21. The Virtuous King Shantanu
Advertisements
X
Reading Options
Font Size
A-
15px
A+
Width
Reset
X
Table of Contents
Loading... please wait.
The chariot was a divine chariot blessed by the Wind deity pulled by five divine horses that were reared in heavens. The chariot had three wheels and it traversed swift like the wind and was a gift to Bhishma from his father. The chariot carried them over to Capital Hastinapur in the blink of an eye.
Rudra was amazed by the Chariot. Everything appeared like a blur to him when the chariot traveled. Unable to hold his curiosity Rudra asked Pitamah Bhisma,
“Pitamah! This chariot seems to be very powerful. Who made this chariot? How did you receive this chariot Pitamah?”
Bhisma was amused by the curiosity of Rudra as he began to narrate the story.
-----------------------
Three hundred years ago,
The Kuru Kingdom was ruled by King Shantanu. He was a very virtuous and benevolent king free from any of the influence of evil thoughts. He had adopted the life of Brahmacharya and ruled his kingdom with extreme kindness. His kind and compassionate nature earned him the favor of Gods and deities as they blessed his kingdom with prosperity.
Shantanu was easily able to conquer the entire world without lifting weapons. All the kings declared Shantanu as Emperor and his reign was a peaceful one. Shantanu gave up hunting and gained popularity from his mortals and deities alike. His reign was a frequent topic of discussion even in heavens.
On one festive occasion in the heavens, the God-King Indra was idly sitting on his throne leisurely sipping on the nectar of life from a goblet. Various Fairies and Apsaras were dancing and entertaining the gods as they gathered for their meeting.
Various gods discussed different affairs prevalent in the Three lokas:
Swarga Lok is the residence of various gods and devas (deities).
Prithvi Lok is the residence of mortals, humans, plants, and animals.
Paatal Lok is the residence of hellish beings staying in the infernal regions.
The discussion lasted for a while until one of the devas praised the recent prosperity of the Prithvi Lok. This sudden topic caused a spark of discussions among devas as they fervently began to whisper among themselves.
This sudden outburst of devas piqued the curiosity of God king Indra as he raised his hand majestically and released his divine pressure forcing all of the devas to come to a standstill.
He curiously asked one of the Devas,
“Which matter is so interesting to catch the eyes of the majority of devas like you? I would also like to hear about this matter and satisfy my curiosity.”
All of the Devatas nodded their head to each other in agreement before one of them stood up and began to narrate the deeds of the Human King Shantanu. The narration continued on as the devata fervently filled up God-King Indra on the generosity of the King Shantanu.
God-King Indra was amazed by the deeds of King Shantanu. God-King Indra decided to reward King Shantanu for beholding Dharma. All the devas agreed to this. But Vayu Deva (Wind Deity) was of a different opinion. He firmly shook his head and replied,
“Before rewarding the King Shantanu we should test him to see his virtues.”
None of the devas present their denied this suggestion and thus they moved towards the Prithvi Lok.
King Shantanu was a very virtuous king. He ruled his subjects kindly and firmly and took good care of them. His people, in turn, adored him.
The crops were good and the country was rich...everybody prospered. However all that changed very fast.
King Shantanu’s kingdom found that all of sudden, there were unseasonal rains and winds; crops were destroyed and suddenly there was a famine in the country. King Shantanu, however, did not let his people down. He opened up his treasury and his granary and asked the people to take it. The people were happy with their king who had protected them.
However, the situation became worse and the crops kept failing. King Shantanu then gave up his palace and all his belongings so that the people could use them. The people were happy for a short time and felt that things would turn around now. But things still went from bad to worse. The entire kingdom seemed to become arid with no crops and water. People were hungry and thirsty with no place to go.
King Shantanu could not bear the misfortune of his people. He was already living on very little food himself and provided all his food to his people. He decided that things can’t develop in such a fashion anymore. He summoned the Kula Guru of the Bharata race of his Lunar Dynasty. The Kula Guru appeared before him, as King Shantanu made him aware of his troubles.
Kul Guru closed his eyes and meditated for a while. He eventually came up with a solution for the calamity. His kingdom is facing the wrath of Devatas and to appease them he had to conduct ‘Dharma Shanti Maha Yaga’.
King Shantanu immediately summoned all the Brahmans and began to conduct the ‘Dharma Shanti Maha Yaga’. The Yaga lasted for forty-eight days and nights. King Shantanu had nothing to eat in the past forty-eight days. His body appeared shriveled and pathetically thin, but he persevered and continued to partake in the Yaga.
It was finally time for the last phase of the Yaga as all of the necessary oblations were ready to be offered to Gods. King Shantanu weakly stood up and prepared to offer the final oblation.
As he was about to offer the final oblation when he saw a man tottering and coming towards him. King Shantanu ran towards the man who was stumbling and walking. King Shantanu asked him to sit down and talked to him.
“What is it, Mahajan! You look tired....”
The man nodded feebly and spoke,
“I am hungry sir! I have nothing to eat....”
He eyed at final oblation but did not say anything. King Shantanu fell in a dilemma, he couldn’t offer the oblation to the man as it was necessary for the sake of his people. He turned to his ministers and spoke,
“Give him a share of my Prasad from the Yaga.”
Much to the dismay of the ministers, the king handed over a portion of his food to the man,
“Sir! Please take a portion of my food and eat it...”
The man looked too hungry even to refuse the food. He did not even look at the thin King and gulped down the portion of the food as fast as he could.
After eating the food, the man looked more cheerful and thanked the king,
“Mahajan! I am grateful to you...I really thought I was not going to get any food...You really saved my life...”
The king nodded his head and the man left praising the king. The king looked happily at the man. His ministers looked at each other with exasperation. Their King had fasted for forty-eight and a little portion was left as Prasad for him after the Yaga. Now he had given away a portion of his share of Prasad.
One of the ministers came forward and spoke hastily,
“Your Majesty...Please have whatever Prasad is left over....”
before anyone else comes and asks for the remaining Prasad.
He thought to himself but did not say it out loud.
King Shantanu nodded and sat down and was about to start the final ritual. Another man came in tattered clothes. Before the ministers could shoo the man away, the king saw him. The man with the tattered clothes also looked like he had not had anything to eat for a long time. He looked so tired that he did not even have the energy to talk. He just collapsed before the king.
The king once again got up. He revived the man. The man opened his eyes and looked like he could not even talk.
The ministers watched helplessly as the king handed over another portion of his Prasad to the man. The man who took the portion of the Prasad ate it without even thanking the king. Only after he had taken a little amount of Prasad, he saw the king and his ministers. But he ate the portion offered to him and looked at the king,
“Mahajan! You have saved my life. My eyes began to water and I could not even see properly. I thought I would starve and.”
The man shook his head and spoke quietly, “Thank you, Mahajan!”
The king nodded his head and the man also left after thanking the king.
The minsters watched the king apprehensively looking at the pitiful Prasad which was remaining and the king...What if someone came and took away this portion of the Prasad too.
Unfortunately for the ministers that are exactly what happened. A man came with a cow. The man looked at the king and said,
“Mahajan! I and my cow are hungry. Can you.”
Without any hesitation, the king handed over the remaining portion of the Prasad to the man and his cow. The man ate a portion of the Prasad and threw the remaining portion to his cow. The cow chewed all the remaining Prasad and soon all the Prasad was over. The man thanked the king and left with his cow.
Now only the water was remaining, the king was about to drink the water when a huge man with dogs came in. Looking at the man, the ministers swerved away from the man. The man was a Chandala. The minsters were about to talk to the guards and ask the man to be thrown out of there when the Chandala spoke,
“I am thirsty can you please”
0
Support The Legend of Rudra
Patreon
