Arthatatvam

  King Ayus and Queen Indumati had a son named Nahusha. After celebrating his birth jubilantly, when they were asleep at night, an asura named Hunda kidnapped Nahusha and went to his palace. He asked the maid to cook Nahusha. But the cook was too compassionate to do this. So, she asked her husband to take the child to a safe place while she prepared a dish from some other meat. Hunda ate the meat thinking it to be Nahusha. The husband of the maid placed the child in the hermitage of Sage Vasishtha and left. Vasishtha wondered about the child and decided to raise the child. Meanwhile, in the palace of Ayus, there was a huge commotion as Nahusha had disappeared. Sage Narada asked them to stay calm and told Nahusha was in good hands and wait for his return. Nahusha soon grew into a handsome youth. He heard a few celestial singers singing his story. He immediately went to Vasishtha to confirm the story. As soon as Vasishtha confirmed the story, Nahusha got angry and he set out to kill ...

  Bhanumati was the grand-daughter of Lord Krishna. In her childhood, while spending time with her friends in the Raivataka forest, she blindly ran and bumped into Sage Durvasa. He got angry and cursed her stating that she will be kidnapped by a demon. Sage Narada saw this and asked him to calm down. Durvasa felt sorry that he had cursed Bhanumati in anger. He told she will eventually be rescued and would get married to a worthy man. A few years later, Bhanumati grew into a beautiful maiden. When she was spending time with her friends in her garden, the demon Nikumbha kidnapped her. Her panic stricken friends then informed others about this. Then Lord Krishna, Arjuna and Pradyumna went to rescue her. They fought with him for a while then Nikumbha along with Bhanumati became invisible. But, Pradyumna could expose the invisible and was able to locate them. But this time Nikumbha turned himself into a yellow vulture and fought with them. After sometime, he became exhausted and fell to...

  There was a princess named Usha who was the daughter of the asura king, Bana. She once had a dream of a handsome prince but she did not know who he was. She confessed this dream to her friend, Chitralekha. Chitralekha was an expert artist. She drew portraits of various princes and asked Usha to identify the prince. But Usha could not find the prince of her dream among them. Finally when Chitralekha drew the portrait of Aniruddha, the son of Pradyumna, Usha felt bashful and nodded. Chitralekha went to Dwaraka with her yogic powers and bought the sleeping Aniruddha to Bana's kingdom. When Aniruddha woke up, he saw Usha standing in front of him. He immediately fell in love with her and both of them got married inside her chambers. The attendants of Bana felt suspicious that the princess never stepped out of her chambers and informed Bana about this. Bana was furious when he heard Usha had married Aniruddha. He immediately went to her room and attacked Aniruddha. Aniruddha was quick ...

  Once when Lord Shiva was meditating, Kama Deva (the god of love) tried to distract him. Shiva got angry and opened his third eye. Kama was immediately burnt to ashes. Rati, the wife of Kama, saw this and started weeping. She decided to jump into a pyre when a celestial voice stopped her. It said that Kama will be born as the son of Lord Krishna and Rukmini in Dvapara Yuga (the third yuga where the dharma bull which symbolizes morality, stands on two legs). It asked her to disguise herself as a maid and work in the kitchen of the asura, Shambara. She was pacified and waited for the birth of Pradyumna(Kama). Finally the time for Pradyumna's birth arrived. The people of Dwaraka celebrated his birth jubilantly. Elsewhere, the asura Shambara had a nightmare. He heard a voice that said he would be killed by Krishna's son, Pradyumna. The next day Shambara decided to kill Pradyumna. He made himself invisible and kidnapped Pradyumna from his cradle. He flew over the ocean and dropped ...

  Damayanti was scared and shouted a curse on the hunter that he would be burnt to ashes if he takes one more step near her. He took that step and was immediately burnt to ashes! She started searching for Nala again and reached a river bank. There she met a group of traders and asked them about his whereabouts. But they did not know him. At night when they were asleep, a herd of elephants came to the river bank and destroyed all their belongings. They thought it was due to Damayanti they faced bad luck and they tried to beat her. But Damayanti ran for her life and reached the kingdom of Viprapur. Queen Bhanumati saw her and took pity on her. She made Damayanti as her maid without knowing who she really was. One day the minister of Kundapur came to Viprapur and saw Damayanti there. He said he had been searching for her everywhere but could not find her! Then both of them left for Kundapur. Damayanti spent time with her children but still missed Nala. So, she asked her minister to go...

  Nala accepted to play the game of dice with Pushkara. He lost the game and had to go to the forest along with his wife Damayanti for three years. They wandered around the forest without food and water. One day he noticed a flock of golden birds and threw his garment over them to catch them. But the birds flew away with his garment. At night both of them slept on bare ground using Damayanti's sari as a blanket. The next morning, Nala tore a piece of Damayanti's saree and covered himself up with it and left the place leaving Damayanti alone. He walked for a long time and then suddenly he heard a cry for help from a Karkotaka Naga(Snake person) being swallowed by fire. He immediately jumped into the fire and saved the Naga. The Naga thanked him and offered to help him in return. He used poison to transform Nala into an ugly dwarf named Bahuka and advised him to serve King Rituparna of Ayodhya. He also gave Nala a magic garment that would transform him to his original form. He as...

  There once lived a King named Nala who was the ruler of the Nishadas. He was once walking by a beautiful lake and suddenly stopped at the sight of a swan with golden feathers! He caught the swan and took it to his palace. One day the swan saw Nala weeping and asked him why. Nala told the swan that Narada once told him of a beautiful damsel named Damayanti who was the daughter of King Bheema of Kundapur and he wanted to marry her but did not know how to accomplish this. The swan told him it would help him and flew to Kundapur. As soon as it saw Damayanti, it flew near her and she caught it. It began praising King Nala. She fell in love with Nala and decided to marry him. The swan flew back to Nala's kingdom and informed him that she also wanted to marry him. He was ecstatic and released the swan. Nala was soon invited to Damayanti's svayamvara (where the princess chooses her own husband). She chose Nala as her husband and they lived happily ever after for twelve years. Then, N...

  There was a king named Samvarana who was the ruler of the kingdom of the Bharatas. He once set on a hunt to a forest. There he saw a deer and chased it. After chasing it for a while, he got exhausted and drank water from a lake nearby. At that moment, he saw a beautiful woman with great splendor. Immediately he went after her. But she disappeared! He then searched for her everywhere but could not find her and fainted in grief. At that time the woman reappeared and woke him up. She told her name was Tapti and she was the daughter of Surya (Sun God). He asked her to marry him according to Gandharva rite (mutual consent). She did not agree. She asked him to approach her father through penance and meditation and then marry her. So, Samvarana started meditating on Surya day and night. Sage Vasishtha was impressed with him and told him he would go to Surya and ask for Tapti's hand on Samvarana's behalf. Samvarana bowed to him in reply. Vasishtha left to the abode of the Sun god. He...

  Yayati decided to marry Sharmishatha. They got married according to the Gandharva rite (mutual consent). Sharmishtha soon delivered three sons, Druhyu, Anu and Puru. Devayani was unaware of all this. One day she accompanied Yayati to the forest. There she saw three boys who looked like Yayati. She asked them who they were. They said they were Yayati's and Sharmishtha's sons. Devayani was shocked! She ran to her father Shukracharya's place. Yayati followed her and asked her to come back to his kingdom. She did not oblige. Shukracharya got angry and cursed him saying he will lose his youth! When Yayati asked for his forgiveness, Shukracharya said he can exchange youth for his old age. Yayati then went to his sons to ask them to exchange their youth with him. He first asked his eldest son Yadu. He disagreed. Then he asked Turvasu, Anu and Druyu. All the three disagreed. He finally approached his last son Puru. Puru agreed to exchange his youth with his father for a thousand ...

  Shukracharya reached the palace of the asura king, Vrishaparva and told him he was leaving his kingdom. When Vrishaparva asked him what happened, Shukracharya told him to ask his daughter, Sharmishtha and left. Vrishparva then asked his daughter. She told him what happened between her and Devayani. Then both of them went to the abode of Shukracharya to ask for Devayani's forgiveness. She accepted on one condition that Sharmishtha along with a thousand maids should serve her. Sharmishtha accepted it. One day when Devayani and Sharmishtha were hanging out in the forest, King Yayati came across Devayani once again. She noticed him as well. After both of them introduced themselves, King Yayati and Devayani decided to get married. After getting the blessings of Shukracharya, they got married. Then Devayani left to Yayati's kingdom along with Sharmishtha and a thousand maids! After a few years, Devayani gave birth to two sons Yadu and Turvasu. King Yayati went on a hunt, on the way...

  Once Devayani (daughter of Shukracharya) and Sharmishtha (daughter of an asura king) went to swim in a lake along with their friends. When they approached the lake, they left their clothes in separate piles and plunged into the lake. Suddenly a storm broke out and all their clothes were mixed up. When they came out of the lake and dressed themselves up, Devayani noticed that Sharmishtha was wearing her upper garment. She got angry and called Sharmishtha a thief! Sharmishtha tried to convince Devayani that it was a mistake. But, Devayani kept abusing her. So Sharmishtha walked away. Devayani ran behind her and tried to pull her upper garment, but Sharmishtha pushed her into a well and left. Devayani was stuck in the well and called for help. Meanwhile, King Yayati had come to that forest for hunting and was thirsty. As soon as he saw the well, he got down from his horse to drink water. But the well was empty and Devayani was inside the well. She told him who she was and asked for ...

  The asuras wanted to kill Kacha for the third time. This time they slew him and cremated his body and his ashes were collected. They mixed the ashes into a glass of wine and gave it to Shukracharya. He drank the wine readily as he had a weakness for it unaware that the ashes of Kacha was mixed in it. Devayani again went in search of Kacha. But she could not find him. She went to Shukracharya and started crying. He told her he will revive him again. Through his secret knowledge he found Kacha in his stomach. He cursed himself for drinking wine and forbid people in pursuit of knowledge to drink it. If he saved Kacha, he would die. If he saved himself, Kacha would die and Devayani would be disappointed. The only way both of them could be saved was to teach Kacha the "Sanjeevani Mantra". So Shukracharya taught him the mantra and both of them were saved. When Devayani confessed her love for Kacha, Kacha said since he had come out of Shukracharya's stomach, he had become her ...

  Once Kacha, the son of Brihaspati( Guru of the gods), went to the abode of the asuras (demons). He wanted to learn the Sanjeevani Mantra (The mantra that revives the dead) from Shukracharya (Guru of the demons) as it was known only to him. Shukracharya accepted him as his disciple. Kacha served Shukracharya and his daughter Devayani, well. As the years passed, the asuras began to suspect Kacha's intentions. They killed him and fed his flesh to the dogs. Meanwhile Devayani was waiting for Kacha but he did not return as she was secretly in love with him. So she informed her father that Kacha was missing. When they went in search of him they found Kacha dead. Devayani was shocked at this sight and asked Shukracharya to revive him. He used the Sanjeevani Mantra and revived him. Kacha told them how he was killed and again started serving them. One day Devayani asked Kacha to get some flowers from the forest. When Kacha went deep into the forest, the asuras once again slew him, made hi...

  A few weeks later, Shakuntala became pregnant. When Sage Kanva returned to his hermitage, he heard a heavenly voice. The voice told him all that happened between Dushyant and Shakuntala and asked him to take care of Shakuntala and her child. Sage Kanva agreed to take care of her and blessed her with lovely clothes and jewelry. Immediately beautiful clothes and jewelry appeared in every branch of a tree. Shakuntala wore them and left for Dushyant's kingdom. On the way, she decided to take a dip in the river Ganga. At that time, she did not notice the ring which Dushyant gave fell into the river. Unaware of this she went to Hastinapur to meet King Dushyant. When she presented herself in front of him, he did not recognize her! She thought of showing the ring, but the ring was missing! Sage Durvasa's curse had worked! Dejected, she left the palace. Suddenly, there was a bright light and Shakuntala's mother, Menaka, appeared and carried her into the clouds. A few days later, a...

  Once a lovely girl was born to Sage Vishwamitra and the celestial damsel Menaka. Menaka dropped the new born baby in the hermitage of Rishi Kanva and left. Kanva was doing his daily prayers when he heard Shakuntal birds fluttering around the baby. He adopted the baby and called her "Shakuntala". Shakuntala grew up to be a beautiful woman. One day King Dushyant of Hastinapur came to the forest to hunt. He saw Shakuntala and immediately fell in love with her. He asked her to marry him. She agreed and they got married in the Gandharva style (Where a woman chooses her own husband.  They meet each other on their own accord and consent to live together ). A few days after their marriage a messenger informed King Dushyant that he was needed for some urgent work in Hastinapur. He then gave a ring to Shakuntala and told her he would send his ministers to bring her to his palace and left. Shakuntala was miserable and could not stop thinking about Dushyant. Once when Sage Durvasa came...