Kong Posh: Himal and Nagrai

Sham S.Misri

(Adapted)

A poor Brahman lived in Kashmir. His wife was not happy with him. She would speak ill against her husband. The Brahman was sick of her and wanted to get rid of her. One day his wife asked him to get alms from a king. He left his home carrying some food in a bag. After traveling some distance he felt tired. He came to a shady tree near a spring, put down his bag and lay down for rest. He saw a serpent come out of the spring and enter the little bag he carried. He thought to carry the serpent home to sting his wife and thus get rid of her. He closed the bag and returned home.

"I have got a precious gift for you," The Brahman shouted to his wife when he reached home. He told his wife that his bag held the gift. He gave it to her, came out of the room and closed the door from outside. When the lady opened the bag the serpent popped its head out. She cried and ran to the door which did not open. The Brahman said "Let it sting you!"

Then, a miracle happened in the room. The serpent changed into a little male baby. The Brahman and his wife were wonderstruck.

In course of time the baby grew into a boy. He came to be known as Nagrai, the king of serpents. One day he asked his father to take him to a spring for a bath. His father took Nagrai to a spring that belonged to a princess. This spring had high walls. When Nagrai reached there, he turned into a serpent, crept in through a crevice into the wall. He had a bath in the spring and returned quietly.

Next day Himal, the daughter of the king, observed that someone had taken a bath in the spring. Again, Nagrai visited the spring. This time Himal saw the Nagrai and was angry. She set a maid after him and came to know that he was the son of the Brahman. She was happy to know that the young boy was a Brahmin. She decided to marry the Brahman boy.

She told her father, the king, about marrying the poor Brahman boy. The king agreed and called his father, the Brahman.

The Brahman went into the palace and the king talked about the marriage alliance.

"I am a poor man,” The Brahman said, let me ask my son, Nagrai, about it. The son agreed to marry.

On the wedding day of Nagrai, the Brahman took the wedding party into the palace!" That day, Nagrai gave his father a piece of birch on which some words were inscribed. He asked his father to drop it in a spring. When the Brahman returned home he saw a new beautiful palace made. His hut was not seen anywhere. When Nagrai came from the palace, he was dressed as a princely bridegroom. The whole city feasted on the wedding of Himal and Nagrai. The serpent wives of Nagrai felt sad in his absence. They made efforts to trace him out.

Then, one serpent wife of Nagrai played a trick. She pretended to be a cobbler woman, and met Himal. She asked Himal if she knew of her husband Nagrai the cobbler.

"Nagrai is my husband," replied Himal, "and he is a Brahman boy."

The cobbler woman said, “Nagrai is my husband and is a cobbler by caste. She added, "You may ask Nagrai his caste that will test the truth. Ask him to plunge into a spring of milk. If he be a Brahman, he will sink, while a cobbler's body will float on the surface of milk."

When Nagrai came home, Himal asked him his caste. Nagrai replied that he was a Brahman. Himal asked him to enter into a spring of milk. When he dipped his feet in a spring full of milk, he was pulled down by his serpent-wives. He called Himal to save him. She sprang and tried to pull him out, but it was too late. Nagrai disappeared under the milk and Himal was left alone.

Himal was sad and in grief. She was in shock and sorrow. Her own folly led to her ruin. She decided to give all her wealth in charity. She gave away everything she had in silver, gold and jewels. Only a golden mortar and pestle was left with her.

Once, an old man and his daughter came to Himal for alms. The old man narrated Himal a tale. He told Himal that one night he and his daughter were near a spring. At midnight they heard a great noise. Some servants came out of the spring with cooked foods and served to guests including a prince. They all disappeared within the spring except their chief. He left a little food under the tree saying "This is in the name of unlucky Himal" and disappeared within the spring.

Himal persuaded the old man to take her to the spring and rewarded him with her wealth, the golden mortar and pestle. At night Himal saw Nagrai come out of the spring. She bowed at his feet. Nagrai was afraid that his serpent wives would kill Himal if he took her to his home. He consoled Himal and advised her to wait for sometime till he could make some arrangement for her stay. Himal did not want any further separation from him (Nagrai) and coiled herself round his legs.

Nagrai was in a fix now. He turned her into a pebble, hid her in his turban and went back to his home in the serpent world. His wives began to doubt him and accused him of the smell of human flesh in his company. He could not conceal the secret and reconverted her into the human form.

When the serpent wives saw Himal, they stung Himal and she died immediately. Nagrai was under grief. He was helpless. He washed the body of Himal for final cremation. He was so moved by his affection for Himal that he could not stand the idea of consigning it to the flames. Instead, he put some balm over it and stretched it on a bed near the spring.

When Nagrai would come out of the spring, he would look on the beauty of the dead form of Himal. After some days, a holy man came to the spring and saw the dead body. He was so impressed by the beauty of Himal and the love of Nagrai that he gave the body the gift of life. He carried Himal to his home where the holy man's son was fascinated with her beauty. He set his heart on marrying her. A couple of days later Nagrai came once again out of the spring to draw consolation from a sight of Himal's body. He was grieved to find the body missing. He traced her ultimately to the holy man's hut where she was lying asleep and was delighted to find her living once again. He did not want to disturb her while asleep and, therefore, coiled himself near the bed of Himal till she would wake up. In the meantime, the holy man's son entered the cottage and was alarmed to see the snake. He at once killed the snake. Himal woke up in this noise. She realized the significance of the snake and its unnatural death. "Once again has he suffered for my sake" she said. She got the dead snake cremated and on the funeral pyre committed herself to the flames. Everyone was moved by their loyalty and the sacrifice they made for each other. The holy man was sorrow because it was in his hut where Nagrai out of love for Himal had lost his life and this had led to the self-immolation of Himal. He felt deeply worried.

One day, while he was thinking over this question he heard two birds talking about the love, attachment and sacrifice of Himal and Nagrai. The female bird said to her consort, "Can they ever regain their human form?" "Verily so" replied the latter, "if their ashes are thrown into the spring." The holy man at once threw the ashes into the spring. Himal and Nagrai came to life in their human form once again and lived without further mishap ever after.