Yayati

Yayati  

Sham.S. Misri

Sukracharya was the teacher of Asuras (demons). He had a daughter  Devayani, who was spoiled by her father's luxury. The Asura king  greatly respected Sukracharya as he knew the secret of a drug that brings the dead back to life. The king also has a daughter called princess Sharmishtha.

One morning, the princess, came to Sukracharya's hermitage with her friends. She asked Sukracharya to allow Devayani to accompany them for a bath in a nearby lake. Sukracharya agreed. They soon reached the lake and left their clothes on the bank to go into the water. Suddenly a storm blew up and scattered their clothes. The girls hurriedly came out of the lake and got dressed. It so happened that the princess Sharmishtha, by mistake, clad herself in Devayani's  clothes. Angered by this, Devayani insulted the princess. Argument began and the princess Sharmishtha pushed Devayani into a dry well and left. Now Devayani was in the well, full of tears.

It so happened that Yayati, the king of a nearby state, came hunting in the forest and was looking for water to drink. When he came near the well he was surprised to find Devayani lying at the bottom. Devayani introduced herself and said that she fell into the well. She then requested the king to pull her out. Yayati helped her out. Devayani demanded that Yayati marry her as he has held her by the right hand. The king Yayati was alarmed and turned down her request on the ground that he belonged to lower warrior caste, and Devayani was a Brahmin (priestly) maid. Yayati then left , and Devayani continued to sit under a tree.

When she did not return, Sukracharya set out in search of her. He found his daughter Devayani under a tree, with eyes filled with tears . When Sukracharya inquired, Devayani told her father everything, carefully hiding her own faults. She refused to return to the kingdom as she was badly insulted by the princess, Sharmishtha. Failing to change her mind, Sukracharya returned to kings palace and announced that he was leaving the Asura kingdom because of his daughter Devayani's unhappy conflict with princess Sharmishtha. The king begged Sukracharya to stay. Sukracharya left the decision with his daughter Devayani.

The king  wasted no time and went to Devayani taking his daughter Sharmishtha along. He begged forgiveness for his daughter. Devayani agreed to return on one condition that Sharmishtha be her handmaiden for the rest of her life. Sharmishtha agreed for the sake of her father, the king. Devayani was pacified and returned to her father's hermitage. But Devayani was vindictive. She humiliated Sharmishtha by asking to massage her legs and run errands.

One day, king Yayati passed that way. Devayani introduced Sharmishtha as her maid and reminded Yayati that he should marry her. Yayati repeated that he could not marry a Brahmin maid. Devayani then took Yayati to her father. Sukracharya gave his blessing on their marriage. They were soon married and led a happy life. Devayani had two sons.

Sharmishtha continued to stay as Devayani's maid. Yayati made a palace for Sharmishtha at the request of Devayani. One day Sharmishtha secretly met Yayati and told him what happened between her and Devayani. Yayati was sympathetic. Sharmishtha begged Yayati to take her as the second wife. Yayati agreed and married her but without the knowledge of Devayani. Sharmishtha had three sons.

One day, Devayani met the three sons of Sharmishtha. She asked the boys the name of their father. They pointed to Yayati. Devayani was shocked. She felt deceived and ran to her father's hermitage. Sukracharya was enraged and cursed Yayati with premature old age. Yayati begged for forgiveness. Sukracharya and Devayani felt sorry for him. Sukracharya then said, "I cannot take back my curse, but if any of your sons is ready to exchange his youth for your old age, you will be young again as long as you wish."

Yayati, now an old man, quickly returned to his kingdom and called for his eldest son. "My dutiful son, take my old age and give me your youth, at least for a while, until I am ready to embrace my old age." The eldest son turned down his father's request and so also the next three older brothers. Then came the youngest, Puru. He agreed and immediately turned old. Yayati rushed out as a young man to enjoy his life. After years spent in vain effort to quench his desires by indulgence, Yayati finally came into senses. He returned to Puru and said, "Dear son, sensual desire is never quenched by indulgence any more than fire is extinguished by pouring oil on it. Take back your youth and rule the kingdom wisely and well."

Yayati then returned to the forest and spent the rest of his days in austerities, meditating upon Brahman, the ultimate reality. In due course, he attained heaven.

Sir Isaac Newton

Sham S. Misri

Sir Isaac Newton was one of the wisest men that ever lived, yet he felt that he knew but very little. The more he learned, the better he saw how much there was still to be learned.

 

Sir Isaac Newton was a great thinker. No other man of his time knew so much about the laws of nature; no other man understood the reasons of things so well as he. He learned by looking closely at things and by hard study. He was always thinking, and thinking.

       One day, Sir Isaac was lying on the grass under an apple tree. Suddenly an apple that had grown ripe on its branch fell to the ground by his side.

"What made that apple fall?" he asked himself.

"It fell because its stem would no longer hold it to its branch," was his first thought.

But Sir Isaac was not satisfied with this answer. "Why did it fall toward the ground? Why should it not fall some other way just as well?" he asked.

"All heavy things fall to the ground—but why do they? Because they are heavy. That is not a good reason. For then we may ask why anything is heavy. Why is one thing heavier than another?"

When he had once begun to think about this he did not stop until he had reasoned it all out.

Millions of people had seen apples fall, but it was left for Sir Isaac Newton to ask why they fall. He explained it in this way:—

"Every object draws every other object toward it.

"The more matter an object contains the harder it draws.

"The nearer an object is to another the harder it draws.

"The harder an object draws other objects, the heavier it is said to be.

"The earth is many millions of times heavier than an apple; so it draws the apple toward it millions and millions of times harder than the apple can draw the other way.

"This is why things fall, as we say, toward the earth.

"While we know that every object draws every other object, we cannot know why it does so. We can only give a name to the force that causes this.

"We call that force GRAVITATION.

"It is gravitation that causes the apple to fall.

"It is gravitation that makes things have weight.

"It is gravitation that keeps all things in their proper places."

Suppose there was no such force as gravitation, would an apple fall to the ground? Suppose that gravitation did not draw objects toward the earth, what would happen?
When he was a very old man he one day said: "I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore. I have amused myself by now and then finding a smooth pebble or a pretty shell, but the great ocean of truth still lies before me unknown and unexplored."

It is only the very ignorant who think themselves very wise.

Twelve Dancing Princess

Sham S. Misri

Once upon a time there was a King who had twelve daughters. Each one was more beautiful than the other. They all slept together in one chamber and every night when they were in, the King locked the door. But in the morning when he unlocked the door, he saw that their shoes were worn out with dancing. No one could find out how that had happened.. Then the King proclaimed that whosoever could discover where they danced at night, should choose one of them for his wife and be King after his death, but if they failed to discover it within three days would be killed.

After some days a neighboring King's son offered to undertake the enterprise. He was well received, and in the evening was led into a room adjoining the princesses' sleeping-chamber. His bed was placed there, and he was to observe where they went and danced. The prince soon fell asleep. When he awoke in the morning, all twelve had been to the dance, for their shoes were standing there with holes in the soles. On the second and third nights it was the same, and then his head was struck off without mercy. Many others came after this and undertook the enterprise, but all lost their lives.

One day a poor soldier, walked on the road to the town where the King lived. There he met an old woman, who asked him where he was going.

"I hardly know myself," he answered,  "I had a mind to discover where the princesses danced their shoes into holes, and thus become King."

"That is not so difficult," said the old woman, "you must not drink the wine which will be brought to you at night, and must pretend to be sound asleep."

With that she gave him a little cloak, and said, "If you put on that, you will be invisible, and then you can steal after the twelve."

When the soldier received this good advice, he went to the King, and announced himself as a suitor. He was well received and royal garments were put upon him. When he was about to go to bed, the eldest came and brought him a cup of wine. The soldier had tied a sponge under his chin, and let the wine run down into it, without drinking a drop. Then he lay down and  began to snore, as if in the deep  sleep.

The twelve princesses heard  the snore, and  opened wardrobes, and  dressed themselves before the mirrors, sprang about, and rejoiced at the prospect of the dance. Only the youngest said, "I know not how it is; you are very happy, but I feel very strange; some misfortune is certainly about to befall us."

"You are a fool who is always frightened," said the eldest."Have you forgotten how many Kings' sons have already come here in vain? I had hardly any need to give the soldier a sleeping-draught; in any case the clown would not have awakened."

When they were all ready they looked carefully at the soldier, but he had closed his eyes and did not move or stir. They felt themselves quite secure. The eldest then went to her bed and tapped it. The bed immediately sank into the earth, and one after the other they descended through the opening, the eldest going first. The soldier, who had watched everything, put on his little cloak, and went down last with the youngest. Half-way down the steps, he just trod a little on her dress; she was terrified at that, and cried out, "What is that? Who is pulling my dress?"

"Don't be so silly!" said the eldest, "You have caught it on a nail."

Then they went all the way down, and when they were at the bottom, they were standing in a wonderfully pretty avenue of trees, all the leaves of which were of silver, and shone and glistened. The soldier thought, "I must carry a token away with me," and broke off a twig from one of them, on which the tree cracked with a loud report. The youngest cried out again. "Something is wrong, did you hear the crack?"

But the eldest said, "It is a gun fired for joy, because we have got rid of our prince so quickly."

After that they came into a garden where all the leaves were of gold, and diamonds. He broke off a twig from each, which made such a crack each time. They went on and came to a great lake whereon twelve little boats stood, and in every boat sat a handsome prince, all of whom were waiting for the twelve, and each took one of them with him, but the soldier seated himself by the youngest.

Then her prince said, "I can't tell why the boat is so much heavier to-day; I shall have to row with all my strength, if I am to get it across." A splendid, brightly-lit castle stood on the opposite side of the lake. The joyous music of trumpets and drums were heard from there.  They rowed over there, entered, and each prince danced with the girl he loved. The soldier danced with them unseen, and when one of them had a cup of wine in her hand he drank it up, so that the cup was empty when she carried it to her mouth. The youngest was alarmed at this, but the eldest always made her be silent. They danced there till three o'clock in the morning till all the shoes had holes, and they were forced to leave off. The princes rowed them back again over the lake, and this time the soldier seated himself by the eldest. On the shore they took leave of their princes, and promised to return the following night. When they reached the stairs the soldier ran on in front and lay down in his bed, and when the twelve had come up slowly and tired,  he was already snoring so loudly that they could all hear him, and they said, "So far as he is concerned, we are safe." They took off their beautiful dresses, laid them away, put the worn-out shoes under the bed, and lay down.

Next morning the soldier resolved not to speak, but to watch the wonderful goings on, and again went with them. Then everything was done just as it had been done the first time, and each time they danced until their shoes were worn to pieces. But the third time he took a cup away with him as a token. When the hour had arrived for him to give his answer, he took the three twigs and the cup, and went to the King, but the twelve stood behind the door, and listened for what he was going to say. When the King put the question, "Where have my twelve daughters danced their shoes to pieces in the night?" he answered, "In an underground castle with twelve princes," and related how it had come to pass, and brought out the tokens. The King then summoned his daughters, and asked them if the soldier had told the truth. All of them confessed. Thereupon the King asked the soldier which of them he would have as his wife.

He answered, "I am no longer young, so give me the eldest."

Then the wedding was celebrated on the same day, and the kingdom was promised to him after the King's death.

Coyote and the River:A myth

Sham S. Misri

The coyote  is  also known as the American jackal. Coyotes typically grow to  76–86 cm. in length, excluding a tail of 30–41 cm. It has an average  weigh from 6.8–21 kg. It's hard to imagine, but it's true. While populations of many other animals are shrinking, coyote populations are actually increasing. Coyotes once lived only in mild grass lands and deserts. Today they thrive almost anywhere in North America. Coyote can easily change its behavior to survive in a new place. A coyote eats a wide range of food, mice ,lizards, insects, or even garbage. In Native American stories coyotes are clever and tricky. This reputation is based on fact. Coyotes may scan the sky for birds flying in circles. Coyotes know that the birds often hover over a dead animal, so finding the birds frequently leads to finding a free meal. Coyotes are clever enough to trick other animals. A coyote might leap about crazily near a group of birds to distract them, then its partner might sneak up on the birds and seize a few of them for dinner.

Traditional stories from many Native American  include a deity whose name is translated into English as Coyote. They often appear in creation myths.

 One tale tells that It was a beautiful day, the sun was hot and bright. It was so lovely outdoors that coyote decided to take a walk. Before long, though , Coyote began to feel hot. “I wish there was a cloud in the sky,” said Coyote. In time a cloud appeared in the sky and made some shade for the Coyote. “Just one cloud does not help me feel cooler, “ he said. “I wish there were more shade.”

Soon there were more clouds, and the sky began to darken and look stormy. But Coyote was still hot. He wished for a way to become even cooler.

Suddenly, a small sprinkle of rain came down from the clouds.”I want much more rain” coyote demanded. Before long, buckets of rain began to fall.

“That’s better, but I wish I had a way to cool off my feet,” Coyote said. In no time, a creek sprang up right beside him . Coyote waded in and cooled off his feet. “I wish the creek were deeper,” he said.

 All at once, the creek turned into a large , swirling river. Coyote was swept by the water and nearly drowned. Frightened and sputtering, he was finally tossed into a bank of this mighty river. Coyote was no longer hot, but he was very wet. And that is how the Columbia River was created. 

Jabbar Khan-Jandai

Sham S. Misri

The Afghan rule in Kashmir lasted for sixty seven years from   (1753-1820). It was probably the worst ever seen by the inhabitants of the valley. The Muslims invited the Afghans to take over the administration of the valley. This was perhaps the greatest blunder that the Kashmiris did. Afghan Governors of Kashmir reigned with terror. People began to be looted and killed indiscriminately. Petty Afghan soldiers began to amass wealth by the foulest means. Most of the well to do people of the valley were summoned by the Governor to his palace, and ordered to surrender all their wealth on pain of death. Their houses were completely sacked, and many people were put to sword. There was complete gloom and despair on every side. All the prosperity of the valley was gone, and the people could not even move on the streets, for fear of being robbed of even their scanty clothing.

 Kashmiri’s never imagined that all the beauty and nobility for which Kashmir and its people were known throughout the world would be ruthlessly wiped off under their rule. A Kashmiri poet has lamented this as: I enquired of the gardener the cause of the destruction of the garden. Drawing a deep sigh he replied, “It is the Afghans who did it”! Kashmiris got a rude shock when they witnessed the first acts of barbarity at the hands of Afghans.

There are many stories about Afghan rule; one such popular story among the people of the valley is about Jabbar Khan the last governor.

He was   one of the known tyrant governors during Pathan rule. He came to know that Kashmiri Pandits worshipped Lord Shiv in the month of ‘Phagun’ February-March. Shiv Ratri is the biggest festival of Kashmiri Pandits and it is considered auspicious if it snows on that day. When he came to know about this he ordered that Pandits should observe the festival in the month of June and offer worship in that month. Unable to defy the official orders the Kashmiri Pandits observed the festival and worshipped Lord Shiva in the month of June that year. To the astonishment of all and in particular the tyrant governor Jabbar Khan himself, the temperature fell very low. It so happened that due to extra-ordinary cooling of the atmosphere there was first very heavy rain sand then snow flakes fell on this night just at the time of actual ritual. From that day people called him Jabbar Jandah by saying,

‘Wuchton eh Jabbar Jandai,

Haras ti Karun vandhai.’

Look at this Jabbar Khan he converted summer into winter.

Rakshasa

 

Sham S.Misri

Rakshasa were said to live in a beautiful city in the sky, where they behaved with great dignity and courtesy towards one another. The name of this horrible creature , which was known to Hindu people of India , means “the injurer or destroyer”. When these Rakshasa came into contact with human beings , they hated them. The Rakshasa now started acting differently with the human beings. They would descend upon the earth at night, wearing hideous shapes and desiring only to cause grief, trouble, and death!  

Some Rakshasas appeared as horrible gorilla like creatures with potbellies, matted hair, and slit like eyes. Their fingers were on their hands backwards, and their fingernails were so poisonous they could cause death to any person they touched. Some Rakshasas had the heads of snakes, some had several heads, and some had only one eye, or one leg, or many legs.

There were several different kinds of these creatures, known by different  names and with different ways of troubling people. Pisachas  were bloodthirsty horrors who lurked in cemeteries and ate the bodies of the dead. Bhuts ate dead bodies too, but they could also enter dead bodies and make them stalk into villages, causing terror, destroying things, and murdering the inhabitants. Grahas could take over the bodies of living people, bringing dreadful diseases to them or driving them mad. All the Rakshasas could also take the forms of ordinary men and women and use these disguises for making mischief.

But, despite their powers, Rakshasas were quite stupid and could often be easily tricked. If a man found himself  confronted by a threatening Rakshasa, he had only to call it “Uncle” and act as if they were related. Confused and puzzled, the Rakshasa would let him go, unharmed.

A King's Son Transformed Into Pig

Sham S. Misri

Once upon a time there was a king. His wife bore him only one son, and he had not much pleasure with him, for a wicked witch had transformed him into a wild pig. The king and queen were very sad about this. Full of agony and with a painful heart, they finally came to terms with the situation. They allowed the wild pig to run about the courtyard and the palace garden, where he behaved himself very well and did no one any harm.

Near the king's castle there was another castle where a rich lord lived. He had three daughters. They were extremely beautiful. One day the wild pig ran off further than usual and saw the oldest daughter as she was picking flowers in a field. She pleased him so much that he fell in love with her, and with all his might he wanted to marry her.

The king tried to convince him, that this would not be possible, but to no avail. The wild pig would hear none of this, saying further that if she would not become his wife then he would die of grief. So the king sent someone to the lord of the castle and informed him how things stood. At first the lord was very angry, but after considering that the prince would otherwise die, he gave his consent. However, the daughter did not agree and said, ”O God what have I done to have a disgusting pig for a husband.”  But that did not help her.  The king forced her to accept Pig as her husband. The marriage day was fixed,  and the wedding was celebrated with the greatest pomp in the world.

When it got, late everyone was going to bed.  The bride who was tired, now lay herself down to sleep. The wild pig wanted to lie next to her, but when he jumped into bed, he unfortunately struck her on the neck with his heavy feet, and -- she was dead. No pen can describe how sad were the wild pig and the king and the parents of the bride.

One year later the wild pig ran astray once again and found the rich lord's second daughter in the field. She pleased him so much that he wanted to marry her, whatever it might cost. The king made many excuses, but  failed. In the end there was nothing left to do but to talk with the lord about it. He did not want to hear anything about it, and he opposed the marriage with all his power, saying that he had not raised his daughters for pigs.

The king reported this to his son, who insisted even more eagerly than before. Thus the king had to force the parents to marry off their daughter. With tears and crying the bride was taken from her castle and dragged to the wedding. It was a sad affair, as though each of the guests could foresee that the second bride would fare no better than had the first one. And that is exactly what happened, because when the bridegroom wanted to jump into bed, he hit her on the neck with his plump feet, and -- she was dead.

The sorrow cannot be described that ruled in the king's castle as well as in the other castle. The wild pig was feeling as to what had happened. He struck his head against the walls as if he were tired of living. The bride's parents could not be consoled. Of three daughters, they now had only one, who was still a tender young girl, and they were afraid of losing her as they had the others. Thus they wanted to pack their belongings and move to a foreign country. When the king heard this, he became even sadder than before, and even angrier with his son. He asked the rich lord to remain in his castle and promised him that he would drive away the wild pig immediately.

And he kept this promise. The pig (poor prince), was driven out of the castle without pity or compassion, and he ran into a nearby forest.

The rich lord's third daughter was a beautiful girl, and because she was as good as an angel, her parents no longer thought about the terrible way they had lost their other daughters.

One day everyone left castle to go walking in the woods. The girl liked the beautiful wildflowers so much that she could not pick enough of them, and the birds sang so beautifully that she could not hear them enough. She picked and picked, and listened and listened. While she sat there picking flowers, a wild pig suddenly ran up to her, took her on his back, and ran away with her.

Her parents called and called, and the other people looked everywhere, but the girl could not be found. The evening fell,, and that evening they had to return to the castle without the poor girl.

The wild pig did not eat her up, but instead carried her long way off to a deep cave, where no person would dare to enter. He set the girl down quietly and gently and made a bed for her from soft moss. He ran back into the woods and returned with flowers and strawberries. He did everything he could to please the girl, his wife.

Gracious God! The wild pig was none other than the enchanted prince. The girl felt more and more at ease, and finally she began to rub the wild pig's coarse bristly head with her hands. He licked her hands and was so happy that tears ran from his eyes.

"Why are you crying?" asked the girl.

"Why should I not cry?" said the wild pig. "You could use me, but I know that you will not do so."

This saddened the girl, and she herself began to cry, saying, "Oh yes, I want to redeem you, wild pig, just tell me what I have to do."

The pig answered, "And what if I tell you, and you still don't do it? But I will tell you: You must take me as your husband, and marry me, and be my wife."

With that the girl laughed and jumped up and said, "If that is all I have to do, then I will redeem you."

When the wild pig heard this he jumped up three times with joy. Then he ran off and brought back enough soft green moss to make a bed in which they could comfortably sleep together.

That night the girl had an unusual dream. She thought that someone told her to get up early the next morning and take the large fur that she would find next to the bed. Then she should leave the cave, close it off with a stone, and on this stone burn the pelt to ashes. This seemed very strange to her.

In the morning she looked out of the bed and did indeed see a large fur, like one from a wild pig, lying there. The girl took courage, went to the cave's entrance, and with all the power she could muster rolled a heavy stone that lay nearby to the entrance. Then she made a large fire, and as soon as it was burning well, she threw the fur into it. It had hardly begun to burn when a sad cry  was heard from within the cave. The girl would have liked to open the cave, but the stone had become too hot, and she would have burned her hands terribly on it. After the fire was out and the stone had cooled off a little, she moved the stone aside. The most handsome prince that one can imagine stood before her. He threw his arms around her neck and cried, "Now do you see that you have used me? You are mine and I am yours, and if your two sisters had been as willing as you, then they would not be dead!"

The prince left the cave with the girl and went to the king's castle and explained everything to him and to the queen. The girl's parents were called from the other castle, and he explained everything to them. Three days later they held the wedding with great pomp and ceremony, and one has never seen a more handsome bridegroom than the prince or a more beautiful bride than the girl.

After some time the old king died. The prince came to the throne, and the girl became his queen, and if they have not stood up from throne, then they are still seated upon it.