Once there lived a great devotee of the Sun whose name was 'Satrajit' and as he sat there meditating, the god of the Sun who was pleased with his devotion, appeared before him. Unable to see his master clearly he requested him to remove his glaring effulgence and so to please his devotee he removed the beautiful jewel hung around his neck known famously as 'Syamantaka'.

 

Syamantaka is a word from the ancient language of Sanskrit whose meaning is that which dispels ( antaka ) the darkness ( syam ) that which dispels ( antaka ) the night ( syam ) and so we find the great god of the sky possesses this beautiful jewel which enables him to dispel ( antaka ) the darkness ( syama ).

 

Surya smiled pleasingly upon his devotee and asked him to request a boon "i am very pleased with your sincere devotions" he said "as for many years during the morning, noon and evening you have made me the object of your worship and so ask and i shall provide whatever your heart desires".

 

 

Satrajit had just one thing upon his mind, a desire which consumed his whole being as he contemplated how wonderful it would be to possess such a beautiful jewel, but as he was too ashamed to ask this from his lord and master he simply sat there quietly and bowed his head.

Surya is known as the greatest of all givers as without discrimination he freely distributes his life giving rays throughout this universe and as he could very easily read the heart of his devotee, he placed within the hands of the astonished Satrajit the jewel known as Syamantaka.

 

Surya had been here many times before offering boons to those who worshipped him and so he offered Satrajit a morsel of wisdom "attachment is the source of all misery my dear Satrajit so use the jewel wisely and do not covet or the jewel will destroy you" a blinding flash of light and Surya was gone leaving Satrajit staring into the palms of his hands and the jewel which could fulfil every conceivable desire.

 

 

Satrajit placed the jewel around his neck and strolled around the great city of Dvaraka shining like the god of the Sun himself and as the citizens were accustomed to the presence of the Devas, they mistook him to be Surya as he walked majestically throughout the beautiful city of Dvaraka.

'Dvaraka' is a name which is formed from the ancient language of Sanskrit where the 'dvar' bears the meaning of 'gate' and 'door' and the 'kha' is said to mean 'heaven' hence the name of this beautiful city is said to mean the gateway ( dvar ) to heaven ( kha ) and the city of gates ( dvar ).

 

Dvaraka whose name means 'the gateway to heaven' was said to have been nestled upon the shores of the Okhamandal peninsula and a city which was built by 'Visvakarma' the great architect of the gods whose city is one of the 'sapta puris' the seven ( sapta ) holy cities ( puri ) of India.

 

 

Dvaraka was in bloom as the city resounded with birds and the humming of bees as they flew from parks to pleasure gardens to lotus filled lakes amidst the cries of storks and cranes and throughout this beautiful city stood 9000 royal palaces each built of crystal and silver and each adorned with gold and jewels and throughout there were wide boulevards, grand roads, market places, assembly houses as well as the temples of the Devas which bewitched and adorned this beautiful city.

 

The centre of this beautiful city was the residential quarters of Sri Krsna where Visvakarma had built the 16,000 palaces of the Queens and each palace was supported by coral pillars inlaid with vaidurya gems, sapphires bedecked and illuminated the walls, marble floors shone with perpetual brilliance, canopies hung with strands of pearls, seats and beds were fashioned from ivory and precious jewels and everything was attended to by well dressed maid servants adorned with gold jewellery and armour clad guards with turbans, fine uniforms and jewelled earrings.

 

All of these palaces were illuminated by jewel studded lamps dispelling all the darkness while aguru incense pervaded the air and exotic peacocks danced upon the rooftops of the city of Dvaraka some 5000 years ago, a city whose fame was such the denizens of the celestial spheres would descend to this mortal world to witness its glories.

 

 

Satrajit was illuminating the whole of Dvaraka and although the citizens continued to mistake him for the great god of the sky there was one who could perceive his true identity and this was Sri Krsna, the supersoul who resides within the hearts of all beings.

 

Sri Krsna, the ever well wishing friend of all, approached Satrajit and requested him to present his jewel to the most worthy of men, the leader of the Yadu dynasty, King Ugrasena, but despite the warnings of the great god of the sky he had become attached to the jewel and so chose to ignore the request of Sri Krsna.

 

Satrajit proceeded to install his precious jewel within one of the many temples of Dvaraka and each day the jewel would produce over one hundred and seventy pounds of gold and though the name of Satrajit means one who is always ( satra ) victorious ( ajita ) he was slowly being defeated by the seductive power of the Syamantaka jewel.

 

 

Satrajit possessed a brother he was especially fond of whose name was 'Prasena' a name from the ancient language of Sanskrit whose meaning is one who advances ( pra ) an army ( sena ) and one day this powerful warrior placed the jewel around his neck and rode off delighting in its opulence, but as he entered the forest he was attacked and killed by a lion who carried away the jewel.

 

News travels fast, even amongst the animals and so Jambavan who is the king of the bears immediately set out to capture the jewel and as one would expect in a duel between the king of the bears and the king of the jungle, the fight was ferocious, but Jambavan was no ordinary bear, he was a devotee of Rama hence he emerged victorious with jewel in hand.

 

Satrajit became very depressed when his brother did not return and as Krsna had previously approached him for the jewel he assumed he had killed him to satisfy his desire, an assumption which soon became a rumour which spread and Krsna not wishing to be defamed entered into the deep and dark forest in search of the jewel.

 

 

Krsna and his men disappeared deeper and deeper into the forest where they came upon the mutilated body of Prasena who had been killed by a lion and soon they also came across the dead body of the lion whose victor they were uncertain but once again they followed the tracks.

 

As the great lord of the sky began to dip below the horizon and night began to descend they arrived at the entrance of a large daunting cave and as Krsna entered alone the cave led him to a residence where he found the valuable necklace of Surya in the playful hands of a child.

 

As the lord within the heart approached the child his nurse looked up and screamed, and immediately there came the heavy footsteps of an angry bear by the name of 'Jambhavan' a name from the language of Sanskrit where 'jambha' means 'jaws' and that which 'crushes' and 'swallows'.

 

 

Krsna and Jambhavan fought for twenty eight days using weapons, trees, fists, rocks, boulders, and anything they could lay their hands upon and soon it dawned upon Jambhavan that his opponent was no ordinary being, indeed he seemed non different than his worshipful deity Sri Ramacandra.

 

Within the spiritual realm there is no trace of duality as everyone possesses an eternal spiritual body and so there is no question of fighting and so when the lord descends to this earthly realm he engages in sporting lila with his devotees such as Jambhavan who was now prostrating himself before his lord.

 

All of the pain and fatigue disappeared from the body of Jambhavan as Krsna placed his hands upon him and with tears in his eyes Jambhavan spoke "My lord the jewel is rightfully yours but please grant me one request, my lovely daughter, please make her yours, take her as your wife". Krsna smiled and Jambavati, his daughter, became one of the 'Astabharyas' the eight principle queens of Krsna.

 

 

 

Dvaraka was plunged into an ocean of misery as they lamented the absence of Krsna who was their life and soul as Devaki and Vasudeva and Rukmini and friends and relatives all gathered to pray for his safe return while Satrajit was avoided as a leper and called ill names as he was the cause of all this, he and his attachment to a piece of stone which could never be compared to Krsna and his moonlike face.

As they gathered together they prayed at the temple of 'Candrabhaga' whose name means the crescent ( bhaga ) moon ( candra ) a goddess who detests the Sun and anything related such as bright, shining jewels and as they prayed for Krsnas safe return she became pleased and Krsna immediately appeared with his new wife Jambavati.

 

Satrajit was chastened, he had defamed Krsna, and his attachment to a jewel had caused so many problems and so he gave the jewel to Krsna and also the hand of his beautiful daughter 'Satyabhama' whose name means the splendour ( bhama ) of truth ( satya ). Krsna placed the jewel in the temple where it was worshipped by brahmans so that everyone could benefit from Syamantaka, the jewel of Surya, the king of the Sun.