The Daughter from a Wishing Tree Read online

  SUDHA MURTY

  THE DAUGHTER FROM A WISHING TREE

  Unusual Tales about Women in Mythology

  Illustrations by Priyankar Gupta

  PUFFIN BOOKS

  Contents

  Preface

  Introduction

  SARASWATI BHAGAWATI

  1. The Source of Knowledge

  NARAYANI NAMOSTUTE

  2. The Eight Forms

  3. The God with the Head of a Horse

  SHIVE SARVAARTHA SAADHIKE

  4. The Power of Faith

  5. The Goddess of Fruits and Vegetables

  6. The Steps to Heaven

  7. To War with a Woman

  8. The Woman of the Battlefield

  9. The Daughter from a Wishing Tree

  YATRA NARYASTU PUJYANTE RAMANTE TATRA DEVATA

  10. The Maiden of the River

  11. The Perfect Revenge

  12. The Frog Who Forgot Happiness

  13. The Goddess of the White Lake

  14. The Secret of Youth

  15. The Princess and the Ugly Dwarf

  16. The Princess Who Became a Wedding Gift

  17. Two Stars of True Love

  18. The Curse of Immortality

  19. The First Clone in the World

  20. The Seven Fierce Mothers

  21. The Weight of a Leaf

  22. The Temple without a Deity

  23. Soldiers in the Elephant’s Stomach

  24. The Forgotten Wife

  Follow Penguin

  Copyright

  PUFFIN BOOKS

  THE DAUGHTER FROM A WISHING TREE

  Sudha Murty was born in 1950 in Shiggaon, north Karnataka. She did her MTech in computer science and is now the chairperson of the Infosys Foundation. A prolific writer in English and Kannada, she has written novels, technical books, travelogues, collections of short stories and non-fictional pieces and several bestselling titles for children. Her books have been translated into all the major Indian languages. Sudha Murty is the recipient of the R.K. Narayan Award for Literature (2006), the Padma Shri (2006), the Attimabbe Award from the Government of Karnataka for excellence in Kannada literature (2011) and most recently, the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2018 Crossword Book Awards.

  Also in Puffin by Sudha Murty

  How I Taught My Grandmother to Read and Other Stories

  The Magic Drum and Other Favourite Stories

  The Bird with Golden Wings

  Grandma’s Bag of Stories

  The Magic of the Lost Temple

  The Serpent’s Revenge: Unusual Tales from the Mahabharata

  The Man from the Egg: Unusual Tales about the Trinity

  The Upside-Down King: Unusual Tales about Rama and Krishna

  How the Sea Became Salty

  To John Shaw,

  for believing in the power of women

  Preface

  When I decided to write a book about women in mythology, I began my research and soon felt disappointed and disillusioned. I found that there is minimal literature that highlights the important roles that women have played. The most popular of these women are, without a doubt, Draupadi from the Mahabharata and Sita from the Ramayana, and then there’s Parvati, who portrays a strong character of a goddess well-versed in the art of slaying demons and protecting her devotees. In fact, many rivers in our country are considered to be goddesses. However, the number of stories that abound about these women is strangely far fewer than the number of stories that speak about men. The literature that does exist is frequently repetitive and women are usually cast as subordinate or minor characters and remain underappreciated.

  Perhaps this is because our society has traditionally been a male-dominated one, or because mythology has been written mostly by men, but most likely, it is a combination of these two reasons.

  A popular sloka goes:

  Yatra naryastu pujyante

  Ramante tatra Devata

  It means that god resides wherever women are respected.

  However, if you look with sensitivity at the world around us, you will find that this is usually not true—whether you are a woman or a goddess. This is why I have, through this book, tried my best to retell stories that I grew up listening to and reading over the years, in an attempt to bring out the lives of some powerful women.

  These stories have several recurring mythological figures that have featured in the previous three books in this series: The Serpent’s Revenge: Unusual Tales from the Mahabharata; The Man from the Egg: Unusual Tales about the Trinity; and The Upside-Down King: Unusual Tales about Rama and Krishna. Readers can refer to these if they’d like to know more about certain characters that appear in this book.

  I would like to thank my long-time and dear editor Shrutkeerti Khurana, and my wonderful support group at Penguin including Sohini Mitra, Arpita Nath and Piya Kapur.

  My loved reader, I hope that you will enjoy these stories.

  Introduction

  The Trinity consists of three gods—Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, and each has his consort.

  Saraswati is the consort of Brahma, the creator. She is the goddess of knowledge and fine arts, usually depicted wearing white, playing a veena, holding a string of prayer beads (japamala) and a book, and smiling. A swan, her vehicle, is often shown alongside her. She’s a peaceful goddess who is worshipped in many countries. Saraswati is also known as Vagdevi, the goddess of speech, and her blessings are sought by orators and writers, as she represents knowledge and education. Saraswati is a woman of few words and keeps a distance from conflict and controversies.

  Lakshmi is the short-tempered consort of Vishnu, the protector. She famously resides in his heart and has various forms. She is also seen in the two forms of Bhu Devi, which is Lakshmi’s earthly form, and Sridevi, Lakshmi’s form associated with money and prosperity. Lakshmi is usually depicted sitting on a red or pink lotus, adorned in a red sari. She is said to be very disciplined and meticulous. When Lord Vishnu decided to take ten avatars on earth to protect dharma, Lakshmi had said to him, ‘Dear husband, you are taking the avatars voluntarily with the sole purpose of upholding the righteousness of the world. But you know that the two doorkeepers to our abode here in Vaikuntha—Jaya and Vijaya—have been cursed to take the human form on earth for three lifetimes and be your enemy in those births. These two happenings are not just a coincidence.’

  Vishnu had smiled as Lakshmi continued, ‘First, you will take the form of the boar Varaha and kill Hiranyaksha, an avatar of Jaya. Then, you will become Narasimha and slay Hiranyakashipu (or Vijaya). Finally, you will kill Ravana and Kumbhakarna in the form of Rama, and Shishupala and Dantavakra in your human birth as Krishna. This means that you will take four avatars to slay Jaya and Vijaya in their three lifetimes. Lord, I will accompany you in a few avatars in my different forms, and I will be the trigger for the destruction of the three lifetimes of our doorkeepers. This way, I can ensure that they fulfil their destiny.’

  Subsequently, Lakshmi took the forms of Bhu Devi during Vishnu’s Varaha avatar (Hiranyaksha’s killing), Sita during the reign of Rama (the slaying of Ravana) and Rukmini in the time of Krishna (the killing of Shishupala).

  Finally, there is Parvati, who is the consort of Shiva, the destroyer. She is known by multiple names—Durga, Shakti and Sharvani among many others. She is seen as a fierce and just goddess whose strength is often called upon for protection and benevolence. She is almost always represented riding a tiger or a lion and sporting a red sari. Parvati is Shiva’s ‘true’ consort, as she is considered to be his ‘half’—both physically and mentally. She is a great dancer, and Shiva is her teacher. Even today, a couple dancing well is often referred to as Shiva and Parva
ti.

  The Source of Knowledge

  When Brahma, the creator, decided to craft this world and everything in it, it was somewhat untimely, as chaos reigned supreme. To his disappointment, he was unable to focus on the work at hand and yearned for two things: peace and a knowledgeable companion who could assist him—a true partner. For such a task, his confidant needed to be intelligent, quiet, wise, well informed about arts and culture and have great control over the tongue and the mind.

  Brahma spoke his thoughts aloud and to his unexpected delight, a beautiful woman with a sweet smile appeared in front of him, almost as if she had been created from his words. She wore a white sari and had four arms—two of her hands carried a veena and the other two carried a book and a japamala each.

  Brahma was very pleased. ‘I am grateful for your arrival and your assistance. I will call you Saraswati, Vagdevi or Vani,’ he said. ‘You are the master of knowledge and communication, and these names represent those qualities. All my creations will worship you as the goddess of knowledge, wisdom, art and speech.’

  Together, Brahma and Saraswati began to work at their abode, Satyaloka, also called Brahmaloka.

  Time went by, and soon, the battles between the devas and the asuras began. The two groups were constantly at war with each other. After many defeats, the asuras realized that the gods were winning most of the battles because of the Book of Knowledge, which lay in the custody of Saraswati and was given to her by Brahma.

  One day, while the goddess was immersed in playing the veena in Satyaloka, the asuras stole the Book of Knowledge from her and ran away to earth.

  When Saraswati found out about this foul play, she used her powers to track down and follow the asuras. Upon reaching earth, Saraswati realized that unlike other goddesses, she wasn’t a warrior and didn’t possess any weapons. So, the goddess of knowledge and learning decided to use her expertise. She concluded that the best way to catch the asura thieves was to take the form of a gurgling river and drown them.

  Now transformed into a powerful river, she began flowing speedily towards the asuras. With the river water close on their heels, the asuras realized that they would drown if they didn’t pick up speed. So, they abandoned the book on the banks of the river and ran as fast as their feet could carry them. Saraswati, happy to have the book back in her possession, did not pursue them.

  While Saraswati prepared to return to Satyaloka, learned sages in the area learnt of her presence and of the famed book through their yogic powers. They hurriedly came to see her. Upon seeing Saraswati in her original form, the Book of Knowledge in her hand, the sages prayed to her, ‘O Mother, we are helpless without you. You are our goddess. Won’t you remain with us on the earth to help?’

  Saraswati gave an enigmatic smile. ‘I must go back to Brahma and assist him with his work. But I hear your genuine prayers and will allow a small portion of my power to continue flowing as a river in my name. This same river will later join the goddesses Yamuna and Ganga at Prayag, and the area of confluence—where we all meet—will be known as Prayag Raj. After that, I will lose my identity and my waters will merge with that of the Ganga.’ Saying thus, she disappeared. And so, the River Saraswati flows on the earth.

  She is also known as Guptagamini, since she is said to run beneath the ground surface in some places.

  Andhaka, the son of Sage Kashyapa, became a great and powerful asura. One day in the heavens, he chanced upon the celestial Parijata flowers in the garden of the king of the gods, Indra. Seeing their beauty, he wanted to steal the tree from the heavens, and Andhaka began pursuing Indra incessantly for the Parijata tree. Indra, unable to take the pressure, ran to the Trinity for guidance. As the Trinity looked at each other, three colourful energies emanated from them: from Brahma, white (part-Saraswati); from Vishnu, red (part-Lakshmi); and from Shiva, black (part-Kali, a form of Parvati). The three energies merged to form a divine and brightly illuminated female form, and now this goddess was ready to go forth to successfully slay Andhaka.

  Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva were extremely pleased and said to the trinity of goddesses, ‘The three of you can protect all the creatures in the world. Henceforth, you will be worshipped twice a year for nine days each—once during Sharad Navratri, which will be in the winter and the other in the spring, which will be known as Vasanta Navratri. You will be worshipped by the names of Shakti, Vaishnavi, Kali, Chamundi, Durga and Saraswati, among others, and each of you will be worshipped on a different day. For instance, a day for Saraswati will have her worshippers thank her with items that bring knowledge to the world, such as books and musical instruments. This will be a special time for all students seeking Saraswati’s blessings.’

  Today, Navratri forms a big part of the lives of people all over the country, and children continue to worship Saraswati on the day of Saraswati Puja to request the goddess for knowledge and her blessings.

  The Eight Forms

  Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth, fortune and prosperity, is a very popular deity in religions, such as Buddhism and Jainism, and in many countries, including Nepal and Tibet.

  The goddess came to life in the famous mythological tale of the Samudra Manthana, or the churning of the ocean, where she emerged as a beautiful woman. Hence, her father is considered the king of the ocean. After Lakshmi’s birth, all the beings around her—devas, asuras, humans and gandharvas—gazed at her in awe because of her striking beauty. Her father said, ‘Dear daughter, just look around you. All these powerful beings are waiting for you to select a husband. You are in a unique position of choosing whomever your heart desires. Anyone you pick will be ecstatic to be the chosen one. As your father, I will perform your wedding rites.’

  Lakshmi nodded and took a garland of flowers in her hands. While looking around, her eyes fell on Vishnu. Something in her heart propelled her towards him. She was attracted by his appearance, his calm demeanour, his stature and the elegant ornaments he wore. She placed the garland around his neck and became his eternal consort.

  Vishnu was happy to have Lakshmi as his bride. He promised her, ‘O Lakshmi, daughter of the king of the ocean, you are the light of the three realms. I will treat you with respect and keep you in my heart.’ And so, Lakshmi settled in Vaikuntha, the abode of her husband, Vishnu.

  One day, when the famed sage Bhrigu came to Vaikuntha, he saw Lord Vishnu sleeping and not doing anything useful. Out of rage, he kicked him on the left side of his chest—the same spot where Lakshmi resided. The goddess became upset at her husband’s lack of action when he did not rebuke the sage. Being an independent thinker and an uncompromising wife, she left Vaikuntha and went to Karvirapura, known today as Kolhapur. Vishnu grew lonely in Vaikuntha and came down to earth, later settling in Tirupati.

  Lakshmi’s shadow, Alakshmi, also emerged with her during the churning of the ocean. Alakshmi embodies the opposite qualities of Lakshmi and always accompanies her. The arrival of Lakshmi to one’s home brings prosperity to the family. However, if the family takes her for granted or does not respect her, Lakshmi leaves the house, but her shadow continues to reside there until the family’s fortune and relationships are in ruins. Once this mission has been accomplished, Alakshmi travels to the next place of residence and joins Lakshmi.

  Lakshmi manifests in eight different forms, which is why they are called Ashtalakshmis. In some temples, Lakshmi is displayed with sixteen hands, indicating all her eight forms at once.

  The first, called Adilakshmi, is her earliest manifestation who emerged from the ocean. In this form, she is a kind entity who wears a red sari and grasps a red or pink lotus. The second, Dhaanyalakshmi, is frequently worshipped by farmers and is represented with the deity’s hands filled with grains as she pours them on to the ground. Dhairyalakshmi, the third form, is known for her courage and is worshipped by people facing obstacles who seek bravery and strength. The fourth form, called Gajalakshmi, is a common sight in temples: she is shown sitting, as two elephants pour gold or spray water on her. Santaanalakshmi
, the fifth manifestation of Lakshmi, is usually surrounded by children and is worshipped by childless couples. Vijayalakshmi, the sixth form, is worshipped for the wealth of victory and courage. In the old days, before kings would depart for war, they would pray for Vijayalakshmi’s eternal and consistent presence in the battlefield. The seventh form, Vidyalakshmi, as the name suggests, indicates the wealth of knowledge and education. She is different from Saraswati who is much steadier in her presence. The eighth form, or Dhanalakshmi, is the goddess of wealth, depicted with gold pouring from her hand.

  In India, Lakshmi is a venerated goddess, and people worship her through many of her forms, depending upon their heart’s greatest desires.

  The God with the Head of a Horse

  In his quest for eternal life, Hayagriva, an asura king, believed that if he prayed to the Trinity for the nectar of immortality, they would certainly try to trick him in order to not reveal their secret to him. So, he decided to pray to the goddess Shakti.

  For many, many years, Hayagriva worshipped her with absolute love, focus and devotion. When she finally appeared before the devotee, Shakti refused him the nectar, denying his request for immortality.

  Angered by this, Hayagriva thought, ‘If I have to die, I must make it very complicated and almost impossible.’ He wanted to outsmart the goddess, so he said, ‘Mother, if I must depart this world, only a person with the same name as me and who possesses the body of a god and the head of a horse should be able to slay me.’

  Shakti smiled and nodded.

  Now, Hayagriva was convinced that this was as good as being immortal, for he did not think a creature such as he described existed. Believing he would never die, the clever asura continued his evil ways, inflicting cruelties on others with force and vigour.