to terms with her eternal grief? How else but by imagining Krishna’s presence everywhere and in everything around her including in the dishes she ate?

Krishna deserted her physically, but there was nothing Krishna could do if she visualised him in her mind’s eye every moment of her life, and felt his presence in every pore of her body and in every thought in her mind. Krishna could not deny to a devotee, so very much in deep love with him, his eternal togetherness, the Maha Rasa that is the Ultimate Bliss.

Where is Krishna?

Is he at Gopa, Mathura, or Dvaraka? Is Radha an ordinary gopi besotted with Krishna, or is she Lakshmi who resides permanently in Vishnu’s heart? Does she suffer the sorrow of separation from Krishna like an ordinary woman, or does she realise that Krishna, being Vishnu, is all the time with her?

This song is a prayer, and does not attempt to discuss these complex philosophical issues. Radha sings her prayer in her own style and the audience may make their own inference while recalling what God Himself had told Narada:

naham tisthami vaikunthe

 yoginam hrdayesu va

tatra tisthami narada

 yatra gayanti mad-bhaktah

In this song, Radha, a devotee, sings her soulful prayer.

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[i] Odia Song: Boile Radhika…

Lyricist – Purna Rama Bihari

Lyrics Source: You Tube song uploaded by Saregama India Ltd,

Singer & Composer – Prafulla Kar

Released on – 1988-01-09

Link for the song: https://youtu.be/RNZ1lDpvHmY?si=_go5r5l59jDZpxr5

 

 

Radha’s Diet Therapy: Part I

Thus Sang Radha

(Sambalpuri Song: Boile Radhika sunago Dooti*.

Translation by Prasanna Dash)

 

Listen, O Dooti, listen;

At dawn, I got a strange chill, a shiver,

But without any fever;

Tortured am I with a splitting headache,

Kabiraj came, felt my pulse, and diagnosed –

It’s viraha jvara,

There’s no medicine for it, he said.

O Dooti, I’m hungry, but can’t eat a morsel,

Racked by nausea, I can’t taste a thing.

Only you know how to heal me,

Don’t you, O Dooti?

Hurry, fetch me the special Krishna pathi,

Prepare Krishna khichdi,

Remember to add ginger slices

Fried in ghee while remembering Ghanshyam’s name,

Season it with jeera, methi, hing,

Remember Nilamani while adding salt,

Recite Kanhu’s name when you fry raw banana rounds,

O, how I savour that;

Bring also a serving of fresh pakhala

In the name of Gopala,

Paired with

Kunja Binodia kanji ambila,

To which add all necessary ingredients –

Saru, kakharu, baigan, bhendi, and kardi;

Also bring a black lentil curry,

Shining like my dark Lord;

Pour pure cow-ghee on Ghanashyam lia, O Dutika,

Please bring a serving of soft, supple arua rice,

I also crave for a Rasa Binodia rai;

In Pitambara’s name,

Make a bitter curry, too;

Bring a few tender cucumbers

Looking like Krishna with his garlands,

Crush it in a mix of curd, chili and salt,

Serve a dish of leutia saag

Dark green and shining like Krishna;

For my ailment,

That is the sure cure,

Says Govinda;

Krishna pathi will dissipate my distaste for food and life;

Fetch the dishes,

O Dooti,

Make haste,

Revive my taste,

Kindle my appetite,

Save my life;

Any dish seasoned with Krishna,

Any deliocacy that reminds me of my Krishna,

Will cure my lovesickness,

O Dootika.

***

* Lyrics – Gobinda

Singer – Fakir Pattanaik

Composer – Raghunath Panigrahi

Source – You Tube, song uploaded by Saregama India Ltd.

Released on – 25/05/1995

***

Sambalpuri Song: Brief Comments

The song is a prayer. The dishes desired by Radha are incidental to the song, the several names of Krishna constitute the basic frame and essence of this prayer. Radha fondly recalls the following names of her love of life – Krishna (repeated four times), Ghanashyam (twice), Nilamani, Kanhu, Gopal, Kunja Binodia, Kalia, Rasa Binodia, Pitambara, Kainchamalia, Gobinda.

Which are the dishes Radha pines for her Krushna pathi? Khichdi, kadali bhaja, ambila, muga dali, alua bhata, bitter curry, and leutia saag. A wonderful diet for a sick person, but no less appetising and healthy for a normal person!

Danda Nacha

This song was possibly written by the lyricist for a Danda nacha, a robust and captivating folk-theatre which combined song, dance, and enactment -  with male actors playing Radha and Dooti and performing on the village street. Decades ago, these popular street plays enacted select stories and episodes from the puranas and were much enjoyed in the villages of Odisha. Alas, this folk-theatre tradition is nearly dead now.

The song is about Radha’s viraha – her agony of separation from Krishna. But Fakir Pattanaik’s vibrant rendition and Raghunath Panigrahi’s thoughtfully orchestrated music composition transform this melancholic song to a celebration of Krishna’s healing power. The rustic, racy rhythm drowns out the sorrow, if any, as Radha exults with her insight about Krishna pathi, the self-cure that she herself figured out. Once life is seasoned with the name of Krishna, there is no sorrow.

Link for the hit song:

https://youtu.be/u4p2Aq6jqQc?si=mUokO5I2sBpvLYZn

Odia Song by Prafulla Kar

The link for the same song rendered by Prafulla Kar, though with different lyrics, is:

https://youtu.be/RNZ1lDpvHmY?si=_go5r5l59jDZpxr5

The lyricist, as the song mentions, is Purna Ram Bihari; but I could not get further details about him. This may be the original song, adapted into Sambalpuri by Govinda, but it is difficult to tell for sure.

However, both songs are very different. The Sambalpuri song celebrates its local cuisine, and the Odia song the dietary preference of eastern Odisha. The style chosen by the singers, both highly talented, are also different. Prafulla Kar’s classical rendition makes the song poignant - perfectly suited to Radha’s disconsolate, sad, and plaintive mood. Fakir Pattanaik chose a rustic, racy style for his rendition. Radha is in agony, but her song has a robust tempo that vibrates with her love for Krishna, life, and her favourite Sambalpuri cuisine. She is in a great hurry, for she has found the remedy.

The Odia song is a conversation between Radha and Dooti, the Sambalpuri song is Radha’s address to Dooti. The first one is a song, the second one a song for a Danda nacha performance.

Radha is Sambalpurian

In the Sambalpuri song, Radha is not from Gopa but very much a Sambalpurian for her dietary preference is unmistakably local. She does not pine for roti-rajma, kadhi-chawal, palak paneer or rabdi kheer.

Only in western Odisha, ambila is made with kardi! Thus, the song is a prayer, and a celebration of the unique Sambalpuri cuisine with local ingredients.

Radha’s Pathi

Radha is sick, but it is no ordinary malady. She feels a strange chill at dawn, but without any fever. Kabiraj has felt her nadi and said, ‘You got viraha jvara. There’s no jadibuti for that.’

Radha is hungry, but racked with nausea she can’t eat. She bares her heart, and shares her agony with Dooti, her trusted companion. The song is Radha’s anguished plea to Dooti to fetch the only remedy that comes to her mind – pathi, a diet for her tormented soul and body. Radha needs soul food, and suggests a detailed menu, each of which resonates with the colour and fragrance and touch and feel of her love of life – Krishna Kanhaiya.

The cuisine she lists is fascinating in its variety, spread, texture, aroma, flavour, taste, colour, touch, feel, and its palliative power.

O Dooti, Please, Please fetch me this Special Krishna pathi, pleads Radha –

1.   Krishna khichdi with diced dumplings of ginger fried in ghee while recalling Krishna’s name, and seasoned with jeera, methi, hing, and salt

2.   Green banana rounds fried on a tawa

3.   Fresh pakhala (rice in water)

4.   Kanji ambila, a sour and soupy vegetable dish for which the necessary ingredients are – saru, kakharu, baigan, bhendi, and kardi

5.   Black moong dal curry

6.   Soft, supple arua rice

7.   A bitter curry (bitter gourd or neem flower with baigan and badi, maybe)

8.   Tender cucumber with curd, chili and salt

9.   Mildly seasoned leutia (a delicious green leaf) saag

How would this pathi restore Radha and save her life? Because each dish, ingredient, and flavour remind her of Krishna, and the entire cuisine is Krishnamrut for her. Radha is no longer separate or separable from Krishna. She has merged with her loved one. She has found the remedy for her strange malady.

There may be other prayers where the devotee serves chappan bhog or a preferred dish to God; but this may be the only bhajan where the devotee plans a menu for herself, but can see nothing except her Krishna in every kernel of her pathi. This is prem bhakti – simple, unpretentious, soulful. A prayer like none other.

(Raja Ravi Varma: Radha waiting for Krishna - Source: wikimedia)

 

***

 

Ya Devi Sarva Bhuteshu

God or Goddess?

Is the Supreme Divine male or female or both or neither? Most of the religions of the world are male-centric even though some of them have female gods with powers secondary to the male gods. In Hinduism, too, the major female goddesses: Saraswati-Lakshmi-Parvati are the spouses of the trinity of Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh. However, for the Shaktas, once a major sect of Hinduism, the Supreme Divine is Devi or Shakti – the creative energy or principle – which is unmistakably feminine. Devi is the creator of everything including the male and female trinities.

Hinduism is the only religion which visualised the Supreme Divine as feminine, long before the modern feminist movement. Devi Mahatmyam (a part of Markandeya Purana), the sacred reference treatise for the Shaktas was composed in 5^th or 6^th century CE, but myriad goddesses were worshipped in India long before that and the myths and stories elaborated in the purana were possibly in oral circulation for centuries before Vyasa composed the work. Also, in the more ancient Devi Sukta or Vag Sukta of Rig Veda, Vak, daughter of rishi Ambhrini, sang with joyous realisation: All the universe and all the deities are not out there, but in ME! She was possibly the first woman kavi of the world.

But how may ordinary devotees comprehend and meditate upon the Supreme Divine – as Durga, Chandika, Mahakali, Parvati, or as Shakti – Pure, Formless Energy? A popular prayer may be of help.

Ya Devi Sarva Bhuteshu: The Prayer

Most readers are familiar with this prayer, played at homes and puja pandals during the Durga Puja celebrations. It is popular because it is simple yet soulful, easy to recall and chant either solo or in chorus, audibly or mentally. If you have listened to this prayer, especially in the morning, you might have experienced its calming, soothing impact all through the day. That is the power of morning mantras and meditative music. For some Ya Devi… is much more than a simple prayer; it is a tool for meditation.

Links for rendition:

Bhimsen Joshi: https://youtu.be/1VatjiUpQz0?si=KdUqaFWH5p0rA3CU

Pandit Jasraj: https://youtu.be/0NlwLAkuXvo?si=dWQP7bHszC3uu-f0

Durga Saptashati

Durga Saptashati, a composition in seven hundred verses for worship of Durga is in Chapter 5 of Devi Mahatmya. During Navaratri, this prayer, also known as Chandi Path, is recited in several Devi temples. Some devotees arrange for the recitation at their homes to seek the blessing of Durga.

Key elections are scheduled for November, and priests of Pitambara Pitha of Datia, Madhya Pradesh have been reportedly booked to organise remote anushthan for politicians unable to come in person. Pitambara Mai is believed to fulfil the manokamanas of her devotees which include shatru vinashan and victory in war and politics!

Durga: Origin

(Durga-Mahisasuramardini in the 5th-century style: Source - Wikimedia

The Udayagiri Caves are ancient predominantly Hindu rock-cut monuments near Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh. They are among the oldest surviving Gupta Empire era monuments and cave temples in India (c. 375–450 CE).

Why and how did Durga come into being? Mahishasura had been granted the boon that he could not be killed by any male – not even by the powerful trinity, to nullify which all the gods pooled their energies and created a tower of effulgence as tall as the Himalaya. Devi, Durga, or Chamunda is the personified form of that infinite shakti.

Ya Devi Sarva Bhuteshu prayer[i] is a eulogy offered by the devas to Devi after She kills  Mahishasura (Chap 3). After the accomplishment of Her divine assignment (devakarya), Devi vanishes in Chapter 4, to be reborn later as Gouri to kill Nishumbha and Shumbha.

Devi: Nirguna Roopa

Ya Devi Sarva Bhuteshu stuti is a long prayer. The preface mentions many important aspects of Devi as a precursor to the eulogy in the later shlokas. The Goddess is invoked through her major names: Devi, Mahadevi, Shivaa, Prakriti, Bhadra, Roudra, Nitya, Gauri, Dhatri, Jyotsna, Indu Roopini, Sukhah, Kalyani, Vriddhi, Siddhi, Nairitti, Bhubhruta, Lakshmi, Sharvani, Durga, Durgapara, Sara, Sarvakarini, Kshyati, Krishna, and Dhumra. Shloka 13 refers to the contrarian forms of Devi: अतिसौम्यातिरौद्रायै – the supreme beatific, graceful form and the most terrible, fierce form. Shakti as personified in Chandika or Durga is not static or unidimensional, it is a spectrum of possibilities, with the same energy shining like cool, soothing moonlight or the all-consuming fire of Rudra’s destructive wrath.

Here is a translation of two shlokas of this prayer:

या देवी सर्वभूतेषु विष्णुमायेति शब्दिता ।

नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥

O Devi, the divine essence in every life,

Also known as Vishnumaya*,

 Salutations to Thee,

Salutations to Thee,

Salutations to Thee,

Salutations, yet again.

 या देवी सर्वभूतेषु बुद्धिरूपेण संस्थिता ।

नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥

O Devi, dwelling as intelligence in every life,

Salutations to Thee,

Salutations to Thee,

Salutations to Thee,

Salutations, yet again.

*(Vishnumaya or Mahamaya is Krishna’s sister who was born from Yashoda’s womb as directed by Vishnu. Kamsa tried unsuccessfully to kill her. Metaphorically, Vishnumaya or Mahamaya means the created universe which is an illusion or shadow or reflection of the Supreme Brahma.)

Prayer for Meditation

In the 2^nd pada of the shloka, the word namah has been repeated five times, to demonstrate the earnestness of obeisance by the gods (and alliteration, and metrical demand of anustubh chhanda!). The whole prayer is from shlokas 9-36 of which 14-33 are in template form, each verse using the same template of Ya Devi Sarva Bhuteshu with only one new word. Neither Vyasa, the Kavi, nor the gods who offered the prayer are dumb. Had they so desired, they could have offered a compact prayer with fewer shlokas, padas, and words; but they purposely chose to offer a longer prayer. Possibly, a deliberate poetic structure to aid meditation. The devotee is freed from the need to recall more complex shlokas packed with numerous attributes of and eulogies for Devi and contemplate, meditate, and focus on only one aspect of Devi in each shloka; one step at a time, as it were, to reach up to the Divine Mother.

In the succeeding shlokas, Devi is meditated upon as the personalised form of the following abstract attributes: Chetana (consciousness), Buddhi (intelligence), Nidra (Sleep), Kshudha (Hunger), Chhaya (Shadow, illusion), Shakti (Power, energy), Trishna (Thirst), Kshanti (Forbearance), Jati (Original Cause or Mother of everything), Lajja (Modesty, restraint), Shanti (Peace), Shraddha (Faith), Kanti (Beautiful form), Lakshmi (Auspiciousness, Prosperity), Vritti (Activity), Smriti (Memory), Daya (Generosity), Tushti (Contentment), Matru (Mother), Vranti (Maya, Delusion).

How else can the divine creative energy be comprehended and offered salutations except with awe, wonder, and gratitude?

 Resource

The Devi Mahatmya (Original Text with English translation by Sri Swami Sivananda, Published by The Divine Life Society) - Source: archive.org

Link for Ya Devi Sarva Bhuteshu rendition by Pandit Jasraj: https://youtu.be/0NlwLAkuXvo?si=VZ4jPHwcqnXCl_YT

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[i] नमो देव्यै महादेव्यै शिवायै सततं नमः ।

नमः प्रकृत्यै भद्रायै नियताः प्रणताः स्म ताम् ॥ ९॥

रौद्रायै नमो नित्यायै गौर्यै धात्र्यै नमो नमः ।

ज्योत्स्नायै चेन्दुरूपिण्यै सुखायै सततं नमः ॥ १०॥

कल्याण्यै प्रणतां वृद्ध्यै सिद्ध्यै कुर्मो नमो नमः ।

नैरृत्यै भूभृतां लक्ष्म्यै शर्वाण्यै ते नमो नमः ॥ ११॥

दुर्गायै दुर्गपारायै सारायै सर्वकारिण्यै ।

ख्यात्यै तथैव कृष्णायै धूम्रायै सततं नमः ॥ १२॥

अतिसौम्यातिरौद्रायै नतास्तस्यै नमो नमः ।

नमो जगत्प्रतिष्ठायै देव्यै कृत्यै नमो नमः ॥ १३॥

या देवी सर्वभूतेषु विष्णुमायेति शब्दिता ।

नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥ १४-१६॥

या देवी सर्वभूतेषु चेतनेत्यभिधीयते ।

नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥ १७-१९॥

या देवी सर्वभूतेषु बुद्धिरूपेण संस्थिता ।

नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥ २०-२२॥

या देवी सर्वभूतेषु निद्रारूपेण संस्थिता ।

नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥ २३-२५॥

या देवी सर्वभूतेषु क्षुधारूपेण संस्थिता ।

नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥ २६-२८॥

या देवी सर्वभूतेषु छायारूपेण संस्थिता ।

नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥ २९-३१॥

या देवी सर्वभूतेषु शक्तिरूपेण संस्थिता ।

नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥ ३२-३४॥

या देवी सर्वभूतेषु तृष्णारूपेण संस्थिता ।

नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥ ३५-३७॥

या देवी सर्वभूतेषु क्षान्तिरूपेण संस्थिता ।

नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥ ३८-४०॥

या देवी सर्वभूतेषु जातिरूपेण संस्थिता ।

नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥ ४१-४३॥

या देवी सर्वभूतेषु लज्जारूपेण संस्थिता ।

नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥ ४४-४६॥

या देवी सर्वभूतेषु शान्तिरूपेण संस्थिता ।

नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥ ४७-४९॥

या देवी सर्वभूतेषु श्रद्धारूपेण संस्थिता ।

नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥ ५०-५२॥

या देवी सर्वभूतेषु कान्तिरूपेण संस्थिता ।

नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥ ५३-५५॥

या देवी सर्वभूतेषु लक्ष्मीरूपेण संस्थिता ।

नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥ ५६-५८॥

या देवी सर्वभूतेषु वृत्तिरूपेण संस्थिता ।

नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥ ५९-६१॥

या देवी सर्वभूतेषु स्मृतिरूपेण संस्थिता ।

नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥ ६२-६४॥

या देवी सर्वभूतेषु दयारूपेण संस्थिता ।

नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥ ६५-६७॥

या देवी सर्वभूतेषु तुष्टिरूपेण संस्थिता ।

नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥ ६८-७०॥

या देवी सर्वभूतेषु मातृरूपेण संस्थिता ।

नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥ ७१-७३॥

या देवी सर्वभूतेषु भ्रान्तिरूपेण संस्थिता ।

नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥ ७४-७६॥

इन्द्रियाणामधिष्ठात्री भूतानां चाखिलेषु या ।

भूतेषु सततं तस्यै व्याप्त्यै देव्यै नमो नमः ॥ ७७॥

चितिरूपेण या कृत्स्नमेतद् व्याप्य स्थिता जगत् ।

नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥ ७८-८०॥

 

Notes:

1.    Text Source: sanskritdocuments.org

2.    In the text given above, 21 shlokas are numbered 14-76 to guide the devotees to repeat each of these shlokas thrice for effective meditation.

3.    Shloka 77 echoes the following shloka from Bhagavad Gita, Chap 10.39

यच्चापि सर्वभूतानां बीजं तदहमर्जुन |

न तदस्ति विना यत्स्यान्मया भूतं चराचरम् || 39||

 

 

Gandhi’s Dhoti

My life is my message!

Gandhi once said: My life is my message. He practised what he preached. In a way, his attire was also his message. His progressive ‘unclothing’ was deliberate, and used as a non-verbal signal to the millions of poor, illiterate men and women of his country whom his written and spoken words could not reach. It was also a symbol to remind the British Empire and the world of the shameless stripping of India by colonialism.

Gandhi at Inner Temple, London

Gandhi was admitted as a student of the Inner Temple on 6 November, 1888. The admission book shows that he paid £140 -1s- 5d in fees. (innertemple.org.uk)

At London, Gandhi was embarrassed by his Bombay ‘cut’ suit and resolved to dress properly.

Gandhi’s Suit tailored in Bond Street

In his Autobiography, Gandhi mentions his expensive suit tailored in Bond Street (a four-minute walk from Saville Row!)

‘…. I undertook the all too impossible task of becoming an English gentleman…… I wasted ten pounds on an evening suit made in Bond Street, the centre of fashionable life in London….’[i]

Gandhi at Piccadilly Circus

“A fellow student, bumping into him near Piccadilly Circus, …. recalled years later, [Gandhi] was wearing a ‘high silk top-hat, brushed, “burnished bright”’, a stiff and starched collar (known at that time as a Gladstone), a fine ‘striped silk shirt’, and dark trousers with a coat to match. On his feet were ‘patent leather boots’.”[ii]

Gandhi in a dhoti

At Madurai on 22nd September 1921, Gandhi took a momentous decision to change his attire, and for the first time appeared in public in a simple dhoti and chaddar. Gandhi himself explained the rationale behind his choice. He had adopted the attire of ‘the millions of compulsorily naked men’ who have no clothing other than ‘their langoti four inches wide and nearly as many feet long.’ 

(Gandhi at Madurai on 22 September, 1921)

(Image Source: Mahatma Gandhi Photo Gallery | Life chronology of Mahatma Gandhi (mkgandhi.org) )

Gandhi in South Africa

Years before that in 1913 at Durban, Gandhi had appeared in a simple cotton kurta and dhoti, the dress of indentured Indian labor as a sign of solidarity with the oppressed and ill-treated laborers in South Africa. However, this was Gandhi’s attire of choice for a specific occasion and upon return to India from South Africa, he appeared in traditional Kathiawadi wear.

Tell Mahatmaji to get me another sari

The Madurai decision was neither ad hoc nor abrupt; but a logical progression of Gandhi’s ‘unclothing.’

During his Champaran inquiry (1917) into the exploitation and oppression of indigo farmers, Gandhi once visited a small village and found some of the women dressed very dirtily. He asked Kasturba to ‘ask them why they did not wash their clothes.’

One of the women took Kasturba into her hut and said, ‘The sari I am wearing is the only one I have. How am I to wash it? Tell Mahatmaji to get me another sari, and I shall then promise to bathe and put on clean clothes every day.’[iii]

This encounter with acute poverty must have left a deep imprint on Gandhi’s mind.

Freedom Struggle reaches rural India

Prior to Gandhi, the Congress Party was led by the educated, upper and middle-class urban elites. Gandhi’s seminal contribution was to reach out to the vast multitudes of rural Indians most of whom were poor and illiterate. His thoughtfully chosen attire was one element in the complex repertoire of symbolism which included truthfulness, non-violence, brahmacharya, mouna, fasting, vegetarianism, etc.

Churchill on Gandhi

When Gandhi attended the Round Table Conference in London in his dhoti and a shawl, he was called the ‘half-naked fakir’ by Churchill - a rude, loud-mouth, contemptuous, less-than-cultured, future British Prime Minister.

King’s Tea Party

King George V hosted an afternoon tea at Buckingham Palace for the Indian delegates to the Round Table Conference and Gandhi attended the party in his dhoti and shawl.

After the party, when asked if he wore appropriate clothes to meet the King, Gandhiji is reported to have famously remarked, “The king had enough on for both of us.” This story may be anecdotal, but provides an interesting illustration of Gandhi’s point of view.

 Dhoti or loincloth?

The western media called it loin-cloth. Even Gandhi called it loin-cloth when writing in English. But loincloth is typically an inner-wear to cover the private parts, and different from dhoti which is an outer-wear. Gandhi’s dress was a dhoti that covered his waist up to his knees. Maybe, Gandhi purposely called it loincloth to dramatize the acute poverty of Indians, and the exploitation by the Empire.

Conclusion

Gandhi’s sartorial choice of a hand-woven cotton dhoti and a chaddar or shawl was symbolic of the colonial stripping of India’s economy and dignity, and a masterly non-verbal communication tool. His ‘choice’ of attire was entirely personal, not emulated by his associates or followers, and criticised and ridiculed by many; but he stuck with his resolve to thus identify with his poor countrymen and women.

Gandhi was saintly, but no renunciant. Though a crusader for non-violence, he was a tenacious fighter.

Khadi was, as Nehru had observed, the ‘livery of freedom.’ In his message from Sabarmati jail, Gandhi had said: Place Khadi in my hands and I shall place Swaraj in yours.

Dhoti was not a fashion gimmick for Gandhi, but the cloth of choice after deep contemplation and firm conviction.

***

G. Subbu, a friend shared the following Limerick:

The Brits who wore a suit and a sola topee, 

Were dazed by a man so low key,

 The exploiters full of virulence,

Were taught a thing or two about non violence,

With simplicity and clad only with a dhoti !

---

[i] Gandhi, M.K., The Story of My Experiments With Truth: An Autobiography – Wilco Publishing House, Mumbai, 2015 Edition

 

[ii] Guha Ramachandra, Gandhi Before India - Allen Lane (Penguin Books)-2013

 

[iii] Gandhi, M.K., The Story of My Experiments With Truth: An Autobiography – Wilco Publishing House, Mumbai, 2015 Edition