[Y-Indology: "zAp" / "shaapa"]

[Guest guest]

Dear Filippo,

Thankyou for your thoughts. No, I don't think Yudhishthira ever actualises his

alleged eye-zapping potential. Your explanation sounds more or less right,

although with the accumulation of constraints on their behaviour (through

antecedent vows and curses in this or previous lives, celestial missions etc.)

one might bring into question the extent to which the Mbh's characters can be

said to act 'voluntarily'. Congratulating and criticising each other for actions

perceived as voluntary are things that the characters do amongst themselves -

but on the whole they cannot understand each others' actions in the way that the

text allows us to.

SB.

 

 

"filippo_senzadenaro" <filippo_senzadenaro

INDOLOGY

Fri, 15 Oct 2004 02:05:45 -0000

Re: [Y-Indology] "zAp" / "shaapa"

 

INDOLOGY, "Simon Brodbeck" <sb4@s...> wrote:

 

> Can anybody say anything about the relation between cursing

someone (with

> the mouth) and burning them up (with the eyes)? Gandhari visually

scorches

> Yudhishthira's fingertips shortly after being persuaded not to

curse him,

> and elsewhere we are repeatedly told, at moments of his vexation,

that

> Yudhishthira's glance could reduce one to ashes should he wish it.

It seems

> that visual scorching is a lesser expression of anger than

cursing, but that

> it is powered similarly (by tapas / dharmic accumulation).

 

That's what they say about what he might do, but does he or anyone

else ever deliberately zap with the eyes? Perhaps cursing is a

voluntary use of tapas, while the burning with the eyes is a kind of

involuntary overflow of tapas when it has been brought to the

surface by anger. That seemed to be the case with Gandhari.

 

FS