Sri Charitropakhyan Sahib jee Series - Charitar #33

[chatanga1]

Here is Charitar 33. It is long compared to the ones preceding it:

 

[chatanga1]

For me the essence of this story is in the last four lines. The story in theme has been seen partly in another charitar. The Queen is worrried about having no son as heir to the throne. So she concucts a plan to produce a son (this was also in another charitar).  However having produced no son for the King, he takes another woman as a wife. The first wife is jealous and hurt from this and she causes some disharmony in the palace by giving away large amounts of wealth etc.

Anyway towards the end, the first wife slips away from the marital bed to meet a man (i personally think she wants to get pregnant by this man) and the King follows her and sees what she is doing. His first thought is to kill them both but then the news of the Queens infidelity would cause him humiliation so he overlooks her transgression. They carry on their relationship but without any intimacy.

At the end the charitar ends in saying "anything that is broken can be mended, save for a mind and a mirror, " and then goes on to say "the biggest punishment for a servant and a woman is not to kill them but to forget them from thought..."

This is powerful stuff. First the King has the wisdom not to kill both his queen and the person he found her with, for the sake of the Kingship and the rule. But the minister goes onto say that there is a bigger punishment than death and that is to banish them from the mind.

 

Reading it, I think the Queen had a heartfelt desire to make the King happy by producing a heir, but fate decreed otherwise. She had only girls which only lived for a short while and died. She wanted to keep the rule going, but the King took another wife. Seems to be a little bit of everything in this story.

[paapiman]

On 4/16/2018 at 4:02 PM, chatanga1 said:

At the end the charitar ends in saying "anything that is broken can be mended, save for a mind and a mirror, "

Let's look at the Gurmukhi version of this verse.

ਏ ਦ੍ਵੈ ਟੂਟੇ ਨ ਜੁਰਹਿ ਏਕੁ ਸੀਸ ਅਰੁ ਚਿਤ ॥੪੧॥

But the broken mind and thought cannot be reconciled. (Bindra)

Two things broken that cannot be repaired are a head - faith in someone, and a heart - love for someone. (Niddar)

Faith and love makes sense.

 

Bhul chuk maaf

[paapiman]

ਏ ਦ੍ਵੈ ਟੂਟੇ ਨ ਜੁਰਹਿ ਏਕੁ ਸੀਸ ਅਰੁ ਚਿਤ ॥੪੧॥

ਸੀਸ can mean blessing and ਚਿਤ can mean memory

Can these two meanings be used to come up with an alternative interpretation of the verse above?

 

Bhul chuk maaf

[paapiman]

On 4/16/2018 at 4:02 PM, chatanga1 said:

then goes on to say "the biggest punishment for a servant and a woman is not to kill them but to forget them from thought..."

That's exactly what Aad Gurbani tells us to do.

ਸੋ ਮੂਆ ਜਿਸੁ ਮਨਹੁ ਬਿਸਾਰੈ ॥

That is dead, which has been forgotten in the mind

 

Bhul chuk maaf

[paapiman]

This Charitar teaches a person to stay calm and think deeply about the next course of action when confronted with a serious situation (when the mind is greatly affected by anger, lust, stress, etc) rather than just acting out instantly. The King was very wise and able to think about the repercussions of his action (of killing the queen and the lover).

Please have a look below (Niddar's translation) and let's learn from it.

Dohra – King Shatarket thought: “If I kill them together now the rumours will fly outside that in catching the Queen making love to another man, he sent her to the land of death.” The King deliberated: “This would bring shame upon him and his household’s name”.  (31)

 

Bhul chuk maaf