Were caste equations always as bad as they are today? Not quite. There were always castes but they were not backward.

The post-monsoon festival season witnesses the death of many
demons: Durga kills Mahishasura and Ram kills Ravan during
Navaratri and Dassera, while Krishna kills Narakasura during
Diwali. This latter festival is popular mostly along the west coast
of India and in the Deccan regions of Andhra and Karnataka. In
fact, in Goa, effigies of Naraka are burned on Naraka Chaturdashi,
the eve of the new moon night, much like how effigies of Ravan are
burned in the Gangetic plains.
Naraka is no ordinary Asura. He is the son
of Vishnu
and Bhu-devi, the earth-goddess.
He was conceived when Vishnu took the form of Varaha, the boar, to
rescue the goddess from the clutches of Hiranyaksha, the demon who
had dragged her under the sea. As the two rose, they made love. So
passionate was his embrace, that the earth until then flat was
crumpled, giving rise to mountains and valleys. Varaha buried his
resplendent tusks in the earth and she gave birth to all
vegetation. It is from this union that Naraka was born.
This story reconfirms the assocation of Asuras with the nether
regions and with vegetation and fertility. The guru of the Asuras,
Shukra, associated with the planet Venus, possess
Sanjivani Vidya which he uses to resurrect dead Asuras. And so
every demon who is ‘killed’ during harvest time comes back next
year as the next crop. Demons never die and so humans always have
food on the table. By calling the vegetation that was harvested and
threshed and stored as ‘demons’, early man perhaps sought to allay
his guilt. Naraka at one level is the son (crop) of God and
Goddess, Vishnu and Bhu-devi and at another level a demon
(harvest).
Naraka’s story is an important one in Krishna
Leela as through him Krishna, otherwise mortal and
associated with earthly affairs, suddenly becomes a cosmic hero,
called upon by the sky-gods, the Devas, to save them from this
demon who can be killed by no god. So Krishna rides up to heaven on
his eagle, Garuda. The battle with the Asura who has risen to the
sky, instead of staying under the earth, is an intense one. For
Naraka has a boon – he cannot be killed unless he strikes his own
mother.
This story orignially from the Harivamsa is rather popular in
Andhra Pradesh where preference is given to stories of Krishna in
Dwaraka as a man married to Satyabhama and Rukmini, over the
romantic stories of Krishna and Radha in Vrindavan. Satyabhama
accompanies her husband on Garuda as she is eager to see her
husband ‘in action’. She watches her husband fight Naraka and at
one point Naraka’s weapon hits her. Infuriated, she turns the
weapon back on him and Naraka dies instantly.
Thus inadvertently, Satyabhama becomes a Durga-like figure. We are
reminded that she is a form of Lakshmi, hence of Bhu-devi, hence
mother to Naraka. These stories of mother-son conflicts are a
gentle reminder to humanity not to claim ownership over the earth
who nourishes us. The earth may be a doting mother but she will not
be a demure domesticated wife.
In memory of this day, in South India, people crush a bitter fruit
as Naraka was finally crushed and then bathe after annointing
themselves with oil made red with vermillion. The oil soothes the
tired muscles, the red a reminder of the bloodbath. Wives sometimes
bathe their husbands, and perhaps secretly chuckle, for while
Krishna did fight, it was Satyabhama who did the
final killing.
Published in Speaking Tree, Oct. 16, 2011 | Devdutt Pattanaik |
devdutt.com
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