Born Of The Sun

 

 

King Soora was one of the Vrishnis. He had a son called Vasudeva and a daughter called Pritha. This king had a cousin called Kuntibhoja who had no children. Soora was very fond of his cousin, he was sorry for him because he was childless. He gave his dear daughter Pritha to Kuntibhoja to be brought up as his own. Pritha was a very beautiful child, her manners were excellent, she was the most cherished possession of her foster-father, she was given the name Kunti.

 

Once, the sage Durvasa came to the capital of Kuntibhoja. He was famed throughout the world for his penance and for his temper. He wanted to spend a few days with the king Kuntibhoja, Kunti had been appointed by her father to attend to the wants of the sage. Entrusted with such a difficult task, Kunti conducted herself admirably, indeed the sage was so pleased with her that he wanted to grant her a boon. He summoned her to his presence and told her that he would teach her a certain incantation. If she recited it any deva whom she thought of would come to her. She received the gift with the humility becoming the daughter of a king and Durvasa went away.

 

The child, she was hardly a girl, did not understand what Durvasa meant when he said that the deva whom she invoked would come to her. She was as excited as a child with a new toy. It was early in the morning, through the eastern window she could see the sun just rising. The east was drenched in the colour of liquid gold, the waters of the river were lapping against the walls of the palace, it was an unforgettable scene. The sun and his soft beams, beams which had the coolness of the dawn, and the beautiful river with her path glowing with the red and gold of the rising sun. The scene touched the heart of the young child, she lost herself in the beauty of it. The sun looked gorgeous, Kunti thought how wonderful it would be if the sun could be there by her side. In a flash, she remembered the incantation which the great Durvasa had taught her, why, if she recited it, the sun would come to her! Yes, that was the way it was said: HE WOULD COME TO HER. The poor child, in blissful ignorance, held her palms together, palms which looked like a lotus bud, and invoked the sun, with the incantation she had learnt.

 

She opened her eyes, a miracle was happening. Along the watery path of the river, the sun's rays travelled fast. She was blinded by a sudden brilliance, the sun stood by her side. He stood looking at her with a smile of teasing amusement, Kunti was now extremely pleased with the success of the incantation, she smiled a sweet happy smile. She clapped her hands together in excitement and said: "Sage Durvasa said that it would work. I stood looking at you, rising in the east, the scene was so beautiful and you were so beautiful that I wanted you to come here, so I recited the incantation which had been taught me by the sage. You have come! How wonderful!"

 

 

 

The sun was still smiling. He said: "Now that I have come what do you want me to do?"

 

"Why, nothing," said Kunti. "I just thought of you and imagined how wonderful it will be if you were beside me. That is all".

 

"That is not all", said the god. "It is evident that you did not find any meaning in the words of the sage when he taught you the incantation. He said that 'any god whom you invoked would come to you'. Is that not so?"

 

"Yes", said Kunti, not following his words at all.

 

"Can you not see", said the god, "that it means that the god will embrace you and give you a son as beautiful as the god whom you have summoned?"

 

Kunti was bewildered. She did not know what to do or what to say. "I did not know it", said the frightened child. "I had no idea that the words meant this, please forgive me this childishness, please go away and save me from shame". ""But that is impossible", said the god, "Once I am summoned by you, I cannot go back until I take you. You must have me, you cannot escape the power of incantation which you have used unthinkingly".

 

Kunti was beside herself with grief. "I am a young girl", she said, "I am unmarried. What will the world say? What will my father say? It will break his heart if he comes to know that his daughter is not a virgin any more. Can you not go away?" The sun was charmed by her winning ways, he loved this woman who was hardly a girl. He smiled at her and won her heart with his sweet words and his reassuring smile. He said: "Do not be so frightened, my child, after the child is born, you will again become a virgin as you are now, no one will know of this incident". The young girl was won over by his words and by his beauty, she accepted him without any fear of the consequences.

 

The sun was ready to depart. He said: "Your son will be born with a Kavacha and a Kundala, he will be the image of me, he will be a great archer. In goodness of heart, no one will equal him, he will be famed throughout the world as the greatest of all givers. He will never be able to refuse anyone anything; not even if I ask him to forbear from giving. He will be a proud and sensitive man, his fame will live in this world as long as the sun and moon move in their appointed orbits". With these words, the sun vanished from her sight.

 

 

 

In course of time, a child was born to Kunti. She did not know what to do with it. Too young to know the joy of motherhood, she was concerned only with the shame of it. She looked out of the window, the river was flowing as placidly as before. Only in the heart of Kunti .a storm was brewing. She made up her mind. Wrapping up the child in a piece of silk, she placed it in a box made of wood and carried it to the banks of the river. She set the box afloat on the river and came back to her apartments. From her window she saw the box floating away, further and further away from her. She felt that her heart was choking inside her with a great pain, a great unspeakable longing for that poor helpless mite floating on the heart of that mighty river. Tears flowed from her eyes, lifting her hand in supplication to the sun, she cried: "My lord, I have done a great injustice to this beautiful child born of you and me, please guard him, please do not let any evil befall him".

 

She spoke to her disappearing child: "May your path be auspicious, the lord of the waters will guard you, you will not die. All the gods in the high heavens will guard you, i will see you some day in the distant future. I will recognize you by your Kavacha and your Kundala. She will be a fortunate woman who will find you and bring you up as her son. She will see you grow up into manhood and she will be the happy woman, but I am the most unfortunate of all women, i will never have you for son. God bless you, my child, my first born".

 

The laughing girl became a woman all on a sudden. Gone were the days of happy care-free girlhood. Waking or sleeping, she saw just one thing: a wooden box and a piece of silk; wrapped in the silk, a beautiful child with its Kavacha and Kundala gleaming in the light of the morning sun.