Tales froM Indian Mythology

SR No.: 006950
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: A S Raman
Publisher: Kutub Popular
Publication Year: 1961
Total Pages: 166
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 16 MB

Page 41

The Childhood of Sita
19
"We knew it would happen, because ..." When it did not they would say: "We knew it would not happen, because ..." In either case, they had an explanation.
But that was the youngsters' day. They began to indulge in foretelling at its wildest. "Whoever digs the earth today," said one of them, "will land a pot of gold.” “Whoever sows the seed today will reap a hundred years' harvest," predicted another. "Whoever goes to school today will become the wisest man in the world without reading a single line for the rest of his life,” observed a third. "The wisest man in the Three Worlds,” corrected à fourth. "Whoever marries today will become the father of a hundred children," asserted a fifth. "A hundred sons, all as radiant and resplendent as the sun," clarified a sixth. "Whoever poaches in the garden today can go on pilfering the fruit every day without being caught,” remarked a seventh cynically. "Look !" they exclaimed in a chorus, "the entire city is surging towards the fields. It wants to watch the great King Janaka at the plough. Are we to be left behind ?”
Janaka, the popular king of Videha, was childless. He had decided to perform an important sacrifice. But he himself set about preparing the site for the purpose. Plough in hand, he began to prospect the land on the out-skirts of the capital, Mithila.' His counsellors and courtiers as well as citizens accompanied him. But he would not allow them to assist him because he was engaged in a religious task to which he had to address himself in the spirit of dedication. At last he selected a plot of ground and began to plough it. One furrow.