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Sunday, June 21, 2020

śyāma they all are


Draupadī, Varāha, Arjuna and mother Yaśodā are all śyāma-complexioned, not golden. 
Practically all pictures that are made of them, be they Indian, be they western, are wrong. Here is the scriptural evidence -


MOTHER YAŚODĀ - 

Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu 3.4.13 -

ḍori-jutita-vakra-keśa-paṭalā sindūra-bindūllasat 
sīmānta-dyutir aṅga-bhūṣaṇa-vidhim nāti-prabhūtaṁ śritā |
govindāsya-nisṛṣṭa-sāśru-nayana-dvandvā navendīvara
śyāma-śyāma-rucir vicitra-sicayā goṣṭheśvarī pātu vaḥ ||13||

The queen of the cowherds, Yaśodā, has wavy hair bound by cords, with a dot of sindūra at the parting of her hair. She does not wear many ornaments. Her eyes become filled with tears on seeing Kṛṣṇa. Her complexion is dark like a blue lotus, radiating a dark glow, and she wears colorful clothing. May she protect us!

mātā gopa-yaśo-dātrī yaśodā śyāmala-dyutiḥ

(Rādhā-kṛṣṇa Gaṇoddeśa Dīpikā 1.28)

Because she gives fame to the cowherds, Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s mother is called Yaśodā. Her complexion is blackish blue (śyāmala). 


ARJUNA -

In the Virāṭa Parva (39.20) of the Mahābhārata, Arjuna tells Uttara Kumāra how he got his ten names -

kṛṣṇa ityeva daśamaṁ nāma cakre pitā mama;
kṛṣṇāvadātasya sataḥ priyatvād bālakasya vai

"My father gave me this tenth name Kṛṣṇa because of my complexion and charm."


Sanjaya when visiting Upaplavya in Udyoga-parva (58.10) described Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna thus..

śyāmau bṛhantau taruṇau śāla skandhāv ivodgatau

Both Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna are described as tall, dark, and youthful.




DRAUPADĪ

Draupadī is described as dark in the Ādi-parva 1.155.42, 44, 50 of the Mahābhārata -



42 śyāmā padmapalāśākṣī nīlakuñcita mūrdhajā
mānuṣaṃ vigrahaṃ kṛtvā sākṣād amara varṇinī

And there arose, after this from the centre of the sacrificial platform, a daughter also, called Panchali, who, blessed with great good fortune, was exceedingly handsome. Her eyes were black, and large as lotus-petals, her complexion was dark, and her locks were blue and curly. 

44. tāṃ cāpi jātāṃ suśroṇīṃ vāg uvācāśarīriṇī
sarva yoṣid varā kṛṣṇā kṣayaṃ kṣatraṃ ninīṣati

'This dark complexioned girl will be the first of all women, and she will be the cause of the destruction of many kṣatriyas. This slender-waisted one will, in time, accomplish the purpose of the gods, and along with her many a danger will overtake the Kauravas.'

50.  kṛṣṇety evābruvan kṛṣṇāṃ kṛṣṇābhūt sā hi varṇataḥ
tathā tan mithunaṃ jajñe drupadasya mahāmakhe

And they also said, 'Because this daughter is so dark in complexion, she should be called Kṛṣṇā (the dark).'


VARĀHA -

Varāha-deva is also śyāma, not piggy-colored -

Śrīmad Bhāgavata 3.13.33 -

tamāla-nīlaṁ sita-danta-koṭyā kṣmām utkṣipantaṁ gaja-līlayāṅga

"Then the Lord, with a bluish complexion like that of a Tamāla-tree, playing like an elephant, placed the earth on the edge of His curved white tusks."

9 comments:

  1. It is good you have pointed it out. But the there is flaw in the picture of Varahadev lifting an earth. In fact he lifted the whole Bhumandala. Nowhere it is stated he lifted a ball like earth. Bhu indicated the bumandala or universe. If you translated bhu as our earth then what about other lands on Jambhudvipa which our earth is integral part of. Jambhudvipa is described as looking exactly like a lotus leaf, flat. But with the progress of science we have lost the touch with sastra to the extend that is leading us to think that sastra is imaginative.

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  2. It is also described that Varahadev grew for the small object that emanated form Brahma's nostril to the size of the universe. That means he was big enough to life the while bhumandla not just a tiny earth. The picture is not to the scale at all.

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  3. The point of that picture was the complexion of Varaha, nothing else.

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  4. https://images.app.goo.gl/YWg6XQjGKdJbCVoK8

    https://images.app.goo.gl/fK9N728MgshHLwCJA

    It does not matter. Truth is truth. I am not sure why would you promote clarification on one side and promote misinformation on the other side? I really don't understand it.

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  5. Extremely simple. This blog is about bhagavan not about cosmology, maths, physics etc.

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  6. Prabhu, how do we understand that gautamīya-tantra says : yaśodā hema-saṅkāśā śita-vastra-yugānvitā || Yaśodā is golden in complexion wearing two pieces of white cloth. As quoted by Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī in the commentary to this verse?

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  7. Sankasha means appearance. Not sure what to think of it, does it refer to her complexion or not? We have even 2 quotes from Sri Rupa Goswami in this blog saying that Yashoda is syama. Two is a crowd! What I do notice in this cluster of verses from Gautamiya tantra is devakī śyāma-subhagā - Even Devaki-devi is śyāma too!

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  8. “ According to Krama-dīpikā here complexion is blackish, but yellow according to Gautamīya-tantra.”

    Sartha Darsini 10.8.3

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  9. Sri Nrsimha is also described as having the shyam complexion

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