Sukanya
Vaivasvata Manu was the son of the Sun God and the originator of the Solar Dynasty. His heir was the learned King Sharyati. Sharyati had a daughter who was the paragon of beauty. She was appropriately named Sukanya meaning beautiful girl. Once the king went for a hunt taking his family with him. In the evening they camped near the hermitage of Sage Chyavana.
Chyavana had been meditating for a long time. Termites had built a nest around his body, which was teeming with newborn insects. Only his eyes and nostrils were exposed. In the dark of the evening the eyes shone like glow worms. Sukanya's curiosity was aroused and she playfully poked the bright spots with a twig in order to draw out the glowworms. To her horror she blinded the sage. Chyavana was in a rage. He threatened to curse the king, his family and his kingdom. Sharyati pleaded that his daughter had committed this heinous deed out of ignorance and not out of malice. He begged forgiveness. When nothing worked, he gave his daughter in marriage to the sage to placate him.
Thus the barely nubile Sukanya became the aged Chyavana's wife. Chyavana was not only old but was ugly as well. Ages of meditating in the open had discoloured and disfigured his body. He was the definitely not any woman's dream husband. But Sukanya was a girl of good breeding. She knew that she had erred and was prepared to pay the price. Instead of raving and ranting she set about her duties conscientiously and with a smile on her lips. The sage too realised that life was not easy for his young bride. He demanded little of her and gave her plenty of space. This was not difficult because he meditated for months at a stretch, without eating or sleeping.
After completing her morning chores Sukanya would go to a secluded spot at a lake near the hermitage. There she would bathe in the calm and cool water for a few hours. Only during these very private moments would she sometimes dwell upon what might have been had she not blinded the sage. A youthful passion burned in her and the cold water enveloping her body quelled the heat. Once when she broke out of such a reverie she saw two handsome lads, identical twins, staring at her.
The Ashwini twins, Dasra and Nasatya were sons of the Sun God, but born at a time when their mother was in the form of a mare. "Ashwa" is the Sanskrit word for horse. From their mother they had inherited fleetness of foot and from their father dazzling beauty. They spent their time speeding around earth in search of merriment. One day they saw a young and beautiful maiden relaxing in the limpid waters of a lake, her eyes closed in a pleasurable daydream. They sat on the bank watching her and waiting for her to come out of her reverie.
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