Tale Bearer : Papa
There was a king who had a very learned daughter Vidyotma, in her knowledge she surpassed all the scholars of the kingdom. She declared she would only marry the person who would defeat her in a battle of wits. The scholars of the kingdom decided to take their revenge from the princess by marrying her to a fool. They went looking, and in the forest saw a man sitting on a tree who was cutting the branch he was sitting on. On seeing this, they decided they had found their man, and they would marry him to the princess, and they told him "Come with us, we will take you to the palace and you will be given good food to eat, but do not say a word when you are there, only use hand gestures."
There was a king who had a very learned daughter Vidyotma, in her knowledge she surpassed all the scholars of the kingdom. She declared she would only marry the person who would defeat her in a battle of wits. The scholars of the kingdom decided to take their revenge from the princess by marrying her to a fool. They went looking, and in the forest saw a man sitting on a tree who was cutting the branch he was sitting on. On seeing this, they decided they had found their man, and they would marry him to the princess, and they told him "Come with us, we will take you to the palace and you will be given good food to eat, but do not say a word when you are there, only use hand gestures."
So he went and the scholars said to the king - "Maharaj (Your Majesty), we have chanced upon a great scholar who would like to challenge your daughter, but he won't speak anything". The fool was presented before the princess. The princess Vidyotma showed him one finger of her right hand, the fool thought she intended to blind him in one eye. He showed up two fingers signaling that if she would blind him in one eye, he would blind her in both eyes. Next the princess showed the open palm of her hand, now the fool took this to mean she would slap him. He showed a fist to signal he would box her in return.
The scholars who were accompanying the fool explained the actions this way. The princess's one finger means there is only one God Almighty, but the scholar means that there is one God Almighty, but there is also the human soul (which as per Hindus is considered as a part of God). Next the five fingers of the princess's palm signify the five human senses, but according to the scholar the fist means when the five senses are kept under control one can attain greatness. The princess conceded defeat and was married to him.
After the marriage when Vidyotma discovered her husband had no knowledge and was in fact a big fool, she insulted him and left him. At this the fool was very upset and he decided he would attain wisdom. The scholars who had got him there all left him alone. It is said that he went to the temple of Garhkalika in Ujjain and prayed to the goddess for the gift of knowledge. He prayed and offered to the goddess his tongue as sacrifice and when was about to cut it off with a sword the goddess appeared before him and blessed him. Because of being blessed by the goddess, words of wisdom started flowing through his mouth and he began to write poetry and prose in Sanskrit language. He then created works like 'Shakuntala' and 'Meghdoot' and the beauty of his expression made him very renowned.
Trivia:
Kalidasa (Goddess Kali's das (servant)) was a renowned Sanskrit Scholar and dramatist, his famous works are "Meghdoot" (Cloud Messenger), "Abhijanashakuntalam" (The Tale of Shakuntala). He is known as the 'Shakpeare of India'
The painting on the right by Raja Ravi Varma is of Shakuntala a character from Kalidas's play. The painter belonged to the Travancore kingdom, there are beautiful frescoes in the temple of Lord Padmanabhaswamy in Trivandrum said to be done by him. It is in this temple a vast temple treasure has recently been unearthed.
The temple Garhkalika (garh(fort) of Goddess Kali) in Ujjain is known to be Kalidasa's place of worship, its an ancient temple, part of the plinth recovered is from first century B.C, 4th century A.D and 10th 12th century A.D
कालिदास और विद्योत्मा
बहुत पहले एक राजकुमारी थी । यह राजकुमारी बहुत विद्वान थी , वह तर्क वितर्क में अच्छे अच्छों को परास्त कर देती थी, उसका नाम विद्योत्मा था । जब उसकी शादी कि बात चली तब उसने घोषणा कर दी कि वह सिर्फ और सिर्फ उसी इंसान से शादी करेगी जो उसे ज्ञान चर्चा में हरा सके । उसके राज्य के विद्वान राजकुमारी से परास्त होकर वैसे भी जले भुने बैठे थे उन्होंने मिल कर योजना रची कि राजकुमारी का विवाह एक ढोर से कराएँगे तभी उनको चैन मिलेगा| भले ही वो एक राजकुमारी थी पर ऐसी भी कौन हो सकती थी जो पुरुषों को हराकर चैन से जी पातीं और ऐसा वो कैसे होने दे सकते थे, उन विद्द्वनों के अहंकार को चोट लगी थी और वे अपना बदला लेना चाहते थे ।
पर कहाँ मिलता इतनी होनहार राजकुमारी के लायक का महामूर्ख? वे ढूंढने निकले तो कुछ दिन बाद उन्हें एक आदमी मिला बड़ा ही विचित्र, जिस पेड़ कि डाल पर बैठा था, उसी को काट रहा था । उन्होंने सोचा इससे बड़ा मूर्ख कहाँ मिलेगा , इन्होने उस आदमी को नीचे बुलाया और उससे कहा - " चलो हमारे साथ हम तुम्हें महल मैं बढ़िया भोजन करवाएंगे , बस एक ही शर्त है महल मैं जाकर तुम्हें कुछ भी नहीं बोलना है , जो कुछ बताना चाहते हो सिर्फ इशारे से बताना ।" वह आदमी राज़ी ख़ुशी उन लोगों के साथ चल पड़ा ।
विद्वान राजा के सामने उपस्थित हुए और उन्होंने कहा कि हमें राजकुमारी के लायक एक बहुत बड़े विद्वान मिले हैं उन्हें राजकुमारी का प्रस्ताव स्वीकार है परन्तु उन्होंने चर्चा कि शर्त यह रखी है कि वे अपने मुंह से कुछ नहीं बोलेंगे ।
राजकुमारी और मुर्ख आमने सामने बैठे , राजकुमारी ने मुर्ख को अपनी खुली हथेली दिखायी तो मुर्ख को लगा वे उसे थप्पड़ दिखा रही हैं , उसने बदले में एक अपनी बंद हथेली यानी एक घूँसा दिखा दिय। विद्वानों ने इस विचित्र प्रसंग का यह निष्कर्ष निकल कर प्रस्तुत किया कि राजकुमारी ने खुली हथेली से पाँचों इंद्रियां दिखायी पर विद्वान कि मुट्ठी का मतलब यह है कि इंद्रियों को हमेशा नियंत्रण में रखना चाहिए ।
राजकुमारी ने यह बात सही मानते हुयी अपनी हार स्वीकार कि और उसकी मुर्ख से शादी हूई । शादी के पश्चात जब राजकुमारी को पता चला कि उसके पति एक बड़े विद्वान नहीं एक बड़े मुर्ख हैं तो वो बहुत आहात हुयी और उसने अपने पति को बहुत कोसा । मुर्ख को उसके इस व्यव्हार का काफी दुःख हुआ उसने सोचा वो ज्ञान प्राप्त करके ही रहेगा । उजैन कि गढ़ कलिका मंदिर में उसने देवी से प्रार्थना की कि वह उसे ज्ञान दें बदले में वह अपनी जीभ तक काटने को तैयार था । जब उसने अपनी जीभ काटने के लिए तलवार उठायी देवी प्रकट हुयी और उन्होंने उसे आशीर्वाद दिया । देवी के आशीर्वाद से उसके मुख से ज्ञान प्रवाह होने लगा और संस्कृत के उच्चतम कोटि कि साहित्य कि रचना करने वाला, वह जो पहले एक मुर्ख था विद्वान कालिदास के नाम से मशहूर हुआ ।
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Tale Bearer : Ajju
This is an Ajju Story.
