Hidden Tales from the Mahabharat: #2 >> Why are there no tribals in Punjab?

India has roughly 120 million ( 12 crore) tribal population. They form 8.4% of the population. Almost every state and Union territory has a significant tribal population. But Punjab and Haryana are exceptions. They have near ZERO tribal population. And further east along the Ganga, UP and Bihar have very low tribal population (less than 5%) , How did this happen? The answer, again, is in the MB.

In the previous tale we have seen how Khandava Prastha (and other forests) was set afire by the Pandava and the wildlife killed/ driven out eastwards. But what about the people who lived in those forests?

The MB mentions a forest dwelling beings called Naga. They are sometimes mentioned as serpents and sometimes as human. The MB also mentions one of the 4 wives of Arjun as Uloopi, a Naga princess, the daughter of the king Airavatha Kauravya. So, the Naga were definitely human. The MB also tells us that Parikshit, son of Abhimanyu / grandson of Arjun died of a Naga snake-bite. So Janmejaya (son of Parikshit) vowed to exterminate the Naga. This was to be accomplished through a yagya called the Naga Yagya or Snake Sacrifice (famously known as Janmejaya Ka Naga yagya). When the yagya was conducted, the magical powers of the yagya caused the Naga to fall into the yagya fire and die.

Adi Parva, Chapter 57 (Sarpa Sattra) records

Mahabharata Adi Parva Chapter 57

"Saunaka said, 'O son of a Suta, I desire to hear the names of all those snakes that fell into the fire of this snake-sacrifice!' "Sauti replied, 'Many thousands and tens of thousands and billions of snakes fell into the fire. O most excellent Brahmana, so great is the number that I am unable to count them all. So far, however, as I remember, hear the names I mention of the principal snakes cast into the fire. Hear first the names of the principal ones of Vasuki's race alone, of colour blue, red and white of terrible form and huge body and deadly poison. Helpless and miserable and afflicted with their mother's curse, they fell into the sacrificial fire like libations of butter.

"Kotisa, Manasa, Purna, Cala, Pala Halmaka, Pichchala, Kaunapa, Cakra, Kalavega, Prakalana, Hiranyavahu, Carana, Kakshaka, Kaladantaka—these snakes born of Vasuki, fell into the fire. And, O Brahmana, numerous other snakes well-born, and of terrible form and great strength, were burnt in the blazing fire. I shall now mention those born in the race of Takshaka. Hear thou their names. Puchchandaka, Mandalaka, Pindasektri, Ravenaka; Uchochikha, Carava, Bhangas, Vilwatejas, Virohana; Sili, Salakara, Muka, Sukumara, Pravepana, Mudgara and Sisuroman, Suroman and Mahahanu. These snakes born of Takshaka fell into the fire. And Paravata, Parijata, Pandara, Harina, Krisa, Vihanga, Sarabha, Meda, Pramoda, Sauhatapana—these born in the race of Airavata fell into the fire. Now hear, O best of Brahmanas, the names of the snakes I mention born in the race of Kauravya: Eraka, Kundala Veni, Veniskandha, Kumaraka, Vahuka, Sringavera, Dhurtaka, Pratara and Astaka. There born in the race of Kauravya fell into the fire. Now hear the names I mention, in order, of those snakes endued with the speed of the wind and with virulent poison, born in the race of Dhritarashtra: Sankukarna, Pitharaka, Kuthara, Sukhana, and Shechaka; Purnangada, Purnamukha, Prahasa, Sakuni, Dari, Amahatha, Kumathaka, Sushena, Vyaya, Bhairava, Mundavedanga, Pisanga, Udraparaka, Rishabha, Vegavat, Pindaraka; Raktanga, Sarvasaranga, Samriddha, Patha and Vasaka; Varahaka, Viranaka, Suchitra, Chitravegika, Parasara, Tarunaka, Maniskandha and Aruni.

"O Brahmana, thus I have recited the names of the principal snakes known widely for their achievements—I have not been able to name all, the number being countless. The sons of these snakes, the sons of those sons, that were burnt having fallen into the fire, I am unable to mention. They are so many! Some of three heads, some of seven, others of ten, of poison like unto the fire at the end of the yuga and terrible in form,—they were burnt by thousands!

So this was no ordinary battle. This was genocidal extermination which explains why there are no tribal communities in Punjab/ Haryana.

Interestingly this list mentions one tribal community that still exists in India of the present day: MUNDA. And more interestingly the word MUNDA in Punjabi means a boy which is exactly what it means in the Mundari language (spoken by the Munda tribe). But the Munda tribe today lives in Jharkhand, Odisha and Bengal all of which are at least 2000 km away form Punjab. So, it turns out that the Naga yagya is an allegorical reference to the expulsion and extermination (by the Kuru Bharat dynasty) of tribals from the dense forests that once covered the Indo-Gangetic plains. The tribals, like the wildlife, were also driven eastwards where they live till today in a place called the Chhota Nagpur Plateau! Is that NAG in the Nagpur just a coincidence?

Another point to note. Sanskrit is one of the ancient Indo_european langauges. There are 2 popular words for sanke is Sanskrit: Sarpa and Naga. Surprisingly while other Indo-European languages have SERPENT (equiv to Sanskrit Sarpa), they do not have any word parallel to Naga. What this implies is that the Vedic Sanskrit speakers picked up this word as a result of their contact with the Indian tribal community. The tribals worshipped snakes (as they still do after 3000 years) .

Many other cultural remnants of the Naga are also seen even now. Snake worship by Hindus across the country. The association of snakes with Shiva. The Puranic enmity between snakes and Garuda (Vishnu’s mount), reflects the ideological conflict between Shaiv/ Tribal and Vaishnav sects. The name Naga as a prefix especially in Andhra (Nagarjuna, Nagalakshmi) and as a second name (Bengal, Rajasthan etc).

In forthcoming tales, you can look forward to the tale of dethronement of Indra by Vishnu.

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