Bride for a dead man
An Indian folktale in review
#1
In a land far away lived a king and a queen. They were well into the second half of their life but had no children. Having no children meant that there was no heir to their kingdom.
So the king decided to pray to the gods to give him a child. He began his penance by standing in the middle of a water tank on a twelve-yard stone, with another such stone on his head. He did this for twelve whole years and dedicated his prayers to Lord Shiva.
Lord Shiva took notice of the king’s prayers. The weight of the stone which the king carried for twelve years pressed down upon the heart of Lord Shiva and he came down from Kailasa to the water tank where the king stood praying.
‘Come out of the tank,’ Shiva said. ‘I’ll give you a child.’
‘I’ll come out only when you grant me the boon swamy,’ said the king.
‘I’ll come home tomorrow and grant you the wish. Come out now,’ Shiva said. The king ended his penance and came out of the water tank. He went home and told his wife about the miracle.
‘Shiva gave us his word! He will be here tomorrow and give us a child!’ the king announced to the queen. The couple danced around in joy.
#2
When the next day came Shiva descended from Kailasa. He dressed himself as a holy man, with a cane and a cloth bag draped on his shoulder. He went around the town in search of alms. Whenever someone offered him something valuable, he would reject it and say he only wanted the fat of a flea and the fat of a bed bug anyway!
Merrily, dancing like a peacock, Shiva reached the palace in due time. The king and the queen washed his feet and welcomed him into their home with trumpets and garlands. However, Shiva rejected the material celebrations and asked the king and the queen to be before him.
Lord Shiva showed the queen two betelnuts, pointed to a betel nut in his left hand, and said, ‘This will give you an idiot son who will live for a hundred years.’
Shiva then pointed the betelnut in the right hand and said, ‘This this will give you a smart son who will live only twelve years. You cannot have both. You have to choose one.’
The queen thought briefly and replied, ‘A prince or a king cannot be an idiot. Give me a smart son for twelve years.’
‘Think well before you choose,’ said Shiva. He held out his right hand with a betelnut in it. ‘If you choose this one, your son will only live for twelve years, not a day longer. A tiger would kill him mercilessly on his twelfth birthday’.
The queen looked at the king, who nodded with approval. ‘I choose to have a smart son for twelve years,’ she confirmed her choice. ‘Now please give me my son. I can’t wait!’
Lord Shiva granted her wish. He gave the queen a smart son who would only live for twelve years. As soon as the wish was granted, the queen became pregnant. Nine months and nine days later, she gave birth to a boy.
#3
Years went by. The boy grew to be 11 years and 11 months old. During this time the king and the queen grew overprotective of their son. They wouldn’t let him out of their sight, they erased pictures of tigers from their court and forbade him to set foot in the jungle.
A month before his birthday, the prince was playing ball with other kids in town when a girl commented, ‘You are the king’s son. What’s the matter with you? Playing ball like a common boy. Princes should go hunting, and kill lions, tigers, and such. Only then can you learn to be a real king.’
Shaken by this comment, the prince stormed back home, threw away the ball, and told his mother, ‘Why don’t you let me into the jungle? I want to go hunting for lions and tigers! Starting today I will go on a hunting trip. Kill all the tigers so none can touch me!’
The mother on hearing this became overwhelmed with panic. She remembered the prophecy of Lord Shiva. A tiger would kill him on his twelfth birthday.
‘My boy,’ said the queen with tenderness, ‘don’t think about hunting wild animals. You’re only twelve.’
But the prince was obstinate and wouldn’t listen. He called for a contingent of soldiers and ordered them to prepare for a month-long hunting trip starting that very day.
His poor mother tried to stop him, ‘I see bad omens everywhere,’ she told him, ‘All I see are oil sellers, people carrying pickaxes and spades - all bad omens. Please stay back home.’
The queen wept and fell to his feet. The king did the same thing and met with the same indifference from the boy. The boy was adamant about going on a hunting trip until his twelfth birthday.
#4
The uncle of the prince - mother’s brother - volunteered to accompany him on the hunting trip. He swore to protect the prince at all costs.
On his way into the jungle, the prince turned to his crying mother one last time and said, ‘Mother, I cannot back away now. What will people think of a cowardly prince? Give me your blessings. I will come home safely. You’ll see.’
Saying so the prince bent down and touched his mother’s feet. He also took blessings from his father and set out on a month-long hunting trip.
The hunt was a resounding success from the start. The prince proved to be a skilled hunter. He brought down many lions, wild boars, and tigers. Every time the prince killed a tiger, he would make the guards load it into a cart and send it back home.
Back home, the queen would see the tigers that her son killed and felt confident that in a chance encounter with a tiger, her son would win. How ridiculous, she thought, to think that a tiger could kill my son when he is so capable.
But soon the month was coming to an end and it was the twelfth birthday of the prince.
#5
A month after the prince set out on his hunting journey, he was convinced that his job was done. He killed every predator he could lay his hands on. All the tigers seem to have vanished from the jungle.
On the way back the prince told his uncle that he wanted to stop at the family god’s temple and offer worship to mark an end to his first adventure. As soon as the prince made his plans, his uncle hurried before him to the temple.
There were many pictures of tigers on the temple walls and the uncle didn’t want his nephew to see them. What if he ordered the destruction of the temple because of the worship of tigers?
The uncle ordered the servants at the temple to splatter the paintings with mud and cover the statues of tigers with curtains so that the prince could not see them. His orders were promptly carried out.
#6
On his birthday - and at the end of his first adventure - the prince arrived at the temple. There he met his uncle.
‘Don’t look around and dillydally,’ said the uncle. ‘Go straight to the god, do your worship, and come back.’
The prince nodded and went inside. He offered his worship to the gods and turned around. Here he saw that the paintings were smeared with mud and the statues covered with curtains.
‘What’s with the mud?’ the prince asked the temple priest.
‘Your uncle’s orders sir,’ said the priest.
‘What’ with the curtains?’ asked the prince.
‘Your uncle’s orders sir,’ said the priest.
‘Are you all afraid that I’ll die? I’ve killed dozens of tigers in my hunting trip. Don’t you know that?’ The furious prince tore down the curtains and saw statues of tigers. He got hold of a hammer and went to pummel the statues to the ground.
As the prince lifted his hammer, the statues of tigers opened their mouths wide and rose from the pictures on the wall. Their paws slashed at him and their red tongues made him dizzy. Soon the prince fell to the ground. His heart stopped beating.
#7
Upon seeing the death of his nephew, the uncle cried all the way home. ‘O Shiva, I did everything in my power and still couldn’t save him. What will I tell my sister?’ he bawled.
When the queen heard the news about the death of her son, she ran out weeping until she came across her son’s body.
‘O Shiva, you took him away from me as you’ve promised. I wanted to see him married and live happily with his wife,’ said the grief-stricken queen. ‘Even now I will get him married. We will not bury my son until we find a bride for him.’
The queen’s word became a command. Even as the king and others prepared for the prince’s last procession, the queen sent a cartload of gold around the town to find a bride, whatever the price.
#8
Being a widow in those days was a life filled with restrictions and hardship. No woman willingly married a dead man to live in such misery. The cartload of gold went from street to street and from town to town, but no woman came forward to marry the dead prince.
A few towns away lived a Brahmin who had a twelve-year-old daughter named Chennavva. Chennavva and her family lived in absolute poverty.
‘Give your daughter in marriage to the dead prince and you can live a lavish life,’ the creditors suggested to the Brahmin. The Brahmin agreed and gave Chennavaa in marriage to the prince.
‘O daughter, I am sorry for what I have to do. You’re only twelve but I see no other way out,’ cried the father. Chennavva understood his situation and consoled him. She got into fresh clothes, put up a little bindi of turmeric and vermillion on her forehead and asked her father to bless her.
‘May you be like Savitri. May you keep your husband,’ her father blessed her. Deergha sumangali bhava/May your marriage stay strong for a long time.
The Brahmin was given the cart of gold and Chennavva rushed back to where the prince lay dead.
#9
Back at the palace, Chennavva was married in a proper ceremony to the dead body. Like in any proper Hindu marriage, a sacred thread with a pendant was tied around her neck.
When it was time to transport the body to the graveyard, Chennavva was advised to stay back. However, she refused to stay behind. She said, ‘I’m going with my husband. Bury me with him. What’s the point of living without him?’
Chennavva sat next to the body and was carried with it. As the procession reached the burial grounds, a great storm descended upon the people. As if a dam burst, more water fell on the ground than the earth could hold. Everyone ran and found shelter from the storm.
The dead body was left alone under the shade of a Banyan tree. Chennavva alone stayed back.
Soon night came and Chennavva found herself alone in the burial ground with the dead body of her husband. What should I do? she thought. She observed that the rain made the mud slippery under her feet. She sat down, scraped some mud, and molded the image of Shivalinga and his bull.
Chennavva installed it in front of her and sang songs and worshipped the molds with flowers she picked off the dead body. As she sang and worshipped, the mud image of the bull was filled with life.
‘I am Nandi,’ the mold introduced himself. ‘Chennavva, I am impressed by your devotion. I’d like to do something for you.’
Nandi flew up to heaven and pleaded with Shiva, ‘Lord, you must give back Chennavva’s husband his life back. You must not let Chennavva die with the prince.’
‘Nandi, you’re quite taken with that girl. I understand why,’ said Shiva, ‘but I cannot give back his life like that. However, I can arrange for her to come to the swargaloka (heaven) just like her husband.’
Shiva sent a tiger to kill Chennavva.
#10
Upon seeing the tiger Chennavva stood with her back to her husband’s bier and stretched out both her hands. She prayed to the tiger, ‘Don’t eat him. Eat me instead!’
The poor girl thinks I am here for her husband, thought the tiger, and she is offering herself instead!
The tiger went back to Shiva and pleaded to spare the girl. ‘O shiva, you must give back Chennavva’s husband his life. Chennavva cannot die!’
Shiva wasn’t convinced. He sent lions, gryphons, and even she-demons to suck the blood out of Chennavva. However, chennavva guarded her husband’s body and offered her own to every one of them.
All of the creatures that Shiva sent came back pleading for the cause of Chennavva. Shiva has had enough. He decided he would go down himself and see what was so special about this girl.
#11
Shiva once again dressed like a holy man and descended to earth, asking for alms. He approached the girl who sat next to her dead husband singing songs of devotion.
Chennavva saw a holy man approach her and thought, ‘What can I give him now but my pendant (tali)?’ She removed her sacred pendant and gave it to Shiva.
‘What is this? You’ve given me your tali? Don’t you have anything else to give?’ said Shiva, astonished by her generosity.
‘No Swamy,’ said Chennavva, ‘what else can I have sitting here in the burial ground?’
Shiva was touched by this act. He tied the tali back on her neck, breathed life into her husband’s body and went back to kailasa. Soon after Shiva disappeared, the prince woke up, as if from a long sleep.
#12
All night the happy couple talked to each other. Come morning, the people returned and saw that a miracle happened. They marvelled at Chennavva and her devotion towards her husband.
A coconut was buried in place pf the prince. Chennavva and the prince were carried back to the palace in palanquins and a whole new wedding was organised.
The end.
Context
Hindu mythology is no short of stories where mortal humans tussle with gods to save their own lives/their sposes. The stories of Markandeya and (sati) Savitri are well known.
I will cover these stories in further editions as well. Stick around!
Further readings
Sati Savitri by Devdutt Pattanaik
Savitri by Amar Chitra Katha (comic)