Many years ago, in a village lived a Brahmin with his wife
and four children. The Brahmin was of priest class who worshipped gods and
goddesses for his patrons and received some amount of rice and coins for that.
But nobody worships gods every day, neither they have rituals for birth,
wedding or death every day. Hence the Brahmin remained poor – so poor that he
and his family had to fast frequently; neither had they had good cloths nor a
proper home. His wife rebuked him for being unable to provide for the family,
but he could not change the situation. However, he was a strong believer. Not
even a day he failed to worship them in own broken hut. Even if he slept empty
stomach, he never gave a miss to his morning prayer. Whenever he moved out of
home, he chanted, “Durga Durga.” Whenever his wife’s anger became unbearable,
he recited, “Shiva, Shiva.” Personally he was an worshipper of Shiva and Durga,
the father god and mother goddess.
One day, the Brahmin felt so helpless for being unable to
earn a handful of rice for several days, he left home and started walking to an
unknown destination. He walked and walked, and by noon, he reached a dense
forest. He thought that the forest must be inhabited by some Rakshas who would
kill him. To sacrifice own life, he entered the forest, sat under a large tree
and kept on waiting while saying his last prayer to his beloved gos and
goddess, “O father Shiva, O mother Durga – through my entire life I have
chanted you names. In your name I did my priestly duties but was not able to
provide enough for my family. What is the use of a worthless man like me? Let a
Rakshas eat me, while I take your name till my last moment.” – bitter tears
rolling down from his eyes washed his face.
The forest was actually the garden of Shiva and Durga. Deep
inside the forest, they had their hut surrounded by beautiful flower-gardens
and clear streams. From their hut they could hear the devoted Brahmin wailing. Mother
Durga said, “O my Lord of the world! Are you listening to the poor Brahmin? He is
spending life though such a distress but never forgot to chant our names.
Cannot we do something for this poor man that his life becomes comfortable?” Father
Shiva replied, “Of course we can do. Why don’t you offer him your one of your earthen
pots that will keep his family free from hunger?” The Mother rejoiced at this
proposition. Immediately she brought the earthen pot from her chest. Taking the
pot, the Father went to the wailing Brahmin and said, “O dear Brahmin, wipe you
tears. Take this mudki handi which will provide you and your family an
inexhaustible supply of food. Whenever you are hungry, turn the handi upside
down and shake it. It will shower delicious mudki till you set it again in
proper position. You can have the finest mudki of the world as much as you
want. By the power of the goddess, the supply will be never ending, so you can
sell the extra amount too.” –Keeping the earthen pot on the perplexed Brahmin’s
stretched hands, he disappeared. The delighted poor man, still stuck in
surprise got up and started walking back home with that handi.
Though walking in quick steps, the Brahmin was not sure if
he had met the God or had only a dream. He looked at the earthen pot–it looked
like a common earthen pot. He wanted to check it. Sitting under a tree he held
the pot upside down. Stunning him, floral scented Mudki started raining from it,
and made a heap on the ground. Delighted Brahmin quickly turned the pot upright. He had never tasted that kind of delectable
mudki before. He remembered he should not eat the daily meal without his
rituals of thanking the gods. Hence wrapping the mudki in the corner of the
cloth he was wearing, he started walking again, as fast as he could. On the
way, he saw an inn which had a pond behind. He requested the inn-keeper again
and again to keep the Handi safely and went to bathe in that pond before
offering his pre-meal ablutions.
The innkeeper was astonished seeing such a care for a common
earthen pot. He thought of checking it – opened the mouth, found it to be
empty. More curious he turned it upside down and then, almost jumped in
surprise – mudki carrying a divine flavour flowing out from an earthen pot! He
called his wife as loud as possible, and ordered her to bring all big vessels in
their home as soon as she rushed in.
They filled all the vessels. The innkeeper said, “Why should
I give this magic handi back to that fool? A poor Brahmin is not worth this treasure.” “Bring
an earthen handi of same size and look to replace it!” The greedy wife ran into
the home and brought it within moment, without uttering a word. The entire
family was joyous seeing the fortune walking their way. In the meantime, the
Brahmin took bath, offered prayers to the gods and ate the mudki he was
carrying. Fresh and strong, he returned to the innkeeper and asked for the
handi. The gleeful innkeeper politely handed him the dummy earthen vessel and
the unsuspecting Brahmin took it gently, thanking the cheat for his
carefulness.
Entering his broken hut, the Brahmin cheerfully described
the story to his wife, who was weeping helplessly inside the hut, four hungry
children sitting around her. All were tired of fasting and on top of that worried for the Brahmin whom they
did not see since morning. Seeing him, they were relieved, but none found the
story convincing. The wife slapped her forehead, “O god! Why did you punish me
so hard? Now that my man has gone mad due to poverty and hunger, how shall I
take care of the family alone?” The smiling Brahmin tried to comfort her, then
brought a vessel himself and turned the handi to pour mudki in the vessel. At
his astonishment, he saw nothing coming out from the earthen pot, he shook it
couple of times, tuned the pot upright, then turned again, but nothing worked
the way it was supposed to. The wife and children looked at him dismayed and
the Brahmin realized how he was cheated by the innkeeper. Without wasting time,
he ran the whole distance again to reach the inn. Before the charging Brahmin,
the innkeeper first acted innocent, then mocked at him for being a poor fool
and then threw him out of the inn by force.
The poor Brahmin had no other go but to back to the place he
met the God. Only Shiva the protector of the world could save him from the
world’s treachery. Seeing him crying profusely, both Shiva and Durga’s hearts
melted. The goddess gave him another handi, but did not utter much about it;
only said, “This will be of your help now.” The obliged Brahmin chanted Mantras
in praise of the gods once again before leaving the forest.
He was unsure about the quality of the Handi this time. So
he sat below the large tree once again and turned it like before. Three large mens
came out of it with equally large sticks in hand and started beating him mercilessly.
The intelligent Brahmin quickly turned it right; otherwise he could have been
killed that day. As soon as those demons vanished inside the handi, he got up
and walked towards the inn. Reaching there he gave it to the keeper like before,
saying, “Think I have done a mistake charging you, I found the divine handi at
the roadside. It was my fault that I forgot it there. Please keep it carefully.”
The
very glad keeper went inside with it and the Brahmin left for a bath. “Bring
bigger vessels and a replacement pot quickly – the fool brought another magic
handi. May be it will yield Sandesh this time!” –He screamed. His wife came
running, behind her the children. Now it was his time to turn the handi -Hoa! The moment he did, a group of large muscular
men jumped out of it and started beating them without a break. By the time the
Brahmin returned taking bath, their bones were broken and the hairs were gone!
Still being beaten up, the keeper, his wife and children jumped at his feet,
praying to save their lives. The Brahmin turned the Handi to get the musclemen get
into it. With broken bones, the keeper somehow stood up and brought the Handi
of mudki back, crying profusely, begging for his forgiveness again and again.
The happy Brahmin kept a vessel full of mudki for them too before leaving with
those two vessels.
Thus Shiva and Durga helped their sincere devotee to come
out of poverty. Whenever children felt hungry, the Brahmin’s wife turned the
handi. The Brahmin did not expect others to seek his help for rituals any
longer. On contrary he opened a shop in one corner of his broken hut. Once
every day he turned the handi and pore sacks of mudki and sold that. Once one
villager bought that mudki from him, he did not buy it from anywhere else.
Within days, all villagers started buying it from him. None in the village or
the neighbouring villages had seen that kind of mudki before. Those were white and
perfumed as jasmine flowers, sweet as condenced milk, each morsel as large as a
berry. In next few months, the once poor
Brahmin had a large new shop, and then a large new home. Though busy with new
profession, earning money and living a comfortable life, the Brahmin did not
forget his daily ritual of prayers, offering ablutions to gods and chanting the
names of Shivdurga. Whenever touched the pot for pouring mudki, he recited, “Durga
Durga”. Whenever someone mentioned the divine taste of his mudki, he uttered, “Shiva,
Shiva,”
Everything was going fine until a day the children became
curious about the other handi, which their father locked in a room. The Brahmin
was busy in shop and his wife in the kitchen when the children unlocked the
room, unpacked the handi and turned it upside down. Within a blink came out
four demonic men and began beating the children. The children’s loud cry reached
the Brahmins in the shop. Assuming what could have happened, he hurried inside
home and saved the children by turning the handi right. He too had received
couple of blows before that. Taking the name of the divine couple, he locked
the room with two keys and kept the keys with him to prevent the children from
committing the mischief again. Also the children did not want to play with the
same handi.
Brahmin was being richer by selling mudki to hundreds of
people. The family should have been spent a happy life forever. But no, fate is
something that disturbs happiness quite often. One day, after a hectic day, as
the Brahmin was sleeping in his room, the children planned to have some mudki
fresh from the handi and without asking their parents for help. Four of them
entered the room and tried to turn it down together. It slipped from their
hands, fell on the stone floor and broke into pieces. The sound of its breaking
woke up the Brahmin. He came running into the room, to find tiny pieces of the
handi scattered on the floor and four guilty children trembling in fear. Understanding
what had happened, he could not rebuke the children. Clutching own head, he sat
on the floor without a clue how he would look after his family. He blamed
himself for not being more cautious, not keeping the handi that was only source
of income for his family, locked. He
remembered Shiva and Durga, the divine couple who had helped him to live a descent
life.
He went to the forest once again and began meditating. As Shiva
and Durga appeared before him, he stated what mistake he had done by not
keeping the handi locked and how his children had broken it. Durga said, “Well,
I will help you once again, but only once. If this time you do another mistake,
I won’t be able to save you again.” She handed her another pot, similar to the
previous two. This time the Brahmin returned home directly, without stopping
anywhere, and reaching home, he locked the handi out of everyone’s reach.
In the middle of the night, when the children fell asleep,
the husband and wife opened the handi and turned upside down. What a wonder! This time it rained Sandesh
from it, large, soft as cotton, creamy as butter, and heavenly in taste.
Following morning onwards, the Brahmin transformed into a
sandesh seller. Thousands of people from the villages and nearby cities
thronged his shop – nobody in the world could produce such a tasty Sandesh. The
once poor man became very rich. In course of time, one neighbour came to know
the secret of his sandesh. He revealed it to another and another to another –
the news reached to the zamindar. The zamindar called him to know the truth.
The honest Brahmin spoke the truth. Now the zamindar’s greed grew like fire. He
too wanted to be very rich selling Sandesh. He told the Brahmin to give him the
magic pot. The Brahmin politely denied, The zamindar called his sentry to lock
the Brahmin. Seeing no way to get relief, the Brahmin agreed to bring the handi
from home.
He carried not one, but two handis. Reaching Zamindars place, he showed both. The
greedy Zamindar thought he got both the pots of mudki and sandesh, and ordered
him to show how those work. The Brahmin turned one of them. A platoon of armed
muscular men came out and began beating everyone. The Zamindar tried to run
away, but they chased him till his inner compartment and started beating. Badly
bruised and broken, the Zamindar and his courtiers asked for the owner
forgiveness. After all, they could not save their lives otherwise. The Brahmin took the men back into the pot and
returned home with both the pots. None disturbed him again. By the
boon of Shiva and Durga, the family remained rich and happy forever.
*mudki – a kind of Bengali puffed rice, coated with
flavored jiggery
*handi – Indian cooking vessel of a particular shape
*sandesh – sweet made of milk or cocoanut, popular in
Bengal and Odisha in Eastern part of India.
