Glimpses of The Devi Bhagavatam: 32. WHEN NARADA TURNED A WOMAN

 

INDIAN MYTHOLOGY

Glimpses of The Devi Bhagavatam:

32. WHEN NARADA TURNED A WOMAN

Narada got startled and disgusted. “What! Must you throw such a nasty curse upon me although I have caused no harm to you? Very well, I say that you’re unworthy of entering heaven. You’ll always remain confined to the earth!” uttered Narada in the way of casting a curse on Parvat.

Parvat left King Sanjay’s palace in a huff.

A fortnight later the king asked his ministers to find out a suitable prince for marrying Princess Madayanti. The ministers informed him that several princes were eager to marry her. The problem was, not to find one but to reject so many!

But when the princess heard about the king looking for a match for her, she told one of her maids that she would marry none else than Narada.

The word reached the king who was taken aback. “How could the princess take such a decision? Narada is not only a wandering mendicant, but lately he had come to resemble a monkey in his face because of some strange malady. How can I let my beautiful daughter marry him?”

At the king’s behest, the friends of Madayanti tried to persuade her to change her mind, “So many handsome and worthy princes are eager to marry you. Why don’t you choose the best one of them? Your marriage with Narada will shock us all. Also, it’ll make you a laughing- stock of the people,” they said.

“If I am not allowed to marry Narada, I shall be shocked to death. So far as my becoming a laughing- stock is concerned, I don’t care!” she said.

“But why should you reject the princes and marry a wandering mendicant who has grown ugly?” the maids argued.

“In which way are the princes better than Narada? Aren’t they slaves of their wealth and power? They while away their time in those idle merriments for which I have no attraction. Narada is a sage. He is a genius in music. True, he has grown ugly. But I had begun to love him before he came under this spell, and my love remains undiminished,” stated the princess.

The king did not want to go against his daughter’s firm wish. The princess was, therefore, duly married to Narada.

Narada continued to live in his father-in-law’s palace. Although he felt aggrieved on account of his appearance, the princess did not mind it. Sage Parvat soon repented his conduct towards Narada. He came back to King Sanjay’s palace after some months and sat in meditation and nullified his own curse.

Narada looked normal once again. All became very happy. Narada, too, withdrew his curse and Parvat was able to visit heaven again.

After narrating the story to Vyasa, Narada said in conclusion.

“Imagine my humiliation when I had to pass my days looking like a monkey! It is Maya that kept me tied to the life in the palace despite my pitiable condition!” Narada thereafter proceeded to narrate yet another incident in his life:

Once he went to see Vishnu. Lakshmi who was then talking to him suddenly left the place at Narada’s approach.

Narada took this as an insult. “My lord,” he said plaintively, “am I an unfamiliar and ordinary visitor that goddess Lakshmi should avoid me? Am I not an ascetic who is in full control of his senses?”

Vishnu smiled and said, “Never mind Lakshmi’s conduct, Narada, it is nothing but habit that took her away. But are you sure of having full mastery over your senses? Don’t you think that you, too, can come under the spell of Maya?”

“I don’t think so. However, won’t you once demonstrate the power of Maya to me?” asked Narada.

“Why not?” said Vishnu.

Vishnu took Narada along with him and reached a certain area in the land of Kanyakubja. They saw a lake adorned with lotuses.

“Narada, enjoy a dip in this lake. Then we will proceed to the nearby city,” suggested Vishnu.

Narada kept his Veena on a slab of stone and plunged into the water. When he came ashore he had forgotten who he was. Vishnu was not there, nor did Narada remember Him.

Suddenly a king approached her. “Who are you, O lonely damsel?” asked the surprised king.

Narada understood that he was now a woman who had forgotten all about herself.

Narada blushed and said nothing.

The king got the impression that what he saw was a nymph who had been exiled to the earth for some wrong conduct. He led the lady to his castle and married her. She gave birth to twelve children and lived happily.

One day the castle was fiercely attacked by an enemy force. It could not be protected. The queen saw her husband falling in the battle. Her children, too, were killed before her eyes. Unable to bear her sorrow, the queen jumped into a lake.

Narada raised his head from the water. He saw Vishnu waiting for him. The veena laywhere he had left it.

“Narada! You took quite some time for a dip!” remarked Vishnu when Narada climbed to the bank.

“O God!” exclaimed Narada. “Now I know what Maya is!”