INDIAN MYTHOLOGY

Glimpses of The Devi Bhagavatam: 10. A PRINCE IN A HERMITAGE

After the departure of Prince Sudarshan and his mother, Queen Manorama, the way was clear for Shatrujit’s coronation. It took place in Ayodhya with great pomp and show. Nobody knew where Manorama and Sudarshan were. But Shatrujit’s grandfather, Yudhajit, was a cautious man. He set spies to locate them. In due course it was reported to him that the prince and the queen were living in the hermitage of sage Bharadwaj.

King Yudhajit marched towards the hermitage. Queen Manorama came to know of it and was full of fear on account of her son’s life. But the sage reassured her of their safety. Coming out of his hut the sage confronted the king. “What business do you have with me?” asked the sage.

“I am looking for Queen Manorama,” declared the king.

“I know why you are looking for her. She has lost her husband and her father. She is a refugee in my hermitage. Why are you so inhuman as to pursue her and her son?” asked Bharadwaj.

“I am not prepared to answer you. Let the queen and her son surrender to me. Otherwise I will take them away forcibly,” replied the king.

The sage trembled with rage. “Do so if you can, you small man! Mad with your power and vanity, you are under the delusion that you can terrify everybody! Are you so much of a fool as to forget that there are far greater powers than the mundane ones?” blurted out the sage and he returned to his hut.

King Yudhajit got panicky at the sage’s threat. He was in a dilemma. To let Sudarshan remain alive would mean to endanger the future of his grandson; on the other hand, to annoy the sage further might mean catastrophe for himself and his grandson.

“My lord, it would not be wise to act in haste. Prince Sudarshan is very young. He has nobody to patronise him. We need not be afraid of him. He might perish in the forest. If he ever proves a menace to our young king, we can tackle the situation then,” advised his minister.

King Yudhajit fell at the sage’s feet and begged to be pardoned for his rude behaviour. Then he retreated. Queen Manorama heaved a sigh of relief.

Prince Sudarshan was taught the arts by the sage. Some of the disciples of the sage were expert fighters. They taught him archery, wrestling and swordplay.

But the prince was primarily a devotee of Mahadevi– a form of the Supreme Goddess. He prayed to Her to know the ultimate secret of the military art. One night in his dream, he received the boon from the Goddess assuring him that the secret would be revealed to him spontaneously.

The King of Kasi had a beautiful daughter named Sasikala. Sudarshan happened to hear much in her praise. It so happened that the princess, too, heard much about Sudarshan.

One day the tribal chieftain of Shrinagaverapur, on a visit to the forest, was so charmed by Sudarshan that he made him a gift of a handsome chariot, loaded with weapons, along with four horses.

When Sudarshan drove the chariot, he felt immensely brave. He had also a feeling that thousands of soldiers were marching with him, guarding him from all sides.

The sages visiting the ashram used to tell Queen Manorama, “Mother, your son is destined to be crowned a king!”

“O holy ones, let your prophesy come true!” the queen used to say. The King of Kasi convened a Swayamvara, an assembly of princes for his daughter’s marriage. The princess was required to choose her husband from among the princes and kings present.

When Princess Sasikala heard from her maids the names of the invitees, she shed tears and said, “In vain have these suitors come here, for I will marry none of them!”

“Who then is your choice, O Princess?” asked the maids.

“Prince Sudarshan–living in exile in the forest,” was Sasikala’s reply.

The queen was told about the choice of the princess. In her turn, the queen reported the matter to the king. He was very unhappy. “How can I give my daugher in marriage to a prince who has been exiled and who has nothing to claim as his own? Besides, he is never safe. Today or tomorrow Shatrujit is likely to make an effort to kill him,” the king said with anguish.

The queen ran to the princess and pleaded with her to change her mind. “The princes we have invited are gems among the eligible bridegrooms. Each one of them is an heir to a throne. Choose anyone and you would happily lead the life of a queen in the future,” said her mother. But the princess kept shedding tears in silence.