Syamantaka Ruby OR Shyamantaka Sapphire?

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Syamantaka Ruby OR Shyamantaka Sapphire?

 

By Richard Shaw Brown

 

The following is my all-time favorite gemstone story. This legend is

derived from the 10th Canto of the great Bhagavata Maha-purana : Book

10, Chapter VII. Over 5,000 years ago, at the end of the Dvarpara-yuga

or the "Copper Age," the 8th Incarnation of Lord Vishnu appeared on the

Earth as Lord Krishna. During the latter part of His sojourn on this

planet Krishna was involved in a misunderstanding over a wonderful ruby

known as the Syamantaka gem.

 

There was a King named Satrajit who was a devotee of Surya, the

Sun-god. After many years of worship King Satrajit was finally blessed

by the Sun-god who gave him a fabulous ruby as a reward for his

dedication. This ruby was named "Syamantaka" and it had the power to

produce one hundred seventy pounds of gold daily for it's owner. Such

was the great brilliance of this gem that people mistook King Satrajit

to be the Sun-god himself where ever he wore the jewel. One day

Satrajit went to visit Lord Krishna on His island Kingdom of Dvaraka.

Krishna, understanding Satrajit's inflated ego and attachment, asked

him for the gem. When Satrajit refused, Krishna relented and said

nothing further about the matter. But the devoted denizens of Dvaraka

were surprised and soon gossip spread throughout the Kingdom.

 

Later, the brother of Satrajit, Prasena, borrowed the gem and went

boldly into the forest to hunt. Unknown to anyone, Prasena was killed

by a great lion who was in turn killed by Jambavan, the King of Bears,

who took the Syamantaka jewel into his cave and gave it to his child to

play with. Soon the news of the gems disappearance turned into ugly

rumors that perhaps Krishna was responsible for the theft. Sensing the

people's doubt, Lord Krishna ventured out to search for the gem

accompanied by a large group of followers. Later they found the dead

bodies of both Prasena and the lion. Finally they came to the cave of

Jambavan and Krishna entered the cave alone, leaving his associates out

side. Seeing Krishna and not knowing his true greatness, Jambavan

engaged Him in mortal combat. After the fighting had continued unabated

for over 14 days and nights Jambavan began losing strength while

Krishna was still strong and getting stronger. At this point Jambavan

realized Krishna's true identity and offered Krishna the jewel and his

daughter in apology.

 

When Krishna returned triumphantly to Dvaraka the truth became known

and the Lord returned the Syamantaka gem to King Satrajit. The legend

of the gem continues, but the most memorable part of the legend

involves Lord Krishna.

 

Of course most devotees already know this story, but a mistake of

spelling wrongly as "Shyamantaka" has led to the incorrect idea that

Syamantaka was a blue sapphire (Saturn's gem). Even Amar Chitra Katha

comic books in India, as well as BBT artists make this mistake, and

they spell as Shyamantaka and show the Sun God is giving a blue

sapphire to Satrajit. This is completely incorrect. If anyone looks at

the Sanskrit they will see it is not spelled Shyamantaka, the real

spelling is "SYAMANTAKA" which means the Ruby (Sun's gem) after which

this story is named. The story also describes how the people mistook

King Satrajit "as the Sungod" whenever he wore the gem, so it was

surely not a blue sapphire (Saturn's gem).

 

I hope this is clear and the misconception, mistaken spelling, and

wrong depiction can be corrected.

 

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