Remembering Harishchandra

Satyameva Jayate -- words that deserve to be etched in stone. But are they even honoured?  Two days ago, I booked a  driver at 9am. There was no sign of anyone until half past nine. I was due to go to the temple which would close fast. Calls to the agency were of no avail. Finally I was told that the driver would arrive any minute. When he showed up the deadline was long past. Turns out that the original allottee had a flat tyre (lie?). A substitute was asked to rush after I had called. How difficult was it to be honest and let the client know? Lies fly thick and fast without any fear of consequences and are told in myriads of situations.

You hire a staffer and find that he has lied on his CV. A bridegroom keeps his earlier marriage under wraps and dupes his unsuspecting second wife to be.

My thoughts went back to Harishchandra king of Ayodhya considered the embodiment of truth He was blessed with a son after worshipping Varuna but refused to part with the child as agreed before the yagna. Instead, he offered Shunashepa the son of a poor man, disregarding his pleas. This angered sage Vishwamitra who regarded Harishchandra a sham.

And he was out to expose him. While out hunting one day King Harishchandra heard a girl in distress. Trying to save her the king finds Vishwamitra attempting to possess her. The enraged Vishwamitra then took the form of a bear and began wreaking terror in Harishchandra’s kingdom. While chasing the bear the king landed at the bank of a river and met a Brahmin who was actually Vishwamitra in disguise. The king asked him for directions to Ayodhya and the brahmin obliged but told him to take a dip in the river first. The king then made an offer of alms. The brahmin demanded his entire kingdom and gold. As the King had already given away his kingdom, he asked for time to mobilise the gold. The poor king sold his wife and son and found a job in a crematorium Meanwhile the young boy died of a snake bite and his mother took him for cremation. 

Harishchandra recognised his wife and son. As she could not pay for the cremation, he asked her to worship Shatakshee Devi aka Jagadamba the mother of the universe. She did so and the gods appeared and praised Harishchandra for his honesty. Indra revived the boy. Vishwamitra returned the kingdom. Harishchandra’s son was appointed as the successor to the throne and he and his wife departed to heaven.