Wishesh magazine january 2018 Wishesh magazine january 2018 | Page 47

Do you know who Lord
Brahma is? He is the
Hindu god of creation.
He is believed to live in a
beautiful divine palace in his
heavenly abode. Such was
the beauty of the palace that
it was a constant source of
amazement for even the
deities.
There were a number of
attendants in the celestial
palace-courts of Lord
Brahma. Among them was
a beautiful attendant named
Anjana. Once, happy with her
service, Lord Brahma decided
to reward her. He called her
and asked what she wanted.
Anjana hesitated at first.
Then she replied “Lord, I
wish you could remove a
curse pronounced on me by a
sage,”
“Tell me about it. Maybe I can
help you” said Lord Brahma.
Hopeful that her curse may be
removed, Anjana continued
“When I was playing as a
child on earth, once I saw a
monkey meditating with its
legs folded in a lotus pose,
like a human sage. It was a
funny sight; so I threw some
fruits at it.”
“But here I made a mistake.
For it was no ordinary
monkey. A powerful sage had
taken the form of a monkey
to do his tapasya (spiritual
practice). My fruits disturbed
his penance and he opened
his eyes in great indignation.”
“As soon as he saw me,
he cursed me that I would
become a monkey when I fall
in love with anyone. I begged
him to forgive me.”
“The sage said that as he had
already uttered it, he couldn’t
change the curse. But he
assured me that the man I
fall in love with will love me in
spite of my monkey face.”
“Lord Brahma, I was born
and brought up here. How
can I live with a monkey face
among my beautiful sisters?
If you kindly grant me a boon
to become my usual self, I will
be very much obliged,” she
said anxiously.
Brahma felt sorry for the
unfortunate apsara. He
thought for a moment. Then
he lifted his eyes towards the
anxious Anjana.
“I see a way for removing your
curse, Anjana,” he said kindly.
“Go to earth and live there for
a while. You will meet your
husband on earth and your
curse will be removed if you
- give birth to an incarnation
of Lord Shiva,” said Lord
Brahma.
Anjana accepted Brahma’s
advice. She was born in the
earth shortly afterwards. She
lived in a forest as a young
huntress.
One day she saw a strong
man fighting with a lion. “What
a brave man!” she thought in
wonder. “How I wish he will
look at me!”
As Anjana looked at the
warrior in admiration, the man
turned and saw her. As soon
as his eyes fell on her, she
turned into a monkey!
With a pathetic cry, Anjana
sank to the ground and
covered her face with her
hands. Seeing her fall to
the ground, the man came
running towards her.
“Who are you fair maiden?
Why do you cry? Uncover
your face. Let me see you,”
he asked her.
“I cannot, brave man,” Anjana
answered gloomily. “I am
Anjana, an apsara cursed
to become a monkey when
I fall in love. I request you
to please leave me alone in
my sorrow,” she wailed and
peeked at the handsome man
through her fingers.
To her great astonishment
she found a big monkey-faced
man standing before her! If
she didn’t see his face at first,
it was because she couldn’t
and because till now she saw
him from a distance.
The monkey-faced man
understood her surprise.
He spoke. “I am not human,
though I can take the human
JANUARY 2018 | WWW.WISHESH.COM