[Advaita-l] Sons known after their Mothers' names

[Venkatraghavan S]

Dear Sarmaji,

Veda's pramANatvam is in being definitive about karmA in karmakANDa and as
a moksha shAstra in jnAna kANDa.  They are not history/sociology text
books, let us not use them as one.

If you want to know the social mores of ancient India, read Manusmriti, not
Chandogya Upanishad.

In this context, as Subbuji says, the tAtparya of this section of the
Chandogya shruti is satya kathanam as a necessary moral virtue required in
the pursuit of  BrahmavidyA. The rest of it is arthavAda and no pramANatvam
needs to be assigned to arthavAda portions.

You know all this already I am sure, just a reminder.

Regards,
Venkatraghavan
On 6 Jul 2016 12:55 p.m., "D.V.N.Sarma డి.వి.ఎన్.శర్మ" <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Subrahmanym ji,
>
> The very fact that Jabala Satyakama episode has been specially mentioned in
> such detail in Ch.Up.
> shows that an issue exists in the story.
>
> If Satyakama was a regular son of a brahman and brahmani couple it is
> something common and normal and the
> Ch.Up. has no necessity to mention it because mentioning it in such detail
> will be superfluous.
>
> Jabala has no necessity of mentioning her service to many in her youth as
> the cause of her not knowing her son's gotra.
>
> regards,
> Sarma.
>
> On Wed, Jul 6, 2016 at 1:20 PM, V Subrahmanian via Advaita-l <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
> > In the Shruti/Smriti  literature we have a number of instances where a
> son
> > is referred to through the mother's name.
> >
> > What comes to mind immediately are: Kaunteya, Pārtha - names of Arjuna
> and
> > sometimes applicable to his brothers too in the MB/BG.
> >
> >
> > Kosaleya is Rama, son of Kausalya.
> >
> > Soumitrī is Lakshmaṇa, son of Sumitrā.
> >
> > Rohiṇeya is Balarāma, son of Rohiṇi.
> >
> > Rādheya is Karṇa, son of Rādha, his foster mother.
> >
> > In the Chandogya Shruti we have the famous name: Jābāla, Satyakāma, son
> of
> > mother Jabālā.
> >
> > There is even a straight name: Devakīputra Kriṣhna in the Chandogya
> > Upanishad 3.7.6.
> >
> > It is not that all the above named persons did not have a father or the
> > father's identity was unknown. Yet they are popular by those names.
> >
> > In the Mahabharata serial, we have seen Gāndhāri addressing her husband
> > Dhṛtarāṣṭra as 'Ārya putra'.  It looks like the practice of uttering the
> > husband's name was not present in the olden times.
> >
> > I heard a humorous story in a Madhva gathering for a 'aṣṭāvadhāna'
> > presentation in the Uttarādi Maṭha recently.  It was narrated by the
> > 'aprasakta prasanga' person, part of the avadhāna, thus:
> >
> > The Swami of the Maṭha has influenced many of his devotees by saying
> that a
> > chaste woman will not utter her husband's name.  Once a census party
> > visiting a house had this experience:
> >
> > They asked for the husband, the head of the family.  He had gone out and
> > his wife replied them. They asked for his name and she refused to utter
> the
> > name saying 'Ask the Swamiji'. The officer replied: 'Madam, the Swamiji
> > will be on tour somewhere and where can we find him to ask this?'
> >  Thereupon the lady said: I shall give a puzzle and you can find out the
> > reply there.
> >
> > If he jumps from top to bottom it is eight feet. From right to left it is
> > six feet and from left to right eight feet.
> >
> > The officer could decipher the hidden message: Her husband's name is:
> > Hanumantha Rao.
> >
> > The above was said there and shared here only in jest.
> >
> > regards
> > subrahmanian.v
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