Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Guide: Sukanya

This is a guide to Sukanya: The Princess who Married a Sage (Volume 759). You can find it at Amazon.

All the ACK comic books are on Reserve in Bizzell, and the call number for this issue is: PN 6790.I443 A437 v. 759

The story begins with a sage named Chyavana who is covered by an anthill during his meditations, and Princess Sukanya accidentally does him a terrible injury, not realizing what she was doing. She vows to the goddess Durga that she will marry the sage and serve him, helping him with his yagnas (sacrificial rituals). The Ashwin gods arrive, and Sukanya hopes they will cure Chyavana's blindness. They promise to do so, but only if Sukanya can identify her husband after they have transformed him to look like themselves; the goddess Durga assists her so that she does, indeed, pass the test.

This motif of having to choose the mortal from divine look-alikes also shows up in the famous story of Damayanti and Nala.