Story Time

There are many versions of this story. However I have realised and repeatedly said that while going through so many story books and websites that the stories we hear in North are quite different than the scriptures in southern part of India.

A long time ago there lived a group of sages who went out every morning for their prayers and came back to their dwellings in the evening.

They lead a pious and simple life, eating fruits and drinking water from a nearby well. A frog, who lived in the well, observe their way of life and also returned  pious .

One day the frog saw a poisonous snake entering the well why the sages had gone for their prayers.

The Frog knew that if the sages drank this water they would die.

So he waited impatiently near the well till the stages returned.  When they came near, the Frog jumped into the well to warn them about the poisonous water.

The sages were surprised by the sudden movement of the frog and peeped inside the well.

To their surprise The Frog was dead.  When the sages fished The Frog out from the well, they noticed that the colour of the frog body had changed to Blue wish Grey.  That’s when the sages realised that the water had been poisoned and through their yogic powers, that the frog had given his life to save all of theirs.

Together they recognised the frog’s sacrifices and blessed him , “a simple creature like you saved us from death. Oh dear frog we will revive you so that you can ask us for a boon.”

 When the frog came alive he said in a human voice,” I want to be beautiful like Parvati and marry someone who is extremely learned and as an Emperor”.

The sages smiled and said may you take birth as a very beautiful and pious woman whose name will always be associated with the virtues and devotion to your husband. You will grow up to marry a great and knowledgeable king.

Thus the frog was born in his next life as Mandodari, the daughter of Mayasura- and the celestial dancer Hema. Mayasura knew of his daughter’s previous birth which is why he named her Mandodari, derived from mandook meaning frog in Sanskrit.

She eventually married Ravana, the greatest warrior of the time and a highly learned man.

She, however, forgot to ask the sages for happiness and never experienced true joy in her life.  She experienced immense sadness at the hands of her husband Ravan who kidnapped Sita. Mandodari repeatedly advised her husband to release Sita but to no avail.

In Indian Mythology,  we remember her as one of the five great women, or Panchkanya- Ahilya, Draupadi, Kunti, Tara and. Mandodari.

Mandodari, like the women she represents, perhaps, hides anger and anguish in her heart as she lives a life of duality: the surface made turbulent by varied experiences, and a deep, silent core in her soul where wisdom originates. She has the inherent gift of distinguishing right from wrong. And in a crisis, she knows how to insist on doing what she thinks is right.

So the next time lord appears or you are asked to seek a boon, please seek forgiveness and happiness. This is my personal learning from this story.