Myth and Folklore

Long ago, a man named Sribatsa and his beautiful wife Ayana set out on a journey to traverse the lands of the earth. The evil eye had been cast upon Sribatsa due to an unfortunate run in with Saturn, the god of bad luck, and he and his wife had decided to leave their home in search of safe lodgings until the eye turned away. But one day as they were making their way through the woods, a horrible fate befell Ayana.  While Sribatsa and Ayana were crossing a river among the trees, Ayana slipped on a rock and fell into the water. She did not know how to swim, but the waters had mercy and did not drown her; her beauty was too rare and too pure to submerge forever beneath the river's rippling surface. The waters instead gently cradled the water-logged woman and placed her on the shore. A group of nearby sailors observed this incident, and believed the woman had special influence over the river. They were envious of her power to control the waters, and kidnapped Ayana to steal t...

The Origin of Rubies -A queen with four sons loves the youngest best and spoils him -She and her fourth son are made to live in a separate house by the other sons -The youngest son is spoiled and takes whatever he wants -He boards a boat that is not his and sets off on it with his mother  -Sails out onto the ocean, encountering a whirlpool filled with marvelous rubies  -The prince gathers many rubies, but, entreated by his mother to throw them back, he tosses all but one back into the sea -He and his mother dock near a major city and take up residence in a hut -The boy plays marbles with the sons of the king, using his ruby in place of actual marbles -The princess observes the ruby and wants it for herself -The lad is brought to the king, and the boy tells him he found the ruby in the ocean  -The princess puts the ruby in her hair and asks her parrot how she looks -The parrot replies having only one ruby looks ridiculous  -The princess goes...

The Evil Eye of Sani -Sani (also known as Saturn) god of bad luck -Lakshmi goddess of good luck -Sani and Lakshmi argue over who is higher in rank -As all the gods and goddesses are equals, they decide to find a human to settle the dispute -Sribatsa is the wise and rich man they seek out -He places Sani on a silver stool and Lakshmi on a gold one -Sani infers that this means Sribatsa values him less and casts the evil eye upon him -Sribatsa and his wife leave their home; they come to an uncrossable river with a ferryman -The ferryman takes tries to transport the mattress they have brought and stored all their money and jewels in, but a giant wave overtakes the ferry and it disappears -Sribatsa and his wife Chintamani travel to different villages, but each time become loathed by the villagers for their superior skills -Chintamani is carried off by boatmen who believe she has special powers -Sribatsa follows the river until he finds a cow that nourishes him with milk day...