The Seduction of Shiva: Tales of Life and Love (12 page)

‘O you two, surrounded by so many other ladies,’ Yayati asked, ‘may I know your names and families?’

‘I will make the introductions, sir,’ replied Devayani. ‘I am the daughter of Shukra, the preceptor of the demons. This is my slave and companion, who goes with me. She is
Sharmishtha, the daughter of Vrishaparvan, the demon king.’

‘How could this handsome daughter of the demon king be your slave and companion, lovely lady? I am most curious.’

‘All people follow their fate. Know this to be destined, sir, and don’t trouble your mind. But you speak the sacred language and are dressed like a king. From where are you, who is your father, and what is your name? Tell me.’

‘Well, I studied the scriptures as a celibate. My name is Yayati, and I am indeed a king’s son, now the king.’

‘Why have you come here, lord of men? Is it for hunting? Do you want water or something else?’

‘That is a lot of questions, blessed lady, but you should know that I was out hunting and have come here for water.’

‘May all be well with you, friend. I am at your disposal together with my slave Sharmishtha and all these other girls. Be my husband!’

‘May all be well with you too, beautiful daughter of Shukra. But I am not worthy of you, Devayani. You must know that warrior kshatriyas cannot marry into a family such as your father’s.’

‘Brahmans and kshatriyas are castes conjoined and supportive of each other, son of Nahusha. You are a royal sage and also the son of one. You can have me today itself.’

‘All the four castes indeed come from a single source, beautiful one, but their duties and rules are different, even though a brahman may be the best.’

‘No man has ever held my hand earlier, son of Nahusha. You were the first to do so, and therefore I choose you. How can any other man now touch a proud, high-minded girl like me?’

‘But, gentle one, I cannot take you in marriage unless your father gives you to me.’

‘Well, take me when I am given by my father. I have chosen you. You do not have to ask for me, only accept what is offered.’

Devayani then sent a matron to her father. That woman met Shukra and apprised him of everything, whereupon the sage came to meet the king. Yayati bowed and stood humbly as the preceptor greeted him.

‘Father, I salute you,’ said Devayani. ‘This is King Yayati. He took my hand in a difficult situation. Give me to him, for I will not accept anyone else in the world as a husband.’

‘Brave son of Nahusha,’ Shukra then spoke out, ‘this dear daughter of mine has chosen you as her husband. I give her to you. Take her as your queen.’

Yayati assented, adding, ‘I beseech you, sir, to grant that no sin of caste contamination adheres to me in this.’

Shukra assured him. ‘I free you from any such sin,’ he said. ‘You will be untouched by it in this marriage. Live lawfully with Devayani as your wife, and enjoy yourself with her. The princess Sharmishtha will always attend on you, but you must not take her to your bed.’

Thus was Devayani married. Yayati went back with her to his capital, also taking Sharmishtha and the other servant girls. For long did he and Devayani enjoy all the pleasures of their life together. In time she conceived and gave birth to their first son. How Yayati later had a liaison and also progeny with Sharmishtha, and the consequences thereof, is another story.

From
Matsya Purāṇa
, 25–32

In the town of Shalipur there lived the merchant Shalig with his spouse Jayika. Their son Gunakar was married to Shriya Devi. She was having an affair with another merchant called Subuddhi but, though this had already become notorious, so infatuated was her husband with his wife that he gave no ear to the gossip. After all, those in love look just for merit while those displeased look for faults; it is only the neutral one who sees both. Besides, men in love can never control themselves while others can slip out like water from a woman’s hands.

Once, Shriya Devi’s father-in-law saw her asleep with the other man, and took off the anklet from her foot. She realized what had
happened, and then sent her lover to fetch her husband with whom she then went to bed. Later she woke him up and said, ‘Your father took off the anklet from my foot and has it. Such an impropriety has never been seen before: a father-in-law seizing the anklet from the foot of a daughter-in-law.’

‘I will get it from my father in the morning,’ said Gunakar, ‘and return it to you myself.’ The next day he berated his father and asked for the ornament’s return.

‘I saw her sleeping with another man,’ the father explained, ‘that is why I took the anklet.’

‘But I was sleeping with your son!’ Shriya Devi protested. ‘I will undergo the sacred ordeal to prove this. A yaksha deity
¹
is located to the north of this very place. I will pass through between his legs. It is well known that only those who speak the truth can do so and come out.’

The father-in-law agreed.

That hussy then went to her lover’s house while it was still day. ‘Darling,’ she told him,
‘tomorrow morning I will undergo the ordeal of passing between the yaksha’s legs. You must come there, pretend to be mad, and clasp my neck.’

After speaking to her lover, Shriya Devi returned home. In the morning she assembled all the leading citizens and proceeded to the yaksha’s temple with rice, flowers and other material for the sacred ritual. She bathed in the nearby lake and entered the temple to offer worship, where her lover put both his arms around her neck, behaving crazily as previously arranged.

‘Oh, what is this!’ cried Shriya Devi, and went back to bathe again as people caught hold of the make-believe madman and drove him away. As for her, she returned after her ablution and went up to the yaksha. Offering worship to the deity with flowers, incense and suchlike, she cried aloud in everyone’s hearing: ‘O lord yaksha! If any man other than my husband and this lunatic has ever touched me, may I not be able to pass
between your legs.’

In the presence of all the assembled people she then went between the yaksha’s legs and came out safely. The deity stayed still, praising her intelligence in his own mind. And the people lauded her as a chaste and holy woman as they all went home. Thus did she retain both her anklet and her honour.

From
Shuka Saptati
, 15

Usha was the granddaughter of the great demon king Bali, who gifted the earth to the dwarf incarnation of the god Vishnu. Her father was the mighty warrior Bana, whom the god Shiva treated like a son. The person she married was Aniruddha, the eldest patrilinear grandson of Shri Krishna, a later incarnation of the god Vishnu. This is the tale of how the demon girl found her divine husband.

Once the great god Shiva went with his consort Parvati to the banks of a beautiful river for
recreation. It was in a forest at springtime, where hundreds of nymphs had come to sport with their partners. The whole place was redolent with the fragrance of celestial blossoms, and the sound of music played by the nymphs. They sang in praise of the great god who was dressed in red and wearing a fine garland. A beautiful nymph, Chitralekha, entertained him with an imitation of Parvati who laughed aloud at this. Other nymphs also laughed as they dallied with members of the god’s retinue who were dressed like him. All this amused Shiva greatly.

Among those present on this occasion was Bana’s pretty daughter Usha. She saw the divine couple sporting together by the river side, the great god assuming various forms to please the goddess, his spouse. Standing nearby, Usha made a wish, ‘Blessed is she who thus makes love with her husband.’

Parvati understood her intent. ‘Usha,’ she said softly, ‘you too will soon make love with a husband as the god Shiva does with me.’ The
girl closed her eyes in joy and hope. ‘When will this happen?’ she wondered, at which Parvati laughed and told her, ‘Listen to what I say. On the twelfth day of the summer month Vaishakh, in the evening at your palace, your husband will make love with you in a dream.’

The demon’s daughter was overjoyed at these words and wandered off contentedly with her girlfriends who clapped their hands and joked with her. ‘Beautiful,’ they said, ‘you will soon have a husband as promised by the goddess. Her words are never untrue. She has ordained a handsome and noble spouse for you.’ Meanwhile the gathering dispersed, the gods disappeared, and all who had come went home, some on horseback, chariots or elephants, and some by the aerial route.

Usha was bewildered by desire. Her mind full of thoughts of a husband and what the goddess had said, she could neither eat nor sleep, but only moan. Her breasts became hot, her cheeks pale and her eyes filled with tears. Her body ached.
Her friends treated her for fever even though she had none. ‘What is troubling you?’ they asked. ‘Why are you so sad? Your face is covered with perspiration, just like dew drops on an autumn lily. Its radiance has vanished, just like that of the moon behind a cloud. You are full of sighs and don’t enjoy betel leaves and sweets as you did before. Get up now, and tell us what ails you?’

Hearing the commotion in Usha’s apartment, the servants went to her mother. ‘The princess has stopped speaking since her return from the water sports,’ they said. ‘She looks weak and keeps lying down. Perhaps she should be seen by physicians.’

‘What has happened, good girl?’ the queen her mother asked, as she held Usha’s hand and cracked her own fingers for good luck. ‘The physicians are here and want to know.’

‘We know that the princess had gone with her friends to the water sports of the goddess Parvati,’ said the physicians. ‘That must have caused fatigue which has led to exhaustion,
body aches and sleepiness. There is nothing to fear in this.

But the queen remained concerned. ‘Sandal paste with ice was put on her breast, physicians,’ she remarked, ‘but it soon began to bubble as if boiling. What is this? Her body is very hot; she is constantly perspiring. She is also thirsty, but does not take anything and only keeps wailing. Tell me for certain what this could be according to your science.’

‘There were many women around the god during his sports,’ the physicians said. ‘The princess is beautiful beyond compare. Her ailment has been caused by some evil eye, warding off which needs protective spells and anointment with holy water containing mustard seeds to give relief.’ While leaving they also mentined that the illness could be due to sexual desire.

Questioned at length by her mother, the modest Usha wept aloud, saying, ‘I don’t want to talk, mother, or to eat or indulge in any
entertainment. My heart is on fire!’

The other women looked at each other. ‘Youth can become an embarrassment for womankind,’ they observed. ‘What can one say? This princess is now fit for a husband. With the grace of her father and mother, may she get one who suits her.’

Then came the month of Vaishakh. On the twelfth night of the waxing moon, when that pretty girl slept in the palace surrounded by her aides, the ordained man came in a dream and made love to her. She struggled and cried but, fired by the words of the goddess, she reciprocated and also made love to him and was made a complete woman in that dream.

She woke up suddenly that night, wet with blood and weeping loudly. Her companions were frightened. The closest to her among them was Chitralekha. ‘Don’t be so scared, Usha,’ she said affectionately. ‘Why are you crying and distraught? You are Bali’s granddaughter and have nothing to fear. Your father defeats even
the gods. Get up, there is no need for distress in a place like this.’

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