In the first part of our Padmavat series, we discussed the life of Princess Padmavati in Lanka. Now, let’s travel all the way to Chittaur, which is in Rajasthan (India).
Ratan Sena was born in the lineage of Chitra Sena, after whom the city of Chitrapur or Chittaur was named. Coming to our story, around the time when the previously mentioned events had taken place, a merchant of Chittaur travelled to Simhala. Along with him there was a poor Brahmin too, who had borrowed money from somewhere for the visit. The poor man wanted to try his luck in the trading business. However, the money was barely enough, which left him confused about what to buy and what not…
As the man was trying to speculate various possibilities, a fowler approached him along with a parrot called Hiramani. The poor fellow immediately got interested when he heard the parrot talking. The parrot could talk endlessly, about all the wisdom and the matters of scriptures and beyond. It also told him that the owner was about to kill it soon. The Brahmin got concerned when he learnt about the fate of the parrot, and so… he bought it and returned home.
In the meantime Ratan Sena had become the monarch of Chitaur. One day he received a report that the merchants had come back from Simhala and brought precious things. He was also told that a Brahmin had brought a parrot of matchless beauty. ‘Its eyes would glow like rubies and its peech would feel nectar-like,’ they said.
Upon hearing this information the king commanded to bring that Brahmin along with the parrot. And it was done within bo time. When the king saw the bird and heard it speak, he got so impressed that he bought it from the poor man. Thus, a new life had begun for Hiramani, the parrot.
One day, when the king had gone to a hunt, the parrot was with Nagamati, the beauteous queen. Talking to the parrot was quite an amusing experience, and she did it often.
‘Parrot,’ she said, trying to start a conversation, ‘is there anyone in the whole world as beautiful as I?’
The parrot thought for a while and burst out into laughter. Then it started praising Padmavati. ‘What comparison?’ it said. ‘She is like the day and you are like the night.’
The queen was enraged. ‘It is an evil worker, ‘ she said to her maids. ‘Take it and kill it.’
The maiden went off with the parrot to kill him, but, when she looked at it, she could not go on with the act. ‘It is not right,’ she thought. Whether she did it quietly or in public, the killing was still a killing. And she did not want to be a sinner. So she kept it in a safe place.
When the king returned from the hunt and asked for the parrot, the queen told him the whole story. The king felt sad upon hearing this. The parrot was a wise one, it could offer profound wisdom, it could counsel the king. Now the king was mad at the queen.
Seeing the couple getting into a fight, the maiden intervened and confessed the truth to the queen. The queen thought that maybe it was a good opportunity to win the king’s heart once again. And so she took the parrot from the maiden and gave it to the king.
It was all wonderful, once again.
The king could not stop talking to the parrot. It told great many stories, and the king listened with great patiemce. And he specially listened when the parrot talked about Padmavati. It described every part, every trait of her in detail.
When the king heard this, he knew he had fallen for her… (to be continued)
Reference books:
Kalampedia 