In pre-Christ era, ‘Kundgram’ was a capital town of incredible beauty. It boasted of magnificent regal palaces, grand mansions of rich merchants and people of wealth, bustling bazaars, gardens, ponds and houses of happy citizens.
The real beauty of Kundgram was in its natural settings. The town was a jewel placed in the inner bottom of the bowl of natural splendour. All around the town majestic hills rose in sloping gradients cradling the town. The hill slopes were carpetted with lush green pastures around the town that ended in shrubbery and vegetation. Younder rose trees gradually condensing into thick forests of incredible natural wealth and wild life species of mind boggling variety. The jungles hummed and reverberated with the sounds of the joy of wild creatures. Then there tinier were kinds that just buzzed, hummed and fluttered while reaping the bounty of nature. Above the forests the mountain peaks blessed the valleys with as pure benevolence as the snow they were covered with.
And there were valleys of flowers, crystal clear lakes studded with water lilies and lotus flowers. To add to the beauty white and black swans used to swim around like floating gems.
The aromatic plants kept the air scented. Flowering trees of myriad colours stood like bouquets presented to the landscape by the nature.
That was how splendid Kundgram was.
That pleasant morning the citizens of the town had woken up from their sweet dreams, as usual to be serenaded by the chirping birds into a new glorious day when they heard sounds of drum beats coming from the tower of the palace fort. It signified that some announcement was to follow connected to the royalty. All ears got ready to pay heed to it.
The drum beats ceased when the royal announcers became sure that they had the ears of the citizens. A booming voice called out—
‘Citizens of Kundgram! The king Siddhartha and the queen Trishala would set out in the royal carriage at sunrise for ‘Nandan Kanan’ for water pleasures. The carriage will pass through the main thorough fares of the town. Those who want to get the privilege of seeing the royal passage can avail of the opportunity.’
The announcer repeated it several times for the benefit of the people as it was a well known fact that common folk had some strange fascination for royalty. No one liked to miss the chance. Infact the women and the children felt magnetic attraction to the kings, queens, princes and the princesses because they were the characters of their fantasy dreams.
The sunrise was drawing near. The people were hurrying up with chores they were doing to be able to rush to the nearest road-side to cheer the passing royal road show. In a matter of minutes men, women and excited children were lining up the sides of the main road. Many women were carrying thalis loaded with flower petals to shower them at the adored and revered royal couple.
At about sunrise the gates of the palace fort opened fuelling up the excitement of the citizens. First, two soldiers emerged out of the gate. Than a bedecked elephant majestically came out. Up on it was royally decorated howdah. And in it sat the king and the queen in their dazzling finery.
The announcement of the royal couple travelling by chariot turned out to be incorrect. There was some communication gap or last minute change of the mode of the king’s travel. For people it made little difference as long as the king and the queen were genuine.
The exit of the royal elephant was serenaded by drum beats, tomtoms, clarion calls and shehnai play. The total effect was that of martial music. For men and children the music was inspiring. The women stared at the incredible flashing jewellery worn by the queen. The young women could not help holding their breaths and dreaming of being as bedecked as the queen when they would become brides.
Even the mahout of the royal jumbo sat atop in regal splendour dressed like a groom.
The citizens wildly cheered and unabashedly hailed the king Siddhartha and the queen Trishala. The royal couple smiled benevolently at the subjects in reply to the greetings.
The young women with flower trays showered the petals at the royal couple. But they were sitting too high up atop the jumbo for petals to reach them. Smarter women ahead just threw handfuls of petals in front of the advancing elephant. That made more sense. Thus a flowery carpet was being spread infront of the regal march. It presented a fascinating sight.
On each flank of the elephant two soldiers walked as royal guards. At the tail of the jumbo marched a contingent of sword sporting soldiers to make the roadshow a real regal treat. The people loved to be a part of such pageantry. The people in the procession were shouting slogans hailing the greatness of their king. Often it became a frenzied crescendo reflecting the mindset of the people eternally bondaged to feudal slavery.
The regal procession progressed steadily and reached Nandan Kanan which was a natural royal garden of gigantic proportions. Infact a whole valley of flowers, an inset lake and surrounding forests made up Nandan Kanan which by implication meant royal garden to keep the commoners out of it.
At last the procession reached Nandan Kanan. The people stopped some distance away as commoners were not allowed in especially when the royalty was to be inside. The elephant stopped at the gate. The mahout goaded it to sit down. The soldiers drew out two golden ladders from the back side of the howdah and put them up against the flanks for the king and the queen to alight. The royal couple as expected climbed down the respective ladders and together entered Nandan Kanan. The soldiers also went in and stopped at an appointed distance. They would not go further. The royal couple walked on followed now by only maid servants.
The scene inside was fascinating. Flowering shrubs were aromating the air besides lending colour to the landscape. Foliage laden trees swayed in the gentle breeze high on the spirit of the nature. Peacocks trotted around or sat on the branches dangling their magnificent tail plumes peak-a-booing their joy. Cuckoos crooned their own tune. Other birds were chirping merrily. Dear fawns gambolled around with the spring of youthful exuberance in their legs. Squirrels darted around with their tails up like busy question marks. King Siddhartha and Queen Trishala watched the splendour of the kingdom of nature.
There was a small lake in the centre of the garden. Its water was so crystal clear as if it were distilled purity of the nature around. The plants, tress and hills were reflected in it in mirror sharp images. White lilies and red lotuses added incredible beauty to it. In a far corner swans were swimming like floating fluffs of joy.
The maids stopped by the side of the bushes. Only the king and the queen approached the lake waters. Their thirsty eyes drank the beauty of the lake. The king and the queen prepared to take a swim. Siddhartha took off his royal apparel and left only a loin on his body. The queen took off her jewellery. She would swim with clothes on as was the custom then. To celebrate the royal water play the maids starting singing folk songs in low voice.
As soon as the royal couple entered the water a voice in deep timber spoke. The king and the queen stopped and stood still.
The voice was coming from the closeby point in emptiness. It was saying, “King! Do not try to locate me. I have no physical existence. I am merely a voice that makes divine announcements or passes on divine messages from the god powers.”
The king and the queen bowed their heads in reverence and folded their hands in attention.
The voice added, “Tirthankara Rishabhdev is very pleased with you. I am myself here in this voice form.”
The king and the queen exchanged glances in pleasant surprise. The queen spoke, “O Lord, we pay our obeisance to you with all our respect and devotion. But for what disqualification we are not being blessed with a chance of visioning you in material form which is easy for us to comprehend?”
The voice replied, “There is no disqualification hurdle. At this stage we are bound by some norms not to do so. But in good time I will appear to you.”
“Thank you, O Lord,’’ the king spoke and added, “Lord Rishabhdev! We are eager to hear your command or prophecy.”
“Good. God wills that you shall have one more worthy son.”
“That will be our privilege, Lord.”
“This son being prophecied about will not be an ordinary one. He will be my representative and so, benefactor of the entire world. As a messiah he will spread my message to the all corners of the world.”
“When will he be coming, My Lord?” the queen asked.
“He won’t make you wait for long, queen. He will be in your womb soon as the favourable planetary configuration is building up. Just keep patience and pray to God.”
The king spoke, “O Lord! In the meantime what should we do to become more deserving for the divine arrival?”
“King! A king must concentrate on the welfare of the subject, and take appropriate steps. No one should be meted out injustice in this period. The bigger the number of happy and satisfied subjects the better you will be rated as the deserving one.”
With that the divine voice died down leaving only the breeze announcing its presence by gentle rustling sound.
For quite some time the king and the queen stood frozen in devotional trance. Gradually they came back into the world of solid reality. After getting redressed with the help of the maids the royal couple emerged out of the garden still trying to convince themselves that whatever they had just experienced was a reality.
The people were still waiting out there to cheer the royal couple. King Siddhartha and Queen Trishala returned to the palace in public procession. This time they paid little attention to the adulation of the people pre-occupied with thoughts as their minds were.
In the palace they talked about the happening at the lake with heightening expectation. The two were too excited to eat the night meals properly.
