Chastity Is Powerful - Sukanya Proved It
Power of chastity is very often highlighted in our scriptures.
Sukanya was a princess, King Sharyati’s only daughter. Once, while playing around with her friends, she found a termite mound. She went near it and saw two holes in it. Light was coming out of those holes. She became curious. She took a small stick and pricked at them. The light went away.
After some time, she went back to the palace. Suddenly, calamities broke out in the country — diseases, unrest — everything, all of a sudden. Everyone started wondering what had gone wrong.
These things happen only if a major offence has been committed. We don’t call them natural calamities. They are not natural. Even though caused by nature, they are not natural or arbitrary. There has to be reason behind it.
Responsible rulers of ancient times tried to find out the reason behind natural calamities and rectify them. Sharyati enquired with everyone. Nobody knew anything. Finally, young girl Sukanya came and told him what happened.
They all went to the place where she said she found the termite mound. When they went there, they found a broken termite mound and a muni, his eyes still bleeding.
It was Chyavana Maharshi. He had been observing tapas there for a long time, and the termite mound had grown around him. The brilliant objects that Sukanya found and pricked were his eyes.
What to do now? A member of the royal family had made a muni blind. They all fell at the muni’s feet and begged for pardon. He thought for a while and said:
'Your offence will be pardoned only if this girl becomes my wife and serves me for the rest of my life.'
The king was shocked. His one and only daughter — who had to inherit the kingdom — becoming the wife of an ascetic and living in a forest! But this was the only way the country could be saved. So, he half-heartedly agreed, and Sukanya became Chyavana Maharshi’s wife.
She served him with dedication and devotion. Even though he was frail and blind, she served him with utmost devotion. Sukanya became famous for her chastity.
Aswini Kumaras, the divine doctors, decided to test her chastity. Once, when Sukanya was alone, they approached her and told her:
'See, you are at the prime of your youth and so beautiful. And this man here is old and blind. Why are you wasting your life with him? He doesn’t deserve you. Why don’t you marry one of us and live a happy life? Why don’t you enjoy your life? This old man is not worth wasting your life upon.'
Sukanya was thoroughly offended. They kept on persuading her, but nothing happened.
Finally, Aswini Kumaras were convinced about her impeccable character and said, 'We are really happy to have met you. You can ask for a boon from us. We are the divine doctors, Aswini Kumaras.'
'Can you give back vision to my husband?'
'Why vision alone? We can also give back his youth to him. But there is one condition.'
They were still in the testing mood.
'We two and your husband — all three of us will take a dip in the river. When we come up, he would get his youth back. But there is a problem — after that, all three of us will look exactly the same. Whoever you identify as your husband, you will have to marry him.'
Sukanya prayed to Goddess, the Mother of the Universe. She was confused — what to do?
This was the one and only chance to get back the eyesight of her husband. But there was also a big risk involved — what if she chose the wrong person?
Mother Goddess told her not to worry and gave her a clue — how to identify the Maharshi correctly.
So, all three took a dip and came up. They all looked the same. But the Goddess had told her how to identify Devas — their eyelids don’t close and their feet won’t touch the ground.
This way, she could identify her husband, Chyavana Maharshi. And she lived with him happily ever after.
This is the power of chastity. Divinities came for help. Mother Goddess came for her help. And with the power of her chastity alone, she solved her problem.
English
Rare Topics
Click on any topic to open
7
30
Astrology
Bhagavad Gita
Bhagavatam
Bharat Matha
Devi
Devi Mahatmyam
Ganapathy
Garuda Puranam
Glory of Venkatesha
Hanuman
Kathopanishad
Mahabharatam
Mantra Shastra
Mystique
Practical Wisdom
Purana Stories
Radhe Radhe
Ramayana
Rare Topics
Rigveda Explained
Rituals
Sages and Saints
Shiva
Spiritual books
Sri Suktam
Story of Sri Yantra
Temples
Vedas
Vishnu Sahasranama
Yoga Vasishta
26
17
10
0
