𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗦𝗘 𝗩𝗜𝗢𝗟𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗗𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦

𝟮. 𝗚𝗢𝗗❜𝗦 𝗚𝗜𝗙𝗧

Kingdom of Kadamba (modern Karnataka), Dwapara Yuga

Maharaja Mayuravarma and Maharani Suravarchassa, along with the royal family and ministers, are performing the annual Yaga at the seashore to please the Samudra deva for the favourable winds. As their kingdom largely depends on trade and fishing, the sea god's blessings are important.

As they completed the ritual, a soldier bowed to them and said, "Greetings to Maharaja and Maharani! We've sighted a young man with weird clothes on the shore!"

This alerted the royals, who hurried to the said place. Maharani gasped as she saw a lean young man lying on the sandy beach wearing something they'd never seen before. There were slight scratches on his body and he didn't seem to breathe.

"Maybe he was a foreign trader who met his unfortunate end," the king mused. He ordered a soldier to check if he was alive.

"His pulse is slow, but he's alive Maharaja," reported the soldier.

"Maharaja, I'm getting a premonition that he's a good omen for our kingdom. We should take him to the palace as time is of the essence," suggested the royal priest Shivananda.

The royal couple and ministers agreed with him, as his intuition was always right.

On reaching the palace, they placed the young man in a guest bedroom and called for the royal physician. He arrived, checked his vitals, and declared that he was alive, but his body was weak and prescribed some Ayurvedic medicines along with rest.

"As his body is weak, it'll take 2 to 3 days for him to recover and wake up," he said and bowed to the king and queen.

"Reward the physician properly," ordered the king to his minister.

It's been 2 days since the incident. Queen felt an unknown bond towards the stranger on the bed. It seems like god finally answered her prayers to bless them with a child. The thought of him leaving to his parents struck her heart with a blunt knife.

Seeing his wife laying the weird lad's head in her lap and stroking his hair as a mother would do with her child, he smiled sadly and said, "priye, he'll have to return to his family, you know?"

"I know that swami. But how can I reason this mother's heart? I spent only 2 days with him, but I feel like he's my child. It's inauspicious to speak this way, but I wish he doesn't have any family so he can stay with us," she said.

He sighed. Mahadev has given him everything, a small but prosperous kingdom, good trade with aryavartha and foreign kingdoms such as Geumgwan Gaya, happy and self-sufficient people, a loving wife, and loyal ministry — except an heir.

They did every pooja and prayed for every god and goddess but to no avail. His love acts as if she's content with it, but he can see through her pain. She cares for her nieces and nephews as her own children, but her eyes couldn't hide the disappointment when they left for their parents.

He's afraid her attachment to this boy may break her heart. He couldn't help himself from feeling attached to him. Something about him evoked the dormant fatherly love. The couple looked at each other and at the boy in her lap and prayed for them to become a family.

A servant's arrival brought them out of their reverie.

"Greetings to Maharaja and Maharani. Maharishi Vashistha has arrived and seeks your audience," he said, bowing to them.

"Welcome him with royal dignity. Make sure there's no mistake and discomfort to the great sage," he ordered the servant.

"Yes, maharaja," the servant bowed and left.