Ballad of the blessed Parrot

DR. G. SRIRAMA MURTY
(Rendered into English from the original Mahabharata in Telugu of Tikkana Somayaji)

INTRODUCTORY NOTE: - The Mahabharata of Vyasa is a treasure house of timeless wisdom, besides being a mine of poetic excellence. This classic has been rendered into Telugu by the celebrated Trio – Nannaya, Tikkana and Yerrapragada. Nannaya began it in 11th century A.D., Tikkana continued it. Yerrapragada finished it. Of the three, Tikkana’s contribution is by far largest, since he had written the bulk of it. Tikkana’s style is famous for its native diction, compactness of thought and metrical virtuosity. The following ballad is based on an episode in the first canto in the Anusasanika Parva, in which Bhishma, the son of Ganga and Santanu, teaches Yudhishthira (Dharmaraja) the values of life and living. Bhishma occupies a unique position in the Mahabharata by virtue of his age, title to the throne of Husthinapur which he abdicated voluntarily for the sake of his father, and profound wisdom. Here in this piece selected, he exhorts by means of a fable, that never should one abandon one’s Asraya (base or asylum). Metanomically, Asraya stands for one’s Master who gave bed and boarnd in his prosperity but runs through his fortune and falls on evil days. Gratitude is the sheet anchor of nobility of human conduct. The lack of it makes life miserable and tragic. Shakespeare characterises ungratefulness as a devil and cries, “Thou ungrate­fulness, marble-hearted friend”, in his King Lear. Fair weather friendship is condemned by Shakespeare in his famous play As you like It too. Bhishma emphasises the same value here by holding the steadfast parrot as a model for all mankind. It is wrong to dismiss this moral value as a feudal virtue, because life everywhere and always bears out the truth that loyal men are the salt of the earth. Gratitude is a timeless value which makes life livable and lovable. Bhishma is the fittest person to give the advice because his own life is a supreme example of it. Bhishma knows that injustice has been done to the Pandavas and that Duryodhana is bound to perish. Yet he stands rock­like by the evil prince to the very end of his life and dies in his service. Gratitude is a value not to be compromised under any circumstances. It is absolute. The ballad aims at conveying the spirit of Tikkana’s narrative.

1.         “O best of the sons of Kuru
lend me your ear awhile’
said the son of Ganga, the wise
who never was servile.

2.         Once in Kasi lived a hunter
who, one day, went a–hunting
Deep in the wood in search of prey
And found a dumb thing

3.         Beneath a tree laden with fruit
He found the deer Lurking;
A vicious thought arose in him
And drove him to fling;

4.         A poisoned shaft at him to kill,
The arrow hissed but missed
The deer and hit the tree instead
Making it writhe in twist.

5.         The poison ate it root and branch
And left it a dying tree;
Birds and beasts sheltered there
Fled away in wildest spree.

6.         But a lonely parrot stayed behind
In his hollow small;
Defying rain and shine and gust
He stood a model for all.

7.         He clung to the tree in deepest faith
While all had fled for life,
As if to make the mankind say
“Here lies a noble life in rife”.
8.         Moved by the parrot’s noble conduct
Down came Indra God of gods!
Donning human form and speech
And spoke these gracious words.

9.         “Tell me, O parrot, great and good,
Why you still cling to the tree,
Now no more than a dry bark
Sans fruit, sans flower, sans bee!

10.       There is no dearth of trees in bloom
Surely, in this forest great;
Why do you hang on here
Without leaving it to its fate”?

11.       “How strange you speak, 0 Lord Indra!
Don’t you know what is right?
It is meek to leave the asylum
As it doesn’t serve me right?

12.       Ungrateful, they will call me Lord
If I my abode quit;
Where I enjoyed bounty before
Shall I now, sire! shun it?”

13.       The God of gods wondered how the bird
Could divine his name
Surely, the blessed bird had accrued
Merit in lives past to claim.

14.       “To do you good, it behoves me now
O best of birds” he said
“Ask me a boon; you have it granted
Sooner than you have it said!”

15.       The parrot lost no time in asking
For the life of the tree;
Indra Spilled “Amrit” on it
Lo! the tree bloomed in glee

16.       “Courting favourites always do
Treat their Lords thus, 0 king”
Said the son of Ganga, the wise
To Dharmaraj’s liking.