"I don't even want the Heavens Sita, if I cannot have You by My side. I may have broken the bow kept at the wedding, but I shall never break My wedding vows."
Love is a promise to walk through everything hand in hand. Whether it's the palace gardens...
In his lust for power, he was blinded by desire. He even imprisoned the Navgrahas or the Nine Planets of Astrology. He tried to capture Kailash too with Lord Shiva and His family.
And now, He wanted Lord Shiva's Wife for Himself. He had heard tales of Her beauty and splendour and was ghastly enamoured to make Her his new possession.
When Lord Shiva was pleased with his devotion, and asked him about his desire, he frankly and bluntly asked for Goddess Parvati.
Furious at his audacity and notorious ways of misusing his devotion on Her innocent Lord, Goddess Parvati decided to teach him a lesson.
She prayed to Her Brother, Lord Vishnu who came to Her aid. He magically transformed a lotus into a divine and enchanting maiden.
She was so beautiful that Dashanan mistook her to be Goddess Parvati. She bowed to him and walked away with him, ready to oblige to his orders.
But Goddess Parvati did not have Her needed reassurance that this would keep the trouble at bay. She cursed the damsel to be turned into a frog.
For years, the frog maiden wandered in forests, escaping death amidst the survival of the fittest. And one day, she came across an ashram inside a sacred grove, where Rishis Mandara and Udara were performing a fire sacrifice.
She saw a snake enter one of the milk pots kept as Prasadam, and poison the contents. In an attempt to save the Rishis, she jumped into the pot. She sacrificed her life by consuming the toxic fumes and poison.
When the Rishis discovered a dead frog in the pot, They threw it away. From the carcass emerged a maiden.
"Thank you so much, noblemen! You have finally freed me from my curse. I'm Madhura, created by the Lord Madhuram, Shree Hari. Kindly grant me the purpose of my life so that I know what to do further."
The Rishis realised the sacrifice of the frog. They named the frog maiden as Mandodari, born from a 'Mandar' or frog, and revived by Rishis Mandara and Udara.
They handed her over to Mayasura, the chief architect of the demons and his wife Hema, who was an apsara, a damsel in Lord Indra's court.
Sadly, her mother had to leave for Swarga to fulfil her duties and she was raised by her father alone. When she came of marriageable age, her father keenly searched far and wide for an appropriate groom.
Dashanan came to visit Mayasura to build a new palace for the Navgrahas. His eyes laid on Mandodari who was strolling through the gardens. He immediately identified her as the same maiden who he had lost previously.
He persuaded her father to agree to their wedding. Their marriage was conducted with proper Vedic rites. However, a prophecy from the sky disrupted their happiness.
"Ravana, the first born daughter of this wife of yours shall be the cause of your doom!"
But Ravana didn't care. He would restore everything just like he restored his ten heads lost during penance. He took away Mandodari in the Pushpaka Vimana he had seized from his half brother Lord Kubera.
He was very confident that he could even control or change his destiny. Even the Nine Planets were in his custody.
And what could the meek Mandodari do to cause harm to him? He would kill any daughters she would birth.
He was best assured of his future destiny.
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