Princess Of Vidharbha(Winner Mythomagical Awards Contest 2)

Chapter 13

"Heard the princess is going to get married, have brought this holy cow for her to do pooja. It's said doing the pooja of cow the princess will get a good and happy married life. Her husband will have long life and will be prosperous. She will get intelligent and well-behaved children. The kingdom she goes will also prosper."

The soldier guarding the gate of Vidharbha palace looked at the cow herd woman standing with a cow that looked really divine.

The prince had asked him not to send any strangers inside. It was then the royal guru came to the door and looked at the cow and the woman. The lady repeated the same to royal guru. The royal guru asked the lady to come inside and wait in the royal garden. Then he ordered the gateman to call Prince Rukmi.

Rukmi stood agitated in front of royal guru. He had no interest to allow Rukmini to do the pooja of cow. But guru insisted telling not every lady is lucky to do the pooja of a cow that is so divine. If she does the pooja that will benefit the kingdom where she was going as the bride. After some thought Rukmi agreed. Afterall if what the royal guru tells is true then it would benefit Shishupal and kingdom of Chedi. He ordered the soldiers to keep a strict watch on the princess.

A maid came to Rukmini's room and mentioned to her that a lady has come with a divine cow and the Rajguru has asked her to perform the pooja of the cow for her happy married life. The moment she heard the word cow a peace filled Rukmini's heart. As if Krishna himself had come. Smiling she got up and then prepared the pooja plate.

Radha observed the lady who was coming down the stairs to the royal garden accompanied by two maids. She was serene, her face radiated a subtle power. There was a glow on her face and Radha felt the princess had felt intuitively happy hearing about cow. If the news of her knowing everything about Krishna was true then she would definitely know about Krishna's love for cows.

Once Rukmini came to the place where Radha was standing with the cow, Radha requested the maids and soldiers to stand some distance apart so that princess can do the pooja in peace. When soldiers hesitated, she stated they can still observe her even if they stand at some distance. Rukmini echoed what Radha said and mentioned she needed concentration to perform pooja and with people looking over her so closely she won't get it to do the pooja perfectly. Finally, the soldiers and the maids stepped back.

Rukmini bowed to the cow herd woman and requested her to help her to do the cow pooja properly. Radha smiled and guided Rukmini to do the pooja. Once the pooja was completed she announced loudly

"Princess Rukmini you have completed the pooja of Gomata successfully. Consider this piece of cloth as a gift from Gomata for your successful and prosperous married life." Then as she bent down to take the gift packet she whispered.

"Salutations to queen of Dwaraka from Radha. Accept this gift Dwarakadeesh has sent personally for you. Oh, queen dress up in this. Don't worry. He will be in time to take you to Dwaraka."

Rukmini's eyes were welling with tears as she accepted the packet. But Radha gently pressed her hand indicating not to show too much emotions. Rukmini pressed her hands back making it known she had understood. Both the ladies smiled at each other and Rukmini mentioned loudly.

"Dear lady. I am so thankful to you for guiding me to do this pooja. Hope we can meet again in my marital place."

"Yes princess. If we are fated to meet again, we will surely meet." Rukmini indicated the maids to bring clothes and rice to give as donation to the lady. Radha knew she had to accept that so that everything looked normal. As they departed once again the ladies smiled at each other knowingly.

Once back in her room Rukmini sat in the bed. Her heart was beating fast. She still could not believe she was holding the wedding lehenga from Dwaraka. He was coming for her. He has accepted her as his bride. That years of longing to meet him was going to bear fruit in another five days. She ran towards the painting. She had so many questions in her mind. How will he look. Will he be like the way she had imagined. Will he have that smile on his face as people have mentioned. Will he have his peacock feather. Will his flute be stuck along with his waist ornament? Will he be wearing yellow robe? What will she speak to him when she first meets him? As of now she had no answers to her questions but she knew soon she will have and that night she was going to have a peaceful sleep after so many days.

Krishna sat in his room. Soon there was going to be a new occupant in that room. The palace was going to be reverberated with the sounds of her ankles. Sound of her bangles was going to wake him up. Yes, a woman was going to come into his life who was going to stand with him through thick and thin. Who was going to be his support in the difficult journey ahead? Today he was going to hold her hand to uphold her self-respect. In future world was going to see much more worst atrocities against woman. If Rukmini was going to be the medium to destroy one Shishupal, in future a woman born out of fire will come to eliminate many Shishupal's. Today he was fighting this war for a woman's self-respect and tomorrow he will have to make another man fight for the same. Holding the hand of Rukmini was just the first step towards the purpose he was born. That's establishing dharma on earth.