Mahabharata – 137

by

Sankar Mukherjee

&

Dr Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya
                                   Aadivamsavatarana Parva

After duly honored the king said to the exquisite sweet voiced lady --- Oh fortunate lady! I have come to pay respect to the great sage Kanva.Please let me know where he is?

Shakuntala said --- My father has gone out to collect fruits. Please wait a bit. Meet him when he comes.

 Looking at the exquisite young lady with beautiful thighs the king said   ----- Oh fortunate lady with beautiful buttocks! who are you? Whose daughter are you? How have you come to this forest? Oh fortunate lady!I became your admirer, at first sight. Please tell me as to your identity.

The lady answered in sweet voice & with smile. People say that I am the daughter of the high souled, pious & great sage Kanva.

The king said Oh beautiful lady! Respected great sage Kanva always controlled his semen as he is of rigid vow. Even the god of justice might deviate from celibacy.But the great sage Kanva will never succumb to the call of the flesh. How could you be her daughter? Please clear my doubts.

Shakuntala replied --Please listen to the story in details of my birth,as I have heard.Once upon a time one rishi came to this ashrama & asked the great sage Kanva about my birth.In reply I tell you whatever he said to the rishi.

In the past Vishwamitra was engaged in severe penance & Indra the lord of the heaven was very much worried.Indra was well aware of Vishwamitra's powers and feared that if he grew stronger spiritually,he would easily be able to usurp his throne.Indra said to  Menaka --- You have become the chief of the celestial dancers due to your unwordly attributes.Therefore Oh fortunate lady! Do me a favou.The great sage Vishwamitra spirited like the Sun,is engaged in mighty and powerful penance. I am worried.Oh Menaka! I am entrusting you to distract the praise worthy great sage from his mighty and powerful penance lest he dethrones me. Oh beautiful lady! You are youthful and vibrant.You are also well-versed in all the fine arts.Allure him by your sweet smile & soft words and see to that he deviates from severe penance.

Menaka said -- You know that the ascetic of rigid vow Vishwamitra is very cruel. And you are also scared of his spiritual power and might. I am also scared of him. He destroyed the dearest sons of Vasistha.  Being a kshatriya through his capability he became a Brahamin. He made the bottomless river Kausiki near his ashrama for taking bath.

In the remote past there was a hunter named Trisanku. A hunter though he was very pious.He looked after the wives of Viswamitra during famine. When the famine was over Viswamitra came back to his sylvan retreat. He was very happy with Trisanku. He functioned as the priest of Trisanku.The gods including yourself were also scared of him.And you could not but visit him & drink somarasa offered by him.

Once he was very angry. He created a fresh galaxy where such stars as Shravana figure.

The great sage Vasishta cursed Trisanku.Trisanku doubted whether his priest Viswamitra could rescue him.Viswamitra however did rescue him.The gods ignored Viswamitra’s sacrificial rites.But Viswamitra was at that time capable of creating preserving & destroying the world.So he improvised fresh sacrificial rites.And with his great prowess he sent Trisanku presntly to the heaven.        

 I am scared about him who can perform such amazing acts.Oh lord of the heaven!Please see to that the furious Vishwamitra does not burn me.He can burn the three worlds.He can agitate the earth by his footsteps.Also he can make mountain Sumeru smaller & he is able to change the directions.How a lady like me can touch that great sage whose passions are under control & whose spirit is ablaze like fire.Oh lord of the heaven! His eyes are like the sun & the moon.The yama or god of  death is placed in his tongue & sacrificial fire is placed in his mouth.How shall I touch that spirited great sage Vishwamitra?God of death, Moon sages, Sadhyas,Vasus & Valakhillya sages are also scared of him.Why should not a lady like me fear him? At the same time Oh lord of the heaven! How can I disobey your order? Therefore you look into the safety of mine so that I may serve your purpose. Oh lord! When I shall play near Vishwamitra, the wind god  must displace my clothes and Cupid or Kamadeva must help me in this mission. Also when I tempted Vishwamitra the fragrant air should blow.

On hearing Menaka Lord of the heaven said let it be so and he ordered the wind god & kamadeva accordingly. And Menaka went to the ashrama of Vishwamitra.