The Unwilling Wife
Most people seem to have the impression that our Puranas are rife with stories of long-suffering wives. Upon delving deeper, however, you see many strong women putting up a good fight against the wrongs done against society and dharma.
This story from Markandeya Purana [Chapters 66–69] is not really about any woman, but indeed about the status of women and wives of those times. Several stories underscore the respect and stature accorded to women, and for the institution of marriage.
I found this story very engaging and instructive.
Everyone knows about Dhruva, the boy who became the pole star. This story is about his younger stepbrother Uttama.
Before I proceed, I looked up pole star and found that the earth has two pole stars, Polaris (Alpha Ursae Minoris) and Polaris Australis (Sigma Octantis). 1700 BC until just after 300 AD, Kochab and Pherkad were twin northern pole stars. The pole stars change from time to time because of the precession of the equinoxes.
The great king, Utthanapada, son of Swayambhuva Manu, had two wives, the elder Suneeti, Dhruva’s mother, and the younger Suruchi, Uttama’s mother.
After Utthanapada, Uttama became king. He married Bahula, daughter of King Bhabhru.
Their marriage was not happy.
Uttama was so enamored of his wife that he couldn’t stop thinking about her, unable to even focus on his work. He wanted to be with her all the time. He only had to look at her to crave to touch and kiss her.
His wife did not care for him and suffered through his embraces and kisses. His excessive attention seemed like a curse.
Uttama brought flowers, and she would throw them away. While drinking together, she would feel oppressed by his company and leave without even finishing her drink. She would force herself to eat a morsel from her husband’s hand when, lover-like, he offered her tidbits from his plate.
Uttama did not notice her aversion to him and continued to shower tender affection upon her.
One day, while King Uttama enjoyed a musical performance attended by his courtiers, other princes, and dancers, he offered a goblet of wine to his beloved wife. But his wife turned away in disgust, as his guests watched. Uttama was mortified.
He called his security guards and ordered them to take away his wife. “Take this woman away and abandon her in the forest outside the city limits,” he shouted to his flabbergasted guards, “Don’t ask me anything. Just follow my orders.”
The guards escorted the beautiful queen outside the city and abandoned her.
Queen Bahula was none too fazed. It was a blessing to be abandoned by her husband.
Uttama, on the other hand, was devastated. Still desperately in love with his wife, still obsessing about his wife night and day, he nevertheless started paying more attention to his work.
One day, a man came to his court with a complaint.
“Oh, king, I am deeply distressed. Please help me. No one else can. Last night while I was sleeping, someone abducted my wife. Would you please rescue her and restore her to me?”
The king asked him, “Oh, Brahmin, who has abducted your wife? Can you tell me where she is?”
The Brahmin replied, “I don’t know. My wife has been kidnapped, but the doors were still barred when I woke up. You must figure out who the criminal is. You are our protector. You take a sixth of our earnings as tax. Because you are protecting us, we sleep peacefully at night.”
The king nodded. “Describe your wife. How old is she? What is she like as a person?”
The Brahmin replied, “King, she has a narrow face with sharp eyes and cruel expression. She is tall, but her arms and trunk are short. She has a prominent stomach. She is just past the first flush of youth and not pretty. Oh, I am not casting aspersions on her. But her speech is harsh. She is by no means pleasant.”
The king was astonished.
“Do you want this woman? Why don’t you marry a sweet-tempered, prettier woman who will make you happy? It does not seem like your wife makes you too happy!
“While good looks are not too important, good temper surely is! It seems like you have been short-changed in both. Do you care that she has been kidnapped by someone?”
The Brahmin replied. “King, the scriptures task us with protecting our wives. The people are happy only when their wives are safe and content. When my kids are born to my wife, it is like I am reborn. When I protect my kids, it is like I preserve my own self. If I fail to make my wife feel safe, I neglect my duty and abandon my dharma. My ancestors will fall from heaven.
“How can I abandon my wife, whom I have duly wed after I finished my studies, and marry another? I brought my wife home along with the sacred fire. I will lose the right to perform my daily prayers and obligations; that will be my downfall.
“When I beget children, I will treat them like a sacred gift. They will be brought up to pay you a sixth of their earnings. Please restore my wife to me!”
The king decided to go on a mission to find and apprehend the abductor.
As he was riding in his chariot looking for the offender, he saw the ashram of a prominent tapaswin.
He got off and went in.
The rishi rose as he saw his visitor. Just as he was about to call for a ceremonial welcome, his disciple whispered something in his ear.
The rishi cautiously welcomed the king, and offered him a seat. “Oh, King Uttama, what can I do for you? Why are you here?”
The king said, “A Brahmin’s wife has been abducted, and I am looking for her. But tell me, how come you have not offered me a ritual welcome? I am the king of the realm, your guest, and I have been courteous to you.”
“King, as the scion of Swayambhuva Manu, you deserve to be welcomed ceremonially, but you don’t merit it since you have abandoned your wife. By this deed, you have abdicated your duties.
“Your daily work and worship are compromised. A wife should be good even to an errant husband. Similarly, a husband should take care of even a capricious wife. Look at that Brahmin. His obdurate wife is abducted by someone, and he has requested you to find her.
“And look at you! You are striving to establish dharma by restoring a wife to her husband. Who will restore order when you transgress your dharma? If a king fails in his duty, or if the learned engage in sinful acts, who will be the conscience keepers of the society?”
The king was abashed. Recovering himself, he inquired about the Brahmin’s wife.
The rishi said, “That lady has been kidnapped by a Rakshasa named Balaka, son of Adri. You will see him in the Utpalaavaka forest. Go, rescue her as soon as possible, and unite her with her husband.”
The king reached the forest and found the Brahmin’s wife eating wood apples, and greeted her. “Good lady, are you the wife of Susharma, son of Vishala?”
“Yes, I am the daughter of Atiratra and the daughter-in-law of Vishala. While I slept, Balaka Rakshasa forcibly kidnapped me. I have been separated by my loved ones. This Rakshasa deserves to burn! I don’t know why he has abducted me. He will not kill nor molest me.”
“Lady, I have been tasked to find you by your husband. Where is this Rakshasa?”
“If you are not afraid, you will find him in the interior of the forest.”
King Uttama went further inside the forest and found the Rakshasa. When Balaka saw the king, he hurried forward and bowed deeply in welcome.
“King! I am blessed to receive you in my home. I am your citizen and your servant! What can I do for you?”
“Rakshasa, I am pleased by your hospitality. But why have you kidnapped the Brahmin’s wife? I know you don’t want to wed her. She is not too pretty, and you have many beautiful women. Neither have you killed and eaten her.”
“King, we don’t eat humans. We belong to a clan that can consume peoples’ inherent natures. If we eat someone’s good humor, he gets angry. If we eat away their evil ways, they become good people.
“King, why would I be interested in a manava-woman when I am surrounded by many beautiful Rakshasa maidens?!”
“But, Rakshasa, if you are not interested in her, why have you brought her here?”
The Rakshasa said, “That Brahmin was performing ceremonies to oust me from everywhere. I kidnapped his wife so that he would no longer be able to perform his work. A man is not fit to do ceremonial worship without his wife by his side.”
The disapprobation that he continually faced, coupled with the sadness of being separated from his wife, made Uttama despondent. He wondered what he would do next.
The Rakshasa looked at him and said, “King, I am your subject. Tell me how I can serve you.”
King Uttama said, “Oh, Rakshasa, who travels during the night, you say you eat away people’s attributes. Can you please eat this Brahmin lady’s ill-humor and make her a pleasant person? After that, if you would please take her back to her home, I would appreciate it.”
Balaka Rakshasa entered the Brahmin lady’s body in spirit form using his power of illusion and proceeded to eat away her evil nature.
The lady graciously smiled and said, “It is not the fault of this Rakshasa that I was separated from my husband. It was because of the accumulated bad deeds of my previous births. Perhaps I had separated a wife from her husband in the past.”
Balaka Rakshasa said, “I will take this lady back to her husband. Do you need anything else?”
Uttama said, “Yes, brave Rakshasa, please come back to me when I remember you.”
King Uttama returned to the rishi and apprised him of the new developments. The rishi said, “Rajan, I understand that you are worried about what to do next.
“A wife is the motive force behind a man achieving his objectives of dharma-artha-kama — aligning your desires and economic goals with the larger purpose of righteousness.
By abandoning your wife, you abdicated your duty, your credo of life. No ceremonial deed is sanctified without a wife. You committed a wrong when you deserted your wife.”
The king said, “What do I do now to mitigate my past karma? My wife never cared for me. I loved her, and I knew I would suffer if I was separated from her. So I tolerated every slight and every injury she meted out to me. And yet, in the end, I banished her. I don’t know what happened to her. Perhaps she has even been devoured by some wild animal.”
“King, she has not been killed. She is well, and lives in Patala, the netherworld, right now.”
“How did she get there? How can you say she is doing well?”
“Kapotaka, the famous Naga king, fell in love with your beautiful wife and took her to his abode in Patala. His wife, Manorama, and daughter, Nanda, took your wife in. Nanda was concerned about her mother and hid your wife away from her father inside the palace. Her father has cursed her. But your wife is safe.”
King Uttama was happy to hear the news. Then he asked pensively, “Oh, venerable one, you know everything, past, present, and future. The entire world knew that I loved my wife. But she didn’t care for me. Can you tell me why?”
The rishi said, “At the time of your wedding, the planets were not favorable to either of you. But you will be fine in the future. You go home, and rule the kingdom justly with your wife by your side.”
Uttama returned to the capital. The Brahmin had been happily reunited with his wife, and they both came to thank the king.
King Uttama said, “I am glad you are happy. You have managed to preserve your dharma. I am sad without my wife, and I have to find her.”
The Brahmin said, “You were so angry that you lost control of yourself. What if your wife has been eaten by wild animals? You have failed in your dharma. Never mind. If you don’t like your wife, why don’t you marry some other girl? I am sure you will find many beautiful girls in your circles.”
Uttama said, “My beloved is alive and unmolested. What do I do next?”
“Then why don’t you find her?”
“Even if I bring my wife back, she will still behave in a perverse and antagonistic fashion to me. She does not love me. I will not be happy even after uniting with her. Oh, Brahmin, please do something that will make her kind and favorable towards me.”
The Brahmin said, “I will perform a yajna called mitravinda, that will make her fall in love with you. If man and wife love each other, a householder’s life will be happy and without strife.”
Uttama consented, and the Brahmin performed the yajna seven times so that the king and the queen would have a happy marriage. After that, the time was propitious for the queen to return. “King, please get your wife home. Enjoy your life. Perform many sacrifices and achieve your objectives.”
Uttama sent for Balaka and asked him to bring his wife.
The queen was delighted to be back home with her husband and asked for his forgiveness. Overcome, the king embraced her tightly and said, “Oh, my love! I am always pleased with you. Don’t ever doubt that.”
The queen said, “Then, please do a small favor for me.”
The king said, “I am your servant. Whatever you wish for will be done.”
“My friend, the Naga King’s daughter, has been cursed by her father with muteness for protecting me. If you can get her cured, please do it for me.”
The king sent for the Brahmin and inquired him about a cure for muteness.
The Brahmin said, “I can perform a yajna called Saaraswati to cure the muteness of the Naga princess,” and proceeded to propitiate Goddess Saraswati and perform the yajna.
The Naga princess got back her faculty of speech. She hurried to visit the queen and hugged her friend delightedly. Then she thanked King Uttama.
“Oh, brave king! I am so grateful for the great favor you have conferred upon me. Please hear my benediction.
“You will beget a brave son. His chariot will travel every part of the earth, without stopping.
“He will be intelligent and master all kinds of sciences. He will be a just and kind king, and will become the Manu for his manvantara.”
Nanda returned to her home in Patala.
Many years later, a prince, Auttama, was born to the happy couple. He would become the Manu.
I will stop the story here.
I have taken a few liberties in narration, even though, for the most part, this is a reasonably faithful translation of the story in Markandeya Purana.
If you, the reader, have managed to read this far, you will wonder about the plot holes and inconsistencies. So here are the questions I have:
What happened to the Rakshasa, who took the trouble to kidnap the Brahmin’s wife because the Brahmin was getting him evicted from everywhere, threatening his livelihood? He restored the lady to her husband with alacrity when requested by the king. He was pleasant to the king and helped him to be united with his queen, too! Was he no longer in need of livelihood because he was now an ally of the king?
What is the real meaning of what the Rakshasa and his people eat? Is ‘eating people’s attributes’ a metaphor for something? According to the story, if the Rakshasa ate someone’s anger, it rendered him calm.
Was it some kind of behavior modification therapy? It is also interesting that Uttama didn’t send the Rakshasa to eat away his wife’s dislike of him!
What precisely the meaning of yajna? I have dug up many definitions, but none of them are accurate. Is it a sacrifice, worship, to give of oneself? The word, Ishti used in this story, means wish, desire, purpose. So the Brahmin performed an Ishti for bringing about the love between the king and his wife and performed ‘mitravinda.’ Similarly, he completed an ishti to make the mute Naga princess speak, and performed ‘Saaraswati.’ Would it be effective in today’s world? Is that a metaphor for something?
The story repeatedly harps upon how the queen was left unmolested. The Naga princess was instrumental in ‘protecting’ the queen’s honor, albeit with selfish intentions.
What if she had indeed been ‘molested’? Would she then be Naga king’s second wife, concubine, with or without her consent? How would King Uttama react to such a situation, given that he was responsible in part for her fate?
Also, I was not particularly pleased when the Brahmin’s wife turned around and blamed her karma instead of her abductor to prove her new-found good nature. But that is how the story has been narrated.
In the end, I have lots of questions and not many answers.
But I find it charming that even a king was not accorded ceremonial honor because he had abandoned his wife. A Brahmin’s daily work would stall if he didn’t have a wife. Needless to say, a family would be incomplete if a wife and mother were not part of it.
Society respected and honored women. Seems like a pretty evolved culture.
