GREAT WOMEN INDIA IN SUKANYA

In Sukanya we have a model wife who is able to bring glory to her husband. Sukanya was the only daughter of king Sharyati. She was endowed with beauty, grace and learning. Once, at spring time, the king, accompanied by the royal family, went to the woodlands to enjoy sylvan sports. The princess and her maiden friends enjoyed themselves, imitating the voices of birds and collecting wild flowers from trees and creepers. In the same forest, a great sage Chyavana was performing austerity. With the passage of time, his body got covered over by an anthill. The young maidens danced about the anthill. Their sweet voices penetrated the anthill, waking the sage from his long meditation. While gathering flowers, Sukanya saw what seemed to her like two gems, shining through the holes of the anthill. Curious to know what they were, she pricked the holes with a sharp thorn, thus blinding the eyes of the sage. The sage rose from the anthill in great rage and the little princess stood trembling with fear. The king and queen hurried to the scene, worshipped the great sage and begged him to forgive their careless, but innocent daughter, The sage, not heeding their plea, threatened to curse them unless Sukanya married him and shared with him the life of a hermit in the forest. Sukanya begged her parents to let her marry the sage and thus atone for her mistake. Princess Sukanya began serving her aged husband lovingly and practised hard penance, observing ascetic ordinances. Like a mother she attended to the needs of travel-worn guests who passed by the hermitage. She was a loving wife and a humble disciple, rolled into one. Never did it disturb her mind that the sage was a very old person and blind too. One day when she was taking bath, Ashwins, the celestial twins distinguished for their beauty and mastery over medicine, saw her. They were charmed by her beauty and wanted her to take one of them as her husband. Sukanya proudly stated that she was devoted to her husband. Charmed to hear the reply of Sukanya, the divine twins revealed their identity and said that with their medical skill they could cure the blindness and also restore youth to her husband. But on one condition. After the rejuvenation, she should choose one from the three, Chyavana and the divine twins, as her husband. Sukanya reported the matter to her husband who eagerly consented to the venture. The Ashwins and Chyavana dipped into a river. When they came out of the water, the heavenly twins looled a replica of the youthful Chyavana. Sukanya had to choose one of the three as her husband. Sukanya's chastity and devotion to her sage-husband helped her to correctly recognise Chyavana, and fall at this feet. The Ashwins vanished after blessing Sukanya and the sage.