by Haskar
Usha recounted her dream. ‘I was a pure, decent girl,’ she said. ‘How can I dare to live after such a violation? What will I tell my father? I have tarnished the name of a great family. It is better for me to die than to live. Maybe I wanted the man who came to me, but I have been put in this condition as if I was fully awake. Who could do this when I was fast asleep? I was a virgin. How can I show my face now?’
‘It is the wickedness of intent which determines good or bad,’ said her companion. ‘Your mind is pure. If you chanced to be enjoyed by someone in a dream, it does not affect your chastity. The sages say that sin attaches to thought, speech and action. But you are pure, and if this happened while you were asleep, it cannot affect you.’
But Usha still shed tears. ‘Stop this, good girl,’ said Chitralekha. ‘You are sinless. Remember what the goddess told you when you were near the great god and thinking about a husband. “On the twelfth day of the waxing moon in the month of Vaishakh, when you are asleep in the palace, the man who takes you into full womanhood even as you sleep, that brave hero will be your husband.” This is what the goddess said, and her word is never untrue. What happened is also that which you wanted. So why weep about it?’
Usha remembered Parvati’s words and regained her composure. ‘I recall what she said as she made love with Shiva,’ she observed. ‘It happened to me in this palace just as I had been told. But if the great god’s consort has ordained this husband for me, how is he to be found? Think of a way.’
‘You are indeed blessed that by the grace of the goddess you have such a wonderful husband,’ said Chitralekha. ‘Now we must ascertain his name, family and whose son he is. And this is what I can do to get your heart’s desire. I will draw you pictures of all those among the gods, demons, demigods and others, including those from the human race, who are special and famous for their power, beauty and family. Within seven nights will I show you the pictures, so that you may recognize your husband and have him at your feet.’
Thereafter, Chitralekha spread out and displayed to Usha and and her friends the pictures she had prepared. ‘Here are the chief ones among the gods, the demons and the others that I have drawn,’ she said, ‘and here are those from the human race. Identify the one you saw in your dream, my dear.’
Usha looked with excitement at the pictures, one after the other, till she came to the Yadu clan and their progeny. Her eyes widened with amusement when she saw Aniruddha. ‘Here is that love-thief, my friend!’ she cried. ‘The man who took me in my dream. I recognize him, but where did he come from? Tell me all about him, Chitralekha, his name, family and conduct, so that I may decide what to do.’
‘My beauty, this is the grandson of the wise Krishna,’ Chitralekha told her. ‘He is Aniruddha, whom none can equal in valour in all the three worlds. You are blessed indeed that the divine spouse of Shiva has chosen such a fine man for you.’
‘You alone can do this, friend,’ said Usha. ‘You are a yogini who can assume any shape at will and travel through the sky. Save me, for I am stricken with love. Bring my godlike husband to me, or I will die.’
‘Listen, my dear girl,’ said Chitralekha. ‘Just as your father Bana’s city is protected from all sides, so too is the Yadu capital, Dvaraka. It is surrounded by water and by seven ramparts of mountain metal, with gates of iron. Unknown people cannot enter it. So, save yourself, especially your father, and also me.’
‘You can enter it with your yoga power,’ said Usha. ‘What more is there to say? Listen to my vow. I will give up this life if I do not see Aniruddha’s face as radiant as the full moon. You must get him here.’
Wishing to help her friend, Chitralekha prayed to the sages and went to Dvaraka, the city that Shri Krishna protects. Near its centre was Aniruddha’s mansion. With golden altars and pillars and gilded gateways of lapis lazuli, it gleamed like the throat of a peacock and echoed with divine music. Within it, Chitralekha beheld Aniruddha, sitting on a throne, his mind dissatisfied. Revealing herself to him by yoga she took him aside and explained the purpose of her visit. ‘I saw Usha in a dream,’ said Aniruddha. ‘Since then I think of her day and night. If you can help me, Chitralekha, and if you want my friendship, take me to my beloved. Make my dream come true.’
‘So be it,’ said Chitralekha, and with her yoga power she flew up in the sky with Aniruddha. Within moments they arrived in Bana’s city. Usha’s eyes lit up with joy at meeting her beloved. ‘It is my fate that I now see the thief from my dream as my handsome husband,’ she said as she greeted the Yadu prince. ‘The desire for this rare delight was tiring me out. Is all well with you, sir? I ask as women’s hearts are always soft.’
Aniruddha replied to this loving query with even gentler words. Wiping the tears of joy from Usha’s eyes, he smiled and laughed, saying, ‘You speak so softly, beautiful lady! I want to tell you that I had never before seen this land. What I saw was in a dream at night, and now it appears just the same! It is by your favour that I have come here, and because the words of Shiva’s consort can never be untrue. Knowing of the love she has for you, I am here at your disposal, to please you today.’
Usha looked a bit apprehensive as she was swiftly led by her lover to a secret place. Accepting each other there with the gandharva rites of marriage,1 they were happily joined together like two love birds, and the beautiful Usha was finally united with Aniruddha, now her beloved husband.
From Harivaṃśa, 117.1–59; 118.1–97; 119.22–71
Notes
Introduction
1 A.B. Keith, A History of Sanskrit Literature, London, 1920; M.Winternitz, History of Indian Literature, vol. 3, Delhi, 1963; A.K. Warder, Indian Kavya Literature, vols. 3–7, Delhi, 1977–2004.
2 Sahitya-ratna-kośa, vol. 2, (An Anthology of the Epics and the Purāṇas), eds. S.K. De and R.C. Hazra, New Delhi, 1959.
The Seduction of Shiva
1 A scriptural text on health and longevity. Dhanvantari is the deity of medicine.
2 Another name of the god Vishnu, the deity associated with the world’s preservation, for which he appeared in numerous incarnations.
3 Another great god, comprising with Brahma and Vishnu a divine trinity, and often depicted with a bull as his mount.
Life and Love: An Allegory
1 A reference to the nine openings of the human body. The two below are those for defecation and urination. The seven above are two each of the eyes, the ears and the nose, and one of the mouth.
2 Another allegorical reference to the human body. See the story’s epilogue.
Mukti and Viveka: The Dialectic of Intercourse
1 Traditionally identified with the northern part of the present state of Bihar.
2 Mukti and moksha are two Sanskrit nouns with the same general meaning but different genders: the first being feminine and the second masculine. The interplay of such words is also used in classical Sanskrit as a literary embellishment for creating an effect.
3 See above note. The reference in the next sentence to Viveka serves a similar purpose by using the word both as an abstract noun and a proper noun.
The Sons of Vichitra Virya
1 This practice was scripturally permissibe, e.g., Manusmriti, 9.22, and known as niyoga.
An Appointment with Upakosha
1 This may refer to a king of the dynasty which preceded the Mauryan rulers in Pataliputra, fourth century BCE.
Man or Woman?
1 He also appears in the earlier tale ‘The Sons of Vichitra Virya’.
The History of a Marriage
1 A city long known in Indian history and identified with present Ujjain in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
2 Another ancient city near Rajgir in the present state of Bihar.
3 Refers to a well-known episode in the Mahābhārata in which the warrior-sage Drona is slain after being demoralized with false information that his son Ashvatthama has been killed.
4 A sea-trading city in ancient eastern India, site of Tamluk in present-day West Bengal.
5 The great god was often depicted with an entourage of half-human creatures.
6 The river in Ujjain still bears this name, as does the temple mentioned in the next sentence.
7 A sect of ascetics who carried a skull (kapala) and bones as a part of their distinctive garb.
8 A divine incarnation and sage whose legendary life includes this episode.
The Rape of Rambha
1 The story of Sita’s abduction by Ravana and rescue by Rama is well known.
2 Names of various gods.
The Life and Love of a Bodhisattva
1 Its site is considered as being near present-day Delhi.
2 The word, literally ‘Being of Wisdom’, was initially used to denote a previous incarnation of the Buddha. Later it came to mean a being destined for Buddhahood through practice of virtue in innumerable previous lives. The deeds of the Bodhisattva are recounted in various Buddhist texts.
3 A category of semi-divine beings.
4 The Buddha, who here recounts this story of a previous birth.
Arjuna and Urvashi
1 How Indra begot the Pandava prince Arjuna on his mother Kunti is among the many stories in the Mahābhārata.
2 When the Pandava princes lost their kingdom to their opponents and cousins the Kauravas. The epic also recounts this episode in which Shakuni and Duhshasana played a leading role as the villains.
3 This refers to another legend in which Urvashi was the consort of Pururava, the forefather of the line from which both the Pandavas and the Kauravas sprang.
The Wedding of Radha and Krishna
1 The foster-father of Krishna, an incarnation of the god Vishnu and the main figure in the Brahmavaivarta Purāṇa.
2 Krishna’s divine consort, mostly depicted as his sweetheart when he was a cowherd.
3 A sage who features in this and other purāṇa texts.
4 A divine jewel worn by the god Vishnu.
5 The god of creation in the divine trinity, with Vishnu as the god of preservation and Shiva, the god of dissolution.
The Sage and the Siren
1 The words dharma, artha and kama have various shades of meaning. Here they broadly denote virtue, wealth and pleasure respectively, the three pursuits or objectives of worldly life, further explained in subsequent paragraphs of this story. A fourth, moksha, is a spiritual pursuit.
2 All examples from ancient mythology.
3 See the story ‘The Sons of Vichitra Viriya’.
The Story of Devayani
1 The god of creation.
Shriya Devi’s Ordeal
1 A class of demigods.
In Quest of a Consort
1 By mutual consent. One of the eight forms of scripturally recognized marriage.
Bibliography
Bhagavata Purana, H.P. Poddar and C.L. Goswami (eds), Gita Press, Gorakhpur.
Srimad Bhagavatam (18 vols.), A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (tr. and ed.), Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, Los Angeles, 1976.
Brhatkathaslokasamgraha, The Emperor of Sorcerers (vol. 2), J. Mallinson (ed.), JLC Foundation, New York, 2005.
Brahmavaivarta Purana (vols 1 and 2), Parimal Publications, Delhi.
Dasa Kumara Charitam, N.B. Godbole and V.L.S. Pansikar (eds), Nirnaya Sagar Press, Bombay, 1936.
Harivamsha, Gita Press, Gorakhpur.
Jaiminiya Asvamedha Parva, S.K. Sen (tr.), P. Bhattacharya (ed.), Writers Workshop, Kolkata, 2008.
Kathasaritsagara, Ocean of the Rivers of Story (vol. 1), J. Mallinson (tr.), JLC Foundation, New York, 2009.
Mahabharata, Gita Press, Gorakhpur.
Mahabharata, Vana Parva, Book 3 (vol. 4), W. Johnson (tr. and ed.), JLC Foundation, New York, 2005.
Mahabharata, Shalya Parva, Book 9 (vol. 2), J. Meiland (tr. and ed.), JLC Foundation, New York, 2007.
Markandeya Mahapurana, K.N. Seth (ed.), Eastern Book Linkers, Delhi, 2005.
Matsya Mahapurana, Parimal Sanskrit Series no. 93, Parimal Publications, Delhi, 2007.
Ramayana, Srimad Valmikiya, Gita Press, Gorakhpur.
Shuka Saptati, R. Tripathi (ed.), Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Varanasi, 1996.
The Heavenly Exploits—Buddhist Biographies from the Divyavadana, J. Tatalman (ed. and tr.), JLC Foundation, New York, 2005.
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First published by Penguin Books India 2014
Copyright © A.N.D. Haksar 2014
Cover: Illustration by Finn Dean
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ISBN: 978-0-143-41540-4
This digital edition published in 2014.
e-ISBN: 978-9-351-18624-3
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