The conditions were that if the Kauravas lose they return to the Pandavas their lost fortune. If the Pandavas lose, they live as exiles in the forest for twelve years and in the thirteenth year live in hiding. Should they be recognized in that year, they go to the forest for another twelve years. If they don’t, they get their kingdom back. The Pandavas lost.’
‘So the Pandavas have gambled away even their identity. Fools. Irresponsible fools.’
‘The princes of Panchala, Shikhandi and Dhristadhyumna, rushed to meet their sister in the forest. Even if this had not happened, they would not have attended the swayamvara at Udra.’
‘Why?’
‘Because Shikhandi loves his wife too much and Dhristadhyumna prefers war to wives.’
‘And where was their friend Krishna when this happened?’ Shilavati asked.
‘Defending Dwaraka. The ships of Shalva and Dantavakra had blocked the entrance to the harbour,’ they replied.
‘You have managed to get information from around Dwaraka too.’ Shilavati was impressed. She smiled. The bards bowed their head humbly. Shilavati asked her maids to give them cloth and rice and gold. More than the gifts, it was the look of appreciation that mattered to the spies. Shilavati was their mother. And they were her children ever eager to please her.
Shilavati then busied herself for her son’s wedding. Thirty years old. Daughter. Wife. Mother. Now mother-in-law.
the arundhati star
After the wedding ceremony, the countless rituals, the unending advice, the feasts, the songs and the celebrations, Yuvanashva and Simantini sat alone in the bridal chamber, facing each other, wondering what it means to be husband and wife.
Yuvanashva’s servants had removed all his jewels.He had been bathed in warm water and made to wear a fine white dhoti.
There was only one lamp in the room. Lighting up his new bride. She too had been bathed in warm water. She was dressed in a sheer red sari. The light of the lamp penetrated the fabric and revealed a soft sensuous body. She was chewing tambula, a rich mix of herbs and nuts wrapped in a betel leaf. It made her lips red and her mouth fragrant. Behind her was a window that opened up to the sky.
She bent her head and lowered her eyes. Afraid to look up at the man sitting in front of her. The crown prince who came into Udra on an elephant and won her heart with a game of dice. He was her Gandharva. She was his Apsara. No longer free like the river-nymphs. Now fettered by his music, ready to follow him wherever he went.
After a long period of awkward silence had elapsed, Yuvanashva finally found the courage to speak, ‘Can you see the Arundhati star?’ Simantini looked up and saw her husband staring at the window behind her. She turned around.
The sky was black. Stars glittered on it like diamonds set on Lakshmi’s hair. The Arundhati star? Where would it be? Next to the seven stars that represented the seven celestial sages, the Sapta Rishis, the first seven sages to hear the Veda from the four heads of Prajapati. Arundhati was the chaste wife, who followed them wherever they went, feeding them, taking care of them as a mother, a sister and a wife. Simantini located the Arundhati star easily. But as advised by her mother and her maids, she pointed to a star that was not Arundhati and said, ‘There is Arundhati.’
This was a game, to help husband and wife engage with each other, prescribed by the kama-shastra, the treatise on pleasure.
It was said that Prajapati, after singing out the chants that make up the Veda, sang out hymns related to conduct, wealth, pleasure and peace. These were the four shastras: dharma-shastra, artha-shastra, kamashastra and moksha-shastra. While the Veda explained the nature of the world, the shastras tried to organize and celebrate the same.
The kama-shastras recommended that to make the wife comfortable on the wedding night, the husband must look to the sky and ask her to find Arundhati. The wife must feign ignorance
‘So the Pandavas have gambled away even their identity. Fools. Irresponsible fools.’
‘The princes of Panchala, Shikhandi and Dhristadhyumna, rushed to meet their sister in the forest. Even if this had not happened, they would not have attended the swayamvara at Udra.’
‘Why?’
‘Because Shikhandi loves his wife too much and Dhristadhyumna prefers war to wives.’
‘And where was their friend Krishna when this happened?’ Shilavati asked.
‘Defending Dwaraka. The ships of Shalva and Dantavakra had blocked the entrance to the harbour,’ they replied.
‘You have managed to get information from around Dwaraka too.’ Shilavati was impressed. She smiled. The bards bowed their head humbly. Shilavati asked her maids to give them cloth and rice and gold. More than the gifts, it was the look of appreciation that mattered to the spies. Shilavati was their mother. And they were her children ever eager to please her.
Shilavati then busied herself for her son’s wedding. Thirty years old. Daughter. Wife. Mother. Now mother-in-law.
the arundhati star
After the wedding ceremony, the countless rituals, the unending advice, the feasts, the songs and the celebrations, Yuvanashva and Simantini sat alone in the bridal chamber, facing each other, wondering what it means to be husband and wife.
Yuvanashva’s servants had removed all his jewels.He had been bathed in warm water and made to wear a fine white dhoti.
There was only one lamp in the room. Lighting up his new bride. She too had been bathed in warm water. She was dressed in a sheer red sari. The light of the lamp penetrated the fabric and revealed a soft sensuous body. She was chewing tambula, a rich mix of herbs and nuts wrapped in a betel leaf. It made her lips red and her mouth fragrant. Behind her was a window that opened up to the sky.
She bent her head and lowered her eyes. Afraid to look up at the man sitting in front of her. The crown prince who came into Udra on an elephant and won her heart with a game of dice. He was her Gandharva. She was his Apsara. No longer free like the river-nymphs. Now fettered by his music, ready to follow him wherever he went.
After a long period of awkward silence had elapsed, Yuvanashva finally found the courage to speak, ‘Can you see the Arundhati star?’ Simantini looked up and saw her husband staring at the window behind her. She turned around.
The sky was black. Stars glittered on it like diamonds set on Lakshmi’s hair. The Arundhati star? Where would it be? Next to the seven stars that represented the seven celestial sages, the Sapta Rishis, the first seven sages to hear the Veda from the four heads of Prajapati. Arundhati was the chaste wife, who followed them wherever they went, feeding them, taking care of them as a mother, a sister and a wife. Simantini located the Arundhati star easily. But as advised by her mother and her maids, she pointed to a star that was not Arundhati and said, ‘There is Arundhati.’
This was a game, to help husband and wife engage with each other, prescribed by the kama-shastra, the treatise on pleasure.
It was said that Prajapati, after singing out the chants that make up the Veda, sang out hymns related to conduct, wealth, pleasure and peace. These were the four shastras: dharma-shastra, artha-shastra, kamashastra and moksha-shastra. While the Veda explained the nature of the world, the shastras tried to organize and celebrate the same.
The kama-shastras recommended that to make the wife comfortable on the wedding night, the husband must look to the sky and ask her to find Arundhati. The wife must feign ignorance
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