Balarama (बलराम) or Balabhadra (बलभद्र), the fair-skinned older brother of Krishna, is – in my opinion – one of the most intriguing, yet underappreciated, members of the Indic pantheon. His distinguishing attributes include having a plow as his weapon of choice, and his fondness for alcohol in spite of the fact that he is (primarily) a Vaishnava divinity. Two of his numerous appellations recorded by Sanskrit lexicographers are priyamadhu (प्रियमधु) and madhupriya (मधुप्रिय), प्रिय = "fond / beloved"; मधु = "intoxicating drink", and poets have not shied away from making fun of his drunken antics. It is presumably because of Balarama's association with alcohol that 'Chaitanyadasa' Pujari Goswami ('চৈতন্যদাস' পূজারী গোস্বামী), one of the most revered commentators on Jayadeva's Gita Govinda in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, makes Balarama the patron deity of hAsyarasa (हास्यरस), "comedy", in his commentary on the Dashavatara Stotra (दशावतारस्तोत्र)! As such, it would be remiss of me to not feature him on this blog; so here is the first installment of an entire series dedicated to that scion of the Yadavas who is fondly called Balāi (বলাই) in Bengali, Baḻiā (ବଳିଆ) in Odia, Baldāu (बलदाऊ) in Hindustani dialects, and so on.
The nine-day Rathayatra (रथयात्रा) [see also this] of Puri, Odisha, is a major festival in the Indian Subcontinent. The caturdhA mUrti (चतुर्धा मूर्ति), i.e. the three main idols of the Jagannath Temple – jagannAtha (जगन्नाथ), balabhadra (बलभद्र), subhadrA (सुभद्रा) – along with sudarshana (सुदर्शन), all bedecked in special finery, are ceremonially brought out of the temple premises, and mounted on three huge, ornate, peculiar chariots (subhadrA and sudarshana share one), which are then pulled with ropes by throngs of devotees in a grand public procession that ends at the Gundicha Temple; after a week-long sojourn at this "garden house", the deities make a similar return trip to their permanent abode. The Gajapati King of Puri [see also this and this] plays a key role in these festivities – as the Lord's servant.
The story goes that Baneswar Vidyalankar, the renowned 18th century scholar from Guptipara in present-day West Bengal, was once attending the Rathayatra solemnities at Puri in the presence of the Gajapati King when, suddenly, the idol of Balabhadra toppled over, presumably at some point while being "walked" from the sanctum sanctorum to his vehicle, the tAladhvaja (तालध्वज), "having the picture of a toddy palm on its banner". Dismayed, the king yelled, "औत्पातिकम्!" ("Calamitous!"), much like a stereotypical housewife on a Hindi soap screaming "अपशगुन!" when a lamp blows out in the wind. On the spot, Vidyalankar pronounced the following versified judgment on the situation, putting the worries of his royal highness to rest!
Devanagari text:The story goes that Baneswar Vidyalankar, the renowned 18th century scholar from Guptipara in present-day West Bengal, was once attending the Rathayatra solemnities at Puri in the presence of the Gajapati King when, suddenly, the idol of Balabhadra toppled over, presumably at some point while being "walked" from the sanctum sanctorum to his vehicle, the tAladhvaja (तालध्वज), "having the picture of a toddy palm on its banner". Dismayed, the king yelled, "औत्पातिकम्!" ("Calamitous!"), much like a stereotypical housewife on a Hindi soap screaming "अपशगुन!" when a lamp blows out in the wind. On the spot, Vidyalankar pronounced the following versified judgment on the situation, putting the worries of his royal highness to rest!
औत्पातिकं तदिह देव विचिन्तनीयं
नारायणो यदि पतेद्यदि वा सुभद्रा|
कादम्बरीमदविघूर्णितलोचनस्य
युक्तं हि लाङ्गलभृतः पतनं पृथिव्याम्||
नारायणो यदि पतेद्यदि वा सुभद्रा|
कादम्बरीमदविघूर्णितलोचनस्य
युक्तं हि लाङ्गलभृतः पतनं पृथिव्याम्||
– वाणेश्वरविद्यालङ्कार
autpAtikaM tadiha deva vicintanIyaM
nArAyaNo yadi patedyadi vA subhadrA|
kAdambarImadavighUrNitalocanasya
yuktaM hi lAGgalabhRtaH patanaM pRthivyAm||
nArAyaNo yadi patedyadi vA subhadrA|
kAdambarImadavighUrNitalocanasya
yuktaM hi lAGgalabhRtaH patanaM pRthivyAm||
– Baneswar Vidyalankar
Loose translation: My lord! It would be reasonable to deem it a bad omen if either Narayana (i.e. Jagannath, in this context) or Subhadra had toppled; but it is only logical for the Plow-bearer, with his eyes rolling over in alcohol[see notes]-induced stupor, to fall upon the ground!
Notes: The word kAdambarI (कादम्बरी), used in this verse, can refer to any alcoholic beverage in general; but, in particular, it denotes the variety that is produced from the fermentation of the flowers of the kadamba tree, and most authorities derive the name kAdambarI from kadamba: कादम्बं (कदम्बोद्भवं रसं) राति. This "wine" is intimately associated with Balarama, and some etymologists have gone to the extent of interpreting the word kAdambarI itself as "beloved of Balarama": In this purported derivation, kadambara (कदम्बर), "one who has inferior clothes", is claimed to be an appellation of Balarama – an allusion to his preference for dark-colored (नील, a word which has now acquired the exclusive denotation "blue" in most Indic languages) garments! The Vishnu Purana (Part 4 Chapter 25), the Shrimad Bhagavata Purana (Canto 10 Chapter 65), and the Khila Harivamsa (Chapter 98, according to the Vacaspatyam) all recount the episode of Balarama finding some vinous fluid in the hollow of a kadamba tree (the Bhagavata is not specific about the kind of tree), guzzling it, getting inebriated, and then giving the river-goddess Yamuna a hard time; this fluid has been described as an incarnation of Varuni (वारुणी), the goddess of alcoholic drinks, and is specifically called kAdambarI in the last of the three sources mentioned above (कदम्बकोटरे जाता नाम्ना कादम्बरीति सा। वारुणी रूपिणी तत्र देवानाममृतारणी।।).
To the best of my knowledge, the Balabhadra deity at the Jagannath Temple is never ritually served alcohol; this snippet is just an allusion to Balarama as described in mythology.
Notes: The word kAdambarI (कादम्बरी), used in this verse, can refer to any alcoholic beverage in general; but, in particular, it denotes the variety that is produced from the fermentation of the flowers of the kadamba tree, and most authorities derive the name kAdambarI from kadamba: कादम्बं (कदम्बोद्भवं रसं) राति. This "wine" is intimately associated with Balarama, and some etymologists have gone to the extent of interpreting the word kAdambarI itself as "beloved of Balarama": In this purported derivation, kadambara (कदम्बर), "one who has inferior clothes", is claimed to be an appellation of Balarama – an allusion to his preference for dark-colored (नील, a word which has now acquired the exclusive denotation "blue" in most Indic languages) garments! The Vishnu Purana (Part 4 Chapter 25), the Shrimad Bhagavata Purana (Canto 10 Chapter 65), and the Khila Harivamsa (Chapter 98, according to the Vacaspatyam) all recount the episode of Balarama finding some vinous fluid in the hollow of a kadamba tree (the Bhagavata is not specific about the kind of tree), guzzling it, getting inebriated, and then giving the river-goddess Yamuna a hard time; this fluid has been described as an incarnation of Varuni (वारुणी), the goddess of alcoholic drinks, and is specifically called kAdambarI in the last of the three sources mentioned above (कदम्बकोटरे जाता नाम्ना कादम्बरीति सा। वारुणी रूपिणी तत्र देवानाममृतारणी।।).
To the best of my knowledge, the Balabhadra deity at the Jagannath Temple is never ritually served alcohol; this snippet is just an allusion to Balarama as described in mythology.
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