Shikhandi's story part III

Story of Shikhandi, continued.

The mighty Hiranyavarman dressed in gold chain mail and poised ready to strike Drupada’s head from his shoulders arrived in the court, shaking with wrath.

“O most foul of deceivers.” He said, “Prepare to meet thy doom.” He withdrew his sword. 

At this time Drupada pacified him with sweet words, saying, “We have been the victims of a cruel hoax, my Lord. My son is no fraud.”

Shikhandi

King Hiranyavarman having heard Drupada did not believe him – but relented to test the claim. 
He put up his sword.
"We shall soon see," he said. "If he is a man, he will be put to the test."
"A test of arms? Shikhandi can pass any test with sword or bow."
"Something more practical," said Hiranyavarman. "Let us meet in the evening."
and ordering his soldiers to stand down, he sent to the village for a dozen of the finest young dancing girls.
That night, in the palace chambers, he met with Drupada and arranged for the best of these exotic courtesans to be sent to a private room with Sikhandi to test his manhood. 

They returned some time later, having discovered the truth and joyfully affirmed that Sikhandi indeed was a man and quite well endowed, and that all of them had been personally very satisfied and delighted with his manhood.

Apsara courtesans

These delightful young ladies who had been curious about the whole affair, presented themselves before Drupada and King Hiranyavarman saying, “We affirm with great pleasure, your lordship that Sikhandi is indeed a powerful person, and very much a man with all his equipment intact. We have personal knowledge of this. Whoever says otherwise is a liar.”

Hearing this, the King of the Dasarnakas was joyful and put aside his sword. He accepted the hospitality of Drupada and they then became great friends and allies and passed a number of days in joy.

King Hiranyavarman of the Dasarnakas rewarded Sikhandi with elephants and treasure, horses and cattle and accepted him as his son. Then the king chastised his daughter for her lies and infamy and made her swear to be faithful to her new husband, Sikhandi without any more tricks.

Meanwhile, the Yaksha lived in the forest castle as a woman, awaiting the return of Shikhandini. He had been too generous with his charity. He had offered a boon; but what the beautiful maiden had asked was a stange and unusual request. Give up his sexuality: to be transformed into a woman so that the young princess could avoid scandal. But he trusted her word and knew that soon she would return. They would interchange again and the prince would become a princess once more. But then, on the whole, the Yaksha rather enjoyed being a woman. 

But one day the Yaksha's master came to visit. All Yakshas are governed by Lord Kuvera, the god of wealth. Kuvera rules the silver in the mountains and the gold under the ground. Kuvera is the master of money and forests. A grotesquely fat mangod, Kuvera rides  on the backs of four humans who are his chariot, his slaves and guards. 

His guard-slaves bore the obese money-god, through the dark woods past the castle of Sthuna through. Sthuna, of course, was in no condition to meet the king of Yakshas. Sthuna was waiting for Shikhandi to return.

Now as Kuvera drew came close, he saw that the once dark, dreary castle with the iron gate had been transformed. The dank dungeon of gloom was now bright and festive. One might even say, it was quite gay. It was now well-painted and brightly decorated, adorned with lush fresh flowers.The overgrown weeds had been transformed into a lovely garden with canopies and jasmine flowers, colorful flags and banners flapping in the cool breeze. The beautiful home of the Yaksha was decorated with jewels and gems and perfumed with fragrant grasses and scented incense.

The plants in the garden were watered and flourishing, the flagstones were well-swept, giving the whole abode a dignified and well-kept air. Kuvera remembered how grim the castle had been. As he looked at the charming garden with its jasmine flowers, he scratched his head. He removed a fine silk handkerchief and mopped his brow, squinting through the sun.

"Hold!" he said to the human slaves who bore him. "Stop here." 

Kuvera

"Yes, master," they said and set him down. Relieved of their burden, the slaves stood in the shade of a lovely mango tree that had been festooned with colorful paper banners in rainbow colors.

"We shall approach with caution," Kuvera said. "Swords ready!"

The four slave-guards stood at attention, their golden helmets shining in the noonday sun, sweat gleaming from their muscled backs. They exchanged glances. This was the abode of Sthuna their master's old friend. What reason could there be for alarm? Who could the new owner be?

They approached stealthily, swords at the ready, though the gates were opened.

Inside the palace, where dusty halls had once met Kuvera, the marble floors were cool and freshly swept. Flowers had been carefully arranged in pretty vases. Tasteful curtains were thoughtfully draped from the windows which had been opened to allow sunshine and a fresh breeze to cheer up the dark castle.

So it was that Kuvera, king of wealth and the Lord of the Yakshas entered the castle and looked for his old friend and servant Sthuna the Yaksha. 

"Hello?" he said.

The four guards circled him, forming a protective barrier with their sharpened swords. 

"Sthuna?"

No answer. Finally, Kuvera the king of the Yakshas became irritated. 

“I know you're in there," he said. Have you no manners? It is I, Kuvera, Lord of wealth. I can see you have been withholding money from me. You say you are poor, but this house has been redecorated. You have been stealing my money. This is insult enough, but you do not even have the manners to come forward and greet me?"

"Sthuna! This is ridiculous. Where are you?” he roared. “You hear me enter, but don’t have the respect to welcome me? What is this?”

Sthuna of course was in her bedroom. She had been trying a dress that Shikhandi had left her. She was looking in the mirror and plucking an eyebrow. She really had nothing to wear for greeting Kuvera. 

Kuvera stealthily approached the lady's chamber surrounded by his armed guard. They reached the door.

"Sthuna! I know you're in there. Open up or my men will break the door."

Finally  the lady Sthuna, who had finished powdering her nose called from within, saying, “My dear Kuvera: Why are you so upset. Give me a moment. It's just that I’m a little ashamed to see you right now.”

With this Kuvera's royal slave-guard put their backs to the door and broke it in. They surprised the Yaksha Sthuna as she was trying on a pair of silk slippers.

To which the Yaksha king, Kuvera replied, “Who are you? What have you done with Sthuna?”

The guards moved in, poised to strike brandishing their swords.

Sthuna began to cry. Her mascara smeared. 

Kuvera looked closer. "Hold!" he cried, just as the guards were about to lop of Sthuna's head.

"Hold I say." And the guards put up their weapons. They stood at ease. Kuvera was shocked as he looked at the person before him.

"Is that you? Sthuna?"

The once terrible Yaksha who had struck fear in the hearts of men was now a simple country girl in a white sari, a little ugly if truth be told.

She said, “O, Lord Kuvera, please forgive me, but as you can see, I have been transformed into a girl. I’m waiting for Sikhandi to return here and reclaim her femininity from me. Until then I have been hiding. For this reason I did not come forward.”

The men laughed. They too recognized their old master's friend, transformed into a homely country girl. Stealing a glance at their master, they recovered their composure and stood silent, swords at the ready.

But Kuvera, king of the Yakshas, was not pleased. His men were laughing at him. He had been mocked by a Yaksha. He was still irritated. 

"Well, you should learn better manners," he said. "You want to play at being a woman. Fine. Enjoy yourself. Be a woman! The girl who came to you was no coward. She wants to ride forth in battle and kill the greatest of all warriors, Bhishma himself. But look at you. You are a coward. You're not a man at all. Fine. I say, stay as you are. I say Shikhandi has more manhood than you ever will. Enjoy your flowers and your curtains. You really should learn some manners; your lack of hospitality quite offends me. May you learn from your grave error. With my power as god of wealth I curse you that your transformation will remain permanent."

"Sikhandi will never return. You shall remain a woman and she shall remain a man. She will go on to glory and fame and you will remain as you are, a cowardly Yaksha.”  

"Shikhandi will never return..."

Kuvera turned to go. He snapped his fingers. At once, all four of his slaveguards sheathed their swords. They took a fine gold chair from Sthuna's palace and seated their lord. Once seated they took Kuvera up on their shoulders and began to carry him away.

 Sthuna was horrified. As he was leaving,  the high-souled king of the Yaksha softened a bit, seeing the effects of his curse on his old friend. He said, "I will mitigate my curse, on account of your loyalty. The valiant Shikhandi will not live long, but will die on the battlefield. After Shikhandi’s death, you may retain your original form and go back to being a man, if you so desire.” Finally Sthuna the Yaksha knew that the words of Shiva had been fulfilled; for it was his destiny to play this role.

Having finished the story of Shikhandi's transformation, Bhishma said, “All this I learned from my spies who traveled in the disguise of beggars, fools and village idiots in the court of Drupada. In this way I learned of his plans for revenge, and of the rebirth of Shikhandi who had sworn to destroy me. How this happened in the battle of Kurukshetra, I will narrate later.”

"How this happened, I will relate later..."