A Trick Played On Sukanya
Aswini and Revanta looked at each other. One of them said, "O princess, you're a beauty non-pareil. You might have been obliged to marry the old sage in some unusual circumstance. Such a marriage need not be binding on you. We are Aswini and Revanta. Why not marry one of us?"
"Since you are godly beings, you should be able to know the truth if you try. Nobody had compelled me to marry the sage. I married him of my own free will. I feel honoured to serve him and help him in his Yoga. What you say is improper. Don't repeat it, unless you aren't afraid of being cursed," said Sukanya in a stern voice.
"We're sorry," said the two brothers. "As a penalty for our improper conduct, we offer you a boon: we'll transform Sage Chyavan into a youthful man. For that to be possible, he should have a dip with us in the lake."
Sukanya asked them to wait and went to her hut and put forth their proposal before Chyavan. He had no objection to having the boon. He went along with Sukanya and met the two brothers.
Aswini and Revanta led him to a lake. Before taking the dip, they told Sukanya, "When we emerge from the water, you take hold of your husband and go home."
They had the dip and came out of the lake. Only then did Sukanya understand the significance of what the clever youths had said before the dip. All the three now looked handsome-and all looking exactly the same! It was impossible to know who was who.
Sukanya at once closed her eyes and concentrated on the Divine Mother. "I must not go wrong in identifying my husband, O Mother!" she said. She opened her eyes and knew who among the three was Chyavan. She held him by the hand. The two gods were amazed.
"You've done me a good turn. What can I do for you?" asked Chyavan.
"O great sage, Indra never lets us have a taste of the celestial drink, Soma. Can you kindly get it for us?" asked the brothers.
"The Soma can be had only during the performance of a Yajna. I shall perform a Yajna for King Saryati. I shall offer you the drink on that occasion," said Chyavan. The two brothers left for their abode happily.
A few days later King Saryati and his queen paid a visit to their daughter. The queen saw Sukanya talking to a young man. She was surprised. Where had the old sage gone? Who was this young man?
Sukanya fell into her mother's arms and narrated all that had happened to them. The joy of the king and the queen knew no bounds.
Soon thereafter the king performed a Yajna under the direction of Sage Chyavan. Duly invoked, the gods came there. At the time for the distribution of the soma, Chyavan gave a share of it to Aswini and Revanta. "Don't do so!" cried out Indra. But Chyavan ignored his warning. Soon a quarrel broke out between the two. The furious Indra applied his thunderbolt to crush the sage. But the sage rendered the thunder ineffective by his spiritual power.
Then it was Chyavan's turn to create a terrible being named Kritya out of the flames of the Yajna. As Kritya was about to pounce upon Indra, Brihaspati, the guru of the gods, advised Indra to make peace with the sage.
Indra did so and the Sage recalled Kritya.
Long long ago, there was a king named Arun who hailed from the Surya dynasty. He had a son named Satyavrata. As the boy grew up, he proved to be the cause of the king's sorrow. The prince had become notorious as a mischief-maker. One day a number of Brahmins complained to the king about the prince's cruelty towards them. The king grew furious. He summoned Satyavrata and ordered him to leave his country.
"Where do I go?" asked the prince.
"An evil youth like you does not deserve to live in any human locality. The forest is the place for you. Go and live amidst the beasts."
The Rajguru Sage Vasishtha supported the king's decision. The prince had no other option than to leave for the forest. After the prince left, the king grew very remorseful. He realised that the people of his kingdom had become sinful. There was no peace or amity in the atmosphere. He decided to spend time in the forest so that he could ardently pray to God to change the situation.
The king left for the forest. Soon afterwards the country was threatened by a famine as there had been no rain for a long time.
In the forest lived the family of Sage Viswamitra. The sage was away in some unknown place, engrossed in a trance. His wife and three sons faced great difficulty as there was nobody to look after them. The lady did her best to collect roots and fruits for the boys, but her efforts yielded little result.
She went to meet the king, but found that the king was not there. It was the Rajguru, Vasishtha, who was managing the affairs of the kingdom. She did not feel like telling him of her woes, as she knew that the relation between him and her husband was not good.
One day her sons were crying for food. She took a grim decision. "Let me sell one of them to a rich man in the town. While he will be provided with food, with the price I receive I can feed the other two," she told herself and began dragging her second son. (To continue)
"Since you are godly beings, you should be able to know the truth if you try. Nobody had compelled me to marry the sage. I married him of my own free will. I feel honoured to serve him and help him in his Yoga. What you say is improper. Don't repeat it, unless you aren't afraid of being cursed," said Sukanya in a stern voice.
"We're sorry," said the two brothers. "As a penalty for our improper conduct, we offer you a boon: we'll transform Sage Chyavan into a youthful man. For that to be possible, he should have a dip with us in the lake."
Sukanya asked them to wait and went to her hut and put forth their proposal before Chyavan. He had no objection to having the boon. He went along with Sukanya and met the two brothers.
Aswini and Revanta led him to a lake. Before taking the dip, they told Sukanya, "When we emerge from the water, you take hold of your husband and go home."
They had the dip and came out of the lake. Only then did Sukanya understand the significance of what the clever youths had said before the dip. All the three now looked handsome-and all looking exactly the same! It was impossible to know who was who.
Sukanya at once closed her eyes and concentrated on the Divine Mother. "I must not go wrong in identifying my husband, O Mother!" she said. She opened her eyes and knew who among the three was Chyavan. She held him by the hand. The two gods were amazed.
"You've done me a good turn. What can I do for you?" asked Chyavan.
"O great sage, Indra never lets us have a taste of the celestial drink, Soma. Can you kindly get it for us?" asked the brothers.
"The Soma can be had only during the performance of a Yajna. I shall perform a Yajna for King Saryati. I shall offer you the drink on that occasion," said Chyavan. The two brothers left for their abode happily.
A few days later King Saryati and his queen paid a visit to their daughter. The queen saw Sukanya talking to a young man. She was surprised. Where had the old sage gone? Who was this young man?
Sukanya fell into her mother's arms and narrated all that had happened to them. The joy of the king and the queen knew no bounds.
Soon thereafter the king performed a Yajna under the direction of Sage Chyavan. Duly invoked, the gods came there. At the time for the distribution of the soma, Chyavan gave a share of it to Aswini and Revanta. "Don't do so!" cried out Indra. But Chyavan ignored his warning. Soon a quarrel broke out between the two. The furious Indra applied his thunderbolt to crush the sage. But the sage rendered the thunder ineffective by his spiritual power.
Then it was Chyavan's turn to create a terrible being named Kritya out of the flames of the Yajna. As Kritya was about to pounce upon Indra, Brihaspati, the guru of the gods, advised Indra to make peace with the sage.
Indra did so and the Sage recalled Kritya.
Long long ago, there was a king named Arun who hailed from the Surya dynasty. He had a son named Satyavrata. As the boy grew up, he proved to be the cause of the king's sorrow. The prince had become notorious as a mischief-maker. One day a number of Brahmins complained to the king about the prince's cruelty towards them. The king grew furious. He summoned Satyavrata and ordered him to leave his country.
"Where do I go?" asked the prince.
"An evil youth like you does not deserve to live in any human locality. The forest is the place for you. Go and live amidst the beasts."
The Rajguru Sage Vasishtha supported the king's decision. The prince had no other option than to leave for the forest. After the prince left, the king grew very remorseful. He realised that the people of his kingdom had become sinful. There was no peace or amity in the atmosphere. He decided to spend time in the forest so that he could ardently pray to God to change the situation.
The king left for the forest. Soon afterwards the country was threatened by a famine as there had been no rain for a long time.
In the forest lived the family of Sage Viswamitra. The sage was away in some unknown place, engrossed in a trance. His wife and three sons faced great difficulty as there was nobody to look after them. The lady did her best to collect roots and fruits for the boys, but her efforts yielded little result.
She went to meet the king, but found that the king was not there. It was the Rajguru, Vasishtha, who was managing the affairs of the kingdom. She did not feel like telling him of her woes, as she knew that the relation between him and her husband was not good.
One day her sons were crying for food. She took a grim decision. "Let me sell one of them to a rich man in the town. While he will be provided with food, with the price I receive I can feed the other two," she told herself and began dragging her second son. (To continue)
Harischandra Comes Out Of All Tests
Harischandra was now in a fix. He said, "How can I give you anything more when I am left with nothing?"
"That’s your business. But I’m not going to waive my claim to dakshina," said the Brahmin quite curtly.
"What do you expect as dakshina?" asked the king.
The Brahmin demanded an amount of gold that was considerable.
"All right," said the king, "give me time and I’ll earn the amount and give it to you."
The king returned to the palace, sad and pale. "What’s the matter with you?" asked Queen Shaivya. The king told her everything and added, "Tomorrow we must leave the palace, as it is no longer ours!
Early in the morning the king, queen, and their son Rohit left the palace. Men and women flocked to them, weeping. But the king asked them to go back.
The old Brahmin met them as soon as they were out of the city. "Give me a month’s time. Look upon me as one who is indebted to you," said the king.
They reached the city of Varanasi. Whatever the king earned was just enough to sustain the three of them. A month passed. The old Brahmin appeared and demanded his dues.
"O Brahmin! You cannot say that the full month has passed, since the sun has not yet set over for this day," said the king.
"I shall return soon after sunset," warned the Brahmin as he left them.
To the pensive king, Queen Shaivya said, "Please sell me away as a slave. The amount you receive might enable you to settle your debt."
The proposal shocked the king. The queen of a great dynasty to be sold as a slave? The thought drove him almost mad!
"It is most important that you fulfil your promise. There’ll be nothing more satisfying to me than to be helpful to you. Please do not hesitate," said the queen.
The king stood on the roadside and shouted: "Ho! Is there anybody willing to buy my wife?" Passers-by collected there. Out of them was Viswamitra, now assuming another figure.
"My wife is old. I need a woman to do my household chores. I shall buy your wife," he said.
Then, looking at Queen Shaivya, he said again, "I’m prepared to give the amount that a woman with the highest signs of virtue deserves. I can see that this woman has all such signs."
The Brahmin pushed the price into the dazed king’s hands and commanded the queen to follow him.
Prince Rohit broke into tears and ran behind his mother.
"O my master, won’t you be pleased to buy my son? It will be hard for me to work in your household without him. You can give him some work. I assure you that he’ll do it sincerely and honestly," pleaded Shaivya.
The Brahmin reluctantly paid some more money to Harischandra for the boy.
As the queen and prince departed, the king fainted for a moment. But Viswamitra, taking the form of the old Brahmin, appeared there soon and reminded the king that the sun had already set.
The king handed out to him the money he had received as the price for his wife and son. The Brahmin counted the amount and said it still fell short of his demand.
"Wait a little. I’ll offer myself for sale," said the king. He once again called out to passers-by to buy him.
The king was employed to collect fees from those who came to the cremation ground to bury their dead.
Days passed. The queen and her son continued to work in the Brahmin’s household. One day, while the boy was climbing an old tree to gather dry firewood, he was bitten by a snake. He fell down dead. Shaivya came running to him.
"You cannot waste your time over a dead son. Go back to your work. You may take the corpse to the cremation ground at night," the Brahmin ordered.
It was midnight when Shaivya carried her son’s body to the cremation ground, all by herself.
"Who are you? Pay the fee before cremating the corpse!" said Harishchandra who was guarding the ground.
"I don’t have any money to pay. I shall cremate my son’s body myself!" said the weeping queen.
Her voice startled Harischandra. He came near the corpse and removed the piece of cloth covering it. Seeing that it was Rohit who lay dead, he gave out a cry of horror.
The queen now recognised him. Together they bemoaned their fate. They then lighted the funeral pyre for Rohit and decided to sacrifice themselves in it.
But when they were about to lie down on Rohit’s pyre, a golden light illumined the place.
To their great surprise, they saw the Divine Mother appearing before them. Behind Her appeared several gods and goddesses. The old Brahmin was there, too, now revealing himself as Viswamitra.
To the great joy of the royal couple, Rohit sat up as if he had woken up from deep sleep.
"You’ve stood the most severe test, O King!" said the Divine Mother. Indra, the king of gods, stepped forward and said that King Harischandra and Queen Shaivya had earned their right to dwell in heaven. All this because they had never for a moment lost their faith in the Divine Mother.
Harischandra, Shaivya and Rohit returned to Ayodhya. In due course of time, Rohit succeeded to the throne. The king and queen ascended the heaven. The saga of Harischandra remains immortal as an illustration of truthfulness. (Concluded)
"That’s your business. But I’m not going to waive my claim to dakshina," said the Brahmin quite curtly.
"What do you expect as dakshina?" asked the king.
The Brahmin demanded an amount of gold that was considerable.
"All right," said the king, "give me time and I’ll earn the amount and give it to you."
The king returned to the palace, sad and pale. "What’s the matter with you?" asked Queen Shaivya. The king told her everything and added, "Tomorrow we must leave the palace, as it is no longer ours!
Early in the morning the king, queen, and their son Rohit left the palace. Men and women flocked to them, weeping. But the king asked them to go back.
The old Brahmin met them as soon as they were out of the city. "Give me a month’s time. Look upon me as one who is indebted to you," said the king.
They reached the city of Varanasi. Whatever the king earned was just enough to sustain the three of them. A month passed. The old Brahmin appeared and demanded his dues.
"O Brahmin! You cannot say that the full month has passed, since the sun has not yet set over for this day," said the king.
"I shall return soon after sunset," warned the Brahmin as he left them.
To the pensive king, Queen Shaivya said, "Please sell me away as a slave. The amount you receive might enable you to settle your debt."
The proposal shocked the king. The queen of a great dynasty to be sold as a slave? The thought drove him almost mad!
"It is most important that you fulfil your promise. There’ll be nothing more satisfying to me than to be helpful to you. Please do not hesitate," said the queen.
The king stood on the roadside and shouted: "Ho! Is there anybody willing to buy my wife?" Passers-by collected there. Out of them was Viswamitra, now assuming another figure.
"My wife is old. I need a woman to do my household chores. I shall buy your wife," he said.
Then, looking at Queen Shaivya, he said again, "I’m prepared to give the amount that a woman with the highest signs of virtue deserves. I can see that this woman has all such signs."
The Brahmin pushed the price into the dazed king’s hands and commanded the queen to follow him.
Prince Rohit broke into tears and ran behind his mother.
"O my master, won’t you be pleased to buy my son? It will be hard for me to work in your household without him. You can give him some work. I assure you that he’ll do it sincerely and honestly," pleaded Shaivya.
The Brahmin reluctantly paid some more money to Harischandra for the boy.
As the queen and prince departed, the king fainted for a moment. But Viswamitra, taking the form of the old Brahmin, appeared there soon and reminded the king that the sun had already set.
The king handed out to him the money he had received as the price for his wife and son. The Brahmin counted the amount and said it still fell short of his demand.
"Wait a little. I’ll offer myself for sale," said the king. He once again called out to passers-by to buy him.
The king was employed to collect fees from those who came to the cremation ground to bury their dead.
Days passed. The queen and her son continued to work in the Brahmin’s household. One day, while the boy was climbing an old tree to gather dry firewood, he was bitten by a snake. He fell down dead. Shaivya came running to him.
"You cannot waste your time over a dead son. Go back to your work. You may take the corpse to the cremation ground at night," the Brahmin ordered.
It was midnight when Shaivya carried her son’s body to the cremation ground, all by herself.
"Who are you? Pay the fee before cremating the corpse!" said Harishchandra who was guarding the ground.
"I don’t have any money to pay. I shall cremate my son’s body myself!" said the weeping queen.
Her voice startled Harischandra. He came near the corpse and removed the piece of cloth covering it. Seeing that it was Rohit who lay dead, he gave out a cry of horror.
The queen now recognised him. Together they bemoaned their fate. They then lighted the funeral pyre for Rohit and decided to sacrifice themselves in it.
But when they were about to lie down on Rohit’s pyre, a golden light illumined the place.
To their great surprise, they saw the Divine Mother appearing before them. Behind Her appeared several gods and goddesses. The old Brahmin was there, too, now revealing himself as Viswamitra.
To the great joy of the royal couple, Rohit sat up as if he had woken up from deep sleep.
"You’ve stood the most severe test, O King!" said the Divine Mother. Indra, the king of gods, stepped forward and said that King Harischandra and Queen Shaivya had earned their right to dwell in heaven. All this because they had never for a moment lost their faith in the Divine Mother.
Harischandra, Shaivya and Rohit returned to Ayodhya. In due course of time, Rohit succeeded to the throne. The king and queen ascended the heaven. The saga of Harischandra remains immortal as an illustration of truthfulness. (Concluded)