The Daughter from a Wishing Tree Read online

  Suddenly, a celestial voice boomed, ‘The statue is hidden in the sand. You may view it tomorrow.’

  The following day, at the break of dawn, the king ran to the beach. However, he saw only a log of wood. The celestial voice again instructed the king, ‘Pray to Vishwakarma, the architect of the heavens. He will help you.’

  And so, Indradyumna began his prayers in earnest. While he was praying, a mysterious old man arrived. He had an ethereal presence and a calm demeanour. The man told Indradyumna that he would convert the divine log of wood into three statues of Jagannath (a form of Vishnu), Balabhadra (Krishna’s brother, Balarama) and Subhadra (Krishna’s sister).

  However, the old man set a condition. ‘I will help you, dear king, but I must do my work with the door closed. Nobody must disturb me until I am done. I shall open the door myself once the task is complete.’

  King Indradyumna was ecstatic and agreed to the condition.

  The work began, and a few months passed. Neither did the door open even once nor was there a request for food. What’s more—there was no sound from the inside! Indradyumna and his wife, the queen, became anxious. ‘What if the old man has died?’ the queen wondered.

  ‘Let’s open the door,’ she said to the king.

  At first, the king resisted, but after much coaxing, he gave in. The soldiers forced their way inside the room and found that the statues were not yet complete. The king, who had accompanied his men, saw that the old man was no longer there, but instead, saw Vishwakarma. He instantly realized that it was the architect of the heavens who had been the one working on the statues.

  ‘Your foolishness has forced me to leave the work half-done. The statues will now remain like this with no hands,’ thundered Vishwakarma. ‘However, Lord Jagannath, being as compassionate as he is, will still bless the kingdom.’

  Vishwakarma disappeared and the half-made wooden statues remained in the inner sanctum of the room.

  Today, if you visit the Jagannath Temple in Odisha, you will see the three deities without their hands.

  Though the statues were incomplete, Indradyumna was still very grateful that the lord was ensuring the protection of everybody in his kingdom. He declared, ‘Whoever rules the kingdom of Kalinga must remember that he is not the owner of the empire. The owner is Lord Jagannath, and we are his servants. To showcase his genuine sentiment, each king must clean the chariot himself before the annual chariot festival, which we shall call the Rath Yatra.’

  The generations that came after Indradyumna followed his instructions. Among these rulers was a brave prince, Purushottama Deva, who was a powerful and just leader of the empire. The prince’s royal family considered Jagannath to be their master. In order to show his humility and obedience, the prince would sweep the chariot with a golden broom every year, indicating to the world and his subjects that he was a mere servant of the lord.

  In time, he heard of the beautiful Padmavati, the princess of Kanchipuram, and through his officials sent word of a marriage proposal to her. The princess, however, became enraged and declared in open court, ‘How can I marry a royal scavenger who sweeps the ground with a golden broom?’

  The news reached the prince instantly, and he decided to teach the princess a lesson. He invaded Kanchipuram, defeated the king, imprisoned Padmavati and brought her back to Puri. He took nothing else from the kingdom.

  Back in the capital, and without even seeing the princess, the prince instructed his chief minister, ‘Please ensure that this arrogant princess is married to a scavenger as soon as possible.’

  Luckily for him, the chief minister of Kalinga was a wise old man. He knew that sometimes people spoke and acted in anger without understanding the consequences. Padmavati had surely made an error by looking down upon the prince in public, but she also did not deserve such a dire punishment. So, the chief minister hid her from the prince and kept her safely. He taught her how to be modest and merciful to others. Over time, Padmavati learnt much from the wise man and regretted her vain behaviour.

  The next year at the chariot festival, the prince arrived in a spotless white outfit, armed with a golden broom. As always, he began cleaning the chariot speedily. Suddenly, a beautiful maiden approached him, and before he could gather his thoughts, she garlanded him.

  The prince stopped in his tracks. He asked her, ‘Who are you, young maiden? How dare you garland me?’

  The princess said in a shy and quiet voice, ‘I am your wife now since I have completed one of the ceremonies necessary for a marriage.’

  The prince was furious.

  Just then, the chief minister intervened, ‘Sire, this is Padmavati, the princess of Kanchipuram.’

  The king had almost forgotten about her. ‘I told you to marry her off to a scavenger,’ he yelled at the minister. ‘Why isn’t she married yet?’

  The chief minister was calm. ‘But, sire, I have fulfilled your instructions. You are carrying a golden broom, and you have just swept the chariot. You are, indeed, a scavenger to God, and now she is married to you.’

  The prince was surprised by this turn of events. He realized that the chief minister had made the right decision, and he pardoned Padmavati.

  The minister added, ‘O dear prince! You must never do anything in anger or in a hurry. Important decisions that affect people’s lives must be deliberated over with care and concern. May Lord Jagannath protect both of you and may you live happily ever after.’

  Even today, the head of the royal family in Puri cleans the chariot every year with a golden broom at the beginning of the Rath Yatra. There are three chariots in the yatra: one for Krishna, one for Balabhadra and one for Subhadra. The wooden deities are placed on the chariots and taken to the end of the road to their aunt’s house—Gundecha Temple—where the statues are installed for a week before being returned to their original home. This is the only temple in India that doesn’t have its deities for an entire week!

  Soldiers in the Elephant’s Stomach

  This tale is from Swapna Vasavadatta, or Vasavadatta’s Dream, a Sanskrit play written by an ancient Indian playwright named Bhasa.

  King Udayana of Vatsadesha was young, handsome, compassionate and pious. He was known for his mastery of his veena called Ghoshavati. He was so good at the instrument that when he played in the forest, elephants came to hear the music.

  The king had lost his parents and relied on the advice of his extraordinary chief minister, Yaugandharayana. The minister was aware that other kings kept a close eye on the kingdom because of its young and inexperienced ruler, so he would frequently tell Udayana, ‘O sire! I appreciate your love for the fine arts, but you are also a king. Please keep your focus only on the welfare of your subjects and maintain diplomatic relations with your neighbouring kingdoms.’

  King Udayana, however, wouldn’t always listen.

  One of the neighbouring kings, Pradyota, the ruler of Avanti, had a beautiful daughter named Vasavadatta. She excelled at almost everything. Pradyota was in search of a suitable groom for his daughter, but nobody was a match for her skills. People would often comment to the king, ‘Only Udayana is a fit husband for her, but he doesn’t want to get married. He is happy with his veena and barely has time for anything else.’

  After some thought, Pradyota hatched a plan. He called the most skilled carpenters in his kingdom and asked them to make a huge lifelike elephant that was hollow inside. After it was built, Pradyota asked his soldiers to get inside it and placed the elephant in a corner of his kingdom, right next to the border of Udayana’s kingdom. At the same time, he spread a rumour in both the kingdoms that a gigantic elephant has entered the forests of Avanti and is causing chaos among the subjects.

  Soon, the news reached Udayana who was about to depart to the forest to play the veena. Yaugandharayana stopped him. ‘O king! There is something fishy about the news we have received. I haven’t heard any of our men confirming the existence of an enormous elephant. Our people haven’t reported anything unusual on our side of the ki