Boons and Curses

Boons and curses are two very important elements that run through Indian mythology. The stories are replete with instances when man, woman, child and God want a wish to be granted. They choose a God, do severe rigor or ‘tapas’ to please them and then wait for the God to appear. There is never a question of whether the said God will grant them their wish. That’s always a given! The wait is for the God to appear. Once the God appears in front of the devotee, even God himself cannot refuse a wish. That is why a demon was able to manifest a desire like being able to burn someone to ashes with a mere touch, another was able to ask for a boon that kept them safe from death at the hands of anything born of a female and yet another asked that he would be safe from the possibility of death at the hands of any man or God. Mind you these were boons granted by the gods themselves. The point being no one, not even God can stop someone from having what they truly desire if they are so committed to their goals and are willing to put their whole existence behind realising them.

Then there are curses. Indian mythology is full of them. Sages like Durvasa were known to be quick tempered and would curse figuratively speaking at the drop of a hat. Often, they would need to soften their curse immediately after the words had left their lips. It is said that Durvasa asked something of Shakuntala the adopted daughter of sage Kanva. Shakuntala was so immersed in her thoughts of her beloved King Dushyanta that she paid no attention to Durvasa’s words. Enraged the sage cursed her saying that the object of her thoughts would forget her completely. Shaken out of her reverie by this merciless curse, Shakuntala is said to have fallen at the feet of Durvasa and begged his forgiveness. Relenting, the sage then modified his curse saying that she would be forgotten completely by King Dushyanta until he was presented with a personal token that he had given Shakuntala. What is interesting is that once spoken a curse cannot be revoked even by the Gods. Once form is given to something, be they even a negative thought or emotion, they exist and will run their course. Such is the power of words. These stories teach us to hold back, to think twice before wishing something bad for someone and for oneself. The next time you chide yourself on not being up to the mark or you chide another or you start to give form to something that could have stayed unsaid but upon voicing it becomes a problem you have to deal with; you might want to fall back on these stories and reflect on their wisdom.

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