Tales froM Indian Mythology

Author(s): A S Raman
Publisher: Kutub Popular

Page 42

20
Taies from Indian Mythology.
Two. Three. Four. Five. And at once an elaborately decorated and ornamented kalasa (a sacramental vessel) turned up. Naturally excited, he picked it up, and lo ! it contained a female child, who glowed like a part of the moon fallen on the earth. The onlookers were jubilant that their king's prayers were granted. She cried lustily in his hands. Believing that it was the will of God that he should bring her up as his own daughter, Janaka took her to the palace and entrusted her to the care of his senior queen. With due ceremony, he christened the baby Sita ("Plough”).
Ever since Sita entered Janaka's palace, an era of plenty had dawned upon his realm. The rains came at the right time, and stopped at the right time. The soil yielded at the mere sight of the plough. Nature threw upon her hidden treasures unasked. Even the senior queen who had remained sterile for many years now gave birth to a beautiful daughter who was named Urmila. The barrenness had completely disappeared from the kingdom of Videha, and the people began to feel that a goddess was in their midst.
Sita and Urmila grew up in the sunshine of love from everywhere—from the gods, the five elements and the mortals. They lived in unison like the twin beats of a single heart. They studied and played together, and at the proper age all the accomplishments came to them not only naturally but spontaneously. But what they most enjoyed doing was to live close to Nature—and closer to Mother Earth. With the first glimmer of the dawn, carrying pitchers of gold, they would go to the river, and, before bathing in its sacred waters, they would play for a little while on its banks. They would raise palaces of sand and make boats with pieces of bark and leaves, till their