Sukanya Pierces Chyavana's Eyes with a Thorn

King Sharyati came to a beautiful lake in the forest to amuse himself. He brought four thousand women — his wives — and his daughter Sukanya, a girl with beautiful brows and beautiful teeth, young and intoxicated with the pangs of love. Surrounded by her friends and adorned in ornaments, she roamed through the trees. She found herself near an anthill. Inside it lived the rishi Chyavana, a descendant of the Bhrigu lineage, so old and so absorbed in austerities that his body had been consumed by the anthill itself. Only his eyes remained visible — two points of light glowing in the darkness of the earth. Sukanya saw the glow. She did not know what it was. She thought it was a firefly. Curiosity overcame her. Deluded in her intelligence, she exclaimed, "What is this!" — and pierced the eyes with a thorn. Chyavana was easily stirred to great rage. When his eyes were pierced, his anger was absolute. He did not call out to the girl. He did not demand an apology. He cursed the soldiers of King Sharyati: from that moment, their bowel and bladder movements would cease entirely. The soldiers began to suffer. Their bodies swelled. They could not relieve themselves. The king saw his army in distress and asked what had happened. "The great-souled Bhargava is old and especially prone to anger," he said. "He is always engaged in austerities. Who has injured him today, knowingly or unknowingly? Tell me the truth immediately." The soldiers said they knew nothing. The king questioned his well-wishers. They knew nothing either. Then Sukanya saw her father's sorrow and the suffering of the soldiers. She came forward and told him what she had done: "When I was roaming, I saw some shining being inside the anthill. I thought it was a firefly and I pierced it." Sharyati went immediately to the anthill. He saw Chyavana there — aged in austerities and aged in age. Joining his hands in salutation, the lord of the earth prayed for his soldiers. "Please pardon what that girl did to you out of ignorance." Chyavana looked at the king with his ruined eyes. "She is beautiful and generous," he said. "But she has been overcome by grief and delusion. O king, give your daughter to me as a wife. O lord of the earth, I tell you truly — only then will I pardon." Sharyati did not hesitate. He gave his daughter to the great-souled Chyavana.