King Janamejaya: Analyzing Flaws and his Redemption

Janamejaya: Analysis of his character

The character of Janamejaya is interesting. While his grandfather was a prince in the Dwapara Yuga (Abhimanyu), by the time Janamejaya is the king, Kali Yuga has started. He is the king to whom the Mahabharata is recited. While the Sanskrit Mahabharata shows Janamejaya as a focused, though vengeful king, the Bengali versions—like Kashidas’s work—bring out flaws in his character.

As per Vyasa’s work, the sacrifice is done, Janamejaya starts listening to the Mahabharata. In the Bengali version, Janamejaya is shown as a king who did not happily stop the sacrifice. He did it because he was compelled to. He is now a human being, complete with human qualities and traits. He feels, he grieves; he is an emotional being. While he is shown to be reluctant in the Sanskrit Mahabharata, he eventually does stop it and gives gifts. The Bengali version alters his psychological profile.

This chapter is something I found extremely interesting. Because of its presence in Kashidas’s work, it makes Janamejaya a more relatable person. He frets, fumes, and tries to destroy a community. When Vyasa asks him to not do it, he agrees but then he says he will perform a horse sacrifice. When Vyasa tells him not to, Janamejaya does not take it too well. As per the version of Mahabharata by Kavi Sanjay (which was an inspiration for Kashidas) Janamejaya was not very pleased with Vyasa. He thought Vyasa could have stopped the war if he had so wished. This causes them to argue. So, when Vyasa tells him not to do something, the child inside him comes alive. He decides to go ahead, and Vyasa gives up and leaves.

After the killing of the brahmin, Janamejaya is afflicted with a terrifying curse, as per Vayu Purana. Kavi Sanjay says that the king is cursed by the sage Rishyashringa. Let me state what happened here. As I had stated earlier, in my previous post, Janamejaya asks Vyasa why he did not intervene to prevent the war at Kurukshetra. Vyasa says that human destiny and a failure to heed warnings are often unavoidable. To prove this, Vyasa gives Janamejaya a specific command: "Do not make Kantavati your queen." Predictably, Janamejaya ignores the warning, marries Kantavati. Rishyashringa opposes this, and gets insulted by the king. In retaliation, the rishi curses the king to be inflicted with a disease. Afflicted, the king is then advised to listen to Mahabharata. After he listens to the complete scripture, his sores vanish.

As I had stated before, I have not been able to come across a copy of Kavi Sanjay’s version, so the information I have here is what is available on the internet. Then one could ask why the necessity of adding this chapter. The reason is, by adding this, the importance of listening to Mahabharata increases manifold. Let me take you into the Mahabharata of Vyasa itself. It says in Shanti Parva (Chapter 150) that Janamejaya had incurred the sin of killing a brahmin. There, the king is absolved from the sin after following the instructions of Indrota (the brahmin). The rishi/brahmin Indrota helped the king atone for his sins. This was probably taken in the Bengali versions to make the entry point of the recitation of Mahabharata more prominent. Also, the abrupt ending of the yagna in the Sanskrit work of Vyasa is smoothed out.

Through this divergence, we can see a Janamejaya who is:

• Arrogant: His laughter shows his ignorance, but his willingness to listen to the Mahabharata patiently shows his capacity for transformation.
• Humanized through Suffering: The sores on his body make him a relatable figure for an audience acquainted with hardship.
• Learning for the Audience: Just as Janamejaya is cured by hearing the story, the audience is promised merit and purification for their own listening.

And with the next post, return of Vyasa and the Mahabharata.