A Princess to remember

Years at gurukul

The prince had started his learning at the gurukul and was doing well.He was clever enough to learn all the subjects quickly.

    One day , after their daily practice , Maldev was playing with the boys of the gurukul when suddenly they found some movement behind the bushes. Everyone were watching keenly at the bushes when suddenly a a tiger jumped in , from he bushes.  Almost half of them were scared to death and there was a chaos as everyone except Maldev began to run. Maldev stood there fearless and motionless. The tiger was a few yards away from Maldev and had pounced on Maldev but Maldev put all his might and punched the tiger and in this fierce fight he was gravely injured as the tiger managed to give him a deep scratch on his cheeks and his soft cheeks soon started bleeding. Nonetheless the Rajkumar managed to throw the tiger with all his might and it hit a tree nearby and fell to the ground. Taking advantage of the situation , Maldev took out his bow and shot 2 arrows which hit the tiger , leading to it's death.

         Meanwhile in the ashram..

Other boys of the gurukul went running toward their gurudev and narrated the whole incident. To their surprise gurudev wasn't shocked or tensed about Maldev but calmly asked them to take him to the spot and when they reached there they found that Maldev was sitting under a tree , beside a dead tiger. Gurudev was extremely pleased by his bravery and skills and blessed him that he will become the best king of Bharatvarsh and also expressed his anger on his other disciples on leaving Maldev alone at the time of trouble. When gurudev asked them the reason for doing so , few innocently replied that they had rushed to inform him about it while few other stayed silent as they only fled the spot to save their lives but they couldn't tell that to their gurudev. Gurudev who was highly intelligent knew the reason for their silence and gave them a long lecture on friendship and bravery and also warned them to never again leave their friends or relatives alone in troubles.

                       ----------------------

Years passed by and soon he became a young , brave lad who was highly talented in archery , horse riding and sword fighting.
      Eight years had passed in the gurukul and the prince had mastered in all his subjects , hence it was the time for him to return to his kingdom.

So one day , he went to his guru and sought his blessings and took his permission to return to his kingdom. His guru blessed him and told him that he had become one of the most powerful people of the world.

" But gurudev ,  how can I leave before paying you my tribute by giving you a gurudakshina , thus i please request you , give me a task as gurudakshina. " Rajkumar spoke looking at gurudev .

" Dear Maldev , i don't really need anything  right now " . Gurudev said calmly.
" But gurudev , my shiksha will be incomplete without giving you a gurudakshina , thus please i request you to give me some order ."

" I just need one thing right now , but I can't put your life in danger but asking you for it" Said gurudev sadly.

" But gurudev , you just told that i am now one of the most powerful men in the world , hence how can my life be in danger ? Even if it would be i will definitely get out of it by your blessings . So please tell me what you want me to do for you ."

" As you know , your gurumata had always had a weak eyesight and itseems that it's deteriorating day by day as today morning , she tripped over a pot filled with water and fell down. If this goes on i am afraid that she will go completely blind in future."  Gurudev said with a few drops of tears filling his eyes but he quickly managed to evaporate them.

"Isnt  there any cure for this gurudev? If there is a cure please tell me gurudev i will do anything to give gurumata her eyesight back". Rajkumar said assuring Gurudev that he would manage to fight any danger.

" Vaidh ji told that there is just one cure for this and that is the ketaki flower , found only in the Kamyaka vana . The flower can be identified even from a far off distance as has a bright golden shine , but the problem is it is always surrounded by poisonous snakes , guarding it. So only the one who succeeds in defeating the snakes , can get the flower".

" Ok gurudev , i will start off to Kamyaka vana immediately and will return only with the ketaki flower. And gurudev I assure you that I will reach here safely as I am your shishya and you have never taught anyone to run away from troubles. Instead you taught all of us how to bravely overcome troubles. As long as your and gurumata's blessings and the god's grace are there I can fight anything and anyone gurudev" . Saying thus , Maldev bent down to take the blessings of his guru.

" Mine and gurumata's blessings are always with you son. And yes lord Mahadev will definitely help you. Vijayibhava!!"
Gurudev blessed Maldev and soon he left for the forest.

       As soon as he reached the forest , he prayed to lord Shiva to help him get the flower so that his gurumata can regain her eyesight. Then he proceeded inside the forest with his bow and arrow in his hands and his mind staying alert and looking at the things around him. After walking continuosly for about an hour , he realised that the forest was denser than he thought and that he should have atleast bought some water with him , but he decided not to focus on his thirst and hunger but rather try to locate the flower. Hence , he kept waking without even taking some rest and soon he saw some golden light coming from his left side and started walking in that direction.

After walking some distance , he suddenly heard some sounds from behind and thus stopped to look around with his arrow ready to shoot. He found that the sound was of a wild boar towards him. When he realised that it wouldn't stop unless shot at it , he shot an arrow at its legs and it fell to the ground. Then he slowing went near it seeing that it had become much calmer , and placed few fruits , he plucked from the nearby tree around it , and removed the arrow from its legs and tied a piece of his angavastra to it's wound and continued his journey.

When he walked for another half an hour , he finally found the flower which was situated under the lush green trees and was guarded by many snakes. He stood behind a tall tree and finally thought of a plan to take the flower. He didn't wanted to kill the snakes as he thought it would be unfair to kill all the animals coming in his way and thus he went near those snakes and prayed to Nagdev.
As soon as he joined his hands and prayed to lord Nagdev , all the snakes just stayed at their places instead of attacking him.
Then , he carefully went towards the flower and was about to pluck it when he heard a voice -

" I will not let you pluck this flower" .

" Who are you ? Please be visible to me ".  Maldev requested.

" I am Nagdev ". Nagdev said appearing in front of him and he looked very angry with Maldev.

" Pranam Nagdev. I am sorry but I have to take this flower also I don't want to kill these snakes ".

" But I will never let you take this flower".

" Nagdev , this flower is for my gurumata to regain her eyesight and it's my gurudev Bharadwaj's order for me to bring this flower . Hence , I request you to please let me take the flower otherwise I have to take it forcefully". Rajkumar said.

" If this flower , is for your gurumata Rajkumar then you can certainly take it. I have been guarding this flower since many years because it has the power to cure any disease and if it's taken in wrong hands it would be a very big problem. But I am impressed by your loyalty and devotion towards your guru and hence I give this flower to you". Said Nagadev with a smile on his face.

Thus Maldev took the ketaki flower and thus reached his gurukul safely. Guru Bharadwaj was very pleased to see Maldev return safe and with the divine flower. He at once went to the Vaidh ji who lived just nearby his kutir and gave him the flower , who in turn make a paste of the flower and applied it on gurumata's eyes due to which she regained her eyesight and then was able to see all things very clearly for the first time .

Gurumata was really happy to be able to see clearly and blessed maldev wholeheartedly that he would rule the whole bharatvarsh one day and also fed him with his favourite dishes including coconut laddoos , Puri , chana curry , halwa and lemon rice.