Kotharian Lightning

From the folklore of Kashmir

In olden times there lived a king that had four sons, whom he ordered to patrol the country in turn by day and by night. One morning the eldest prince in the course of his wanderings came across a jogi, who was sitting by a pond, near which four horses were grazing. Seeing that the horses were of a better and different breed to any that his father possessed, the prince went up to the jogi, and said, “O jogi, who are you? Whence have you come? What do you want here?”

“I want you, replied the jogi.”

“Me!” exclaimed the prince. “I am the eldest son of the king of this country, and my father has ordered me to look after this place, and to see that nobody wants for anything. Tell me if you are in need.”

“O prince,” replied the jogi, “I want nothing except you. But if you need anything, then tell me, and I will procure it for you.”

“O jogi, I wish to ride one of your beautiful horses,” said the prince.

“Very well,” said the jogi. “Take it, but be careful to return it this evening, when I shall see you, and hope to hear some of your experiences during the day.”

So the prince took the horse and rode off. As soon as he had mounted, the animal ran away as fast as it could to a jungle, and there stopped by a little vegetable garden, which was so fenced round on every side that nobody could enter it. After riding a little farther into the jungle the prince turned to go back. On the way he saw that all the sticks of the fence had changed into sickles and were cutting the vegetables. He was astonished to see this, but could not tell the reason of it. On reaching the jogi’s place in the evening the good man asked him if he had had a pleasant ride and what he had seen.

“I have seen,” he replied, “a garden fenced in on all sides with an impenetrable fence; and I have seen the sticks of this same fence changed into sickles and cutting the vegetables.”

“Well, what does it mean?” asked the jogi.

“I don’t know,” the prince replied.

“Don’t know!” repeated the jogi, “and you commissioned by your father to supervise affairs! Be turned into a stone.” And it was so. That very moment the prince became a pillar of stone.

The next morning the second son, while looking for his brother, passed by the jogi’s place, and seeing the horses, he stopped and inquired who the jogi was, and whence he came.

“I am travelling in this country for a while,” the jogi replied. “These four horses are mine. Would you like to ride one of them? Yesterday the king’s eldest son came to me and asked permission to take one of the horses. I caused him to be turned into stone, because he could not explain something that he saw during his ride.”

“Indeed!” the second prince exclaimed; “and what did he see?”

Then the jogi told him, and promised that if he could explain why the sticks of the fence were changed into sickles that cut the vegetables, he would restore his brother to life and former self.

“You ask a hard thing,” said the prince. “How can I explain what I have never seen? But if I may use one of your beautiful horses, I will go and examine this thing, and give you an answer.”

Accordingly he mounted one of the horses and rode away. On reaching the jungle he saw a newly-born calf suckling its mother. He tarried a long time looking at this strange sight, and then returned to the jogi.

“Well, what have you seen?” the holy man inquired.

“O, jogi,” the prince answered, “I have seen a calf giving milk to its mother.”

“Do you know what this means?” asked the jogi.

“No,” said the prince.

“What! You don’t know?”

The prince did not reply a second time; consequently the jogi cursed him, and he became a pillar of stone.

On the following morning the third prince came by the place where the jogi was staying, and attracted by the horses, went up to the jogi and asked him who he was and how he had obtained such beautiful animals. Evading these questions, the good man begged him to sit down; and when in course of conversation, he got to know that this young man also was a son of the king of that country, and was searching for his two brothers, he informed him about what had happened to these princes. “But,” he added, “they shall be restored to their former selves, if you can tell me why the sticks of the fence were changed into sickles and why the calf gave suck to the cow.”

“Thank you,” replied the prince. “If you will lend me one of your horses I will go and see these strange things.”

“Certainly,” said the jogi. “Take one of the horses and go and see; but mind and come back by the evening.”

So the prince rode off, and as he entered the jungle he saw a man carrying a load of wood on his back, who, not content with what he had already gathered, still went on picking up whatever lay in his path.

“What does this mean?” thought the prince. “What shall I say to the jogi when he questions me?”

Alas! Alas! This prince too was unable to explain the strange sight, and therefore was turned into a pillar of stone.

The next morning the last and youngest brother appeared and saluted the jogi. “O jogi,” he said, “have you seen my three brothers?”

“Yes,” he replied. “They are all there – look,” and so saying, he pointed to the three pillars of stone. “I metamorphosed them because they could not explain a few things that they saw in yonder jungle. But I will restore them to their former selves if you can tell me the meaning of these things.” Hereupon he related what the princes had seen.

“I will try,” said the prince, “if you will please allow me to use one of your horses. I should like to ride to the jungle and see for myself.”

Permission having been given, the prince started. On reaching the jungle he noticed a pond, from which water was flowing and filling other ponds. Presently the big pond was empty, having exhausted itself over these other ponds. When he returned in the evening he told the jogi what he had seen, and confessed his inability to explain its meaning. Consequently he too was metamorphosed into a pillar of stone.

When the king of the country found that not one of his sons had been heard of for several days he suspected that some harm had happened to them, and went in search of them. In the course of his wanderings he passed by the jogi. “Jogi,” said he, “have you seen or heard anything of my four sons?”

The jogi pointed to the four pillars of stone.

“What!” exclaimed the king. “You do not mean to say that they have been changed into stones?”

“There they are,” replied the jogi. “I metamorphosed them because they could not tell me the meaning of some sights that they saw in the jungle. However, they shall be restored if you can explain those things for them. You can have one of my horses if you like to go to the jungle.

“No thank you,” said the king. “But if you will tell me what my sons’ difficulties were, I will try to unravel them.”

Then the jogi told him, “The eldest prince saw a harden of vegetables fenced all round so that no man could enter it; and the sticks of the fence thereof became sickles, and cut the vegetables.”

Then the king replied, “This is a picture of the man in whose care some money has been placed, and when the owner of the money asks for it, the man hides or spends the money, so that the owner cannot get at it.”

Directly the king uttered these words the eldest prince appeared, standing before him, and alive and well.

“The second prince saw a calf giving milk to a cow,” said the jogi.

“Strange that he was not reminded of a woman who lives on her daughter’s hire,” said the king; and on saying this the second prince stood up before him.

“The third prince saw a man with a load of wood on his back, and as the man walked he picked up other sticks and added them to the load,” said the jogi.

“One thinks of those people who are never satisfied with their wealth, but are always adding every cowrie they can get,” said the king; and no sooner had the king spoken these words than the third prince was restored, and stood before him.

“Your youngest son saw a pond that had emptied itself to supply six other ponds,” said the jogi.

“Just like the world,” said the king. “One man may spend and be spent for the sake of others, and what return does he get?”

As soon as he said this the youngest prince stood before him.

Glad and happy, the king and his four sons then returned to the palace. Soon after this His Majesty gave up the government of the country to his sons, and devoted himself entirely to the religious life.

Source:

Folk-Tales of Kashmir, J Hinton Knowles, 1893