Spouse With The Same Name

Long long ago, during the Mahabharata times, there was a sage by name Jaratkaru (जरत्कारु - ಜರತ್ಕಾರು). He had taken a vow to practice celibacy or brahmacharya, and spend his life time in spiritual pursuits without getting into married life. "Come what may, I will not marry and invite hurdles in my spiritual journey", he told himself. He reached advanced age but continued on his chosen path. He renounced even food and water and lived only on air. 

On one of his spiritual long walks, one day he found that several persons were hanging upside down on a cliff, clinging to one another clutching the root of a grass weed, with their heads in a hole that led to hell. A rat was steadily eating that root. They could fall to their hell any moment.

Jaratkaru felt very sad about them. "Who are you people? Why are you hanging here? Is there any way to resurrect you?" he asked them. "We are the ancestors belonging to the Yayavaara clan. There is only one man left in our clan in the present generation. Unless he marries and produces the next generation we are doomed to fall from here and end in hell. But that man has chosen not to marry and practice celibacy. If he does not marry and continue the lineage, we are all finished. The rat eating the root of the grass we are holding is like a ticking clock", they said. "Please let me know who that person is. I will tell him to attend to your needs quickly" said Jaratkaru. "His name is Jaratkaru", said one of the hanging persons. 

Jaratkaru was now in a quandary. If he marries, his vow will be broken. if he does not marry, the ancestors are doomed. What to do? He identified himself and told them that he would marry and sacrifice his vow for the welfare of the clan, but subject to conditions. "First condition is that the girl should be marrying me on her own free will. Secondly, the family of the girl should willingly offer her in marriage to me. Thirdly I will not support her and abandon her if she displeases me even once. Above all, she should have the same name as me - Jaratkaru!" he said.

In essence, the name of the husband and wife should both be the same. In other words. the spouses should have the same name!

*****

Kubra Aykut belonged to the present days. She was a TikTok influencer who had a million followers on the medium. She had 200,000 Instagram followers. She decided to marry someone who fit her expectations.  Finally she decided that she didn't find one such person. The only person who could meet her expectation was herself. 

She did the best thing. As she did not find a worthy partner, she married herself. The word "Polygamy" is well known. "Sologamy" is a word that means marrying oneself. They say it is not recognised legally anywhere in the world. But it is self satisfying as it is better than being single. Her 2023 wedding with herself was published as "Wedding without a Groom" and the videos became hugely popular. 

Her wedding was quite interesting. She wore a tiara, a white gown, and other accessories as she proclaimed "I cannot find a worthy groom for myself". Her fan following multiplied after this self wedding.

The spouse here also had the same name! (Of course, the same person as well).

*****

Serpent King Vasuki was a worried man. He knew that his clan of serpants were doomed due to a curse on account of which all snakes were to be sacrificed in a "Sarpa Yaga" that would be performed shortly. He also knew that her sister's son would be able to prevent total loss and stop the ritual in the middle. He was waiting for her to be married so that her son when takes birth could be instrumental in saving the clan. The sisters name was Jaratkaru. 

Vasuki offered sister Jaratkaru in marriage to would be brother-in-law Jaratkaru. Bride Jaratkaru voluntarily agreed to marry groom Jaratkaru to save her clan. She agreed to all conditions of the groom. Vasuki agreed to support sister Jaratkaru and her child without burdening her husband Jaratkaru. Wedding concluded. 

When the couple lived together for sometime, wife Jaratkaru woke up husband Jaratkaru from deep slumber on one day. Husband Jaratkaru got angry and abandoned wife Jaratkaru. But before going away he gave her a boon that shortly a son will be born to her. The boy was named as "Aastika". 

Arjuna's great grandson, Abhimanyu's grandson and Parikshit's son King Janamejaya started the "Sarpa Yaga" to take revenge for his father's death due to biting by the snake Takshaka. Just like Lord Vamana went to King Bali in the Mahayaga and stopped it by asking for three foot land, Aastika went to King Janamejaya's yaga and sought stoppage of sarpa Yaga. King Janamejaya agreed and stopped the ritual. Thus Vasuki succeeded in saving his clan with the help of sister Jaratkaru. Sage Jaratkaru also saved his clan. Everything was fine and ended well.

*****

It was not so in the case of Kubra Aykut. A week ago, on 23rd September, 2024 she fell down from her 5th floor luxury apartment in Istanbul. She was only 26 years old. Police found a suicide note in her apartment. Her posts in the media said that she gained her energy, but was not able to gain weight and was losing one Kg weight everyday. 

Spouse with similar name (and being the same person too) did not help her. It was indeed a tragedy.

*****

When we were children and grew up in villages, we often found the writing आस्तिक in Sanskrit or ಆಸ್ತಿಕ in Kannada on the front doors of houses. The belief was that the name Aastika written on the door would make the snakes respect the household and go away without entering the house. 

Very rarely one could see the full text of the shloka written on the door. It actually was, in full form, as under:

सर्पोपसर्प भद्रं ते शीग्रं गच्छ महात्मनः 

जनमेजयस्य यज्ञान्ते आस्तिकस्य महात्मनः 

Sarpopasarpa bhadrante sheegram gaccha matmanaha

Janamejayasya yagnante Aastikasya mahatmanaha

ಸರ್ಪೋಪಸರ್ಪ ಭದ್ರಂತೇ ಶೀಘ್ರಮ್ ಗಚ್ಛ ಮಹಾಶಯಃ 

ಜನಮೇಜಯಸ್ಯ ಯಜ್ಞಾoತೇ ಆಸ್ತೀಕಸ್ಯ ಮಹಾತ್ಮನಃ