This week, we’ll continue the story of Devayani and Friday. We’ll see why you should be careful when going swimming. If you accidentally put on someone else’s clothes after your swim – you might just end up becoming their servant.
The character this week is the sister of someone we previously encountered in the Character of the Week segment of Episode 4 Hare-y Tales. She’s a demon. She’s a Buffalo. She’s both.
A quick recap of last week’s episode.
We met Friday or Shukracharya who was the Professor of the Asuras, a rival group of the Devas. Friday had a student – Kacha who was secretly a spy from the Devas’ professor.
Friday also had the power to revive the dead. He used it to revive Kacha a few times when other jealous Asuras had killed him. He did this at his daughter Devayani’s insistence because she loved the boy.
On the last revival however, he was forced to teach Kacha the secret.
Kacha after revival refused to marry Devayani on a technicality. For that, he was cursed to never be able to use the mantra when he needed it most.
We’ll continue the story today from Devayani’s point of view. She had moved on. She was out on a picnic! Just an all-girls affair. Most notably, the party included Sharmishta the daughter of a local King. Friday was an adviser to the King, so the girls knew each other socially.
It was a hot summer day, so they decided to go for a swim in a river near the picnic spot. They didn’t really have any lockers back then. They simply put their clothes by the river bank and had a refreshing swim. Sharmishta got out of the water first. She put on what she thought were her clothes. The problem? They were Devayani’s. Devayani spotted that right away and flew into a rage. How dare Sharmishta, a mere princess, touch her clothes? Clearly, there was a big class divide between the two. Sharmishta agreed. There was a class divide, sure, but the other way around. Friday was merely an adviser to her father, and effectively his servant.
She said Devayani should really see this as a happy accident. If Devayani wanted Sharmishta to, maybe, you know, autograph the clothes, she might be persuaded into doing her that favor.
That did little to help, and the argument between the ladies turned into a fight.
It did not end well. But it did end in a well because that’s what Sharmishta had her friends lobbed Devayani into. They made a TikTok video of the whole thing.
The rest of the party rode off while Devayani looked up at the tiny shaft of light. She would have her revenge. But first, she had to get out of the well. As is typical when you need cell service the most, there wasn’t any at the bottom of the well.
Luckily for her, the TikTok video got lots of attention and Yayati, a King who was nearby decided to check if this was for real. And when he glanced down the well, he was shocked. It was indeed real.
Quickly he pulled out the girl, and took her back to her home.
Friday was angry so he could hide his disappointment with his daughter’s behavior. And Sharmishta’s dad, the King cowered before his rage.
Sharmishta had committed a major crime. It wasn’t just the physical and mental harm to Devayani. It was her idea that Friday was somehow beneath her. That was unacceptable.
Friday had a proposal and the King had no choice but to agree – Sharmishta would serve as Devayani’s maid. She would get to sleep in a damp corner of Devayani’s hut, and would have to cook, clean, sew, and do the laundry and wouldn’t even have the weekend off.
Sharmishta had to go along with this. Her father had ordered her to, which meant this was law. And a princess, as a member of the royal family, should never ever go against the law.
Somehow, that didn’t seem to apply to another royal, as we will soon see.
Yayati, the King who had pulled Devayani out of the well, had now stopped by on some silly pretext or the other. Soon he started going on walks with Devayani. Gradually, the pair realized they really liked each other.
Yayati and Devayani married soon after. They lived in Yayati’s palace, and Sharmishta, as Devayani’s maid, was with her of course. Her employment contract wouldn’t allow her to slide out of this. But at least Friday had warned Yayati that Sharmishta was really a princess and the daughter of his employer, even though she was functioning as a maid. She must not be ill-treated.
Now that wedding bells had finally rung for Devayani, it seemed like she would have a chance to be happy. Especially after her heart-breaking experience with Kacha from the last episode.
Time passed and the happy couple welcomed two little boys.
Unfortunately her marriage hit the rocks. Devayani discovered that her husband Yayati had been unfaithful to her. And that too with Sharmishta, her maid. And what’s more he even had three sons with Sharmishta!
Now normally, a wife who is cheated on gets to keep the house and the car and full custody of the kids, along with substantial monthly payments. But this was ancient India.
So Devayani’s version of a divorce meant she returned to her father’s house.
Friday welcomed her and was about to ask her how his grandchildren were, when he saw the expression on her face.
Friday couldn’t bear to see his daughter heartbroken again.
When Yayati arrived soon after trying to convince his wife to return, he had a long uncomfortable chat with Friday instead.
Friday cursed Yayati. Yayati would age horribly. Yayati was shocked, as he realized he was suddenly as old as his own grandfather. He had had so many things in mind, such a large bucket list, so many things to do – bungee jumping, canoeing, mountain climbing, skydiving. All of them were now completely impossible in his state. He had to get his youth back somehow.
He pleaded with Friday, until Friday finally put in a bit of a loophole. Yayati was allowed to swap his age with one of his children. Friday did that despite that meaning there was a 640% chance one of Friday’s grandsons would lose his youth.
Yayati and Devayani reconciled. Maybe she pitied him in his old age. They returned to the palace. Yayati had 5 sons altogether with Devayani and Sharmistha. None of them agreed to swap their age with his. Except for the youngest son, Puru.
That’s all it took. The moment Puru agreed, there was a flash of light and he was suddenly old and Yayati was young.
Puru was technically now the oldest, and he was made the King despite his inexperience.
Yayati did start crossing off items on his bucket list but it didn’t take him long to change his mind. Now that he could think clearly, he didn’t really want all those things on his bucket list.
He went back to the palace and swapped ages again with Puru. But Puru was allowed to remain King.
The geriatric Yayati together with Devayani then retired into the mountains.
Not to climb them.
Yayati had started off desperate to cling on to his youth but learned soon enough that it wasn’t worth it. What he decided he needed the most was the quiet life in the company of the woman he loved.
That’s all for now
Notes
Puru, the son of Sharmistha and Yayati is the ancestor of most of the characters in the Mahabharata, which is the greatest Indian epic. Consider this as some groundwork ahead of actually starting on the Mahabharat.
Yadu, who was Devayani and Yayati’s son was the ancestor meanwhile of Krishna an avatar of Vishnu whom we’ve seen in Episode 11 – The boy who lived, and also Episode 13 – Nurse Ratched and Umbrella Mountain, as well as with a few Characters of the Week
I’ve been calling Shukracharya Friday for a reason. The planet Venus is thought to represent Shukracharya. And in India, Shukravar, or Venus day is Friday.
The Character of the Week
The character this week is the sister of someone we previously encountered in the Character of the Week segment of Episode 4 Hare-y Tales. She’s a demon. She’s a Buffalo. She’s both!
Mahishi was a buffalo demoness. Just like her brother Mahishasura was a buffalo demon.
When Mahishasura was killed by the goddess Durga, Mahishi decided to avenge her brother’s death. She did what her brother had done. She prayed to Brahma. And just like that, my dad Brahma appeared before her. If you’ve been listening to this podcast, you’ll know how eager my dad is to fulfill wishes.
She asked for the usual – you know super-strength, shape-shifting combo deal. While my father couldn’t also give her complete immortality, he let her have her wish – she could only be killed by a child whose biological parents were Shiva and Vishnu.
Now that seems impossible, but as it happens, Vishnu in his female avatar as Mohini and Shiva did have a child – that child was Ayyappa. A god who is much worshipped in southern India.
Though Mahishi regularly tormented the Devas, Ayyappa had no problems grabbing her by the horns and slamming her down into the floor. That’s all it took to fulfill the prophecy.
On a side note, Vishnu as Mohini, as well as Shiva play a very crucial part in a huge experiment – the churning of the Ocean. More on that in a future episode.
Next Week
Next week we’ll cover a couple of stories from the Panchatantra. One is about a little baby boy and his unlikely animal sibling. The other introduces air travel to a Tortoise. The cost of the entry ticket? He just has to keep his mouth closed.
The character next week is a colorful creature. It’s a rainbow fish. I also like to think of it as the Elsa fish for reasons that’ll be clear next week.
I’ll see you next week!