Storieo

Author: Payel Roy

  • Not So Easy

    Not So Easy

    We should always be prepared to bear the results of what we do to others because whatever goes round comes round.

     

    Once there lived a poor Brahmin Pandit in the city of Dharmashala with his four daughters. He had managed to wed three of them but could not collect money to marry off the fourth one. He sat in his veranda worried, resting his forehead on his hands. At that time Golpal was returning home from market. He saw the poor old man and asked him, ‘Hey Uncle! Why are you so upset? Three of yours daughters have been married and the forth will be married soon. It is the time for your merriment.’ The poor old Brahmin laughed on this fate and said that, ‘my dear Gopal, nothing had been hidden from you. I have wed three daughters and I have no money left now. To top that I am in debt of many people who had helped me pull off the weddings. It is time the fourth one gets married now but I cannot collect sufficient money for her wedding. Gopal thought for a second and replied that he could go to the king and ask for money. Everybody knows how poor and loyal Panditji is therefore the king would help him. Panditji thought it was the only way left for him and arrived at the king’s court next morning.

    The king was happy to see him and wanted to give the money readily but one of the ministers said, that this would transmit the wrong message to the audience. They would consider the king as a treasury and would want to draw out money whenever they wished. Therefore, the Pandit should pay for the money with his deeds. It was the month of January. The king ordered the Panjit to spend the whole night in the palace lake dipped in water till neck praying for the welfare of the King. The Pandit readily agreed. E had no other option. This was his last resort.

    Accordingly, the Pandit stood the whole night in neck deep water shivering and praying for the well being of the king. The next morning when the Pandit arrived at the court with fever for money, one of the ministers sprang up and said that the Pandit was a cheater. He had not spent the night in the terribly cold water. There as a fire torch on the top of the palace that burned the entire night. It had heated up the water of the pond thus the Pandit that not done anything worth the money. The king’s guards threw the poor Pandit out.

    The Pandit was in tears. He was going back home when he came across Gopal. He cursed his luck and narrated the whole story to Gopal. Gopal was shocked at the cruelty. He asked the Pandit to go home and said that he would ask the king to reconsider. Gopal was the king’s Jester, his favourite one. Gopal reached the court and the king said he wished to go on a boat ride with Gopal on the blue serine Kaveri River. Gopal readily agreed.

    The next day the king waited for Gopal but he did not arrive. Tired of waiting he sent one of his men to call Gopal. They said that Gopal was cooking rice he would come shortly. An hour later, the king sent his men and they replied their reply was same. The king himself went to Gopal.

    He saw that Gopal had lit the fire on the ground with hay but h did not put the rice pot on top of it. Instead he hung it from a pole which was roughly ten feet above the fire. Whenever the king wanted to say something Gopal cut him and said that within a few minutes the rice would be ready. He would eat it and then leave.

    The king finally lost his patience and asked Gopal stop his non sense. It was impossible for the fire to heat up a pot so high above. Gopal then asked curiously, ‘ Your Highness, if the fire torch on the palace top can heat an entire lake in the month of January, then why can this rice be cooked at such a short distance in broad daylight?’

    The king realized his mistake. He was very happy with Gopal and rewarded him for bringing him back to his senses. The next day the king called the Brahmin Pandit and gave him money for his daughter’s wedding and paid for his debts too. The Pandit was very grateful to Gopal. He knew no one else could change the king’s mind.

     

  • Tit for Tat

    Tit for Tat

    This is a moralistic story. There was a lazy woman who had to come out of her laziness in order to save her daughter.

     

     

    In the village of Saguna lived a woman with her daughter. Her husband had died in an accident. But Sarala was too lazy to work. She lived on the money her husband left behind. One day she was sitting on the veranda and knitting for her little one. The ball of wool fell from her hands and rolled on to the road. Sarala was too lazy to get up and pick the wool. She asked every passerby to pick it up for her but none paid heed to her words. They all knew about her lazy nature.

    A fox was going through that way; it saw the whole thing and went to Sarala. He noticed a little baby playing beside her and his mouth watered. He said, he was ready to pick up the ball and give it to her but on one condition. Sarala had to marry her daughter to him when she would turn seven. Hearing this Sarala was shocked. Her face turned pale. But then she thought about it for a few seconds and agreed thinking that the fox would forget all about it. Seven years is a long time. The fox gave her the ball of wool and she started knitting again.

    Years started passing by, the money her husband left behind had almost finished. Sandya started growing up. Sarala’s laziness had reduced with time. She worked as a tailor too feed her little daughter. Sarala had forgotten all about the promise she had made to the fox in exchange of the ball of wool he had picked up for her.

    The day of Sandya’s seventh birthday arrived. Sarala was busy cooking kheer for her little daughter when the doorbell rang. Before she could wash her hands and go open the door, her little daughter came inside and told her that a big fox has come and given her a lot of candies. The incident Sarala had forgotten floated back into her mind. She trembled with fear thinking that the fox had not forgotten about the marriage. She ran outside. She saw the fox had grown even fatter and bigger. The fox showed his enormous yellow teeth and said that the next day he was coming to take his wife.

    Sarala had to think of something. He could not let a wolf take her daughter. She thought for the whole night and chalked out a plan.

    The next day, when the wolf came, Sarala welcomed him with flowers, sweets and rose water. The wolf was very pleased. Just when he was going to sit for the marriage rituals, Sarala said it was a ritual of their family to bathe the would-be son in law as they would bathe a God. The fox’s chest had blown up with pride. He readily agreed.

    Now was the trick that Sarala that thought about. She brought really hot oil and started putting in on the fox’s body with a large wooden spoon. The fox shouted in pain, to which Sarala said that this is how God is treated and she will not compromise her treatment towards God. The foolish fox was ready to take burning pain for pride. Finally, Sarala brought a huge tumbler filled with bubbling hot water. She said the God after the oil massage jumps voluntarily into the tumbler to have a bath. The foolish fox jumped into the tumbler and died. Sarala saved her little one from the hands of the fox.

    -by Payel Roy

  • Embarrassment

    Embarrassment

    This is a story when there was child marriage in India. The groom is going to his in-laws house to get his adolescent bride.

     

    Bhola was married to Madhavi when they were children. Bhola was now sixteen and his bride thirteen. His mother was growing old and feeble so he asked him to go and bring his wife home who was a strong young lady by then. Bhola was a very foolish boy. His mother was worried that he might be thugged on the way so she asked him to be extra careful with his belongings. His mother also gave him a hundred rupee note and asked him to get kichumichu[1] for them. She also asked him to behave himself, to take blessings from every one and not to sit on the floor. Bhola picked up the bag full of fresh fruits that his mother had given him and embarked on his journey.

    On reaching the market place Bhola aimlessly looked at the shops with the hundred rupee note in his hand. A vegetable vendor called out to him, ‘O brother! What do you want?’ Bhola replied to him, ‘I am going to my in-laws house. My mother asked me to get kichmichu. Do you have it?’ the shopkeeper immediately understood that Bhola was stupid.  The vendor at once replied,’ of best kind!’ and handed him the biggest pumpkin he had. Bhola stared at the massive pumpkin and asked the price. The vendor replied it was hundred rupee worth. Bhola gave him the note without any argument like an obedient child. The vendor smirked.

    Bhola reached the house on his in-laws. He took blessings from every one and even touched the feet of his young bride who was standing in one corner. She was petrified and ran inside. Bhola was shocked as well he could not understand what he had done to offend his wife; he could not understand that his mother his mother had said about everyone but his wife . Everyone else in the room was shocked they thought perhaps he could not recognize her as he had seen her years before in their marriage day only.

    They asked Bhola to sit. Just then Bhola jumped up on the table as his mother had asked him to sit on a high place and handed his mother in-law the pumpkin along with the bag filled with fruit. This was the first time that a son in-law had brought a huge pumpkin instead of sweets. Bhola’s sister in-laws could not stop laughing. Bhola’s mother in-law scolded them by saying that it might be from his own garden.

    Dinner was served. Delicious food was served to Bhola. He was fascinated by their taste. At last as a desert his mother in-law was going to serve him the payasa[2] when Bhola sternly rejected it. Everyone in the house hold was surprised to see the son in-law rejecting the most delicious of food. Bhola thought it was panta bhat[3] that his mother serves him every day as breakfast as panta bhat and payasa looked similar to him. He was kind of offended. He said that the payasa was his regular breakfast and did not want to even taste it. After a lot of plea from his mother in-law he decided to have it only a spoonful. When at last he put what he assumed to be panta bhat in his mouth he startled. It felt like he had never tasted anything so beautiful, as if it was amrita. He wanted to have it more and more but was too shy to ask for what he had rejected and shown anger for before.

    Bhola felt restless, tempted. His mouth watered. He noticed that his mother in law hung the earthen pot of payasa from the ceiling so that cats do not lick it.

    At night when everybody went to sleep. He climbed out of bed. On his tip toes he reached the kitchen and realized that the container of payasa was far beyond his reach. He did not give up. He went to the living room and dragged the huge chair to the kitchen. He stood on the chair and attempted again but to his ill fate it was still a bit higher. Bhola grew desperate. He could wait no longer. He jumped to get hold of the container. Though he could get hold of the container he could not keep his balance. He fell down and the earthen pot broke too. He picked up the pieces of the earthen pot and started licking from them vigorously after some time he noticed with the corner of his eye that the sound had gathered the whole household. His embarrassment had no bounds.

     

    [1] This is a coloquial word meaning something or the other. Usually when a person goes to his relative’s house he takes food and gifts with him as a symbol of well wishing.  Bhola’s mother asks him to not go empty handed to his in- laws house and get something for them as basic courtesy.

    [2] Payas is a dish in which rich is boiled in milk and dry fruits are added to it.

    [3] Panta bhat is boiled rice of the day before that is preserved by putting water in it.

  • The Cunning Fox

    The Cunning Fox

    Blind trust on no one is good.

     

    In the middle of a forest lived a fox. He was considered very clever by all and hence called Panditji. The entire fox community used to send their children to Panditji to learn. This fox pandit was very clever he used to acquire a good deal of food in exchange to the education he provided. In that forest lived other animals too. Among them was a crocodile.

    The crocodile lived with his wife and ten children. Every day he saw all the fox children of the forest went to fox pandit to become wise and knowledgeable. The crocodile wanted to send his children to the fox too. When he passed on his wish to his fellow crocodiles they said it was a bad idea as, the fox is very wicked. He is not at all reliable.

    However, the crocodile did not pay heed to their words and wanted to educate his children. He could not bear crocodiles being called foolish by other animals. So, one day, he took his all ten children and went to panditji. Panditji agreed to teach them but on one condition. The children would not go home until the completion of their education. The crocodile agreed to leave his children behind. With tears in his eyes he asked the children to be obedient to panditji and told them after one year he will take them home. He also asked permission from the fox to visit them every month.

    The fox’s wife was not in favour of him teaching crocodile children. She said they were dangerous. Even if they did not have brains they definitely have teeth. The fox did not listen to his wife. He looked at the young crocodiles and his mouth watered. Since, the time he first saw them he desperately waited for the crocodile to leave. As soon as the crocodile left, the fox grabbed one of the children and ate him. His wife was dumb folded. She was sure that she and her husband were going to be the crocodile’s meal when he arrives after a month. With each passing day her anxiety and his nonchalance increased. She continuously asked him what he would say when the crocodile would ask about his tenth child. To this he only replied, “When time comes you will see the power of my brain and the stupidity of the crocodiles”.

    A month passed and the crocodile and this wife came to see their children. The wife of the fox froze in fear. Panditji came out and said to them that the children are studying so all of them cannot come out at once. He will send them one by one. The crocodiles readily agreed. The wife of the fox waited with her heart in her mouth. At the end when the turn of the tenth child came the fox showed the first child again. The fox did not get caught. Instead he received several gifts from the crocodiles.

    Days passed like this. The courage of the fox grew and grew. He started eating three four children a month and escaped every time by repeating the children.

    By the end of six months he had finished eating all ten children. His wife had turned pale in fear. When the crocodiles came, she told them that the children have extraordinary intellect. They have gone now to far off forests to learn from greater teachers. The crocodile believed, showered her with gifts and left. The fox then came out of hiding and said that they would escape every single time, just a bit of confidence and a bit of lie.

    More five months passed like this. But this time the crocodiles did not seem convinced. They said they did not want their son to study more. All they wanted was to have them back. They had asked them wife of the fox to bring them back in two days. The fox had heard the whole conversation and knew it was time.

    He asked his wife to pack their stuff and they eloped. Next day when the crocodiles came they saw the house locked and they went back. They came again and again and saw the house locked. They were both angry and afraid. They brought their fellow crocodiles and broke into the house only to see nothing but bones and scales scattered of their beloved children.

  • A Wise Understanding

    A Wise Understanding

    This is a story where the people of a country tries to identify an animal.

     

    Once upon a time, they lived a king. He had a huge kingdom. There was no dearth of anything except knowledgeable clever men. There was a huge river flowing through the centre of his kingdom stretching its tributaries and distributaries on both sides fertilizing the soil, making it green. When the king stood on the veranda of his palace he could see the ripples in the blue river. Breeze from the rivers kept his kingdom cool and serene.

    There was one huge problem that the king faced while governing his kingdom; the people were stupid. They had to be told in details what could be done and they would blindly follow it. Once, a clerk was copying a royal decree he noticed that in between the lines there is the corpse of a fly. Instead of throwing away the dead fly, the clerk started searching for a fly to kill and paste. The whole day passed like this. Finally he could manage to catch and kill a fly. When his superior asked him why he could not complete his work he explained to him the situation. His superior instead of being angry was pleased to see his dedication.

    Not even the king was spared of stupidity. At one point of time he had decided to move his capital inland for he felt it might be easily attacked by the pirates who came water way. He was convinced that to change the capital when one needs to carry the whole population of the old capital to the new capital. Once he had done the blunder of the exchange of people of the two places his chief minister told him that this was not necessary. Only with a few group of people changing location along with the royalty would have been enough. Immediately the king realized his fault. He decided he along with the entire population would move back to the river bank capital.

    The king realized that the only clever person ion his kingdom was his chief minister. So, to not let any cleverness escape from his body he build him a glass room and preserved him like a treasure. The prime minister was not allowed to talk to anybody or to think as the king did not want all his cleverness to be used up in such petty activities. He would be preserved only for the king to use.

    One monsoon the neighbouring kingdom was hugely affected by flood. People were homeless, trees had broken down and the animals that had drowned, their corpse washed up on the banks of this river. One fine morning, the people saw a strange animal lying on the bank. It was huge; it had a big belly and was black in colour. The people were stunned to see it. The king was called. He too could not identify the animal for there was no pig in his kingdom.

    The prime minister was brought out of his glass chamber to identify the animal. He closely looked at the pig and said, there were two chances, either it was an elephant who had eaten a lot and therefore shrunk and died or perhaps it could have been a rat who had eaten too much thus had inflated. The king was very pleased to hear this diagnosis. He gifted the prime minister with riches for his wise understanding and sent him back to his glass chamber.

  • The wrath of God

    The wrath of God

    This story is a myth on how different languages came in to the world.

     

    At first when the world was created, all men spoke the same language.  They all lived together under the stars. But to protect themselves against nature they wanted to build a house. They started building the house; one storey after another. The building grew higher and higher. It surpassed tallest of the tall trees like, the bean plant Jack had planted and reached up to the clouds. During this whole time God was watching them. He liked their team spirit and will to make themselves better. As they spoke the same language there was no miss communication between them. They all spoke their hearts out and the best ideas were accepted. God appreciated their intellect and intension of living together peacefully, securely. The unity he saw pleased his eyes calmed his soul.

    But even after the tower reached the clouds the humans were not satisfied. They build the building higher and higher. The tower grew far from its roots. No matter how high it grew it did not satisfy the humans. This evoked the wrath of God. He saw that these creatures were never happy. They wanted more and more. They were perfectionists but did not know where to stop. There greed was beyond any measuring unit. God was startled to see his created men acting so irrationally, men who were supposed to be the epitome of perfection. God’s heart raged and pained to see his creations.

    God with his one swift blow thrashed down the building. The epitome of human civilization, human excellence broke down to bits. All the men scattered here and there. Many families were torn apart. Many people died. The people then came together but failed to understand what other people spoke. There was a collision due to misinterpretation. The situation was utter chaos. People could hardly communicate with each other. The only way of communication was symbols. They moved their hands, legs and made expressions but the whole message could not be conveyed. People’s mind filled with distrust and disgust as they were neither able to understand another person nor could they convey their message clearly. Even members of a family did not speak the same language.

    Therefore, there unity was broken. The peace vanished. All that people had in their hearts was anger as he always felt that the person in hand was not trying hard enough to understand and execute the orders.

    God had bestowed them with different languages. He had divided them due to their over ambition and greed. Now their communication was restricted. Their actions limited. This division of language was a challenge, one of the first odds God had thrown on humans. Though men were in utter chaos and they had evoked the wrath of God, God was counting on the excellence of His excellent creation.

     

  • Mother Goat & Her Ten Children

    Mother Goat & Her Ten Children

    This is a story I used to hear a lot as a child. From this story I learnt that we may not be stronger than our opponent but determination can move mountains. And also to never underestimate myself for my power lies on my will.

     

    Fierce dry winds blew on the rocky mountains of Chile. On those mountains in a cave lived a mother goat with her ten children. There was neither food nor water nearby. Mother Goat had to come all the way down to the foothills to get sweet green grass and water for children. Mother Goat used to often bring her children down to the clear stream for bathing and drinking water. One day, a big bad wolf spotted the kids but he dare not approach for he was afraid of the Mother Goat and her enormous antlers. From then on, every day the big bad wolf used to hide behind a bush, salivate and watch Mother Goat and her children. Mother Goat had learnt about the presence of this wolf. So, she cautioned her children asked them not to come along and instead stay in the cave. She asked her eldest son to latch the door and not to open it to anyone except her.

    Few days went like this. The children fastened the door tightly until their mother came with food. Meanwhile, all these days the wolf hid behind the bush but could see no trace of the children. Day by day his greed turned into a hungry wrath. He could wait no more for the children to come down to the stream. He followed Mother Goat uphill all the way to her cave. He hid behind a boulder and heard Mother Goat calling out to her children, ‘children, I am your mother; I have brought fresh food for you’. The door opened and she went inside.

    The next day, early morning, Mother Goat set out to collect food. The wolf had hidden the whole night behind the boulder for the mother goat to leave. The children had bolted the door and were playing inside. This is when they heard a knock and a husky voice calling out, ‘children, I am your mother; I have brought fresh food for you’. The kids were sure that this voice is not of their mother so they kept silent. The wolf then banged the door hard a few times but of no use. Furious he left. The kids narrated to their mother the whole incident when she returned. She was happy with the children but worried about the wolf. The next few days the wolf spent chalking out a plan. He tried to break the door but futile effort so he again pretended to be their mother. This time the youngest boy said, ‘you cannot be our mother. She has a sweet melodious voice and you have a husky grumpy voice. You are a bad bad wolf!’

    He needed to sweeten his voice. He started cracking his brains a way out of this mess. Suddenly an idea occurred to him. He decided to eat the sweet alluvial soil by the river to sweeten his voice. Next day, at dawn he filled himself heavily with the soil to sweeten his voice and started his journey upwards. But his full stomach had made his hiking hard. By the time he reached the cave it was near eve and he was all worked up. He called out to the kids in the sweet voice and the kids mistook him as their mother and did the blunder of opening the door. The wolf burst in and started swallowing up the kids. He was so worried that the Mother Goat would arrive any minute that he even did not chew the kids. He just gobbled them up. Only the youngest one got saved as he hid behind the cylinders. The wolf then hurried his way back downhill.

    Later on when Mother Goat arrived she was shocked to see the disaster. She started calling out to her children but none responded. Finally, the youngest child came out from his hiding and told his mother what had happened. She grabbed her little one and went to the foothills in search of the wolf. She found the wolf in deep sleep on the brook bank. He had a huge stomach and his snore echoed in the breeze.

    Slowly Mother Goat approached the wolf. She cut open his belly and one by one her children started jumping out. The children were very happy to see their mother. She asked all her children to bring her lime stones from the river bank. As the children brought the pebbles she started filling the empty stomach of the wolf with them and then stitched it up. She gathered all her children and went back to her cave.

    The lime stones had started absorbing all the fluids from the wolf’s body. The wolf woke up and started drinking water. But no matter how much he drank his thirst could not be quenched. The more his throat dried, the more his stomach grew big. The big bad wolf was punished with death.

  • The Birth of Helen

    The Birth of Helen

    This is the popular myth of Helen’s birth that indirectly contributed to the cause of the battle of Troy.

     

    Helen is the most important figure of Greek mythology. The abduction of Helen by Paris contributed directly to the beginning of the battle of Troy. Helen was the daughter of Zeus and Leda. Her putative father was Tyndareus. She was married to Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The birth of Helen is a very popular mythological story and it sowed the seed for the Battle of Troy.

    Zeus, the King of Gods once, took the form of a magnificent, beautiful swan. He was flying in the sky camouflaged when an eagle started chasing him. Leda spotted the swan and gave it refuge. Leda was the daughter of Thestios, the king of Pleuron. Leda was a beautiful woman. Her splendour attracted Zeus and he spied on her from Mount Olympus. Zeus tricked her, portraying himself as helpless and impregnated her. On the same day Leda also slept with her husband, Tyndareus. Leda as a result of these unions gave birth to two eggs. From one of the eggs hatched Helen and Pollux and from the other hatched Clytemenestra and Castor. It is believed that Helen and Pollux are Zeus’ children and Clytemenestra and Castor are the children of Tyndareus.

    In another version, Zeus seduced Nemesis and both of them turned into majestic geese. The two eggs were laid by Nemesis and Leda was the one who took care of the eggs until they hatched and nurtured them as her own after they were born.

    The eggs travelled to Leda by the hands of a shepherd, who supposedly found it in a grove in Attica. There are many popular versions of this story, another version says, Hermes dropped the eggs into her lap.

    Helen had grown up to be the most beautiful woman on earth. She was married to Menelaus. Paris was mesmerized by her beauty and abducted her. This led to the Battle of Troy. Helen had been abducted for her beauty, before once by Theseus that led to the conflict between Athens and Sparta.

    Clytemenestra was married to the great warrior Agamemnon of Mycenae. She is both a wronged woman and a murderous wife. Castor and Pollux were inseparable twin warriors. Pollux was immortal whereas, Castor was mortal. After Castor was killed, Pollux gave up his immortality to be united with him in Heaven. Together they formed the beautiful constellation of Gemini.

    Zeus was married to the immortal goddess Hera. Hera had severely punished many of the women engaged with Zeus and their children but Leda and her Children did not seen to arouse her wrath initially.

  • THE BIRTH OF DRAUPADI

    THE BIRTH OF DRAUPADI

    MAHABHARATA IS NOT ONLY ITIHASA BUT ITIHASA PURANA AND SO THE POSSIBILITY OF METAPHORS NEVER ENDS.

     

    Draupadi is the most important female character of the epic Mahabharata. She was the daughter of King Drupad, the king of Panchala. She was married to all the five Pandava brothers, Yudhistira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. She also gave birth to five sons: Prativindhya, Sutasoma, Srutakarma, Satanika and Srutasena.

    King Drupada and Acharya Drona were daggers drawn as king Drupada had refused to acknowledge his childhood friend Drona after he became king as Drona was poor. Then a war between King Drupada and Arjuna on behalf of Acharya Drona happened. King Drupada lost the war and as a result he had to give away half of his kingdom to the Pandavas. Drupada plot revenge against them. He performed the Putrekameshti yajna for a son who would defeat Drona and kill him.

    The Putrekameshti sacrifice is usually done for a son. Dhitarashtra, in Ramayana, performed this sacrifice under the guidance of Rishi Shringa Muni, an expert in Yajur Veda at the end of which Agni dev arrived and gave payesam to the three queens of Dhitarashtra.

    From the fire of the sacrifice or yajna, a beautiful coffee skinned, doe eyed girl came up after Drishtadyumna her warrior brother.

    Her beauty could be equated with no mortal being. She was named Draupadi after her father Drupada. She was also called Panchali after her birthplace, her kingdom. Both Draupadi and her brother were born adults. As she emerged from the fire, there was akashvani that is the divine voices announced from the sky that this woman would bring the end of Kuru lineage.

    But the languages of the epics are metaphorical. They are kavyas. They do not always appeal to our common senses. There is a huge involvement of the supernatural; the willing suspension of our disbelief is evident for us to read the kavyas. The Mahabharata is not just itihasa but itihasa purana kavya, giving us freedom to interpret it. Thus we see the rishis or the saints living for hundreds of years and meditating alone for at least a hundred years.

    No human can be born out of fire. It has to be a biological process. Plus, the birth of Draupadi and her brother not as children but as adults were equally abrupt.

    The Bhagavat Purana says, king Drupada of Pnchala had a daughter named Draupadi and many sons aswell. Among his sons the eldest was Dhristadyumna. Dhristadyumna gave birth to a son named Dhrshtaketu who carried on the royal dynasty of Panchala. Therefore, a ration story is also present among our myths. Mahabharata itself has pieces were Draupadi sits on her father Drupada’s lap. It is not possible for a grown up daughter who has just sprung from fire to do this but only a child.

    Monier Williams says in ancient India, the vedi was often compared to a woman’s waist. Hence, there is a possibility that Vyasa is metaphorically referring to the womb of a woman. Agni meaning fire may refer to sexual energy implying her birth not to be unnatural.

  • The Myth of Sisyphus

    The Myth of Sisyphus

    The myth of Sisyphus is a very famous Greek myth. In this myth Sisyphus was punished for his cunningness and betrayal by God King Zeus. King Sisyphus did not like to do anything that would not bear him result. So, Zeus gave him a duty for eternity. He had to push a big rock up the hill and on reaching the top the rock would slide down and he would again have to push it up. He was punished with this futile action for eternity.

     

    The myth of Sisyphus is a greek myth. Sisyphus founded the kingdom of Corinth. He was the son of Aeolus of Thessaly. He was the brother of Salmoneus and the father of Glaucus, Ornytion, Almus and Thersander. Sisyphus promoted trade and commerce but his means were full of deceit and greed. He killed several guests and travellers as a symbol of his supremacy and decree. With this act he violated Xenia that brought him the wrath of Zeus.

    Sisyphus and his brother Salmoneus were daggers drawn. Sisyphua was a very witty person. He consulted with the oracle of Delphi and cold bloodedly planned the murder of his brother Salmoneus. His plan had two motives; firstly, to kill Salmoneus and secondly, to kill him in such a way that no one would hold him responsible for Salmoneus murder.

    Sisyphus seduced Tyro, Salmoneus daughter but when she found out that she and her children were only a pawn for Sisyphus to kill Salmoneus she slay the children she bore him.

    Sisyphus also betrayed Zeus by revealing the secrets of the location of Aegina to her father, Asopus, the river God in exchange of letting spring flow in Corinthian Acropolis. This enraged Zeus. Zeus ordered Thanos, the God of Death to chain Sisyphus to Tarturus. Sisyphus wandered why Hermis had not come. On this occasion, Sisyphus shrewdly asked Thanos to show him the mechanism of the chain. While Thanos was granting Sisyphus his last wish Sisyphus grabbed the opportunity to cease Thanos and tie him up instead. As long as Thanos was tied up no one on earth could die. This infuriated Ares as if in the battle no one died, the battle would lose its meaning. Furious Ares intervened and let Thanos loose. He handed Sisyphus over to Thanos as well.

    Another version says, Hades was sent to chain Sisyphus but he himself got chained. So, nobody could die, not even the old and suffering. Even the sacrifices could not be made to Gods.seeing the tyranny of Sisyphus the Gods warned him to let Hades go or else they would make Sisyphus’s life so pathetic that he would wish for death day and night. This threat worked and Sisyphus let Hades free.

    Sisyphus told his wife before his death to throw his naked body in a public square as a test of her love. As a result of this his soul could not find peace and ended up on the backs of river Styx. There he complained to Persephone that his wife was trying to insult him and so he wanted to come back.

    The trick worked on Persephone and Sisyphus was allowed to come up and instruct his wife to give him a proper burial.

    But Sisyphus refused to return to the underworld so, Hermes came and dragged him down.

    As a punishment for his trickery Sisyphus was punished. For eternity he had to push up a huge rock to the top of a vertically sharp hill and on reaching the top it would roll down. This exasperating punishment was given to Sisyphus for he believed his wit could deceive all mighty Zeus as well. Thus, submerging him into a perpetuity of useless efforts.

    So, since then anything laborious yet futile is referred to as Sisyphean.