The Needle Prince

A folk tale from Bengal

Once upon a time there lived a prince. His best friend was a lowly raakhal (cowherd). The prince learned how to be a king. The raakhal’s time was spent tending his cows and goats. But they sometimes played together. The raakhal played on his flute and the prince listened happily.
‘Will you forget me when you are king?’ the raakhal would ask sometimes.
‘Never!’ said the prince, ‘I shall make you my chief advisor.’
‘But will you have time to listen to my flute?’
‘I shall give you a flute made of gold’ the prince would reply.

Years flew by. The prince and the raakhal went their different ways as a matter of course. The prince was busy learning all that a king needs to know to rule a kingdom. The raakhal continued to care for his cattle and play on his flute. But he never made another friend. After some time the prince, now a young man, married a beautiful princess called Kanchanmala. He completely forgot the friend of his childhood and did not even call him to his wedding. However the raakhal went to the palace uninvited to congratulate his friend. But the prince did not recognize him and threw him out of the palace. The raakhal left quietly with tears in his eyes. But no one had the time to see how he felt.

And then a strange thing happened. When the prince woke up the next morning he found that his entire body was covered with lakhs of needles!
There were needles on his face and needles on his hands.
There were needles in his hair and needles on his feet.
His eyes, ears and lips were tightly pinned up with needles.
His entire body was a huge mass of needles!
He lay there in agony, unable to see, unable to move and unable to speak. And the people called him the ‘needle prince’.

The king, queen and Kanchanmala were shocked to see his plight. Everyone tried to pull out the needles. But they soon realized that it was a hopeless task! The moment they pulled out one needle another appeared in its place. So they made no headway at all!
‘Oh dear! What shall we do?’ cried the king and queen.
‘Go and visit every pilgrimage until he is cured’ advised the royal priest, ‘Kanchanmala should stay back and try to lessen his pain.’

The king and queen left for pilgrimage weeping bitterly. Kanchanmala sat by the prince and pulled out needles all day long, until her hands were sore and bleeding. One morning, bruised and tired she went to take a dip in the river thinking it would make her feel better. She saw a young woman sitting on the bank of the river.
‘Do you need a maid, fair queen?’
‘I need someone to help me pull out needles. Can you do it?’
‘Of course’ she replied.
‘Wait till I take a dip in the water’ said Kanchanmala.
‘The water is muddy. Let me hold your clothes and jewels’ said the woman.
Not realizing what she was up to Kanchanmala left them with her and plunged into the river.

Kanchanmala had barely taken a dip when she heard an arrogant voice say, ‘Hurry up, woman! Don’t take all day. You have a lot of chores to do!’
Kanchanmala looked up amazed and found the woman dressed up in her clothes and jewels.
‘I am the queen now’ she said laughing, ‘I’ve tricked you properly, haven’t I? No one can possibly find me out!’
Kanchanmala was a bride so she always had her face veiled as is the custom in Bengal. So the people in the palace did not realize that the woman in Kanchanmala’s clothes was an imposter. The only people who could have found out the imposter were the old king and queen. And they were out on pilgrimage. The prince had his eyes tightly pinned with needles so he couldn’t do anything either.

The imposter had a marvelous time ordering everyone about and punishing people for no rhyme or reason, sending them to prison or having their heads chopped off. Everyone in the palace was shocked by the change in the new queen’s character. Kanchanmala had been such a gentle, soft-spoken person! They did not suspect that it was a different person altogether! The imposter made poor Kanchanmala work all day. And didn’t allow her to go anywhere near the prince. It might get very awkward indeed if Kanchanmala somehow managed to get his eyes opened!

One day Kanchanmala could bear it no longer and begged permission to go and take a dip in the river. The imposter agreed because she knew that Kanchanmala would not be able to do or prove anything by herself. Poor Kanchanmala sat on the bank of the river and cried bitterly for having fallen into an imposter’s trap from which there was no escape. She suddenly pricked up her ears. A man sitting under a tree nearby was singing a funny song:
‘If I had a hundred needles I would buy a town
If I had a thousand needles I would buy a crown
If I had ten thousand needles I would dance and sing
If I had a lakh sharp needles I would be a king!’

Kanchanmala was astonished. Who was this funny man wanting needles, of all things?
‘I can give you all the needles you want but you will have to pull them out yourself. Can you?’
The man nodded. Kanchanmala burst into tears.
‘Dear sister, why do you cry?’ he asked.
Kanchanmala broke down at his kind words and told him the whole story.
‘Don’t worry. If you do all I say, soon everything will be fine. Take me to the palace with you and tell them that I am a great astrologer come from a far off land.’

It was the day of pous parvan when the goddess Lakshmi is worshipped and special sweetmeats called pithe are prepared by all, both rich and poor. Women decorate their homes with alpana, painting designs on the floor with rice-powder paste. All guests are made welcome. Everyone welcomed the stranger and asked him to take a seat.
‘Where is the alpana done by the queen?’ he asked, looking around, ‘I have come specially to see it.’
‘Oh, I haven’t done it yet’ stammered the imposter queen.
‘Better hurry up and ask your maid to do it too. It’s something every woman in the house must do. After that I must taste the pithe you prepare and the pithe prepared by your maid.’

The imposter did not dare to refuse. She did not want the entire palace to see her ignoring or refusing an important tradition. So she set about it and asked Kanchanmala to get on. But the imposter could only prepare some crude and lumpy aaske pithe, which is cooked in the poor households, because she did not know anything better. Kanchanmala, on the other hand, prepared many kinds of tasty and delicate pithe such as khir muruli, mohan banshi, payesh and others always prepared in royal households. The imposter’s alpana consisted of some crooked lines and blots. Kanchanmala’s alpana was a thing of beauty and contained all the significant symbols of Lakshmi puja. Everyone in the palace marked the difference. They were now convinced of what they had been suspecting all these days – that the new queen was an imposter.

The stranger took out a huge mass of threads from his bag and chanted:
‘Needles, now your work is done
Needles now your cause is won!
Threads, rise up - quick at last
And pull out every needle fast!’

The mass of threads rushed out of his hands and reached the prince smothered in needles. Every thread got into the eye of a different needle and pulled them all out at one stroke. The prince was free at last and opened his eyes to find the friend of his childhood, the raakhal, in front of him. The prince got up and embraced him. ‘Oh forgive me, my friend! Forgive me for having forgotten you all these years.’
‘I had forgiven you long ago’ said the raakhal smiling at the prince, ‘But wait. My work is not yet complete.’ He looked at the threaded needles and said:
‘Needle and thread, so tough and strong
Go, stay put where you belong!’

The needles rushed past them and stuck all over the imposter. The thread tied up her hands and feet so she was unable to run away or move. The raakhal told the prince how the imposter had tricked the queen. ‘She deserves her punishment’ said the people, ‘She will not die but will suffer like she made so many innocent people suffer, specially our queen Kanchanmala.’
After that there was a grand celebration. The old king and queen returned and crowned the prince. Everyone was happy. And this time the prince did not forget his promise.

When Revati fell from Heaven

Long, long ago there lived a sage named Ritavak. He was childless for a long time. Finally a son was born to him rather late in life. Ritavak was overjoyed at first. But his happiness was short-lived. Unfortunately, despite all his teachings, his son grew to be a total scoundrel – lazy, unprincipled and wicked. In fact, ill luck struck his entire family from the moment his son was born. His wife caught an incurable disease which caused her tremendous pain. He himself suffered from a variety of ailments which he had never had before. And, to crown it all, his son became a good-for-nothing bounder. Sage Ritavak was unhappy and puzzled at the same time. He had always led a pious and decent life. He had never hurt or harmed anyone knowingly. He had always tried to help others to the best of his ability. Then why did such a series of misfortunes befall him? He decided to ask Garg, another great sage, about it.

After telling him everything Ritavak asked him, “Have you any idea why all these things happened to me? I can’t think of any sin that I have committed to deserve such unhappiness.”
Sage Garg closed his eyes and meditated silently for a while. Then he said, “Your suffering has not been caused by any action on your part, Ritavak. It is because your son was born under the Revati nakshatra. Now, this star has some highly inauspicious moments and your son was born during one such moment.”
“But that was not my fault” cried Ritavak.
“No, it wasn’t” agreed Garg. “It was your star’s doing.”
“A mere star has no right to ruin my life” said Ritavak, “Especially when I have done nothing to deserve it.”

Ritavak was seething with rage as he thought about what his life had been in the past and cursed Revati that it might fall down from the sky. Ritavak was a great sage so his curse carried tremendous power. Revati fell from the sky and landed on top of the Kumud Mountain. Its light lit up the entire mountainside and all the forests, caves, rocks and waterfalls around it. Part of the light rolled along the mountainside to the valley below and turned into a crystal lake. And from the water of the crystal lake a beautiful girl arose and lay asleep on the bank. The Kumud mountain came to be known as “Raivatak” ever since.

Sage Pramucha had his hermitage in the Kumud valley. Surprised to see so much light all of a sudden he went to the mountainside to see what had happened. He saw the newly created lake and the baby girl lying on its bank. He brought the baby home and brought her up like his own daughter. He called the baby “Revati” after the fallen star.

Revati grew up to be a radiantly beautiful girl. Pramucha loved her dearly and wondered where he would find a young man worthy of being her husband. He worried about it night and day for he could think of no one who seemed good enough for her. Finally he put the question to Agni, the fire god.
“Do not worry about Revati, Pramucha” said Agni. “The great king Durgam, who is excellent in every way, will come to your hermitage some day and marry her. Wait patiently for the day and all will be well.”
Pramucha was very happy to hear it and returned to his hermitage.

A few days later King Durgam, out on a hunting trip, passed that way and dropped in at sage Pramucha’s hermitage just as Agni had predicted. Revati was picking flowers in the garden when he arrived. “Is sage Pramucha in?” Durgam asked Revati. “I would like to pay him my respects.”
“Please wait and I shall tell father that you are here” said Ravati.
“Are you sage Pramucha’s daughter?” asked Durgam, struck by her radiant beauty.
“Yes, I am” replied Revati and went inside the cottage.

Pramucha had heard them talking and came out at once. His joy knew no bounds when he discovered that it was none other than King Durgam himself. He called Gautam, his chief disciple. “Gautam, arrange for a special welcome ritual” he said, “King Durgam is not just my guest today, he is also my future son-in-law. So I must welcome him properly.”
Gautam rushed around, getting everything ready. King Durgam was astonished at Pramucha’s words.
He touched the sage’s feet and said, “My lord, what did you mean by saying that I am your future son-in-law? I know nothing about it and have no marriage plans.”
“My dear, I should have explained before” said sage Pramucha smiling at him. “You have seen my daughter Revati, haven’t you?”
“Yes I have, but…”
“It is destined that you should wed her. Agni, the fire god has said so, and I know she is worthy of being your queen. She is as good as she is beautiful. You have no objections, do you?”
“No, my lord. I would be honoured if Revati married me. She is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen” replied King Durgam.
The inmates of the hermitage rejoiced at the news, for Revati was very dear to them all. Everyone got busy preparing for the wedding.

Sage Pramucha called Revati and said, “I hope you are happy with my choice, Revati? Actually it was god Agni who had told me that King Durgam would marry you. I think you are a very lucky girl. What do you say?”
“I have nothing to say about your choice, father, but there is a special request that I should like to make. I hope you will keep it.”
“Of course” said Pramucha unhesitatingly. “What is it, my daughter?”
“I would like to be married under the Revati star” said Revati.
“Good heavens, what a strange thing to ask for!” exclaimed sage Pramucha. “But it is not possible, my dear. Revati is no longer a star and is no longer in the sky.”
“Why not?” asked Revati amazed.
“It fell down from heaven because of sage Ritavak’s curse. It came crashing down on Kumud mountain which has been called Raivatak ever since.”
“But, father, I had taken a solemn vow to wed under Revati star and no other” said Revati obstinately, “I cannot marry otherwise.”

Sage Pramucha looked worried. “My child, you have placed me in a strange predicament. I have already promised King Durgam to wed you to him. How can I face him or anyone else if I do not keep my word?”
“But father, you promised to keep my request too” said Revati.
“Why are you so adamant about the Revati Star ? There are plenty of others, far better in every way. I shall choose a really good star for your wedding.”
“I don’t want any other star. I want the Revati” said Revati in a determined voice.
“I really don’t know what to do” said sage Pramucha losing his patience. “I never imagined you could be so obstinate or so disobedient!”
“But why should it be such a problem, father?” asked Revati. “If sage Ritavak could knock it off the sky, could you not put it back once again? I don’t think your power is any less than that of sage Ritavak.”

A sudden smile lit up sage Pramucha’s face. “You are quite right, Revati. I didn’t think of that. Of course I can put the star back where she belongs.”
Pramucha sat down to pray and the power of his tapasya was strong enough to put back Revati among the other stars once more. In fact it looked as though she had never been displaced from there. Revati and Durgam were married and left for their new abode.
And Revati, the star, has been a part of the original constellation ever since.