Jodha Akbar 104: The tilting of the scales - Page 2

Originally posted by: sashashyam

That, my dear girl, is a huge compliment! Thank you. But I do hope that this time you will agree with me about the tulabhaaram scene.

Shyamala B.Cowsik

When Love Outweighed Everything, Sri Krishna Tulabhaaram

The palace of Dwaraka twinkled with the presence of Krishna's many wives. Rukmini, Sathyabama, Jambhavathi and all the others went about their usual chores serving Krishna and all the others of the extended Yadava clan. With the blessings of the goddess of wealth, the treasuries of Dwaraka always overflowed with jewels and precious stones.

Sathyabama was the beautiful daughter of Satrajith, the owner of the sacred Syamantaka jewel. She was haughty and proud of her royal lineage and good looks. She prided herself on her pure love for Krishna and yet she was jealous of Rukmini, the goddess of wealth incarnate.

Rukmini on the other hand, being the first queen of Dwaraka was a very humble lady and a pious wife. She let nothing come in the way of her devotion to Krishna and served him with whole hearted love and devotion.

One day, the divine sage Narada, the creator of mischief, came to Dwaraka to offer his salutations to Sri Krishna. In the courtyard he met Satyabhama, beautifying herself with some flowers on her tresses. He walked up to her and asked her, "Rani Satyabhama, is it really true that Krishna loves Rukmini more than you?" Sathyabhama was thoroughly shaken and stood still, gazing at Narada.

"You are far more beautiful and charming than her. You are the younger queen. Dont you think you deserve more attention?", prodded Narada again. Pulling herself together, Satyabhama looked at Narada, "Tell me divine sage, what should I do to gain his undivided attention? You are my only hope now", she pleaded to him.

Narada, ever eager to cause confusion told, "That is my whole point of visit, mother. I have a first-class plan all hatched up to bring Krishna back to you." Satyabhama's eyes were twinkling and she listened to Narada with rapt attention." You will now make a vow, that you will hand over Krishna to me as a slave. Then to keep the sanctity of the vow but also to retain Krishna to yourself, I will allow you to trade him in for an equivalent weight of your riches. Seeing that you are willing to trade in your wealth for him, Krishna will admire you for your sacrifice and will keep you close to him. The only hitch is that I do not know if your wealth will suffice to balance out Krishna's weight", Narada asked sceptically.

Proud as ever, Satyabhama flared up, "I am the daughter of Satrajith. My wealth is limitless. I am sure that I have enough to balance Krishna. We will carry out this plan of yours." And that,was exactly what Narada wanted.

Satyabhama rushed to Krishna and hurriedly told him about her vow to Narada. Krishna patiently listened to her and very meekly nodded his head. Satyabhama then commanded one of the servants to bring out the large scales used to weigh grains and groceries. She also sent the Caretaker of the Coffers to bring out all her jewels and gold to the grand court room. And gently leading Krishna, she went to the Courtroom.

All the ministers stared at the scales that had been placed at the center of the court. Their mouths fell open when they saw box after box of gold being carried inside. Krishna was silent throughout the entire time. So great was the uproar at the court that Krishna's other queens too hurried from their Anthapuram to the main court.

Amidst all the courtiers and with Krishna himself as the witness, Satyabhama gave away Krishna in daana to Narada. The other wives of Krishna were shocked at this, but being ever dutiful, they did not speak out in front of the assembled court. Narada then gave her the option of taking back Krishna but instead presenting him with an equivalent weight of riches. Amidst loud sighs of relief, Satyabhama agreed to it.

She then placed Krishna on one plate of the scales and with a smirk on her face started piling the gold, jewels and gemstones on the other plate. She kept adding more and more of her wealth, but the pan with Krishna did not even budge. To top it all Narada kept giving her ominous warnings, "Remember devi, if you fail to supply me with sufficient wealth, Krishna will forever be a slave to me. I can even bid him out to anyone I want."

Satyabhama freaked out and swallowing her pride, begged the other wives of Krishna to give her their jewels so that they could retain Krishna. Out of their devotion to their lord,, the wives removed every gold ornament on their body until they were wearing only the Mangalsutra. But the scale showed no signs of motion.

Krishna, always the sly cowherd, "Look Satyabhama, because of your stupid vow, I have to be a slave to this rishi. Oh how I hate this", he complained. Satyabhama was at a loss for words when Krishna continued, "Why dont you ask Rukmini. She must be able to get us out of this predicament", he suggested impishly.

Satyabhama was in such a state that all her ill will towards Rukmini flew out of the window. Rushing to Rukmini's private chambers she poured out the dire state of matters. Rukmini, ever calm, didnt panic and came along with Satyabhama. On the way she passed the sacred Tulasi Maadam and plucking a single leaf of Tulasi, she continued her way to the hall.

She very quietly walked towards the balance and praying to Krishna, placed the single tulasi leaf on all the piled up wealth. Lo and Behold! The pan containing Krishna flew up . Shocked at this, Satyabhama looked to Krishna for explanation. "Try removing all your riches, Bhama," Krishna told her, all smiles.

Krishna jumped down from his high hanging pan and came to her, "Bhama, you gave all your riches to me, but there was no devotion in that offering. Just the feeling of possessiveness. When you made your offerings with such a thought in your mind, they lost their value and became mundane things. On the other hand Rukmini offered just a single tulasi leaf. But her intentions were noble. She made the offering with utmost love and devotion towards me. And that single leaf was sufficient to please me beyond expectations. Remember it is not the offering that matters, but the love and devotion with which you do it, that does."

Then leaving Satyabhama standing stunned in the court, Krishna returned to his chambers with his other wives. Turning to Narada, her eyes now shining bright with tears, Bhama said, "Devarishi, thank you for teaching me this hard learnt lesson today. I will never ever underestimate the power of devotion and love towards the lord." Narada nodded and with his characteristic Narayana-Narayana, he was gone.

Originally posted by: riyya6

👍🏼

I read it many times but I fun understand aunthy ...

Originally posted by: preet_pal320

Aunty, this post enlightened me! Thank you for the explanation of the tulabharaam scene; I did not know the story of Lord Krishna and Rukmini and I'm grateful to have learned it.

I completely agree with you in regards to Jalal-Ruqs-Jodha. Jalal and Jodha are not close, they have only just barely begun to be cordial with each other, so I didnt have any problem with his pacifying Ruqs. It was a relief that he did that; I found the recent "romance" too much to bear all at once. I'm glad we've taken a step back and hope to see a slow progression of Jalal-Jodha's relationship.

I would elaborate more on your post but it's 4am here and I should really be going to bed. Good night Aunty, and thank you for ending my night on a positive note!

Originally posted by: sashashyam

I do not know, my dear. It is all both confusing and irritating. After contributing a bit myself to Mansi's How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? debate, I suddenly felt totally fed up of all this hairsplitting.

Also I wanted to get across the real significance of this tulabhaaram scene to whoever had the patience to read my post! As for your point about the OTT aspect, that needed to be brought out as well,and you were the only one who did so. I really want that Begums of Jalal for Saalgirahs to be set up to plague Hamida!😉 She sets me teeth on edge every single time!

Do take a look at my post to Lashy above, about why, to my mind, Jalal looked totally detached at the tulabhaaram ceremony and since even before that.

Shyamala

Originally posted by: sashashyam

Lashy dear,

I think Jalal's detached look had already started in his rooms, when he says he will see Jodha in the evening and leaves her there and pushes off. Maybe he is irritated by her constant suspicions and her hectoring questions at every single meeting. All his earlier enthusiasm might have evaporated at that latest accusation that he was having her spied on.

At that point, he does not mention that he is going to see her at the tulabhaaram ceremony.

What one can deduce from that is that no one told him about this ceremony till later, for after all it is Hamida who mentions it to Jodha, and he might have been informed of it only in the nick of time, Maybe he feels it is too much, which it is. Maybe he thinks he should not look overly pleasant and invite some other snub from Jodha. There is only so much the male ego can stand, that too an imperial ego.

I am totally exasperated with those lines; I retyped them all over again and STILL they come out all awry. So I have left them as they are, hoping the beauty of the words will compensate for the higgledy piggledy appearance!

Thank you for missing me, sweetheart. I was astonished that no one, bar that one member, even noticed the real significance of that scene, which is tremendous. I hope that at least some people read this post and realise it. Jodha's lack of understanding of this parallel foxed me; I would have expected her to be on to it first thing!

Shyamala Aunty