Stories my mother told me

We have heard about Ram and his three brothers-lakshman, Bharat and Shatrughna. But he had a sister too. This story starts with her. Apart from the three prominent queens Kaushalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra, King Dashrath had another queen called Chitra. Chitra passed away after giving birth to a daughter named Shanta. King Dashrath was distraught with grief. who would give a mother's love to his daughter Lomapada, the king of the neighbouring state and a dear friend of Dashrath had come to give his condolence with his wife. they were a childless couple. his wife suggested, they take Shanta with them. they would have a child and Shanta would never feel the absence of a mother.after long deliberation, Dashrath agrees to this arrangement.From that day onwards, Shanta becomes Lomapada's daughter. Time passes by. Shanta grows up to be a beautiful princess. But Lomapada's kingdom faces severe draught for many years. As a king, Lomapada does whatever he could to help his people. he even prays for divine intervention. Yagna, offerings, convocation to the divine power- he keeps no stones unturned, but to no avail. How is he to bring rain for his kingdom? The rajguru is summonened to find a solution to this calamity. after consulting the stars and the king's horoscope, he comes up with this suggestion. Rishyashringa, the son of Vibhandaka could bring rains to the kingdom. Lomapada's face drops at the mention of the name. Vibhandaka, once a great friend and benefactor, is an arch rival today. its been years since the fallout between the two friends. But time has not been able to heal the anger of the rishi. He is still very angry and upset with Lomapada. why would he agree to send his son to rescue Lomapada's kingdom. anyone who goes to meet him with the request is sure to die of his wrath. who would dare to face him? Jarata- the aged courtesan volunteers. noone knows better than me the art of luring men. I may be old and decripit, but not bereft of my art. If I can bring him here, I would be doing the greatest service to my kingdom. If I die of his wranth, I will consider myself lucky. Isn't he a great hermit? I have nothing to lose. Jarata, sets off on her mission armed with ten young and beautiful damsels and a boat full of exotic fruits, flowers and aromatic oils, incense sticks, condiments and lepa. Rishi Vibhandaka's hermitage was on the other side of the river. Jarata set camp at the river bank but at a distance from the hermitage and waited for a day or two to observe the day to day happenings of the Rishi. Early morning Rishi Vibhandaka would leave his ashram to walk into the deep forest to do his tapas leaving Rishyashringa alone at home. Rijata worked out a scheme. soon after Vibhandaka left his cottage she arrived with her girls and entered the hermitage pretending to be wayfarer. "May I know who you are and what are you doing in my father's hermitage?" demanded Rishyashringa. "We are just passers by. Going from one place to another. Saw this beautiful place and came inside to have a look. Hope, we didn't disturb you." Jarata, the royal courtesan, was no novice to know how to strike a conversation. soon, young Rishyashringa was immersed in interesting details about the world outside the little cottage. He so far has been confined to the hermitage and the forest around it. He had no knowledge of life outside. The stories and descriptions of Jarata kept him captivated. while Jarata kept him engaged in her stories, the girls put a soothig layer of aromatic paste on his body, served him sweet orages and apples and exotic fruits. somebody massaged scented oil on his body, somebody sprayed perfume on his clothes. Rajata weaved fancy tales about the land they came from Amazed by this new experience, Rishyashrunga could not believe whether it was real or just a fairy tale.This continued for some days. But they would always take leave before Vibhandaka returned. One day, on his return to the cottage,Vibhandaka inquired about the beautiful smells that lingered in the house, to which Rishyashrunga described his chance meeting with the travelers and the amazing stories of their land. Unlike the son, young and inexiperienced and ignorant of the outside world, Vibhandaka knew something was amiss. He tried to warn his son. "Son, beware! The outside world is not as simple as your life here. There are mayabees who could lure you into their world. keep away from them. Your life is for meditation and realization. Don't let anyone deviate you." So next day, Jarata arrived with her entourage. On seeing Rishyashringa she said,"Son, we have come to take your leave. We are going back to our land. How wonderful it would be, if you could come with us and see with your own eyes what a beautiful world it is out there. Alas,that is not possible. So late it be. It was wonderful meeting you. God Bless you. But before we go back, I want you to taste this fruit from our land." That was the sweetest, juiciest and tastiest thing that Rishyashringa had ever eaten in his life. He bagan to wonder "My father brings home fruits like Amalaki, haritaki and Bibhitaki. Most of the fruits we get from the forest are bitter, sour and pungent. I have never seen anything as magnificent in taste like these fruits. Is there really a magic land on the other side of the river where such flowers and fruits really grow? If there is a land like that, it would be foolish not to see that in this life.So he makes a request to Jarata to take him along with her to her land. An exhilerated Jarata immediately obliges. Without any delay, they set on their return journey with the assurance to bring him back safe and sound. Rishyashringa had not expected such a royal reception on his arrival. He was welcomed by men and women dressed in their fineries who showered flowers on him and led him to the palace. As soon as he put his foot on the Lomapada's kingdom, like magic clouds gathered in the sky. cool breeze started flowing and soon the land was drenched with bountful shower. Soon the landscape changed. Dry trees came out of their stupor and began to bloom in escstacy. Bright green foliage spread its wing all over the land. Seeds sprouted from nowhere and breathed life into the dead grounds. Lomapada's kingdom was indeed magical. Mesmerised by the wonderous sites he was experiencing for the first time in life, Rishyashringa was more than willing to accept the hospitality of Lomapada. It is needless to say what might have happened later. Rishyashringa met Shanta, fell in love instantly and married her subsequently. That's the usual sequence of most stories. So let's skip that. Also let us skip the part how Rishi Vibhandaka came angry and resolved to destroy the kingdom of Lomapada. But the king was magnanimous enough to set aside his ego for the wellbeing of his people. He bowed down in front of Vibhandaka a and pacified his anger with humple aplogies for his mistakes in the past and gifting him one thousand and one healthy, beautiful and milking cows. Rishyashringya eventually became the king ruled over Lomapada's kingdom. On the other side Dasrath married and was childless. On Lomapada's advice, he requested Rishi Vibhandaka to perform the Putreshi yajna and Ram, Lakshman, Bharat and Shatrughna were born. when time came for Ram's abhisek, King Dasrath invited Rishyashringa and daughter Shanta to come and bless the occasion. That's the time Shanta reunited with her family and met her brothers. She was both happy and sad to meet her brothers. For years she was deprived of this beautiful relationship. She was filled with despair thinking how she couldn't enjoy the company of her brothers when she was growing up. She was filled with sorrow that she had to leave her brothers and go back after a short while. She wanted to love them be pampered by them to her heart's fill. When lord Ram came to know of her desire to spend time with her brothers, He gave ger a blessing that during the subsequent birth, she would be born in the same household as his and enjoy the fun and frolics of brother-siser relationship. And further, in another yug, she would be worshipped along with the lord, and would never leave his side. It is said that in Dwapar yug, Shanta took the form of Subhadra and enjoyed Krishna's affection as his younger sister. In Kaliyug, she lives with her brothers, Jagannath and Balabhadra and is worshipped at Puri with her brothers. Puri is probably the only place where brothers and sister are worshipped together. Though Jagannath's consort Lakshmi is also -------in the same temple compound, she is not worshipped along with Lord Jagannath. That previledge is given to Subhadra.