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