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| Sunday, 11 December 2005 |
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Curse of Senasura Sunday Parable by Sunanda Mahendra 'I want to taste some of the sweet mangoes in that grove,' said the elder prince to his brother, the younger prince.
"Okay, I am not at all afraid of any curses," said the elder prince and entered the mango grove and plucked several mangoes. Both of them ate as much mangoes as possible and left the grove. When Senasura came to his grove he found that some of his sweet mangoes had gone during his absence. Then he started cursing the pluckers, "may those who entered my mango grove and ate my mangoes be destroyed and vanish in seven days." As regards the plucking of the sweet mangoes of Senasura's grove, the two princes did not inform either their mother, the queen or their father, the king. News came After seven days of this event, the news came that the King had to go to the battle front to fight with a rival king and his army who wanted to conquer the land. The King went out with his battalion of soldiers from the palace and later on informed the Queen through a messenger, that he is defeated by the rival king, nevertheless his life is saved and lives in a foreign land far from his kingdom disguised like a commoner. "We've got to leave this land as the enemies will bring more harm to us," she told the two princes who were playing in the royal courtyard. Then one morning the three of them left the palace without informing anybody in the palace. They had to undergo numerous agonies crossing streams and forests and escaping the evil eyes of devils and monsters. They had to overcome hunger by eating various kinds of fruits and vines. They had to console each other to make their journey safe and happy. Leaving "Perhaps fortunately we will reach a place where good human beings exist and they will not know about us," said the Queen consoling the two sons. The Queen also told the two sons not to reveal their identities as belonging to the royal family of a defeated king, if anybody happens to ask any questions. Then they eventually entered a village where some poor people lived by paddy cultivation. The village headman who questioned them entrusted them with some work in a threshing field and a paddy barn. While the mother got down the paddy from the barn and boiled, and laid on a long mat, in the sunshine, the two sons (the princes) had to protect it from the birds that swooped down and the fowls who came in flocks. But it so happened that when the two princes played games and forgot all about the watching, the birds swooped down and ate the paddy. The head man came to know that the entrusted job was not carried out well. The headman was angry and told them to find another job that suits them and that he cannot afford to lose his fortune, the harvest. Once again they had to go from place to place begging and looking for a job. Then they reached a place where people were seen drawing sand and water from a river. The supervisor or the man in charge of the workplace saw a beautiful woman with two sons approaching him. "We want to make a living, as we are strangers to this place. Can you help us?" asked the woman. "Yes I can," the man said to the woman looking more carefully at her face. The man did not question her further, but it was observed that the man was taking a special interest in her, looking for a chance to talk to her personally. "I like to talk to you", said the man in charge of the workplace. The woman kept silent. "You look so beautiful and I don't mind getting married to you as I am unmarried," he said. "I have two sons, look over there! And I have to look after them like my two eyes. So I cannot afford to marry you," said the woman. "But I need you," insisted the man and even refused to give the money due to her in time. The woman waited patiently until he handed over the money. But the matter was getting delayed and the woman was feeling too bad. "I need my money, as I have to live with my two sons," said the woman. But the man in charge of the workplace delayed the issue by saying, "wait a minute until these people leave this place so that I will hand over your money, perhaps more money than you expected." "I don't want more money please give me what I deserve," insisted the woman. Then the man wanted to play the role of a villain. The woman got angry and blamed the man for his cruelty and lecherous behaviour. For her self defensive attitude the woman had to undergo a severe penalty. The angry man lifted the woman and packed her in a big box, and put it into the river. The box floated. Lost When the two boys came to see the mother they could not trace her and they asked the man in charge of the workplace where she was. He just said, "how do I know where she has gone? You should know about your mother much more than I. Go and find her from any place without troubling me." The two sons went forth in search of their mother. "Did you see our mother?" they asked all those they met. But to no avail. They walked miles and miles in search of their mother. Then they arrived in a kingdom where they had just selected their king, The former king had died of a sudden sickness leaving no heir to the throne. But the people needed a king to rule the kingdom. In the absence of an inheritor or a king of the lineage, and in order to select a new king, the king's men had to let loose a royal elephant to the street. When the harmless royal elephant roams about in the street and kneels down at the foot of a particular person, that person will be selected as the most suitable king of the country. This was the age-old custom of selecting a suitable king. In this manner, the people selected a new king who possessed all the signs of royal qualities. "I am a king who ruled a certain kingdom once upon a time. But don't ask me any questions pertaining to that issue," he said. The two boys (princes) were walking on the river bank when they met some fisherfolk who were trying their best to draw a big box floating in the river by casting a big net. The two boys too helped them and they wanted to know what was inside the box. "I want to know what is inside the box," said the elder boy to his brother. The woman inside recognising the svoice of her sons murmured. "I am your mother". It was the custom of the fisherfolk to take such an item like a big box to the king in order to reconcile matters. So the fisher folk lifted the box and took it to the palace to show it to the new king who was all alone thinking about his past happiness. "I order you to open that box," said the King. When the royal men opened the box out came a woman looking withered and tired. "Can you make me out?" asked the woman coming out of the box. The new king could not believe his own eyes. "You look exactly like my queen consort who should be weeping at this moment for my long absence," said the new king looking around. "This is our mother," said the two young boys coming out from a corner of the palace. She clasped them lovingly. Meeting again "Oh, you have come all the way to meet me," she said revealing what happened to her at the hands of a cruel man. The new king gradually recognised his queen. "Oh you have grown up to be two young men," said the King holding the two boys. "Then the elder son said to his young brother, "All these happened as a result of our eating the sweet mangoes of the grove belonging to that man called Senasura. We should never succumb to that kind of thing again."
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"But you can't do that brother, as the grove belongs to a man called
Senasura. He will curse us if we do that," said the younger brother. 
