ing Sudry was a powerful king who belonged to the Lunar dynasty. He ruled the mighty Kingdom Of Hastin.

He was a great lover of hunting. Once while he was out hunting in the forest, he came to a river where he saw a beautiful lady bathing in the river water. The king was enchanted by the beauty of the lady and offered to marry her. The lady agreed to marry him on one condition. After marriage, the king should never question any of her actions. Without knowing the implications of this one condition, the king agreed because he was so deeply in love with her. Soon they were married and lived happily for some time. When their first child was born, the lady took the child secretly to the river and threw the child in the gushing water of the river Urila to be drowned. The king quickly learned of this but he was bound by his promise not to question his wife and kept quiet. When the second child was born, the lady did the same thing, and again the king was helpless. This continued until their seventh child was born.

The king was puzzled and inconsolable but he could not do anything for fear of his losing his wife’s love. When their eighth child was born, the king could no longer control himself, and he asked his wife, “My dear lady, why do you kill our children in this cruel manner?” The wife was infuriated and said; “Now you have broken your promise and I can’t stay here any more”. But before she left she told the king the reason of her strange behavior. Actually, she was Urila, the river goddess. While she was in heaven, the eight Arol brothers who were gods had everything they could desire to make them happy. But they were not happy. In their hearts they constantly craved for things. Then one day their greedy eyes fell on a deer that belonged to a sage. The deer was so beautiful that they wanted her instantly. They planned and plotted together trying to find ways to get the deer. Eventually they decided to steal her. However, when the moment came to do so, the seven older brothers panicked and decided not to take that kind of action for fear of the sage. The youngest Arol brother was ready to do the deed. He stole the deer and brought the deer to his brothers and together they hid her away. The sage came to know about this and was filled with grief. He cursed all of them in anger for their sin. The brothers would fall from their high estate, he said, and be born on the earth as mortal men, for they did not deserve to be gods. Heaven and its joys were not meant for sinful creatures such as them!

The words of the sage struck fear and sorrow in to the hearts of Arol brothers. They did not wish to be born as mortals. Mortals must suffer pain and sorrow and have to eventually die. They immediately begged the sage to forgive them. The sage’s heart melted and he relented. He said he cannot take away the curse but he could soften the curse and make it easier for them to bear.

He told them that for seven older brothers who had only sinned in thought, desiring the deer and plotting how to get her, their life on earth will be short, the space of only few hours. However the youngest brother who had done the deed must suffer. He must spend a full lifetime on the earth as a mortal. But he would be a mortal above all other mortals and would live a life of such wisdom and glory that his name would be known all over the earth and in heaven, and all men would honor him!

"Leave now.” Sage continued in a kinder tone. “Go to the river Goddess Urila and she will help you.”

The Arols did what they were told. They pleaded to her and told her their sad story. She decided out of pity that she will come down to the earth and will give birth to the eight Arol brothers. As soon as they are born, in that same hour, she will take away the child and put an end to their lives so that their life on the earth may soon be ended and they may return to their heavenly home. She agreed to do this and so she helped the first seven Arols to be emancipated from the earthly existence. Now only the last child was left. “I will take him along with me to heaven to learn all kinds of mystic arts and bring him back to earth when he reaches adulthood”. So saying, the Goddess Urila disappeared and left for her heavenly abode.

The king was greatly distressed at the sudden disappearance of his wife, decided to give up his life of pleasure, and became almost an ascetic, leading a life of penance and self-restraint.

Years latter the king was roaming around on the banks of the river when he chanced to a see a young lad of very pleasing appearance. The lad seemed to be well versed in the art of archery. The king saw that the lad was shooting arrows in the gushing waters of the river and was building up a bridge with the help of the arrows in order to stop the swirling waters of the river from flooding. Just then, there appeared before him a beautiful lady of bewitching beauty. But King Sudry could not recognize her. She revealed to him that she was Urila, his wife, and the young lad was no other than their eighth child, whose name was Godash. “This is our child whom I have brought up and taught him all the arts and science of warfare and all the knowledge of philosophy from the gods. Please take him with you.” So saying the lady disappeared. King Sudry took the lad with him and went back to his kingdom.

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