I was just going through some write-ups on the Mahabharata and came across these two rather interesting characters , Jaya and Vijaya , who were Lord Vishnu’s dwarapalakas (gatekeepers). Apparently, when a quartet of sages came to visit Lord Vishnu in the guise of little children, Jaya and Vijaya refused to let them meet Vishnu, thereby evoking their anger and eventual curse that they be born as mortals and roam Bhuloka(Earth) in their next seven reincarnations.
Lord Vishnu eventually met with the sages and overwhelmed by his hospitality, the sages requested Vishnu to decide the punishment for his gatekeepers himself. The Lord, although disappointed at the lack of judgement on the part of his gatekeepers, told them that he couldn’t take back the sages’ curse, but could give them an alternative option of being reborn three times as powerful beings, albeit as sworn enemies of Lord Vishnu, and die each time at the hands of the Lord himself.
And thus, the gatekeepers ,who chose this option given by Vishnu as they couldn’t bear being apart from their Lord for seven lives, were reincarnated in three different Yugas as demons – as Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu in Krita Yuga in their first life, as Ravana and Kumbhakarna in Treta Yuga in their second life, and as Dantavakra and Shishupala in Dwapara Yuga in their third life.
In each Yuga, Lord Vishnu appears as one of his avatars and is responsible for the death of Jaya and Vijaya ( Varaha (boar avatar) saving the Earth from Hiranyaksha ,Narasimha slaying Hiranyakashipu by tearing apart his stomach at twilight, Rama defeating Ravana and Kumbhakarna during the course of Ramayana and finally Krishna killing Dantavakra and Shishupala during the course of Mahabharata ).
In the Kali Yug, Jaya and Vijaya are freed of their curse and now stand as guards to Lord Vishnu at his abode in Vaikuntha.
I don’t know how, but one of the sleeping threads in my mind was suddenly woken up once I went through Jaya-Vijaya’s story! Now, this thread was completely unrelated and in no way concering the Mahabharata!
It concerns a classic work of fiction though, H2G2( the absolutely fantabulously imaginative The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams).
There’s a minor character called Agrajag (what a horrible name to have!). Agrajag is a piteous creature that is continually reincarnated throughout the timeline of the book and is killed unknowingly by Arthur Dent ( the novel’s protagonist, who’s on a wild ride through the galaxy because his alien friend Ford Prefect helped him hitchhike his way on the Vogon ship when the Earth was about to be destroyed to make way for a hyperspace bypass(!), and then onto the Heart of Gold, the ship hijacked by the crazy guy with two heads and the self-proclaimed President of the Galaxy- Zaphod Beeblebrox) in each lifetime.
Agrajag is first killed by Arthur on pre-historic earth, when he was born as a rabbit. Arthur killed him for breakfast and fashioned his skin into a pouch, which is then used to swat a fly (who’s again Agrajag!). Agrajag is killed again , as a old man who dies of a heart attack, on seeing Arthur and Ford materialise out of thin air in the middle of Lord’s cricket ground!
Another time, due to an act involving Arthur, Agrajag comes into existence miles above the planet Magrethea, as a bowl of petunias (a type of flowering plant), only to begin falling and die, having enough time to think – ‘Oh no, not again’!.
Agrajag has also reincarnated as a flea (who Arthur picked out of his hair), as an oyster (whom Arthur ate alive) , as a cow (whom Arthur had a fillet of at The Restaurant at the End of the Universe) among other incarnations!
He eventually builds a Cathedral of Hate for Arthur, planning to kill him there. However, a little mistake on the part of Agrajag is that he mentions “Stavromula Beta” , where Arthur ducks to avoid an assasin , and the bullet hits Agrajag instead! Arthur argues with Agrajag that since he’s never been to planet “Stavromula Beta” , it is impossible that Agarajag died at his hands there, thereby making it clear that Agrajag has brought him to the Cathedral of Hate too early and it is logically impossible for Agrajag to kill him now!
Agrajag proceeds to kill him anyway, but dies again at the hands of Arthur, who’s trying to defend himself!
During the course of the book, Arthur ducks in a club in London called ‘Beta’ (who’s owner is Stavro Mueller) to avoid a bullet, and it hits the person behind him, who else, but Agarajag!
What fascinated me was the similarity in theme in these unrelated texts. Reincarnations of a person (or creature) in each era, only to be killed by the same man (or a God , for that matter!) in each incarnation.
I wonder who cursed Agrajag!!
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