Sunday, March 29, 2015
La Venganza
Venganza
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| Ashvatthama, Hijo de Drona. |
La guerra ha terminado, Sin embargo un
hombre hierve de ira por tomar revancha. El hijo de Droṇa, Aśvatthāmā ataca en
la noche. ¿Su objetivo? La venganza por la muerte de su padre, el guru militar
de los Kauravas. Sigilosamente, Aśvatthāmā pretende dar muerte a Drishtadhyumna,
el hermano de Draupadī, el guerrero responsable de la muerte de Droṇa.
La Venganza de Aśvatthāmā
Drishtadhyumna nacido del fuego había acido
como hijo de Drupada con el único propósito de matar al rival de su padre, Droṇa,
el gurú militar de los Kauravas. Había logrado alcanzar su cometido únicamente
a través de un ardid, un truco cruel para desmoralizar a Droṇa, Pero ahora, el
hijo de Droṇa, Aśvatthāmā tendría su revancha.
Y sin embargo, mientras sostenía su sable
contra el cuello del príncipe dormido, Aśvatthāmā se acobardaba. Morir de un
tajo de su sable sería demasiado amable. Este ardiente príncipe había asesinado
a su padre, el piadoso Droṇa. Un corte rápido de su espada cercenaría demasiado
pronto su vida. Aśvatthāmā pensó que Dhristhtadyumna debía ser insultado antes.
Tendría que ser deshonrado. Enfurecido, Aśvatthāmā empezó a golpear a
Dhristhtadyumna, quien despertó, sorprendido al ver al hombre que estaba a
punto de matarle.
La joya de su frente relumbraba. Mostraba
sus dientes en una horrorosa sonrisa. Sus ojos enrojecidos de ira. Ferozmente Aśvatthāmā
empezó a golpear y apalear al indefenso Drishtadhyumna. No quedando satisfecho
con golpear con sus puños a su enemigo hasta la muerte, empezó a patear y
patear al príncipe, hijo del Rey Drupada, hermano de Draupadī. Y cuando estaba
cercano a morir, Aśvatthāmā elevó su sable y dijo. “Mueran los enemigos de Droṇa,
el gran Acarya de los reyes Kauravas.”
Drishtadhyumna estaba aterrorizado. Pelaba
los ojos al ver al escalofriante hijo de Droṇa, espada en mano. Y entonces el
pervertido Aśvatthāmā cruzó con su sable su cuello y lo mató tal cual a un
animal de matadero, decapitando así al hermano de Draupadī.
Al dejar muerto a Drishtadhyumna, el feroz Aśvatthāmā
condujo su cuadriga ruidosamente alrededor del campamento, gritaba y rugía como
un león. Sembrando el terror en los corazones de todos.
Mientras conducía su carroza entre las
tiendas colocadas en el terreno de la batalla, las mujeres gimieron ante la
muerte del rey. Los pocos guerreros sobrevivientes se montaron en sus carros,
ciñeron sus espadas, elevaron sus jabalinas, juraron valientes promesas y se
prepararon para pelear.
Preguntaron a las damas quién había visto a
Aśvatthāmā manejar su poderosa carroza por el campamente “¿Quién amigo o
enemigo había provocado el asesinato?”
Pero las mujeres gimieron y dijeron, “Si
era un hombre o un amigo, un monstruo o un rakshasa, no sabemos. No sabemos lo
que es. ¡Pero ahí va!”
Infatuation
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| Shakuntala lost in thought by Raja Ravi Varma 19th C. Indian Painter |
Shakuntala was lost in thought.
Meanwhile, Shakuntala, wondered about their guest. Who was this handsome young king. How dare he come to the forest and hunt. And for deer! Her fawn was the sweetest most innocent creature she had ever known. But what had become of the stranger? He had gone off to stop a mad elephant. What courage! But what if he were crushed by the elephant? She was worried. How could she be worried about a total stranger? It was all so confusing.
But when she consulted with her heart, she
realized that she wasn’t worried. What pierced her heart like an arrow and made her head spin was
love. She was enchanted by their guest, the handsome king.
She was feverish with love for the stranger who had entered
the grove. He spoke so sweetly and ran bravely after the mad elephant.
All this gave Shakuntala a headache. She was now burning with passion, and felt feverish and
sick. But why had he left so soon? She felt abandoned. It wasn’t the first time. Her mother was the beautiful
apsara, Menaka. She had been sent to earth to break the vow of Vishvamitra
Muni.
Everyone in the ashrama knew the story. Vishvamitra had been a king and a great Kshatriya warrior. But he was
unsatisfied with his position. Once he had been hunting in the forest when he
came upon the great sage Vasistha. Enamoured by his wish-fulfilling cow, he
attempted to steal it, but Vasistha ordered the cow to produce an army of
soldiers. The magic army defeated Vishvamitra.
Thwarted, he was determined to
understand the source of Vasishta’s power. How could a brahman be more powerful
than an Kshatriya? And so he resolved to
become a greater mystic than Vasishta, by dint of severe penances and
austerities. This was brought to the attention of Indra, the lord of rain, who
decided to put a stop to Vishvamitra’s yogic practice.
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| Menaka's dance |
He had prevailed upon Menaka to seduce the sage. One day Vishvamitra was meditating on the banks of
the Ganges. Menaka gathered flowers by the river. As she approached the sage,
he was moved by the fragrance of her perfume, the sweetness of her smile, her
enchanting eyes. Still, he resolved to follow his vows. Menaka began to frolic and dance through the forest, picking flowers and smiling graciously at the sage. But Vishvamitra was firm in his vows. Menaka continued to
tempt Vishvamitra until he was captured by her intoxicating beauty and drawn
into the web of her seductive wiles.
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| Temptation of Visvamitra by Raja Ravi Varma, 19th C. traditional painter |
Before long, a child was born, a daughter as enchanting as
her mother and as strong-willed as her father. With this the spell was broken.
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| Birth of Shakuntala |
Vishvamitra rejected his daughter and returned to his austerities and
meditation. Menaka was an apsara dancing girl from the heavens. She grew restless
and bored with the simple tasks of motherhood.
She longed to return to the
court of Indra, king of the heavens. And so it was that she abandoned
Shakuntala in the forest. One morning, when no one was to be seen, Menaka
slipped into the forest and laid the infant girl on a bed of mango leaves by a
tall tamarind tree near the ashram of Kanva the forest sage.
She said mantras
and prayers to the gods to protect the tiny girl and then returned to the
heavens to dance in the court of the god of rain. Menaka had been abandoned by her father, the great sage Vishvamitra, and now by her mother, the beautiful apsara, Menaka.
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| Shakuntha birds with baby girl |
As fortune would have it, the birds took pity on her. A
family of Shakuntha birds brought her food and sang her to sleep on her bed of
leaves. Finally, the sage Kanva, enchanted by the song of those exotic birds,
found the nest where the little girl slept. And seeing the helpless child, he
resolved to care for her. The compassionate sage raised her in his ashram as
his own daughter and named her Shakuntala in honor of the shakuntha birds that
had fed her.
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| Sage Kanva and Shakuntala |
And there in the ashrama of Kanva Shakuntala had passed
nearly sixteen years. She was a devoted daughter, polite, and well-educated.
All the animals of the forest loved her, especially the birds who would perch
on her shoulder and sing to her. But her favorite was the fawn that had escaped
the ashram and was nearly killed by the king who came to hunt, the noble Dushyant.
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