Bengali Ramayana - Soudasa

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Bhagiratha returned to Ayodhya and took over his

kingly duties. He had a son, SOudas. After sometime,

Bhagiratha crowned Soudas king of Ayodhya and retired to the

banks of Ganga where he passed away. His son, Soudas

performed his last rites. One day, Soudas went hunting. He

saw a tiger playing in the forest. He shot the animal

with a sharp arrow. The tiger, was a rakshasha in

guise who was waiting for his companion. His companion,

a Rakshashi, cursed the king and left. Heartbroken

and sad, the king returned home. He bowed down before

Vashishta, teh family priest, and asked him what he should

do. "Perfoem a yagna, but you should not touch any

meat", said the great sage. The king agreed. The

rakshashi, seeing her curse would become futile, approached

the king in the form of Vashistha and demanded some

meat. While the king went to fetch some, the rakshashi

vanished as she saw the real sage Vashishta approach. The

rakshshi, in the guise of the king, served him human flesh.

Angry, the sage cursed the king to become a

BrahmaRakshasha. Sad, the king said he was not responsible for

anything that had happened. He cursed the rakshashi,

saying she would be burnt to ashes. The rakshahsi fled.

Vashishta realised that the king was innocent, but the

curse had been uttered. The angry king, took some holy

water in his hand. Angered at the sage, he was about to

curse hime, when his wife told him to stop. She

explained to him what had happened. Now the king was

perplexed. What should he do. If he threw the water

heavenword, the gods would die, if thew it on earth people

would die, if threw it in the nether world, the nagas

would die. If threw the water on his own feet, they

broke off from his body. Vashishta said "You will

remain as a Rakshasha for eleven years". "How will I be

relieved off this curse?". asked the king. "when you see

Ganga, you will be relieved", said the sage.

<br>Travelling as a rakshasha, the king travelled far and wide.

Eleven years were approaching. One day,not having eaten

for three days, the king reached Pravabhasa. There,

below a tree he started resting. Another rakshasha was

staying there. He told the king to go away. <br>They

first had a verbal fight and then a physical fight.

Both were equally strong. Tired, they rested and got

talking. "I was a king who was cursed to become a

rakshasha", said Soudasa. "I was a brahmn named Baradatta"

said the other rakshasha, "When my guru asked for guru

dakshina I made fun of him. He cursed me to become a

rakshasha and said, I would remain one till I saw the river

Ganga". They approached the sage Bhargava, who then

guided them to the river. Seeing Ganga and having a dip,

both the rakshashas were relieved of their sins and

went heavenwards.