The history of land, if it were ever to be written, would be a bloody one. Land has fuelled wars, fractured nations and destroyed families. Its invidious influence is evident, perhaps more than ever before, even today - along the West Bank, in Syria, Afghanistan, India and Pakistan and in the homes of millions of families that have fallen apart over property disputes.
Even gods and heroes have succumbed to the passion for land. In the Mahabharata, the Pandavas, during their short reign before being exiled, rapidly expanded their territory. Arjuna used his prowess with the bow and arrow to subdue neighbouring kingdoms. In the Adi Parva, there is a brief mention of how Arjuna and the other Pandava princes became so powerful that they slew a great king named Sauvira (unvanquished till then by even the powerful Gandharvas) and several other brave kings.
The epic 18-day Mahabharata battle was triggered by (among other reasons) Duryodhana's refusal to give even a "needle-point" of land to his cousins. Krishna, who had been sent as an ambassador of peace, it is said, lost his cool at Duryodhana's incendiary declaration. War seemed inevitable. Like today, society in the age of the epics was grappling with issues of inheritance and ownership. Land was a coveted possession and hence the centre of most rivalries. In a play written by Bhasa (Dutavakyam), Duryodhana questioned Krishna's logic in seeking land for his cousins when, he argued, none among them was born to a Kuru father. They were sons of gods and hence not heirs to the Kaurava kingdom. Land, he insisted, could not be handed down unless the line of descent was direct and clear.
Inheritance was a preoccupation for the writers of the Ramayana too. That is why, perhaps, Kaikeyi's demand for Bharata to be made king is central to the epic. Interestingly, folk versions do not ascribe evil intent to Kaikeyi's condition as Valmiki's epic did. In the Telugu Ramayana 'the evil nature of Kaikeyi's demand is eliminated' (Many Ramayanas: The Diversity of a Narrative Tradition in South Asia, Edited by Paula Richman). It attributes the birth of the four sons to Kausalya who suggested that they adopt a daughter (Shanta) as that would bring luck (in the form of the birth of sons). Kaikeyi accepted the plan on the condition that her son would inherit the kingdom.
Land is a loaded symbol in mythology. On the one hand it is at the centre of epic battles, on the other it is the mother goddess. The fertility of women is compared to that of land. In the Ramayana, Sita is the daughter of earth and she ends her life by sinking back into it. Sita was found by King Janaka while he was ploughing the land. There was a belief in some parts of the country that a drought could be averted if a king ploughed the land and Janaka obliged. His plough touched a baby and Sita was born.
Land symbolised different things but all cultures considered it valuable because it was scarce and counted as wealth. Things are no different today, probably worse as a growing population has increased the pressure on land. An article in Business Standard says that by 2050, India will be among the most land-scarce countries in the world (https://bsmedia.business-standard.comgoo.gl/vlBcW2). As more and more people stake their claim to a finite resource, the story of land can only get bloodier.
Even gods and heroes have succumbed to the passion for land. In the Mahabharata, the Pandavas, during their short reign before being exiled, rapidly expanded their territory. Arjuna used his prowess with the bow and arrow to subdue neighbouring kingdoms. In the Adi Parva, there is a brief mention of how Arjuna and the other Pandava princes became so powerful that they slew a great king named Sauvira (unvanquished till then by even the powerful Gandharvas) and several other brave kings.
The epic 18-day Mahabharata battle was triggered by (among other reasons) Duryodhana's refusal to give even a "needle-point" of land to his cousins. Krishna, who had been sent as an ambassador of peace, it is said, lost his cool at Duryodhana's incendiary declaration. War seemed inevitable. Like today, society in the age of the epics was grappling with issues of inheritance and ownership. Land was a coveted possession and hence the centre of most rivalries. In a play written by Bhasa (Dutavakyam), Duryodhana questioned Krishna's logic in seeking land for his cousins when, he argued, none among them was born to a Kuru father. They were sons of gods and hence not heirs to the Kaurava kingdom. Land, he insisted, could not be handed down unless the line of descent was direct and clear.
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Clearly, inheritance laws were a problem. In the Mahabharata, Shantanu, Bhishma's father, had to pay a price for his infatuation with Satyavati; he had to accede to her father's demands that her children inherit the kingdom. He hesitated but his son, Devavrata, promised that he would never stake his claim to the throne, nor would he ever marry. This pledge earned him the name Bhishma.
Inheritance was a preoccupation for the writers of the Ramayana too. That is why, perhaps, Kaikeyi's demand for Bharata to be made king is central to the epic. Interestingly, folk versions do not ascribe evil intent to Kaikeyi's condition as Valmiki's epic did. In the Telugu Ramayana 'the evil nature of Kaikeyi's demand is eliminated' (Many Ramayanas: The Diversity of a Narrative Tradition in South Asia, Edited by Paula Richman). It attributes the birth of the four sons to Kausalya who suggested that they adopt a daughter (Shanta) as that would bring luck (in the form of the birth of sons). Kaikeyi accepted the plan on the condition that her son would inherit the kingdom.
Land is a loaded symbol in mythology. On the one hand it is at the centre of epic battles, on the other it is the mother goddess. The fertility of women is compared to that of land. In the Ramayana, Sita is the daughter of earth and she ends her life by sinking back into it. Sita was found by King Janaka while he was ploughing the land. There was a belief in some parts of the country that a drought could be averted if a king ploughed the land and Janaka obliged. His plough touched a baby and Sita was born.
Land symbolised different things but all cultures considered it valuable because it was scarce and counted as wealth. Things are no different today, probably worse as a growing population has increased the pressure on land. An article in Business Standard says that by 2050, India will be among the most land-scarce countries in the world (https://bsmedia.business-standard.comgoo.gl/vlBcW2). As more and more people stake their claim to a finite resource, the story of land can only get bloodier.