The Old Woman of the North

When Aṣṭāvakra wished to marry, he asked the sage Vadānya for his daughter Suprabhā, who had no equal in beauty and was rich in virtue and good conduct. As soon as he saw her, she stole his heart, like a forest bright with flowers in spring. I will give you my daughter, said the sage. But first go to the holy north, and see what you will see there. Go past the land of Kubera, the god of wealth, and past the Himālaya, and past the dwelling of Rudra, the god Śiva, on the mountain, and you will come to a dark blue forest like a cloud. There you will see an old woman, an ascetic, keeping a vow. Look at her and honour her carefully, and when you come back you shall take my daughter's hand.

Aṣṭāvakra went north. He bathed in the river Bāhudā, came to Kubera's city, and was welcomed by Kubera himself, who had apsaras, the dancers of heaven, dance for him, and he stayed there a whole year of heavenly delight. Then he went on, past the mountains Kailāsa and Mandara and the golden mountains, walked reverently around the mountain that lay beyond them, and came to a lovely forest with a hermitage, and a golden palace finer than Kubera's own. At the door he said, I have come as a guest; let whoever lives here give me leave.

Seven lovely young women came out and invited him in, and each of them, as he looked at her, carried his heart away, until he steadied himself. Inside he saw an old woman, worn with age, dressed in clean clothes, sitting on a couch and adorned with every ornament. He greeted her, and she rose and bade him sit. Let the others go, he said, and let one stay with me who is wise and calm. So the young women went away, and the old woman stayed.

At night she lay down on a second bed, and then, trembling, saying she was cold, she came to his. Welcome, he said to her, and she put her arms around him; but she found him without any change, like a post of wood. Then she spoke to him of desire and begged him to take her, and offered him the house and the forest and all she had. I never go to a woman who belongs to another man, said Aṣṭāvakra. It is condemned in the books of dharma, the law of right living. I wish to marry, I swear it truly. I am a stranger to the pleasures of the senses; children are sought for dharma's sake, and through sons I shall reach the worlds of heaven, of that there is no doubt. Understand what dharma is, good woman, and stop.

He stayed on. Looking at her, so old, he could not find any limb of hers that pleased his eye, and he wondered: she must be the goddess of this house, made ugly by a curse. At evening she bathed him with fragrant oil and warm water, so gently that the whole night passed and he did not know it, and in the morning he was astonished to see the sun risen. Again at night she pressed him, and again he refused. I am my own mistress, she said; there is no breach of dharma in it for you. A woman is never independent, he said; the father guards her as a girl, the husband in youth, the sons in age. I am a maiden, she said, and I have kept the vow of chastity. He wondered at it, for now she stood before him as a young girl in divine ornaments; but he did not move from his resolve.

Then he asked her: How do you change your form? Do not lie to me; tell me, for a brahmin's sake.

She was the goddess of the northern quarter of the world.

Know that I am the North, she said. You have seen how fickle a woman can be, and by not rising from your resolve you have won the worlds. This test was set to make you steady. Brahmā and Indra and the gods are pleased with you. The father of the girl sent you here for me to teach you, and I have done it. You will go home safely and without weariness. You will win the girl, and she will bear you sons.

Aṣṭāvakra stood before her with folded hands, and with her leave went home. He rested and greeted his family, and went to Vadānya and told him of the great goddess he had seen in the north. Then take my daughter, said the sage, for you are the most worthy of all. And Aṣṭāvakra took her as his wife, and lived with her in his hermitage, glad, his trouble gone.