Come gather around. Bring a cup of hot, delicious coffee and curl up. Let me tell you a story. A story of gods and mortals. A story of sin and redemption. A story of the inevitable course of destiny. A story about the man that gave India it’s name.
It was a time when myth intertwined with reality and legends were born. It was a time when demi-gods walked the earth and noble sages bent the will of gods with the strength of their penance. One such sage was Vishwamitra, the wisest, most austere and the most powerful sage that walked the earth. He had lived an ascetic life and the sole purpose of his life was to attain Nirvana. He was in an enviable position of being mortal on the verge of attaining godhood and hence become the sole person to have control over Heaven and Earth. He had mediated for many years and when it seemed he would achieve his goals Lord Indra, the King of Gods felt threatened by him. He summoned the most beautiful apsara (heavenly maiden), Menaka, from his court. He asked Menaka to use all her guiles to break Vishwamitra’s meditation, to seduce him and break his vow of celibacy.
Menaka descended to earth where Vishwamitra was meditating. She saw Vishwamitra sitting serenely under a tree, meditating and she walked over to him, her anklets making a beautiful tinkling sound. She walked around the tree letting her sweet fragrance envelope Vishwamitra. A mere mortal would do whatever she wanted after a whiff of her fragrance but Vishwamitra didn’t even open his eyes. When Menaka saw this she raised an eyebrow and gave a laugh. Her laugh was like the sound of a thousand tiny bells ringing in perfect harmony. It was teasing, enticing, innocent, pure and desirable all in one. Vishwamitra still did not budge. Menaka was perturbed and excited at the same time. Here was a man who seemed to be totally unaware of her beauty and sensuality. Here was a man who could pose a challenge and it excited her.
One by one she went through her r’epertoire of dances. Flirtatious, passionate, seductive, her dances would have broken the will of any man and it started to chip away at Vishwamitra’s will too. Menaka’s final dance was her most seductive and passionate dance and by the end of it Vishwamitra was totally under her spell. She convinced him to break his meditation. They were married and shortly Menaka bore him a daughter. In the time they were together Vishwamitra’s guilt at breaking his vows gnawed at him and when his daughter was born the enormity of the sin he had committed dawned on him and he blamed Menaka for it. He walked back into the forest, never having seen his daughter, to do penance for his sin. Menaka her work done had to return to the court of Lord Indra so she left her daughter on the banks of the Himalayan river Malini.
That is where sage Kanva found the little girl surrounded by birds (Shakunton in Sanskrit) and hence he named her Shakuntala. Shakuntala grew up to be a beautiful woman. She was brought up in an asharam in the forest and loved all the animals of the forest. She sang with the birds and ran with the deer. One day her pet deer was shot with an arrow by King Dushyanta . The deer ran back to the asharam,scared and hurt, and the king followed it. At the asharam he found the deer being nursed in the arms of a young, beautiful girl and the king fell in love with Shakuntala at first sight. In those days no one had heard of a king marrying an orphan girl from an asharam so even though their love was strong they hid it from everyone. After a few weeks living in the asharam the king proposed to Shakuntala and they got secretly married and spent their wedding night together in the forest. The next day news came from the capital about political unrest due to the king’s long absence and the king had to return to his kingdom. But before he did, he promised Shakuntala he would send for her and gave her his ring of red rubies with the crest of his kingdom.
Days turned to weeks and weeks to months but no one came to get Shakuntala. She was frantic with worry because she was with child and soon everyone would know and ask questions. Yet months went by and sage Kanva seeing Shakuntala’s condition asked her to tell him everything. When Shakuntala had told him everything the sage felt angry and betrayed that the girl he had raised as his daughter had disobeyed him and hid her true feelings from him. He told her to leave the asharam and go to her husband’s palace. Shakuntala was distraught with worry and grief but she set out to meet Dushayanta. When she reached his palace she found Dushayanta a changed man. He failed to recognize her and scoffed at her claim that they were married. He was after all the King and he couldn’t have married an orphan girl with no royal blood in her. Heart broken Shakuntala left the palace and went into the forest where she gave birth to a handsome boy. She named him Sarvadamana (subduer of all). The boy grew up devoid of all human contact except his mother. His playmates were the beasts of the jungle. He rode tigers like they were horses. He had no fear of the fiercest of creatures. He would open the mouth of a bear twice his size with is bare hands just to count its teeth.
As he grew older Sarvadamana grew curious about his father and Shakuntala thought the boy deserved to know who his father was and that his destiny was to be a king. She took him back to Dushayanta’s palace and there among all his ministers she argued with the king, presenting her side of the story, trying to convince everyone that she was indeed the king’s wife. Finally she remembered the ring the king had given her and when she showed everyone the ring, Dushayanta finally relented and admitted that they were married. He told Shakuntala he had spent all the years apart in grief and agony at having shun his pregnant wife because of societal pressure and he apologized profusely.
Shakuntala was overcome with relief and joy at finally being accepted as the king’s wife and thus restoring her honor. She sent for her son and presented him to the king. The king looked at the handsome, strong young man and took him into his arms showering him with fatherly love. From that day on Sarvadamana became part of the King’s family and he was given a new name, Bharata (the cherished one). As the years went by Bharata proved himself to be a virtuous, wise and just ruler. He conquered many lands and brought them all under his rule. It was the first time that many of the kingdoms of old had come under one banner. He was a benevolent ruler and brought on an era of peace and prosperity to his kingdom. His kingdom was called Bharatvarsh (the land of Bharata). It was his destiny to rule over India and no matter how many obstacles got in his way, there was nothing that could alter the inevitable course of destiny.
Thus began the history of India.
This is one of the stories of Tathastu-Granted Wishes
~Palak Chokshi~
