Ancient Indians - Stories by Satya Sarada

Kandula

Authorship and Copyright Notice : This is a collection of

original stories by Satya Sarada Kandula. All Rights
Reserved.
Ancient Indians - Stories by Satya Sarada Kandula............................................................1
1.Vinayaka ......................................................................................................................3
2.Karna.............................................................................................................................4
3.Daksha.........................................................................................................................10
5.Kaikeyi........................................................................................................................18
 1. Vinayaka

Thousands of years ago, a very brave, powerful and wise warrior, the commander-in-chief of
all the hordes of the Lord of the Himalayas, protected all the people who lived in the country
from the mountain ranges of the north to the seas of the south. The people of this country
viewed him as benign and lovable, as a deity who would destroy all obstacles to their
prosperity. The people of the neighboring countries viewed him as a terrifying being, who
needed to be placated out of fear. The people of the country celebrated his birthday in style.
They made wonderful asanas for him to sit on, offered him water to wash his feet and hands.
They gave him clear water to drink and worshipped him with beautiful flowers and fragrant
incense and sandalwood. They made him so many delicious things to eat. They made sure
that he was shaded by a white umbrella and that there was plenty of sugarcane about. He had
a big head, big ears and a large stomach. He was very fond of sweets. He was very talented.
There was nothing he could not do. He could sing, play music, dance and fight. He was an
expert in all that was there to know. Once one of his friends (Chandra) laughed at his big
stomach. He turned half a horde (danta) of his on Chandra. Chandra was very sorry and
apologised at once. Vinayaka ruled that no one should invite Chandra home again and offer
him hospitality and worship. Chandra asked for a lighter sentence. Then Vinayaka relented a
little. He said that if he was invited and worshipped first and this story was remembered then
it was alright for people to look at Chandra and be friends with him.

Vinayaka loved small children and would help them with their questions and studies. He
knew all the answers. He could explain things in a way that children would understand at
once. Children used to keep all their books ready for Vinayaka’s visit. Vinayaka had a deep
and understanding heart. When grown-ups took their problems to him, he not only solved
their problems, but he also removed their sorrow. As the people of the country prospered and
multiplied, and with the passage of time, people started making pictures and images of
Vinayaka and showing all their love, devotion and respect to the image. They told their
children that Vinayaka now lived in their hearts. So that the children could eat all the
delicious things made for Vinayaka as long as it was offered to Him first. Children would
keep their books under the image of Ganesha as the asana and make umbrellas for him out of
paper. The people would offer him water, flowers, salutations and delicious snacks as they
always had, from times immemorial. They entertained Him with their music and dance. And
Vinayaka would help the children with their studies and the grown-ups with their problems
and needs as He always had done. They loved Him as their dearest friend and He protected
them.

2. Karna
Radheya, (the son of Radha) stood on the river bank. It was time for the morning ablutions.
Time to offer water to Surya. (The Sun).

He stood tall, radiant and proud. Shining brilliantly like the Sun above him. Conscious of his
strength, his powerful arms and body and his dazzling good looks. It was good to be
Vasusena (one born with wealth : his natural armour and ear-rings) that morning. He had
still not acquired the name Karna (the cutter : of his natural armor).

He came home to his mother Radha. His joy in himself clearly reflected in her loving,
admiring, proud eyes. “My darling son,” she said, setting about getting him something to eat,
“what’s all the excitement about?”.
“I am going to win”, he said. “I am like the Sun himself in brilliance, No one is a better archer
than me”. “My blessings are with you my dear Radheya” she said. “Win, and make me proud
of you. But is there a competition?”

“There is an exhibition in which the Kuru princes are going to display their proficiency to the
king. Everybody is going there. I will go and display my prowess there”, he said.

Radha’s face creased with worry. She remembered the day, her husband Adiratha had found
their son, with his natural armor, ear-rings and radiance and the joy he had brought them.

She remembered, how the Kuru teacher, Drona, rejected him for not being a Kshatriya. She
remembered the day he returned home cursed by his Guru, Parasurama.
Vasusena had pretended that he was a Brahman, but Parasurama had divined that he was a
Kshatriya in reality.
Why was this child, so bent on acquiring mastery of archery? And then, so bent on proving
himself the best? He was probably a Kshatriya or even a Half-Celestial by the looks of him.
Why could he not be content with driving a chariot like Adhiratha? Sutas(Charioteers) are
also half kshatriyas, (born of Brahman mothers). But they are content with chariot reins.
Then she thought again. “Why should my darling son, not have a fair chance? Just because I
brought him up? Why did his Kshatryia mother abandon him? The Kshatriyas abandoned
him at birth, probably an illicit affair. His Celestial father, Surya himself, more likely than
not, is content to let him be raised by Sutas. Why? And this child is so keen to take on the
Kshatriyas, to prove himself better than them. He has accurate suspicions about his real
parentage, just as we all do. And he is not content to belong with the Sutas and to do Suta
work. Had he been her natural son, would he have reconciled himself to his caste?
Radha sighed. Directly after her son left for the exhibition, she sent someone to look for
Adhiratha and sent the father after the son…..
…. “When the exhibition had well-nigh ended, the excitement of the spectators had cooled,
and the sounds of instruments had died out there was heard proceeding from the gate, the
slapping of arms, betokening might and strength, and even like unto the roar of the thunder.
And, O king, as soon as this sound was heard, the assembled multitude instantly thought,
‘Are the mountains splitting or is the earth itself rending asunder, or is the welkin resounding
with the roar of gathering clouds? And then all the spectators turned their eyes towards the
gate”….the MahaBharata

Vasusena made a spectacular entrance at the exhibition. He performed all the amazing feats
of Arjuna, the best Kuru archer. Duryodhana was delighted. He hated his Pandava cousins
and considered himself a match for Bhima anyday. But he always feared that no one would
be a match for Arjuna. In the inevitable conflict for the throne of Hasthinapura, he wanted a
supreme archer on his side. He embraced Vasusena and offered him whatever he wanted.
Vasusena only wanted a single combat with Arjuna.
Arjuna angrily readied himself for combat. Vasusena took up his bow and arrows. The
celestials Indra and Surya, the fathers of Arjuna and Vasusena viewed the arena from the sky
blessing their own sons. Kunthi viewed both her sons, each one ready to slay the other in
battle and swooned. When she was revived with sandal-paste and water, she maintained a
terror-stricken silence.
Then the Kuru teacher, Kripa introduced Arjuna, as a Kuru prince, a Pandava, (son of Pandu)
and the youngest son of Kunthi and he asked Karna to state his lineage. For the law of the
land was that only equals could fight.

Karna’s handsome face lost its radiant pride. Lineage mattered. And though the son of the
Sun and the eldest son of Kunthi, guessed his lineage he could not lay claim to it.

Kunthi did not speak. Did she hold her honor above the honor of her first born son? Or did
she see only shame for both of them in such a disclosure? Did she value honor over love for
her son? Who knows why? As an innocent maiden she had no courage to acknowledge her
son – she cast him into the river in a basket. As the celebrated mother of five powerful,
obedient men, themselves half-celestials – she still thought it fit to keep quiet. Even when her
eldest and youngest sons stood there preparing for single combat.

It was Duryodhana who spoke.

…………Duryodhana said, ‘O preceptor, verily the scriptures have it that three classes of
persons can lay claim to royalty, viz., persons of the blood royal, heroes, and lastly, those that
lead armies. If Phalguna (Arjuna) is unwilling to fight with one who is not a king, I will install
Karna as king of Anga’ .….Mahabharata
And that he did.

Karna turned to him with gratitude. “What can I do for you in exchange?” he asked.
Suyodhana said “Be my friend”. And they embraced each other in joy, and experienced great
happiness.

At this point in the story a joyful Adiratha ran forward, and hugged Karna with tears of love.
Seeing the charioteer, the Pandava Bhima took Karna for a charioteer’s son, and derided him
as unfit for Anga, for a single combat with Arjuna and fit only to hold a charioteer’s whip in
his hands.

The great, radiant, hero Karna paled at these words. With slightly quivering lips he looked at
the Sun. The Sun, his Celestial father, who could cover him with glory would not speak, and
the Suta, his low-caste father who spoke inopportunely.

Then like an angered elephant the powerful Duryodhana spoke again and chided Bhima.

……..”Might is the cardinal virtue of a Kshatriya, and even a Kshatriya of inferior birth
deserveth to be fought with. The lineage of heroes, like the sources of a lordly river, is ever
unknown. The fire that covereth the whole world riseth from the waters. The thunder that
slayeth the Danavas was made of a bone of (a mortal named) Dadhichi. The illustrious deity
Guha, who combines in his composition the portions of all the other deities is of a lineage
unknown. Some call him the offspring of Agni; some, of Krittika, some, of Rudra, and some
of Ganga. It hath been heard by us that persons born in the Kashatriya order have become
Brahmanas. Viswamitra and others (born Kshatriyas) have obtained the eternal Brahma. The
foremost of all wielders of weapons, the preceptor Drona hath been born in a waterpot and
Kripa of the race of Gotama hath sprung from a clump of heath. Your own births, ye Pandava
princes, are known to me. Can a she-deer bring forth a tiger (like Karna), of the splendour of
the Sun, and endued with every auspicious mark, and born also with a natural mail and ear-
rings? This prince among men deserveth the sovereignty of the world, not of Anga only, in
consequence of the might of his arm and my swearing to obey him in everything. If there be
anybody here to whom all that I have done unto Karna hath become intolerable, let him
ascend his chariot and bend his bow with the help of his feet.”…..Mahabharata
At that time the Sun set, and the debate ended. Kunti was relieved and happy to see her son
crowned the king of Anga.
…..“And Duryodhana, O monarch, having obtained Karna (in this way), banished his fears
arising out of Arjuna’s proficiency in arms. And the heroic Karna, accomplished in arms,
began to gratify Duryodhana by sweet speeches”…..Mahabharata

……
Radheya excitedly talked to his mother. “Mother, I am a king now. Why don’t you look
excited? Aren’t you proud of me?”.
Radha spoke carefully to her son. “Sweet Child, we are not one of them. Friendship with
superiors brings no good result. And Duryodhana is one who has tried to poison his own
cousin. The people speak no good of him. He is rash and rude to his elders. He respects not
the rights and status of his cousins. He is counseled by his crooked, devious uncle. His father
is blinded by ambition. You are beholden to him for the kingdom and you will be bound by
gratitude to a person who is unworthy of it. Do you need this kingdom? This appreciation of
those who have have always rejected you…your natural parents, teachers….” Radha paused.

“Mother, I know who my natural parents are. I can guess. Why was I rejected by my class?
For my natural mother’s fault not mine. My abilities correspond to those of my natural class.
I am brave, handsome, powerful and gifted. Today I was recognized for my abilities” said
Radheya.

“Your abilities were recognized by a man who wants to use you against his cousins in order to
attain the kingdom. Your friend is no social reformer who has gone around benefiting the
causes of the downtrodden.” said Radha.

Adiratha came in to the room. Vasusena smiled at him, “Father, what do you like about being
a charioteer?” Adiratha smiled back and said “Oh Great King! My son, I love the horses, the
speed, the exactness with which I can control my chariot, only the legendary King Nala must
be better than me”. Karna turned to his mother. “And that is the way it is with me and
archery. This is what comes to me naturally and what I do best. This is what I would like to
spend my life doing and perfecting. Only Duryodhana, has offered me this opportunity to be
a king, a warrior and an archer and I am going to take it.”

Radha looked at her brilliant son, pride and love in her eyes. She said, ”Krishna could give
you all this … and more. He is the friend of the people, of the friendless. He is the destroyer of
the enemies of the people. He has the interests of others at heart. He would be with you in
every battle that you have to fight, your mentor, your friend, your guide, even your
charioteer, if that is what you need. Choose Krishna for your friend. He is, most likely your
natural cousin, your mother’s brother’s son. Choose him, glory will follow at your heels.”

“The Duryodhanas of the world will seek you out because they need you to serve their
interest. But Krishna you will have to seek, with the love and devotion that your heart is so
full of. A leaf, a handful of puffed rice, a letter, a wish, a cry, an entreaty, anything will bring
him to you. He is on the side of Dharma. If you must ask something of someone ask it of
Krishna.” Then Radha fell silent.

“Dear Mother,” Karna responded, “You wish me to befriend Krishna, but I want to be like
him. I too give anyone, anything, they ask of me. As the Sun shines on sinner and saint alike.
If I seek Krishna, to ask him for a kingdom, will I not be like Duryodhana who you criticize as
self-serving? In my heart I too love Krishna as everyone does. I can guess who he really must
be, I too have heard of all the wonders.”

“Duryodhana gave me the kingdom without my asking. He asked for my friendship in return.
And this I have committed. If Krishna were to befriend only the virtuous, is there any man
alive deserving of his friendship? Would Krishna count his losses before helping or giving?
Should I? What has anyone ever done for Krishna? What can they do, even if they wanted
to?”

“My Dharma is generosity. My passion is archery and it is your love that fills my heart. These
principles will guide my life and lead me to glory. Maybe one day Krishna himself will come
to me, there may be something I can do for him.”

The King of Anga bowed down to touch Radha’s feet. Her eyes became moist as she blessed
him with every element of her being. Adiratha blessed Karna, the son of the Sun and Radha,
the mother of the King.

Jan 2005.

Authorship and Copyright Notice : All Rights Reserved: Satya Sarada Kandula
 3. Daksha

Emergence of Daksha

Daksha waited outside looking at the sky, waiting for the sun to set. He loved the moment
when the stars started twinkling into existence, at first one by one and later several at a time
as daylight faded. He loved to look at the sky. There was nothing as beautiful and as precise
and predictable as the sun and the moon and the stars.
He was young, strong, handsome and very fond of his lovely wife, Prasuti. They called him
Daksha, the dexterous! They said he was born of the thumb of Brahma. Daksha laughed.,
they just said any old thing. What if some fool were to take them literally?Brahma worried
about that laughter. ‘This one is just too confident of himself’, he thought. ‘They will think he
is arrogant”.

“And who is “they”? father,’ he would ask. ” ‘They’, that think things and label people.. I have
no time for such vague people or vague statements.”

“Must be brother Manu,” he thought. “I have never seen another being with views so rigid.
He and Bhrgu! Always talking of ethics and purity and rules. So sure that they were better
than everyone else! Actually, one had to concede that Bhrgu was a wizard of sorts.. he could
cure people of anything and was not in the least scared of the muck that people had under
their skin or the icky stuff that oozed out. And Manu was a legal wizard, and expert at
sociology and principles that governed the behaviour of people. Sometimes though, he didn’t
see people as .. well human people!”
Prasuti laughed. “Careful when you criticise my father,” she said warningly. “You are no
bundle of humility!”

“Send my darling little Sati to me, I want to show her something”, he told his wife. Daksha
thought that his daughter Sati was the Devi herself. Brilliant, beautiful, insightful, gentle,
brave and proud! None of that timid deference that other women were given to. She was
fearlessness personified.

“Father, here I am”, she said. ‘Are you going to show me the stars again?” she asked happily.
Daksha smiled a ‘yes’ at her.

“That there in the east is where the stars, sun and moon rise”, he said, “and there in the west
is where they set. And your grandfather Brahma showed me how the sun and the moon rise a
little more towards the north every day for half the time and a little more to the south every
day for half the time.”

“I know!” yelled Sati. “And that there is Thatha’s favorite star – Shravista (now called
Dhanishta) towards the south”. Daksha put on a serious expression. “I need your help to do a
little project young lady!” he said. “First, for a whole month we are going to watch the moon,
and we are going to watch which stars he is near and how much time he spends with each
one. And we’ll number them.”
“No, we’ll give them names” Sati said. “Alright, and we’ll make a little model out of bamboo
strips bent into perfect circles and stick little bits of clay to mark the special stars” said
Daksha. “If I name the stars ‘they’ will call them my daughters”, he sighed.

“But ‘we’ don’t care what ‘they’ think, do we father?”, she asked. “No, we don’t”, he said.
Their project ran into several months as they made their model more and more accurate. The
stars had to be bright, easy to distinguish and equally spaced along the north-south as well as
along the east-west axes. Some stars were a little closer together and some were a little
further apart. On some nights Bhrgu joined them. When her uncle Bhrgu came over, Sati
used to point out the patterns she saw in the sky. “Do you see that goat’s head? That star
there is Asvini” she said. “And do you see that bull? It is my Siva who rides it, we call that star
aRudra, because it is reddish..”

Bhrgu turned to Daksha. “What is this talk of ‘my Siva’ ?” he demanded. “She’s a child,”
Daksha replied.
“Manu says that a girl is a young lady at 8 years” said Bhrgu. “You just made that up, you are
the one who does all that biology stuff. Not Manu!” said Daksha.

Prasuti intervened, “Whoever said it, Sati is a young lady and you are not raising her like a
girl. You keep her up late and fill her head with stars and numbers. She takes no interest in
dressing and housework. How long do you plan to do this?’

Daksha said “Sati is Devi herself. When she sits next to me the heavens light up and so does
my brain. I can think clearly and understand perfectly. Narry a cloud blocks my vision. Stars
or no stars, she is not an ordinary girl”.

After Bhrgu left, Prasuti spoke to Daksha, “When she is not talking stars and numbers to you,
she is talking aboutSiva to everyone else, she has decided to marry him.”
Daksha was in a dilemna. While he did not technically believe in jathis or races, he did not
actually think his daughter would choose someone whose parentage was unknown and
unknowable. What a headache! Manu would give him an earful. Manu and Bhrgu wanted
what they called racial purity. They believed that the descendants of Brahma should keep
together and marry only within the clan. There was no use to talking to them.
Daksha called on Vasishtha. ” ‘They’ say you are born from the mind of our father Brahma”,
he said. Vasishtha laughed, ” ‘They’ should be careful, some folks might take them literally,”
he said. “What they really mean to say is that I have understood his thought and wisdom in
its essence, but ‘they’ like shortcuts, it makes it more poetic!”
Daksha spoke “I have a real issue. My daughter Sati has set her heart on Siva. They say that
he has three eyes and lives in a cremation ground with snakes and other animals. He is
definitely not one of us, not a brahmana. Manu won’t like this.”
Vasishtha said,”It is not Manu’s life. It is Sati’s. You know that I am going to marry
Arundhati. She is not a brahman either. Manu understands sociology – how most people can
be made to conform to rules that will benefit the society as he understands it. But he does not
appear to get psychology, how individuals feel and behave. We are not here to create a pure
race. We are here to understand the divine.”

He paused, then continued “By the way your little girl has been telling me all about your
project. I think that if people aligned their life events to the stars, then life would be orderly,
dates would be easy to remember and we would know which dates are luckier than others.”

Daksha groaned, ” Not you too. Our genius brother Bhrgu has started mapping out
thousands of combinations of what he calls ‘horoscopes’, based on these star positions that I
am working out. He is gathering data of everyone he knows and making predictions for
everyone that may ever be born at any time. He says his daughter Sridevi is helping him with
this”.

The next day, there was a family debate. “Individual freedom and Aspirations Vs Social Order
and racial purity.” No one would grant the other’s point. When Bhrgu tried to say something,
they shushed him saying – “You believe in destiny and fate. What right do you have to debate
when you don’t even believe in free will?”

Prasuti spoke,”Racial purity will require controlling women … and men for that matter. If a
father has the ultimate right to gift his daughter to a worthy man, then she forfeits her right
to marry the penniless man that she loves. It is against free choice”.

Manu said, “Na Stri Svatantram Arhati – A woman does not deserve freedom”. Prasuti got
upset but did not wish to contradict her father. Then Sati spoke laughingly, “Yaa Stri
Svatantram Chahati, Saa stri Svatantram Arhati! – That woman who desires freedom,
deserves it!” Manu looked at Sati. When she spoke it wasn’t like a human debating a rule. It
was like a divine decree. She was like the Devi herself.

Daksa said, “Father, in a short time the sun will set and Sati and I have to work on our
project. Prasuti won’t let us work on an empty stomach. Let’s discuss this some other time”.
Vasisihtha and Sridevi, Bhrgu’s daughter, also wanted to go with Daksha.

Bhrgu and Manu stayed back with Brahma. “They will think you are a bigot, Manu, you have
to ease up a little.” said Brahma.

Manu spoke, “But father, that is because ‘they’ never hear me out completely. Daksha does
not even treat sociology like a proper subject. I am not talking of racial purity as they try to
project. ‘They’ claim that I am talking about racial purity and then they force me to defend a
stand that they project on me. Some fool might believe them.”

He continued, “What I am talking if high specialisations, in mathematics, science, philosophy

and engineering that will come if families dedicate themselves to a profession. Look at
Daksha, he learnt Astronomical Siddhantam (it is now called Pitamaha Siddhantam) from
you, his father and he is teaching his daughter now. Bhrgu and Vasishtha are learning from
his observations and enhancing their work. That is community, family and clans working,
whether are not Daksha and Vasishtha agree. Viswakarma and his family are brilliant with
architecture, goldsmithy and city planning. I hear that he has made a bow for Vishnu, that
has to bee seen to be believed. If you allow our country to specialise in their professions on
family lines, this will be the greatest of all countries. No one will hold back their knowledge
from their darling children.”
Brahma said, “I understand you. By the way, I have seen your work on time measurement.
That is excellent. And your piece on ethics and law is brilliant. It is just the rules that you
have made which curtail individual freedom that people resent. Happiness lies in self-
determination. People want choice.”

Manu said, “I don’t care much for all that psychology stuff, Vasishtha goes ON about it, so.
Individuals must restrain themselves and follow rules for the benefit of society. The well-
being of an individual lies in the well-being of the country.” Bhrgu looked at Manu with great
admiration. He said, “I guarantee that my children and their childrenremember every word
you say. I will train them to make any sacrifice for the well-being of this country.”
At Daksha’s place, Sati had taken upon herself the role of the official spokesperson of their
project. She showed Sridevi, the pole star that had never moved in all their months of
observation. “We call it Dhruva, the firm”, she said. “Uncle Vasishtha says that it can be
attained only by a person of great and unflinching resolve to a noble cause.”
As the stars appeared at different times on different nights, she would point them out. One
day she pointed atAuriga. “We name that one after Thatha, our grandfather, Brahma.” she
said. “Uncle Vasishtha!”, she called, “Can you see those seven stars? The second one there,
we named after you. We have named one after Arundhati aunty as well, there near the
kruthika cluster (Pleiades)”.
After the ‘project time’ was over, Sridevi and Sati would go off by themselves. “My father is
going to give me to Vishnu in marriage,” said Sridevi delightedly, “What about your story?
Any luck?”

Sati said, “Easy! From tomorrow, I don’t eat, till I get my way. If I so much as skip breakfast,
mother will bring more pressure to bear on father than he can handle. He will land up at
Siva’s door and offer my hand in marriage”.

It was as Sati said. Daksha found himself asking Nandi for a meeting with Siva. As Siva came
up to greet him, Daksha was struck by his brilliant good looks and radiance, that no amount
of ash or snakes could hide. “If I was this good looking, I would not care about a bath or
ornaments either, he thought. “Where is that ‘third eye’ they talk about? The one that shoots
fire?” he asked directly, without any preamble.
Siva laughed heartily. That wondrous, joyous laughter rang around the hills and valleys. The
sun shone brighter and gentler, the winds became fragrant and Daksha was transfixed by
Siva’s twinkling eyes. At that minute, he knew, deep in his heart, without really knowing why,
that Siva was the right one for Sati. Nature herself reflected their moods. This was no
ordinary man. It was an insult, an an anachronism to ask such a man about his parentage or
his eligibility.

Siva spoke, “The third eye they speak about is my gnyananethram – eye of knowledge. I am
an expert in Yoga and detached from the duality. So I can think clearly and can accept the
truth, which is there for all to see. ‘They’ are blinded by their preferences and so do not
accept the truth which their eyes and mind reveal. So rather than calling themselves
prejudiced, they like to say that I have a third eye.”

“Please marry my daughter”, Daksha said urgently. “She is fasting and is adamant about
marrying you. She will have none other. I am helpless against her will. And now that I have
seen you, I know she is right.”

“I will come with you right away,” said Siva.

At Daksha’s place, Siva saw the model they had made and understood what they were trying
to do.

Sati came out and said directly, ” ‘They’ call this the DakshaYajna. Everyone one I know has
been to see it. In my family any long and difficult task is called a Yajnam. And we have been
doing it for months”. Siva smiled at Sati, “I see your father is right about you, anyone would
be helpless against your will. And I can see where you would not give importance to the same
things that other girls give importance to.” Sati smiled back, ” ‘They’ see the form and not the
substance, I see both.” “Will you have me for your wife?”. Siva laughed his wondrous laugh
again. “So, I am not to be allowed the privilege of asking your father for you. Yes, of course I
will marry you. I have never met a woman, who wished to live near cremation grounds,
covered with ash and surrounded by animals and hill-folk, who spends most of his time in
Yogic Dhyana (contemplation).”
Vasishtha heard about Siva’s visit and rushed to Daksha’s place, touched his feet and sought
his blessings. “I hear that you have accepted my brother’s daughter. We are blessed for
eternity.” Daksha was surprised. Vasishtha as oblivious to Daksha’s mood, “I am planning to
compose a work called the Yoga Vasishtham. I am composing someVeda Mantras, which not
only praise the Sun and the Ocean, but which also encode all the astronomical
discoveries of my brother Daksha and my father, Brahma. I am working on a
system of auspicious muhurtams or lucky times. Anyone who commences his work at those
instants of celestial alignments will be sure to succeed in their endeavours. I am talking to
Agni and others and learning all the histories of times past. All I needed was a darshan
(sight) of you, to untangle all my ideas, into clear streams of thought and expression. They
say that not only do you have all the answers, but you are all the answers. I and all my
descendants are forever blessed”.
Daksha was surprised,”Does one bow to one who is younger? Or to the one who gifts his
daughter in marriage?”. He shook his head, ” I am thinking like Manu now. If Vasishtha does
it, it must be right, though I can’t understand half the things he says”.

“O Sati, what will happen to our project, now that you are off getting married?” Daksha said
sadly. “Manu does say it is a waste educating girls. When they get married, they go away,
unlike sons who stay on”. Sati laughed, “I believe that the girl going away is a also a rule
made by the boys. Don’t worry, my uncles Vasishtha and Bhrgu, want us to wait till
UttaraPhalguni Nakshatram (Denebola/Zavijaya). Siva will help us finish the project by
then.” Daksha gave a smile and said,”Vasishtha thinks that we should order our lives as per
celestial movements. Bhrgu thinks that our lives are already ordered as per celestial
movements. But they joyfully work together without appearing to see the essential, logical
contradictions in their views.”
Siva was a godsend as far as Daksha was concerned. He understood without speech. He
helped make a more robust model, than what Sati and he had managed till them. He
understood things like wheel balancing and centre of gravity. He suggested adding small
paddles to the wheels so that the wheels could be turned by water. Manu’s time measurement
devices were very useful in making a scaled model. They could quickly simulate, what would
happen months, or even years down the line. He never needed to sleep and they could work
through the night and day. He suggested that Daksha take Viswakarma’s model and get it
made out of gold.

Everyone still called it Dakshayajna. Sati felt that Siva should get a share of the credit too and
talked to her father. Siva sensed that Daksha wanted all the credit, it was “his” project from
the beginning. Siva had only come in the end. It was not easy changing Sati’s mind. Finally,
Siva said, “Let it go Sati, you and I know what all we deserve credit for. You never wanted any
credit for yourself, then why for me? And your father is brilliant with his observations. I am
just helping a little with the modelling. He has divided each nakshatra into 4 padas
(quarters). He has added a circle for each pada. Now when the wheels turn you can see each
pada of each star rise and set in turn. You can also see which nakshatra is rising when which
nakshatra is setting. That really makes it easy for knowing daytime movements and
positions.”
Sati said, “Yes, now if only, we could add some horizontal circles showing how the sun and
the moon move… Have you told him that we will be leaving for the Himalayas as soon as we
get married? My grandfather Brahma, thinks that we rely too much on the mountains and
oceans to guard us and it will be good if we ‘manned’ our borders.”

“No one has the courage to tell your mother, that will be your job”, said Siva. “Himavantha
and Menaka are very excited that you are coming, they look upon you as their own daughter,
everyone their is waiting for their Parvathi Devi. The have heard and firmly believe that you
are the Devi herself.”

Siva and Daksha were giving a final finish to the Dakshayajna project model. Daksha wanted
to decide on a zero point. I have made a sort of imaginary star called Daksha (Abhijit) that
overlaps with the end of Uttarashada. That can be the staring point he said. Siva did not
agree. We’ll start with Aswini, the first star of Mesha, your goat’s head, he said. Daksha was
said in mock anger. “My son-in-law, would you replace my head with a goats’s head?”
“Why, yes,” said Siva, “I would! It makes more seasonal sense. In fact, I would knock off your
imaginary 28th Daksha Nakshatram completely and leave it at your original 27!”

Daksha shook his head,”Siva doesn’t care what ‘they’ will say. ‘They’ will say that my head has
been replaced by a goat’s head. ‘They’ will draw morals from it and teach people not to be
arrogant.”

“And they will never forget you or your achievements!” said Vasishtha. “Now, no one can look
at Mesha or any of the 27 stars, without thinking of you!”

Authorship and Copyright Notice : All Rights Reserved : Satya Sarada

Kandula
Notes :
1. Manu was the author of the Manusmriti. The narrator is Bhrgu.
2. One of Bhrgu’s descendants was Chanakya, the author of Kautilya ArthaSastra. The
Artha Sastra has borrowed some parts from the ManuSmriti.
3. Bhrgu authored the Bhrgu Samhita with includes sections on horoscopy as well as
medicine.
4. In Sanskrit, the word Daksha means, right, skilled and south.
 5. Kaikeyi
Kaikeyi sat alone on the bank of the river, scrawling in the sand. “Rama” , she wrote. It is
said that one utterance of the name “Rama” is equivalent to a crore penances. Ahalya was
turned back from stone to woman just by the touch of his foot.

“Rama. My dear eldest son. No stepson. The one I cruelly banished into the forest. With his
gentle, innocent wife and loving brother. Rama, the son, without whom his father Dasaratha
could not live. My husband Dasaratha whose death I unknowingly through Rama’s
banishment. Rama, the favorite brother of my own son Bharatha. My Bharatha, who
barely tolerates my presence for the sake of my darling Rama. Rama, who has forgiven me,
who could not forgive herself. Rama who has forgiven Manthara, the crooked hunchback who
poisoned my mind. My own dear nursemaid, Manthara, who kindled my avarice to be the
queen mother. Manthara told me that Rama’s exile and Bharatha’s coronation would extend
the privileges I enjoyed as the king’s favorite queen.”

“I never knew that someone who espoused my cause, whom I trusted from
childhood, would give me advice that would bring about my downfall. I never
knew that Bharatha, my own son, would despise me for banishing his brother and causing his
father’s death. I have brought widowhood upon my own head and that of my co-wives for no
fault of theirs. My fault. Could Manthara have poisoned my mind if there was no fault in me?
No greed, no folly, no jealousy, no vanity? She merely churned my mind a little and all the
poison in it came to the surface like butter from buttermilk. The villainy must have always
been dormant in my heart.”

“Rama, the son of Kausalya whose grief is so hard to see. Kausalaya, my co-wife who lost her
husband and son thanks to me. Who grieves, but does not blame, does not retaliate. Bharatha
turns only to Kausalya for support, so much does he feel ashamed of me.”

“I am lonely. I too have lost my husband and sons. Rama I exiled, Lakshmana went with him
to be of service to him. The two who remain live with their pain of separation. They haven’t
ordered me dead, imprisoned or exiled. It is against their Dharma to ill-treat a woman, their
mother. The Dharma that I forsook at the time I exiled my eldest son. When I caused them to
lose their father. The Dharma that my sons will never forsake and will always fight to
preserve”.

“Rama. Everyone misses you – but I suffer double – because it was MY FAULT”. This is how
Kaikeyi felt.

Kaikeyi started to weep as if it would break her heart. And she went on writing Rama’s name
in the sand. Her ornaments she had long donated. She lived as simply as a hermit. She served
whom she could and practiced living unselfishly like her sons and co-wives. But the same
words rang again and again in her head. “Oh Rama, My Fault., My Stupidity”.

Rama’s fourteen years of exile ended. He flew back to Ayodhya in the Puspaka Vimanam
with Sita, Lakshmana and his victorious Vanara Army. There was a great welcome for him in
Ayodhya. The city buzzed with stories of Sita’s abduction by Ravana, Rama’s search for Sita,
his friendship with the Vanara king Sugriva, Hanuman’s discovery of Sita in Lanka, the
bridge the Vanaras built across the sea to Lanka and Ravana’s death at Rama’s hands in
battle. Ravana, that terrible ten headed Rakshasa, the violator of women and greatest burden
to mother earth.

Kaikeyi gazed upon her son with pride. “My Rama. My son. My fault. But if it hadn’t been for
me., mother earth would be still be burdened by that monster Ravana. Isn’t that so, dear
sage?” She asked Vasishtha, the royal guru. Vasishtha replied,

“AHANKARA VIMUDHATMA KARTHAHAMITI MANYATE. He who is deluded by egoism,

thinks that he is the kartha – ‘doer’.
Neither were you the cause of Rama’s exile, nor anyone’s suffering. Nor are you the cause
of Ravana’s death and Rama’s victory. Our divine Sri Hari is the only cause, the only doer.
We are only the instruments, the players.”

Notes:

Actually Sri Rama did not fly into Ayodhya in the Pushpaka Vimanam. That last part of the
journey was by chariot.

The stament Ahankara Vimudhatma is from the Bhagavad Gita and not from Valmiki
Ramayanam, Vasistha is the author of Yoga Vasisthyam.

Dasagriva, does not necessarily mean 10 headed. It is said that he had 10 crowns, one for
each region.

Kekeya (Kaikeyi’s birth place is in modern Pakisthan (See: Jijith’s map).

Ahalya being turned back from stone to woman is popular folklore. Valmiki Ramayanam
implies that her spirit was in the hermitage, not in a stone.

Authorship and Copyright Notice : All Rights Reserved : Satya Sarada

Kandula