Tuesday 26 July 2011

Tale of King Pratapbhanu

Prior to the birth of Lord Ram, Muni Bharadvaja is told the story of King Pratapbhanu by Sant Yajnavalkya. There is a kingdom called Kaikay where Satyaketu is king. He has two sons, Pratapbhanu and Arimardana and rules his kingdom with his prime minister Dharamaruchi. Satyaketu abdicates and hands the reign to Pratapbhanu, who becomes conqueror of the world.

Once Pratapbhanu goes into the forest to hunt and sees a wild boar. The boar is actually the demon Kalaketu in disguise who runs away from the king. Pratapbhanu gives chase deeper into the forest. Pratapbhanu chases for many miles and becomes thirsty. He approaches a fake saints ashram, where the resident fake saint wants to hurt and insult Pratapbhanu due to a previous incident. Pratapbhanu doesn't recognise the saint, who begins to sweet talk the king and says that by pure love, he wishes to impart boons onto the king. The king asks to be invicible and never ageing, which the fake saint grants, but with the condition that he needs to win favour of all Brahmans. The fake saint advises that the king arrange the cooking of holy food (prasadam) to feed the bramanas, who would surely be in his favour for such an act of kindness. The fake saint's real intention is to trap the king and repay him for his old grievances.

The fake saint asks the king to go rest, and that he would arrange the feast for the bramanas using his mystic powers. Pratapbhanu waits for three days for the fake saint. Kalaketu, now disguised as a priest, approaches the King in his court and says that he has been sent to cook the holy food. The entire brahmana community is invited. A heavenly voice from above warns the brahmanas that the food is unpure and they should run away immediately. They curse the king that he, his kingdom and entire family are wiped from the face of earth. They also curse that he be born a demon in his next life. The heavenly voice says that the brahmana's curse is ill thought, as Pratapbhanu is not to blame. Since their curse cannot be taken back, the voice says that it is the Brahmana community that will bare the brunt of the evil of his next life.

Pratapbhanu is distraught and quickly goes to his kitchen to find Kalaketu. The king is pained and cries as he realises Kalaketu has vanished. The brahmanas feel sorry for Pratapbhanu and tell him that his evil next life will be ended by Lord Supreme Vishnu himself. As per the curse, Pratapbhanu, Arimardam and Dharmaruchi are all killed as other neighbouring kings invade Kaikay.

Pratapbhanu is reborn as Ravan, Arimardam is reborn as Kumbhkarna and Dharmaruchi as Vibhishan. All three take great penances and are approached by Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva and are asked for any boon. Ravan asks that no one should be able to kill me except the tribes of man and monkeys. Kumbhkarna asks for uninterrupted sleep for periods of six months. Vibhishan asks for unshakeable love for the feet of Lord Vishnu.

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