Badarayana Sambhanda.
One day I was on my morning walk, trotting with the stick that I
had bought on-line recently, I was enjoying a classical music on my mobile
phone, when somebody accosted me, patting on my back and said - “ Hi Brother, Good Morning.” I turned around
to find a total stranger. He had a walking stick similar to the one I had, but
of different color. With some annoyance I said “Good Morning, but I do not know
your ‘Kula’ or Gotra, yet, you addressed me as ‘Brother’. You might be
mistaking me for somebody else. He said ‘No. In fact, we have ‘Badarayan Sambhanda’
“ and quoted a Sanskrit Saying
Yushmakam to Badari taruhu,
Baadarayana Sambhandat
Yuyam yuyam, vayam vayam!”
He continued,
The walking
sticks of both of us look alike, I bought mine on-line from Amazon during my U.S.visit. I was
curious to know if it is available in India also. That is why I struck
conversation with you though we do not know each other.
Seeing my blank
face, he explained with a story as below;
Badari is a
tree grown in Indian forest. It is also known as Ber, or Jijubi in Hindi and
Raaya Boray in Kannada . Ber fruit, is very tasty.
During Sankranti festival,
toddlers are seated on a plank, Elders in the family pour Ber fruits with ellu
or sesame seeds on their heads to ward off evil. The Ber wood was being used to make
wheels of Bullock Cart
Baadarayana is a very ancient sage.(about
500 BC) who wrote Brahma Sutra, a treatise
on Vedas. I cannot say if ‘Badarayana’ has
any connection with ‘Badari’ tree,
except phonetic resemblance.
Now, coming
to the story connected to the proverb:-
Long ago, a
newly married couple was living in a small house on the outskirts of a town.
There was a Ber tree in front of the house.
The young
couple had quarreled on some silly matter and had not talked to each other for
3 days. Both now they had reached a stage when they wanted to come together, without
hurting their ego. The husband had gone to nearby village and was to return
that morning. The wife was putting ‘Kolam’ at the main door when she saw a
bullock cart stopping at their house. A stranger got down and walked wearily
towards her. She could not recollect having known him. She assumed, he must be
a relative of her husband’s side. As a dutiful wife, in the absence of her
husband, she felt it her duty to welcome the stranger who might be a relative
of her husband, and attend to the needs of the guest. ‘Atithi devo bhava- Treat a guest as god’ This would please her
husband also. She told the stranger that
her husband would return shortly, offered water to freshen up,
and gave coffee, and told he may take rest, till lunch with her husband. There was no much
conversation other than ‘Thank You, Enough please’… She thought he may be too
shy to engage in conversation with a lady when her husband was not there. She
thought, she would come to know who he was when her husband arrives. She got
busy with her cooking.
It was noon
by the time the husband returned. When he saw the ‘guest’ whom he could not
recognize, he assumed he may be a relative of his wife. There was so much of a
crowd during marriage, and he might have missed to recognize him. But since both
were tired and hungry, he thought he would inquire about it with the stranger
after food.
The wife announced,
“Lunch served”. The stranger went out, fed the bullocks with some hay and water
and came in to sit with the husband for lunch
The wife who
had quarreled with her husband, was now eager to patch up. She had prepared a
delicious and grand feast to please him. An elaborate and nice Lunch was served.
Both had their meals in silence
The husband
was all smiles. He broke his silence, thanked the wife, and said, Because of
your relative, I got such a nice lunch. This surprised the wife. She said “As
he was not known to me, I assumed he was from your side. I did not inquire how
he was related to you. You better inquire from him how he was related to us”.
The
‘Man-of-the house’ and the Guest moved to the lounge to enjoy the ‘pan’. It was
then that he broached the subject of the identity of the guest and his relation
to them. Apologetically he asked the guest, “Sir, excuse me. How-ever much I tried,
I have not been able to place you and figure out about our relation.” It was
then that the ‘guest’ replied in a Sanskrit, poem:
“Asmaakam Badari Chakram,
Yushmakam to Badari taruhu,
Baadarayana Sambhanda
Yuyam yuyam, vayam vayam!”
He
explained; I am a traveler. I had travelled all night and was very much tired.
I needed rest and food. You people looked kind and obliging. So, I did this
ruse. I am grateful to you both for your hospitality. God Bless You.
The couplet
means:
“The wheel of my cart is made of Ber wood, there
is a Ber tree in front of your house. So
I can claim a relationship with you, may be, we both can trace our origin to that
great Sage Badarayana of yore ,and claim to be cousins .However, You are Yourself and I am Myself.!!. Now, I thank you and leave, I have a long
journey ahead.”
The couple
smiled and waved their ‘Distant Relative’. They went in smiling, ’Thanks to the
new Relative, we could forget our silly quarrel and in addition, we did a good
act of feeding an Uninvited Guest.
*******
