The Seduction of Shiva by A N D Haksar

Author:A N D Haksar
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789351186243
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2013-03-03T16:00:00+00:00

He rewarded the hunter with the gift of a village, and returned with Manohara to Hastinapura. There they stayed in his palace, sporting, dallying and making love. So enthralled was he by her beauty, youth and her attentiveness to him, that he was unable to leave her side, even for a moment.

It so happened that about this time two brahmans arrived in the capital from the countryside. One was engaged by the king and the other by Prince Sudhana. While the first was made the royal priest and given much wealth, the second received but a fraction of it.

‘Prince,’ he asked, ‘what will you do for me when you become the king after your father’s passing?’

The reply was: ‘Just as my father appointed your brahman colleague as his priest, so will I appoint you.’

This news reached the other brahman through a chain of ears. ‘I will so act,’ he decided, ‘that the prince does not succeed to the kingdom. How will he then make that fellow the royal priest?’

Meanwhile there was a rebellion in a hill town the king had conquered in the past, and to quell it he sent a force which came back defeated and decimated. After this happened several times, the ministers told him, ‘Majesty, why let our strength deplete and the other side’s grow? Let all those who live by arms in your realm be mobilized.’

Realizing that this provided the time and the opportunity for having the prince killed, the royal priest also addressed the king: ‘Sire, they cannot be subdued thus,’ and, on the king asking, ‘Should I then go myself?’ he replied, ‘Why should Your Majesty go? Here is Prince Sudhana, proud and strong. Let him be sent with your army.’

The king agreed and summoned his son. ‘Go, prince,’ he said, ‘take a force and subdue that town.’

‘So I will, sire,’ said Prince Sudhana, and returned to his harem. But he forgot it all on seeing Manohara. The king spoke to him again but, at the sight of Manohara, he forgot it once more.

The priest then told the king, ‘Majesty, it is impossible to send Prince Sudhana because he is so attached to Manohara. So, get the troops ready, and when the prince leaves the harem, he should be dispatched without seeing the girl.’

‘Act accordingly, gentlemen,’ the king commanded his ministers, and they had the army readied with elephants, horses, chariots and infantry, equipped with all kinds of weapons and war machines.

‘Go, prince, the army is ready,’ they said as he came out.

But he addressed the king: ‘Majesty, I will go after seeing Manohara.’

‘Do not see her, prince, the time is passing.’

‘Father, if that is so I will see my mother, and go.’

‘Go, prince, see your mother.’

Then, taking Manohara’s crest-jewel, he went to his mother and fell at her feet. ‘Mother,’ he said, ‘I’m leaving to subdue the hill town. Keep this crest-jewel hidden and protected. Do not give it to Manohara unless her life is in danger.’ Having thus advised her and taken leave, he set forth to the sound of drumbeats with an army of diverse warriors.

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