Stories From The Bhagawatham - The Sage And The Princess

 

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One of the kings in the Ikshvaku dynasty was Sharyati who had a daughter named Sukanya. Blessed with beauty and innocence, she was loved by one and all in the kingdom.

Once Sukanya accompanied her father to the forest. The king and his retinue came to the ashram of Chyavana Rishi, a prominent sage of those times. The sage had been in a state of meditation for so long that a hill had formed around him, enclosing him completely except for the part of his eyes. Sukanya saw the eyes as two glowing points of light and in a playful mood, she took a piece of dried grass and poked the eyes of the sage. Not only was the sage hurt but his meditation had also been disturbed. His silent anger led to mass paralysis among the entire army of the king. The king was baffled and could not decipher what had happened all of a sudden.

Sukanya sheepishly admitted to her innocent mistake. The horrified king rushed to the sage and pleaded for forgiveness. He also offered Sukanya’s hand in marriage to the Rishi to compensate for whatever had happened.

The beloved princess of the kingdom got married to the sage and went to live with him in his ashram. Having let go of her pampered and protected life, she became a hard-working woman and a devoted wife to Chyavana Rishi.

The sage was very pleased with Sukanya and he knew what she had given up in the marriage. He wanted to make her happy. He soon got an opportunity.

The twin Ashwini Kumars, the celestial healers, visited Chyavana’s Ashram. He received them with honor and having been the perfect host, he said to the twins, “I know that the other gods do not share soma with you for being professional healers and look down upon you. I will ensure that in every yajna, you get a share of the soma. In return, please give me a young, handsome and desirable form.”

The soma was the intoxicating drink of the gods and hence it was never offered to the healers owing to their profession. Getting a share of the soma meant a rise in the social status. The Ashwini Kumaras agreed. They purified the waters of a lake and told Chyavana to enter the same along with them. They all took a dip in the lake and when they emerged out of the water, all three looked the same – young, handsome, wearing garlands of lotuses and decked with jewels. It was a testing time for Sukanya who stood there and watched in silent wonder.

She looked at all three of them but could not make out which among them was Chyavana Rishi. She prostrated before all three and offered a prayer to the Ashwini Kumaras. ‘Please see to it that my chastity is not harmed. Kindly stand apart and let me know which among you is my husband.”

Pleased with her innocence, the Ashwini Kumaras stood apart and revealed their true forms to Sukanya. They took leave of the couple and went back to their celestial realms.

Sukanya and Chyavana lived in peace and bliss thereafter. When Sukanya’s father approached Chyavana for a yajna, the later got a chance to repay his debt to the Ashwini Kumaras. While conducting the yajna, he offered a share to the twin healers. Indra, the king of the gods, was obviously displeased and personally appeared in the yajna. In anger, he lifted his dreadful weapon Vajra to strike the rishi. But the sage’s tapas was so strong that just a mere glance caused paralysis in Indra’s arm and the king of the gods found that he could not move it. Humbled, Indra finally acknowledged that it was selfish to not to include the healers in the yajna.

From that moment on, the Ashwini Kumaras duly get their share of soma in every yajna.

Om Namo Narayana! Om Namo Bhagavathe Vasudevaaya!