Boomerang or Sudarshana Chakra?
The renowned Bharatanatyam dancer, Dr. Padma Subrahmaniam, came to Fiji in 1979 for the Girmit (Girmit is the term used by the Fiji Indians for the indenture system under which most of their forefathers originally came to Fiji. It stands for the ‘agreement’ which they signed before they left India.) Centenary Celebrations. She told us that apart from being a dancer she was also an anthropologist so she was interested in Fijian culture.
The one aspect of the Fijian culture that fascinated her most was the ‘tapa’ or ‘masi’ the cloth that is made out of the bark of trees. She said there is mention of such cloth in the Ramayana where Sri Ram was supposed to have used it when he was in the forest. But she did not know that it was still in use (though only for ceremonial occasions in Fiji) and she wanted to take one back to India and give it to Sri Sankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, who she said was her Guru.
Padma was also interested in the Australian aborigines. She had heard that there was a tribe called ‘Siva’ among them and she wanted to find out more about it.
I then remembered the first time I had seen a group of aboriginal artistes perform. It was in 1972 after the South Pacific Arts Festival in Suva. The aboriginal group, which had come to participate in the festival, before going back to Australia, came to the school where I was teaching then, to put on a performance.
They were to perform in the school ground, which is a rectangular field. I remember going upstairs and standing on the verandah to have a good view. When the artistes came out and squatted on the ground to begin their performance, with their dark bodies covered with white paint, I was reminded of the devotees of Siva in a south Indian temple with their bodies covered with holy ash (vibhoothi) ready for sayanapradakshinam (going round the temple lying down). It was only a few years later that I came to know that there is a tribe called Siva among the aborigines. Otherwise apart from admiring their performance I could have also tried to find out more about their tribes by talking to them.
The artiste that fascinated me most was the boomerang thrower. I had never before seen the boomerang throw so my knowledge of the boomerang was limited. I just knew that it was a weapon used by the aborigines in their hunting. The boomerang thrower came and stood in one corner of the rectangular field and threw it to the next corner. It went up to the corner and came back to the thrower. He did that a few times and if I found these fascinating greater things were to follow.
He next made the boomerang go further. From the first corner he made it turn and go up to the following corner; and then turn back and come to the first corner; and then turn back again and come back to his hand. He did this also a few times. After that he threw the boomerang to the first corner; made it turn and go to the next corner; made it turn again and go to the next corner; and turn again and come back to his hand, completing a full circle! As I watched dumbfounded I thought of Lord Krishna and his Sudarshana Chakra (the wheel that he holds in one of his four hands). I had heard stories of how Krishna could throw it and the wheel would go and do whatever Sri Krishna wanted it to do and then come back to him. Most of the time it would be killing a wicked person but there were other things that it did also.
For example, during the great war of Mahabharata, when Arjuna’s son Abhimanyu was killed, Arjuna took a vow to kill Jayadratha, who had killed Abhimanyu, before sunset that day. The Kauravas guarded Jayadratha so well that Arjuna found it difficult to penetrate through them. It was afternoon and time was passing and it would soon be sunset. Then Sri Krishna threw the Sudarshana m to go and hide the sun. The sun was hidden and it seemed like sunset. Soon the Kauravas rejoiced that they had succeeded in preventing Arjuna from fulfilling his vow and relaxed their defence.
Soon Arjuna was able to kill Jayadratha and Sri Krishna made his Chakra come back to him and the sun was once more visible. The Kauravas knew they were tricked but it was too late as Jayadratha was already dead, thanks to the Sudarshana Chakra doing the job assigned to it.
As I watched the boomerang thrower I realised that the stories I had heard in my childhood about Krishna are much more than myths. Perhaps the aborigines did come from south India and among them there were devotees of Shiva as well as those who worshipped Vishnu (and therefore Krishna who is believed to be an incarnation of Vishnu).
(Padmini Gaunder’s book, ‘Education and Race Relations in Fiji’ is available for $15.00. Those interested may contact her at pgaunder@hotmail.com)
The renowned Bharatanatyam dancer, Dr. Padma Subrahmaniam, came to Fiji in 1979 for the Girmit (Girmit is the term used by the Fiji Indians for the indenture system under which most of their forefathers originally came to Fiji. It stands for the ‘agreement’ which they signed before they left...
The renowned Bharatanatyam dancer, Dr. Padma Subrahmaniam, came to Fiji in 1979 for the Girmit (Girmit is the term used by the Fiji Indians for the indenture system under which most of their forefathers originally came to Fiji. It stands for the ‘agreement’ which they signed before they left India.) Centenary Celebrations. She told us that apart from being a dancer she was also an anthropologist so she was interested in Fijian culture.
The one aspect of the Fijian culture that fascinated her most was the ‘tapa’ or ‘masi’ the cloth that is made out of the bark of trees. She said there is mention of such cloth in the Ramayana where Sri Ram was supposed to have used it when he was in the forest. But she did not know that it was still in use (though only for ceremonial occasions in Fiji) and she wanted to take one back to India and give it to Sri Sankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, who she said was her Guru.
Padma was also interested in the Australian aborigines. She had heard that there was a tribe called ‘Siva’ among them and she wanted to find out more about it.
I then remembered the first time I had seen a group of aboriginal artistes perform. It was in 1972 after the South Pacific Arts Festival in Suva. The aboriginal group, which had come to participate in the festival, before going back to Australia, came to the school where I was teaching then, to put on a performance.
They were to perform in the school ground, which is a rectangular field. I remember going upstairs and standing on the verandah to have a good view. When the artistes came out and squatted on the ground to begin their performance, with their dark bodies covered with white paint, I was reminded of the devotees of Siva in a south Indian temple with their bodies covered with holy ash (vibhoothi) ready for sayanapradakshinam (going round the temple lying down). It was only a few years later that I came to know that there is a tribe called Siva among the aborigines. Otherwise apart from admiring their performance I could have also tried to find out more about their tribes by talking to them.
The artiste that fascinated me most was the boomerang thrower. I had never before seen the boomerang throw so my knowledge of the boomerang was limited. I just knew that it was a weapon used by the aborigines in their hunting. The boomerang thrower came and stood in one corner of the rectangular field and threw it to the next corner. It went up to the corner and came back to the thrower. He did that a few times and if I found these fascinating greater things were to follow.
He next made the boomerang go further. From the first corner he made it turn and go up to the following corner; and then turn back and come to the first corner; and then turn back again and come back to his hand. He did this also a few times. After that he threw the boomerang to the first corner; made it turn and go to the next corner; made it turn again and go to the next corner; and turn again and come back to his hand, completing a full circle! As I watched dumbfounded I thought of Lord Krishna and his Sudarshana Chakra (the wheel that he holds in one of his four hands). I had heard stories of how Krishna could throw it and the wheel would go and do whatever Sri Krishna wanted it to do and then come back to him. Most of the time it would be killing a wicked person but there were other things that it did also.
For example, during the great war of Mahabharata, when Arjuna’s son Abhimanyu was killed, Arjuna took a vow to kill Jayadratha, who had killed Abhimanyu, before sunset that day. The Kauravas guarded Jayadratha so well that Arjuna found it difficult to penetrate through them. It was afternoon and time was passing and it would soon be sunset. Then Sri Krishna threw the Sudarshana m to go and hide the sun. The sun was hidden and it seemed like sunset. Soon the Kauravas rejoiced that they had succeeded in preventing Arjuna from fulfilling his vow and relaxed their defence.
Soon Arjuna was able to kill Jayadratha and Sri Krishna made his Chakra come back to him and the sun was once more visible. The Kauravas knew they were tricked but it was too late as Jayadratha was already dead, thanks to the Sudarshana Chakra doing the job assigned to it.
As I watched the boomerang thrower I realised that the stories I had heard in my childhood about Krishna are much more than myths. Perhaps the aborigines did come from south India and among them there were devotees of Shiva as well as those who worshipped Vishnu (and therefore Krishna who is believed to be an incarnation of Vishnu).
(Padmini Gaunder’s book, ‘Education and Race Relations in Fiji’ is available for $15.00. Those interested may contact her at pgaunder@hotmail.com)
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