Out
of the blue, I was stuck with an old tune for the whole day. It made me Google
for the folklore's complete lyrics. I was astounded that I was moved by it
the same way when my mom had sung it to me when I was a kid. I googled for its
English version and couldn't find a very convincing one.
Story
of Punyakoti is an all time favorite among Kannadigas and is renowned to bring
a positive change in the minds of people who listen to it.
I've
tried to trans-narrate its story from the folklore.(Unknown author timed around
1800 AD).
There
was a dense forest where a cattleman lived with a whole big herd of cows. One
day Kalinga, the cattleman was playing his flute beneath a young mango tree
near his cattle shed. He dearly called his cattle to draw milk. After all the
cows siphoned their milk to fill his big pot, they walked graciously into the forest
greens to graze. The poet says that it looked like a huge cloud gliding the
skies when the herd moved. The cattle fed on the greenest grass in midst of
flowered plants in the valley.
By
evening they started back for their shelter. Near a tall rock within the thick
forest, there lived an old tiger who was very hungry. When the herd reached
the rock, tiger roared and jumped on them. Cows ran for their life and tiger
couldn't chase them too far.
Punyakoti
was the only cow who was late to return to its shelter. It was thinking of
feeding its hungry calf and didn't notice the tiger waiting for a prey behind
the rock. Arbhuta, the tiger jumped in front, was very happy that he finally
got his meal and roared that he will tear her immediately and feast on her.
Punyakoti gathered courage quickly and requested him to grant permission to go
to its calf to feed him milk for one last time.
Arbhuta
laughed aloud and asked if she believes he is a fool;Since letting his prey
go is as good as setting his prey free. But the cow promised on mother earth
that she will return to him once she fed her son. The tiger then let her
go.
Punyakoti
came to the cow shed, fed her little one. After he was full, she told about the
incident in forest and her decision to go to the tiger as promised. Realizing
that it would be the last time they are together, the calf wept and asked her
to stay. For he wouldn't know whom to go when hungry, for he doesn't
know whom to be with, for he wouldn't have his mother to sleep next to, for he
doesn't know who would guide him in life. Other cows also told her not to go
back to the cruel tiger.
Punyakoti
still persists on her promise and tells that Truth is God to her. As she
has promised the tiger, there is no turning back. She pleads her sisters and
elder cows in the herd to treat her calf kindly. She asks them not to jab him
or hit him if he comes near them; requests them to be nice to her soon to be
orphan calf.
For one last time Punyakoti hugs her son, for he is an orphan now, and their time of
being together is over.
Arbhuta
is all hungry and frustrated since he let his prey runaway. He would be in no
hope of her returning to him. The cow then comes to the tiger's cave and offers
herself to him. She says that now she has bid goodbye to her son and is
prepared to be fed to flesh.
The
tiger is taken aback by her talk and thinks that he will be cursed by God if he feeds
on such a truthful cow. He tells her that it would be better for him to die of
hunger than to eat Punyakoti who he feels like his sister. The cow is
then astonished and asks him to eat her and satiate his hunger. Arbhuta is deeply
moved. With tears in his eyes, he salutes to the God and Jumps off the sharp
cliff and dies.
Let
the story sink in, and then decide what shakes you, The cow's truthful bravery,
or the love of a calf towards his mother, or the character transformation of
the tiger.
Up
to you to pass it on further if the story touches you.
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