The
importance of Varaha Mihira warrants a brief biographical sketch. The
date of Varaha Mihira is controversial, some say circa 100 BC others
500 AD. The date is unimportant for presenting an episode from his
biography. The following adumbration from Life of Varaha Mihira, by
Suryanarian Rao gives many salient qualities of Varaha Mihira.
Mihira was a Brahmana, the son of Aditya Dasa, from the
region of Avanti, near present day Ujjain, in Western India. He was
instructed in astrology by his father and was a devout worshipper of
Surya Narayana, that is, Krsna who manifests as the Sun. By
performing severe austerities to please Surya Narayana, Mihira got
blessed with knowledge of ganita, hora, and samhita.
Mihira was one of the Nine Gems, navaratna, in the court
of the great king, Vikramaditya of Ujjain. He was greatly honored by
the king for his vast learning and correct predictions. Once, after
the birth of the King's son Mihira was asked to make predictions
about the prince's future. Going into meditation after studying the
chart Mihira "observed that a serious and irremediable danger
beset the path of the longevity of the royal child and that he would
be killed by a varaha, or boar, on a particular day in a certain
month of his 18th year and no human remedies could save the prince
from the jaws of death."
Having learnt of this danger to his son from his most
reliable of court astrologers, Vikramaditya consulted with Bhatti,
his Chief Minister. It was decided that a special palace would be
constructed with stupendous walls 80 feet high. Ten thousand elite
troops would patrol both inside and outside the property as well as
in the palace. Such careful watch was taken of the palace that not
even a cat or rat could enter the compound what to speak of a wild
boar.
Every precaution was taken and the prince was under
constant guard and practically under house arrest, he was not allowed
to leave his compound for any reason. In fact he was ensconced on the
seventh floor and not allowed to go to a lower floor. The precautions
were so thorough that they boasted that the prince may die but
certainly not by the agency of a varaha.
After such security measures were put into place Mihira
was asked if he would like to reconsider his former prediction. He
emphatically stated that there was nothing that could save the boy.
As the date grew near he was again asked to reconsider, and again
gave the same reply.
Tension began to mount, not so much for the sake of the
boy but for the reputation of Mihira. His detractors thought that
Mihira's reputation exceeded his ability, and though the boy might
die, the possibility of it be caused by a boar was so remote that
Mihira would be publicly disgraced. Even his friends, who had
implicit faith in him and knew of his great abilities, had doubts as
to how his prediction would be successful, because it was impossible
for even a rat to move about undetected in that palace.
On
the fateful day Vikramaditya held court. Reports were brought to him
every hour on the safety and health of the Prince, now 18 years old.
All the chief pandits were assembled as well as the navaratnas, the
nine greatly learned men, of the King's court.
The whole city was waiting for the result of Mihira's
prediction. Would it come true or not? The time of death had been
fixed at 5:00 PM in the afternoon. The King, though a great admirer
of Mihira, was beginning to doubt Mihira's abilities. With a
condescending smile he addressed Mihira, did he still want to
maintain his previous prediction that the boy should be killed by a
wild boar this afternoon. Did any new calculation possibly change his
mind, would the child just die, this was possible, but death by a
wild boar would be impossible.
The King suggested that Mihira gracefully back down from
his former stance, without losing face. The King vowed that if the
impossible happened he would give Mihira the highest honor and bestow
on him the golden and be-jeweled Royal ensign or emblem, the Varaha,
wild boar, that was currently on his crown and transfer it to
Mihira's head-dress and that for posterity he would henceforth be
given the title Varaha Mihira. Everyone applauded the King.
All eyes focused on Mihira. He rose and gave a speech in
which he deprecated his own learning, that unfortunately no great
rishis such as Vasishta were present to reverse the karma of the
Prince. He took a vow that if his prediction failed he would never
practice astrology again, he would never enter the court of the king,
and indeed, would leave Ujjain altogether and go deep into the forest
to practice tapasya, austerities, till his last day. But Mihira
stated that indeed the death would come true as predicted, there
could be no thwarting of fate and the Prince would be killed by a
boar. He then calmly sat down.
In the afternoon at 2:00 PM the King again convened his
court. Senior military commanders came every half hour with news of
the Prince. He was hale and hearty. Everything was going smoothly.
The King had given orders that the guard be on the highest alert and
was confident that no harm could befall his son. But Mihiracarya was
totally calm, how could this be so, in only a few hours his
prediction would be proven wrong, yet he was still placid. Time went
on, a half hour after the appointed time of death a guard reported
that there was no disturbance in the Prince's palace.
Mihira calmly told the King that the boy had already
died at the appointed time and they should go see for themselves.
Just then another guard came to report that all was still peaceful in
the palace. On the way to the palace other guards confirmed that all
was quite and calm at the palace. It was now about 6:00 PM and the
King told Mihira that his prediction must have been wrong because
nothing at all wrong had been reported, he couldn't believe that his
officers were liars.
Mihira replied: "Victorious Monarch! the prince has
died at the hour, minute, and second, I have named and none of your
watchmen has noticed it. It is a sad event no doubt but it has
happened and your son is lying dead in a pool of blood, unnoticed by
his watchmen and personal companions, and you will see the truth of
my prediction. Let us go and examine."
On entering the palace they noticed on every floor that
peace and calm prevailed. On the 7th floor they found a dozen or so
of the Prince's friends engaged in assorted games such as chess. When
the Emperor made inquiries about the Prince, they all replied that he
had been playing with them a little while ago and that he was quite
hale and hearty and that he had just gone out to take some air on the
open terrace of the 7th floor.
Mihira said: "The Prince must be lying dead in a
pool of blood caused by the injuries of a boar, and if you go to the
terrace you will be shocked to find him dead as predicted by me. This
wonderful prediction is not mine. My knowledge is too humble and too
limited to make such inconceivable and surprising predictions. I have
made all my predictions under the guidance of Surya Narayana. Could
such predictions inspired under His grace ever fail?"
They all went to the terrace and saw with horror and
sorrow the Prince lying dead on a cot in pool of blood. He was
disfigured by the iron hooves of the artificial boar-the Royal
Emblem-that was attached to the flag staff. Everyone was thrown into
simultaneous gloom and ecstasy by the successful prediction.
Vikramaditya awarded Mihira with the Royal Emblem and he was hence
forth called Varaha Mihira.
The Prince's death had transpired in the following way.
At about 4:00 PM, the Prince, who had been playing with his friends,
began to feel a sort of oppression in his chest and giving over his
cards to a nearby friend asked him to play in his place. He then rose
without complaint and went out to the terrace. A tall flag staff,
emblem of Royalty, rose high in the air, it had an artificial boar
attached to its top. As this emblem
of royalty was affixed to all important turrets and towers of all the
Emperor's palaces no one took any notice of them. Near the flag staff
was a cot with soft cushions for the Prince to take rest whenever he
felt fatigued. The Prince feeling tired while playing games with his
friends came to lay down in the cool air.
At 5:00 PM precisely, a very strong gust of wind knocked
loose the iron boar. This fell down onto the Prince who was lying on
his back. The hooves struck severely against his breast and stomach
and the tusks struck his head and mouth. The Prince lost copious
amounts of blood and died immediately. The mattress on the cot
absorbed the sound of the crash so no one heard it fall. And as the
Prince would often go to the terrace, and as the game was very
absorbing, no one noticed the Prince's absence.
(
Courtesy : shyamasundaradasa.com )
