THE STORY OF SATYAKMA-JBLA satyakmo ha jblo jabl mtaram mantray cakre | brahmacarya bhavati vivatsymi kigotro nv aham asmti

|| Ch. Up.4.4.1 || Satyakma-Jbla, asked his mother Jabl O mother, I desire to live the life of a brahmacrin to study the Vedas. Please tell me to which gotra I belong. s hainam uvca | nham etad veda tta yadgotras tvam asi | bahv aham carant paricri yauvane tvm alabhe | sham etan na veda yadgotras tvam asi | jabl tu nmham asmi | satyakmo nma tvam asi | sa satyakma eva jblo bruvth iti || ChUp_4,4.2 || She said, O! Child, I do not know to which gotra you belong to. I begot you in my youth when I was very much engrossed in my household duties. So I do not know to which gotra you belong. I am Jabl by name and you are Satyakma by name. You tell your guru that you are Satyakma-Jbla. sa ha hridrumata gautamam etyovca | brahmacarya bhagavati vatsymi | upey bhagavantam iti || ChUp_4,4.3 || Satyakma approached Gautama, the sone of Haridrumata and said, Revered Sir, I desire to live a students life in your residence. I desire to become your pupil. ta hovca kigotro nu somysti | sa hovca | nham etad veda bho yadgotro 'ham asmi | apccha mtaram | s m pratyabravd bahv aham carant paricari yauvane tvm alabhe | sham etan na veda yadgotras tvam asi | jabl tu nmham asmi | satyakmo nma tvam asti | so 'ha satyakmo jblo 'smi bho iti || ChUp_4,4.4 || Hridrumata Gautama asked him, My dear boy, to which gotra do you belong? Satyakma replied Sir, I do not know to which gotra I belong. I asked my mother. She told me that she begot me in her youth when she was very much engrossed in household duties. Therefore she did not know to which gotra I belong. She said I am Jabl by name and you are Satyakma by name! So I can tell you that I am Satyakma-Jbla. ta hovca | naitad abrahmao vivaktum arhati | samidha somyhara | upa tv neye na satyd ag iti |

Hridrumata-Gautama said, A person who does not belong to the first three varnas will not speak so truthfully. Considering this, he said to Satyakma O Good looking boy! Bring the samit sticks. I will take you as my pupil for you have not departed from the truth. Commentaries: r akara : raddh tapasor brahmopsangatva pradaranya khyyik | satyakmo ha nmata, ha abda aitihyrtha, jably apatya jbla jabl sv mtaram mantrayacakre mantritavn | brahmacarya svdhyyagrahaya he bhavati vivatsymi cryakule, ki gotroha kimasya mama gotra soa ki gotro nu ahamasmti || The story has been introduced with a view to show that Faith and Austerity are necessary adjuncts of meditation on Brahman. Satyakma-by name ; the word 'ha' indicate the fact of the story being correct; The son of Jabl-Jbla-addressed his mother Jabl -O, mother, I wish to live the life of a brahmacrin -in the family of an crya,-for the purpose of acquiring the Vedic Knowledge; to which gotra do I belong? What is the name of the i to whose gotra I belong? eva p jabl s ha ena putramuvca nhametat tava gotra veda, he tta yadgotrastvamasi | kasmnna vetstyukt ha bahu bhartghe paricaryjtamatithyabhygtdi caranti aha paricri paricarantti paricaraaclaiva aham, paricaraa cittatay gotrdismarae mama mano nbht | yauvane ca tatkle tvmlabhe labdhavatyasmi | tadaiva te pitoparata ato anth aham, shametanna veda yadgotrastvamasi | jabl tu nmhamasmi, satyakmo nma tvamasi, sa tva satyakma evha jblomtycry bruvth yadycryea pa ityabhiprya || Being thus asked, Jbla said to her son: I do not know the i to whose gotra you belong, O, my child.'-Being asked-Why do you not know it?- She said In my husband's house, I had to show hospitality to many people who came as informed guests and uninformed guests - very devoted to my duties of attending to and showing hospitality to them, and being entirely taken up by such service, my mind never turned towards such information as regards the family to which you belong, which therefore, I do not remember; and it was at that time, in my youth that I obtained you; and soon after your father died; hence, having no protector left for myself, I know not to which family you belong to. But I am Jabl by name and you are Satyakma by name; so declare yourself to your Guru saying I am Satyakama Jabala' if you are asked by him (2) sa ha satyakma hridrumata haridrumatopatya hridrumata gautama etya gatv uvca- brahmacarya bhagavati pjvati tvayi vatsymi ata upeym upagaccheya iyatay bhagavantam ityuktavanta ta ha uvca gautama ki gotra nu somya asti, vijtakulagotra iya upanetavya iti pa pratyha satyakma | sa ha uvcanhametadveda bho, yadgotrohamasmi ki tu apccha pavnasmi mtaram s may p mm pratyabravnmt bahvaha caranttydi prvavat tasy aha vaca smarmi soa satyakmo jblomi bho iti ||

He, Satyakma Jbla, having gone to Hridrumata-Gautama, the son of Haridrumata, Gautama, being his family name, said to him- Revered Sir, I wish to live as a brahmacrin under You,-and live with you,-I would approach You Sir, as a disciple' - When he said this, Gautama said to him-'O! What gotra are you, my boy?'- as a disciple has to be admitted only when his lineage and gotra are fully known. Being thus asked, Satyakma Jbla said Sir, I do not know of what gotra I am; but I asked my mother; and on being asked by me, my mother said to me In my youth, I attended upon many people and so on- as before. I remember her words; so, Sir, I am Satyakma-]bla.- (3-4) ta ha uvca gautamanaitadvaca abrhmao vieea vaktumarhati rjavrthasayuktam | javo hi brhma netare svabhvata | yasmnna satyn brhmaajtidharmt ag nopetavnasi, ata brhmaa tvmupaneye ata saskrrtha homya samidha somya hara. Gautama said to him-No one who is not a Brhmaa could speak out so openly and straightforwardly; It is Brhmaas alone, not others, who are, by their very nature, straight-forward. Since you have not flinched from the truth-which is the jti-dharma of the Brhmaa jti (caste), I accept you as a Brhmaa and am going to initiate you; therefore, for the purpose of the saskras preparations fetch samit sticks my Boy, for the fire-rites. r Vrarghava : bhavatti sabuddhi | pjye ! ityartha | vivatsymiti | vivsadentaravsa | bahucaranttyanenaiva sarvaparicarae pi sugrahe paricriityukti tcchlyt tadekaparatay gotrdyavagamotkah virahajpanya | kati kati hyadyatvepi kulagotrdikamajnn kulastriya | yauvana iti lajj, anupayukta sallajjprthadhvaikalyam, bhart pardhnat, bhartu groparati ca vyajyante | Bhavati indicates calling out. O Worshippable one ! vivatsym means leaving home i.e., staying in another place. By saying bahucaranti though she was engaged in serving everyone, still it means she was serving everyone in her own home and being accustomed to that and because of being completely intent on that, she said I do not know your gotra and other such details of lineage because of not having sufficient knowledge because of it not being specifically made known to me. Oftentimes, even today there are many women from noble lineages who are not conversant with the lineage and gotra. Yauvana means bashfulness, means, because of lack of boldness, no unimportant conversation could take place because of my being completely devoted to my husband and it is indicated that he died early. abrhmaa padasya dra ityarthavarana brhmaavat katriya-vaiyorapi vidydhikritvt| brhmaatva nirdhraameveto bhavattyapi suvacam brhmaatvbhveya svamtara nna gotrdi na pcchet | kintu ko na purohito gururiti | spi damuttara na vakyati | yato rjanya-vi purohitagotrdanyat prtisvika gotra na vartate | na ca drasya gotramiti | mt putra vacanasaray hyatra, asti kicidasdhraa tasya gotram | tattu na budhyata ityeva jayata | tadaya brhmaa iti na caiva , tadabhvanidharie ca pravtte: iti strabhydau katha draparatay vykhynamiti akyam, antata iha, abrahmaapadasya agotra vidynadhikta itydyarthe paryavasna manasiktya tathokterityalamatra | na vivaktumiti

| dracet, svasya guru aparigrahaaky kimapyeka gotrdyropya vadediti bhva | vivaktu vieea vaktum | vieo vailakayam | vilakaa e vacana sarair gotra rahitasya adhyayannadhiktasya tadarthino na bhavatti | drmiti strtilaghinmiti ea || Because just like brhmaas, katriya and vaiya too have adhikra to the vidya, the meaning of the term abrhmaa means dra. The ascertainment of his being a brhmaa is certain here, when he calls his mother, for, if there is no brhmaatva, he will certainly not ask his mother about his gotra. Rather, he will ask who is our purohita guru. she too will not reply the way she does. Since, for katriyas and dras, there is no own gotra other than that of the purohita. Nor is there a gotra for a dra. By seeing the way the discussion took place between the mother and son, it is only known that There is some extraordinary gotra of yours (i.e., you have an extraordinary gotra), but I do not know it. That he is a brhmaa is ascertained, not a dra, but there is a doubt as to how can the commentary to the stra tadabhvanidharie ca pravtte(1.3.37) be in a manner of showing that it only refers to dra when it is only said abrmaa (non-brhmaa) for abrhmaa may refer to anyone other than a brhmaa such as even a katriya or a vaiya. Finally here, by the term abrhmaa, it means one who is without a gotra and therefore does not have adhikra to vidya and therefore concluding in his mind that he is not a dra, he (Gautama) says so. He says na vivaktum. It means, if he were a dra, because of apprehension that he will be rejected by his guru, he will somehow plant details like gotra, lineage etc and tell them. That is the purport. Vivaktum means saying due to a special quality. Special quality means something which differentiates from others. The difference is seen from the line of discussions that one who does not have gotra, who does not have adhikra for studying Vedas, to him this studying of vedas does not apply. The conclusion is that dra means one who disregards the stras. r Baladeva (Govinda-Bhya 1.3.37): saskrbhva drahayatichndogye eva nham etad veda bho yad-gotroham asmi [ch.u. 4.4.4] iti satya-vacas jblasya dratvbhve nirdhrite sati, naitad abrhmao vivaktum arhati samidha somyharopa tv neye na satyd ag [ch.u. 4.4.5] iti gautamasya guros tat saskrdau pravtte ca brhmaa-padopalakita-traivarikatvam eva saskra-prayojakam avagamyate, ato na drodhikr ||37|| The dras lack of saskras is emphasized here. In the Chndogya Upaniad (4.4.4), from Jblas truthful statement that I do not know to which gotra I belong, Sage Gautama ascertained the absence of drahood in Jbla, and from the statement by Gautama that a non-brhmaa will not speak in this way, gentle one, bring the samit (fire sticks), I will accept you. You did not deviate from the truth. Thus Jbla was taught the Vedas because Gautama made arrangements in performing saskras for him. Here, only for being one of the twice-born as characterized by the word the brhmaa, does the saskra have any purpose and therefore, dra does not have any adhikra. Few additional points: a) The name of the boy, viz., Satyakma means, one who has true desire. This is one of the names of the tma-guas of the soul as explained in the same upaniad

(8.1.5): ea tmpahatappm vijaro vimtyur vioko vijighatso 'pipsa satyakma satyasakalpa. This is the atman which is opposed to all that is defiling, free from old age, death, sorrow, hunger and thirst, has true desire and true will. These are all the auspicious qualities attained by the soul one being liberated. b) It is said in Manu-smti (2.30) that the nma-karaa or name-giving must be done on the 10th or 12th day after the child is born. In the next verse it is said: magalyam brhmaasya syt katriyasya balnvitam vaiyasya dhanasayuktam... The name given should be indicative of auspiciousness for a brhmaa, strength for katriya and wealth for vaiya. The name Satyakma is very auspicious and therefore it is known that the boy Satyakma was a brhmaa by birth. c) The boy asks the mother what is my gotra and the mother replies, I do not know your gotra. She does not say you do not have a gotra, but says you have a gotra which I do not know. That means he is not a dra. Again, when she says your gotra, it means they are coming in line from a particular i and are not katriyas and vaiyas, for katriyas and vaiyas use the the gotra of their family priest.
d) It may seem extraordinary that the girl did not know her husbands gotra. It is said

in 7.11.25: str ca pati-devn tac-churnuklat | tad-bandhuv anuvtti ca nitya tad-vrata-dhraam || To serve the husband, to always have a favorable tendency towards the husband and to be equally disposed toward the husband's relatives and friends, and to follow the vows of the husband these are the principles to be followed by women described as chaste. There are many examples of women being so attentive to her husbands needs that she does not bother about anything else but what the husband wants of her. Examples are Devahti of rmad-Bhgavatam and Bhmat, wife of Vcaspatimira. Jabl, being from an extraordinary lineage was very engrossed in strdharma viz., relentless favourable service to her husband and his guests. e) When she does not know what is their gotra, Jabl names her son after her own nme. He is called Satyakma-Jbla. This happens very rarely as generally the son is named after the father or his gotra. When a mother gives her name to the child, it means that the mother is from an extremely noble lineage. In the last chapter of Bhadrayaka-upaniad the parapara through which the knowledge of the upaniad is passed on is given. atha vaa | pautimputra ktyyanputrt | ktyyanputro gautamputrt | gautamputro bhradvjputrt | bhradvjputra prarputrt | prarputra aupasvastputrt | aupasvastputra prarputrt | prarputra ktyyanputrt| ktyyanputra kauikputrt | kauikputra lambputrc ca vaiyghrapadputrc ca | vaiyghrapadputrah kvputrc ca kpputrc ca | kpputra || BrhUp_6,5.1||

treyputrt | treyputro gautamputrt | gautamputro bhradvjputrt | bhradvjputra prarputrt | prarputro vtsputrt | vtsputra prarputrt | prarputro vrkrunputrt | vrkruputro vrkruputrt | vrkruputra rtabhgputrt | rtabhgputra augputrt | augputra snktputrt | stputra lambyanputrt | lambyanputra lambputrt | lambputro jyantputrt | jyantputro mkyanputrt | mkyanputro mkputrt | mkputra ilputrt | ilputro rthtarputrt | rthtarputro bhlukputrt | bhlukputra kraucikputrbhym | kraucikputrau vaidabhtputrt |vaidabhtputra krakeyputrt | krakeyputra prcnayogputrt | prcnayogputra sjvputrt | sjvputra prnputrd surivsina | prnputra suryat | suryaa sure | suri| BrhUp_6,5.2 || In the list, there are about 38 sages whose names are given after their mother. This indicates that the mothers are from very elevated lineage and not just the fathers. When the mother Jabl says If your Guru asks for gotra, tell your name which is derived from my name it means that her name was famous and by hearing her name, the guru would understand that he is from a good family of brhmaas. f) The reason the sage got pleased was because of his quality of rjavam (earnesty). It is not just truth. This rjavam is a special quality that is inborn only in a brhmaa and not otherwhise. This is apparent from the verbatim repetition by the boy of what his mother told him. Sage Gautama being realised could easily identify rjavam. It is said in BhagavadGt (18.42) amo damas tapa auca kntir rjavam eva ca | jna vijnam stikya brahma-karma svabhvajam || Equanimity, sense-control, austerities, cleanliness, tolerance, straightforwardness, knowledge, realised knowledge and acceptance of God and Scriptures are activities arising out of the inborn nature of a brhmaa. g) Jabl was therefore in a proper brhminical household setup and due to engrossment and complete dedication in service to her husband and his guests and because of her shyness to boldly ask anything from her husband and there being no practical need to know the gotra and her husband passing away very early, she did not get to know the husbands gotra.