Mahabharata – 116

by 

Sankar Mukherjee

&

Dr. Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya
                                   Aadivamsavatarana Parva

Yayati then on returning to his palace which was like the palace of Indra, entered into his inner apartments & placed Devayani there.The king now, advised by Devayani, established the demon king’s daughter Sarmishtha with the thousand maids in a  mansion especially erected near  the  woods of Asoka plants.With great pleasure the king made all the arrangements for Sarmishta as to food, water &  garments.

The woods of Asoka plant are significant. Sita was hijacked by Ravana the demon king. She was then placed in a forest of Asoka plant. Ashoka means absence of shoka or sorrow Sita’s heart was full of Rama in whose absence Sita was stolen. And Sita with her sorrowing & love laden heart ceaselessly remembering Rama, spent long winters & long summers confined in the forest of the Ashoka trees. One wonders whether Sarmistha pining for her husband shall have to live in the mansion surrounded by a forest of Ashoka trees! Does it not necessarily mean that at some time in the future Sarmistha’s sorrows will be removed by some unpredictable event?