The Five Brothers - Part Three

The villagers took the brother back to the judge and told the judge that his sentence could not be carried out.

The judge then held that the man had to be dropped into the sea and drowned to death.

The second brother studied the judge on hearing the sentence. “I have to go and tell my mother that I am now sentenced to be drowned to death.”

This was allowed and the second brother went to his brothers and mother and told them all that had happened.

The third brother who could stretch his legs as much as necessary went in place of the second brother.

The villagers carried the third brother and threw him in the water.

However, there the third brother extended his legs so much that he could touch the bottom of the sea. His face always let his face be above water. The villagers were perplexed and then carried him to deeper ocean and the same thing still happened.

The villagers were perplexed and then went back to the judge telling him that they could not carry out this sentence of the judge either.

The judge held that the man be boiled alive.

On hearing this the third brother asked the judge that he had to meet his mother and tell her the latest means of his execution.

The fourth brother came out and went with the villagers and everyone was ready to carry out the latest sentence.

The fourth brother was lowered into a kettle of boiling oil.

The fourth brother sighed because the oil was not even hot enough for a good warm bath for him.

Adapted from Chinese Folktales

The Five Brothers - Part Two

 

The boys who had accompanied the eldest brother were playing with the strange objects found at the bottom of the ocean. They did not pay heed to the eldest brother who was frantically signalling the boys to come back.

The eldest brother could no longer hold the water in and he let all the water back to where it had belonged.

Unfortunately, all the boys who had accompanied the eldest brother drowned in the water.

The eldest brother came back to the village alone. When the other villagers asked him what had happened to their boys, the eldest brother told them everything.

The villagers were furious and dragged the eldest brother before the magistrate. 

The eldest brother shook his head. “I had not asked the boys to come with me. I had agreed only after their parents forced me. After taking them along, I asked the boys to come ashore, but they refused to listen. That is why all this has happened.”

The magistrate held that the eldest brother was to be decapitated for his actions.

However, before being decapitated, the magistrate allowed the eldest brother to go and visit his mother for one last time.

The eldest brother went home and told his family all that had happened.

The second brother came out this time in place of the first brother.

The second brother knelt with bowed head and the headsman came with the knife and nicked the second brother.

Nothing happened to the second brother.

Better knives were brought, but still nothing happened.

The villagers then wondered what to do.

Adapted from Chinese Folktales

The Five Brothers - Part One

 

Once there lived an old woman who had five sons who looked alike. It was not just that, each of the five brothers had some special characteristics. The first brother could hold the entire ocean of water in his mouth for some time. The second brother’s skin was so hard that even steel could not damage his skin. The third brother could extend his legs as much as he wanted. The fourth brother was immune to fire and the fifth brother could live without breathing air.

The five brothers never told their neighbours about their peculiar characteristics and always maintained it as a secret from outsiders.

The eldest brother who could hold the entire ocean in his mouth supported the entire family by fishing. The eldest brother went to the sea and swallowed the ocean for some time and then brought back plenty of fish. After getting the fish, the eldest brother made sure that the waters in the ocean were back at its place.

Then the eldest brother took the fish back to his home.

The neighbours saw the rich haul that the eldest brother collected every single time and they all wanted the eldest brother to teach their children how to fish.

The eldest brother refused at first. But the neighbours were relentless.

Finally having no choice, the eldest brother took some of the boys from the neighbouring houses to the sea for fishing. 

When the eldest brother reached the sea, the eldest brother gulped the entire water and kept it in his mouth.

After that the eldest brother directed the other people to take the fish from the bottom of what had been the ocean.

Adapted from Chinese Folktales

The Evil One and the Rat - Part Two

However the Spirit of Creation refused after hearing the words of the people. “I will not destroy something that I have created.” The Spirit of Creation thought for some time. “However, I will create something that will help you in this war with the rats.”

So the Spirit of Creation created cats.

The cats waged a war on the rats.

Overtime, the number of rats came down.

The people rejoiced and were happy again.

After this, a wise old man reminded the people of something important. “We should never speak bad about the rats. We should not talk evilly about anything created by the Spirit of Creation. You must remember that the Spirit of Creation punished the Evil One for speaking bad about his creations.”

The people nodded as the old man continued. “Besides everything that is created has some use. Even the rat bit off the tongue of the Evil One.”

Adapted from Japanese Folktales

The Evil One and the Rat - Part One

 

The Spirit of Creation had finished the work and came to see what had been done. There were mountains, rivers, rice fields and beautiful valleys. The trees danced in the wind and beautiful flowers all over.

The Spirit of Creation was very happy.

The Evil One suddenly appeared before the Spirit of Creation. “You do not have to be so happy.” The Evil One sneered. “There are many things that you have created that are neither useful nor beautiful. This thistle is ugly. The bramble is not useful either.” The Evil One studied the Spirit of Creation. “If I had created things, I would have done it much better.”

The Spirit of Creation became very angry on hearing this. From the anger of the Spirit of Creation, a rat was created.

The rat looked huge and fierce.

As soon as the rat had been created, the rat jumped into the mouth of the Evil One and bit off the tongue of the Evil One.

The Evil One screamed in pain. But then the Evil One realized it. If the rats are here, they can torment all of earth.

So the Evil One increased the number of rats until the rats overran the Land of Ainu.

After this the people were very unhappy. The rats carried off their grains and gnawed the huts that people made and also frightened little children. 

So the people went to the Spirit of Creation. “Please take these pests away.”

Adapted from Japanese Folktales

The Strange Story of King Kanakavarsha and Madanasundari - Part Nine

After this, Ratnaprabha, the Nagi brought Madanasundari and the little baby to the king.

The king was thrilled to see his family and that was when Ratnaprabha continued. “When I heard the curse of Skanda, I took your wife and child away from you, so that they would not have to suffer because of your curse.”

The king was stunned because he realized that his aunt had been the terrible woman who had in reality kept his family safe.

Ratnaprabha smiled at the king. “The dream that you had as described by the monk meant that you would undergo three life-threatening events and then things would go back to normal for you. Now that you have overcome all of that, you can take your family and go back to your own kingdom.”

On hearing this, Muktiphala realized the mistake that he had been about to make and to make up for it, King Muktiphala made friendship with Kanakavarsha.

Kanakavarsha accepted the friendship of Muktiphala and after that, he took Madanasundari and his baby back to the kingdom. 

He made Madanasundari his chief queen and then the two of them ruled their kingdom happily and well.

Adapted from the Katha Sarith Sagara

The Strange Story of King Kanakavarsha and Madanasundari - Part Eight

In an attempt to escape the elephant the king ran straight into the forest and he made sure that the path that he was running was full of holes. As the king ran the elephant madly charged him and the elephant did not see properly and it fell into one of chasms on the ground and was killed.

The king was now filled with fatigue and he collapsed near a huge lake. The lake was full of lotuses and the king drank and bathed the water of the lake. He even ate the fibres of the lotus as food.

The king then went to sleep because he was overcome with tiredness. As the king slept some guards returned from hunting on that very path. The guards saw the king with auspicious marks all over his body and were surprised. The guards tied the king and took him to their own king who was King Muktaphala.

King Muktaphala was a believer in human sacrifice. As soon as he saw the man with the auspicious marks on his body, king Muktaphala realized that this man would be an apt sacrifice.

However, just before king Muktaphala could kill the other man something very strange happened. The bounds around the other man's hands fell off.

King Muktaphala realized that he was not supposed to kill this man and hence spared King Kanakavarsha's life. 

Thus this was how King Kanakavarsha had three attempts made on his life within the one year that he had been away from his wife and his son and King Kanakavarsha escaped all of it.

Adapted from the Katha Sarith Sagara

The Strange Story of King Kanakavarsha and Madanasundari - Part Seven

 

A lion roared and came out of a cave at the very place that the king was lying down.

At that time a celestial being from the sky descended from the sky. The being was a Vidhyadhara and the Vidhyadhara was a fierce warrior. He pulled out a sword and struck the lion dead in a single blow.

After that, the Vidhyadhara turned to the king. “King Kanakavarsha, what are you doing here?”

The king tiredly studied the Vidhyadhara. “How do you know me? Who are you?”

The Vidhyadhara looked at the king with kind eyes. “I had been a religious mendicant in your city. At that time, at my request you helped me complete some rites and by doing that, I could make a goblin as my servant. With the powers of goblin, I have become a Vidhyadhara.” The Vidhyadhara smiled at the king. “When I saw you and saw that the lion was about to attack you, I came here to save your life.”

The king nodded in relief and that was when the Vidhyadhara told the king that if she were to get his wife and child back he had to go on a pilgrimage to the shrine of Goddess Durga in the Vindhya Hills. “The Goddess would be pleased with you and you may get your wife and child back.” 

After that the king set out to the shrine of Goddess Durga in the Vindhya Hills.

As the king was walking he saw a huge and furious wild elephant came charging at him.

Adapted from the Katha Sarith Sagara

The Strange Story of King Kanakavarsha and Madanasundari - Part Six

For five days, things were normal in King Kanakavarsha’s palace. However on the sixth night, something terrible happened. 

A cloud formed covering the entire sky and suddenly a wild wind began to blow in the skies. Huge raindrops pelted the people in the kingdom. 

Then a terrible woman with a sword in her hands appeared in the palace and she took the baby from the hands of the queen and ran away.

Screaming the queen ran after the woman.

The attendants of the palace were bewildered and did not understand what was happening, mostly because of the terrible weather outside.

The terrible woman jumped into a tank along with the child and the queen also jumped into the tank trying to get her child back.

Once this happened, the cloud disappeared and everything became normal in the palace.

The king came to the inner chambers of his queen and then found his wife and child missing.

He was shocked to find that they were missing.

The king was heartbroken and gave up everything including his kingdom. 

He roamed around the forests of Vindhya trying to remind himself of his wife and his child.

Wandering around, the king reached the foot of the Vindhya mountains. He was hungry and thirsty and he drank some water from a stream and sat down at the foot of a tree.

Adapted from the Katha Sarith Sagara

The Strange Story of King Kanakavarsha and Madanasundari - Part Five

 

In these times, there were instances of certain females being cursed on entering the shrine of Skanda. So as soon as the Nagi Ratnaprabha heard the words of the Skanda, she left the body of King Kanakavarsha.

Kanakavarsha did not know this and entered the shrine of Skanda.

Skanda looked at the king and realized that the king was missing something. Using the powers of his meditation, Skanda immediately realized that something was wrong.

That was when Skanda realized that the king had used the help of the Nagi Ratnaprabha to overcome the trials when performing his penance.

Skanda became furious and cursed the king. “You have tried to deceive me for a son. So for this, I curse you that you will be separated from your son.”

Kanakavarsha was aghast when he heard Skanda’s words.

But the king collected himself and tried to pacify Skanda with his words.

Skanda studied the king with his anger mollified by the words of the king. “If you survive the dangers faced by you, then you will get your wife and son back.”

The king was relieved and then went back to his own kingdom.

There King Kanakavarsha and Madanasundari soon afterwards had a son.

The king was very happy and showered riches on all the people in the kingdom. 

Kanaka meant gold and Varsha meant a shower in Sanskrit. 

So on the birth of his son, the king literally lived up to his name and showered gold to all his subjects happily.

Adapted from the Katha Sarith Sagara

The Strange Story of King Kanakavarsha and Madanasundari - Part Four

The Nagi Ratnaprabha listened to the king attentively and was silent after the king had finished.

Finally she nodded at the king. “Your dream would be relevant only when a child is born to you. I suggest that you go to the Skanda, the son of Lord Shiva and pray for a son.”

The king nodded and Ratnaprabha continued. “It is not easy to get a boon from Skanda. I will enter your body and give you inner strength when you face the trials imposed by Lord Skanda on you.”

The next day, the king went to his ministers and asked them to take care of the kingdom. After that the king went alone and performed severe penance.

The Nagi Ratnaprabha entered the king’s body.

As the king performed penance, rain fell on his like thunderbolts. But with the help of Ratnaprabha’s power, the king was able to withstand it.

Then a terrible serpent appeared before the king, but the king did not fear the snake and continued with the penance.

Then the serpent bit the king, but the king did not back away. The Nagi Ratnaprabha helped him counter the last attack. 

The king continued with his penance and this time he even sang praises of Skanda.

Finally Lord Skanda appeared before the king. “You are a very resolute man.” The God told the king. “I am pleased with you. So ask me any boon that you want and I shall grant it to you.”

“I want a son born to me, a son should have your blessings.”

Skanda smiled at the king. “One of my Gana called Hiranyavarsha will be born on earth as your son.”

Skanda nodded at the happy king. “Come to my inner shrine now.”

Adapted from the Katha Sarith Sagara

The Strange Story of King Kanakavarsha and Madanasundari - Part Three

 

One night Madanasundari had been jealous when the king spent time with his other wives and the king made up with her after talking and cajoling her.

After that, the king then went to sleep with Madanasundari beside him.

The king had a very strange dream that night.

The king dreamt that his necklace had suddenly disappeared and after that a deformed woman grabbed his crest jewel from his head. The king dreamt that a Vetala - a goblin, formed of limbs from many animals fought him and threw him on the ground. After that the king dreamt that he had gained the upper hand in the fight with the Vetala, but still the goblin flew up in the air and threw the king into the sea. In his dreams when the king struggled and reached the shores, he found that he had his necklace and his jewel-crest back.

The king woke up suddenly from the dream and was disturbed. He wondered what the dream meant.

There was a mendicant who came to see the king and the king went to the man and asked him about the meaning of his dream.

The mendicant told him the meaning of the dream and the king was even more worried after that.

He was restless in his bed and that was when he saw a woman come into his room.

The woman looked gentle and the king studied her wondering who she was.

The woman smiled at the king. “I am Ratnaprabha. I am the daughter of Vasuki, who is the king of snakes and I am your father’s elder sister.” 

The king bowed to her.

Ratnaprabha immediately realized that the king was worried and asked the king the reason for his worry.

The king told her everything.

Adapted from the Katha Sarith Sagara

The Strange Story of King Kanakavarsha and Madanasundari - Part Two

 

King Kanakavarsha was stunned as Roladeva continued. “I realized that Madanasundari had heard about you and she has fallen in love with you.” Roladeva pulled out another parchment from his bag. “I drew a picture of Madanasundari and came to this kingdom as soon as I could.”

It was love at first sight for Kanakavarsha when he saw Madanasundari’s portrait.

The king later told his ministers that he had fallen in love with Madanasundari.

So then the ministers send an ambassador to King Devasakti to ask for the hand of his daughter for Kanakavarsha.

King Devasakti was impressed with the words of Sangamasvamin, the ambassador and after talking with his daughter, he agreed to marry his daughter to King Kanakavarsha.

After learning this, King Kanakavarsha then started for the city of Kundina.

On the way to the kingdom of Kundina, there were the dangerous tribe of Savaras and their wild and vicious beasts in the border forests.

King Kanakavarsha got on Asikala, his horse and fought with the Savaras and destroyed them.

Then the king went to the kingdom of Kundina.

There King Devasakti married his daughter Madanasundari to King Kanakavarsha.

After that King Kanakavarsha brought his queen back to his own kingdom.

Adapted from Katha Sarith Sagara