THE STORY OF AKKAMAHADEVI
The following illustrations were made for the Kabir Project.
Many years ago, in a village named Udutadi in Shimoga district of Karnataka, lived a couple with great spiritual devotion. They had a little daughter whom they named Mahadevi. Right from a tender age, this girl displayed an otherworldly absorption in whatever she did.
One day a wandering mystic stopped at their house. 'Shall I give her deeksha?', he asked her parents. They folded their hands as the mystic whispered the words that lit the fire of Shiva and Shivatva in Mahadevi. She then plunged herself in writing poetry and singing songs of play with her Shiva.
Mahadevi made friends with animals, birds, flowers, and nature in a desire to be as close to Lord Shiva as humanely possible. While girls dreamt of marrying handsome men of wealthy means, she just wanted her Chenna Mallikarjuna (the beautiful Lord, pure as Jasmine). As she grew up to be a beautiful girl, people would often complain of how she found very little time for anything else.
One day, the king of the land, King Koushika's eyes fell upon on Mahadevi. He was enchanted by her eyes, the way she moved and her beautiful smile. He imagined what it would be like to be her lover and to posses her bright mind.
When he sought her hand in marriage, she refused on the grounds that she belonged to Lord Shiva.
This shattered the king's image of himself as he was never accustomed to being refused. Bristling with resentment, he gave her an ultimatum: she could either wed him or else have her family put to death.
Forced into a corner, she acceded, but only on the grounds that she should not be stopped from her meditation, philosophical studies or worship, and she cannot be forced into doing anything she didn't want to.
Gleeful at having the upper hand, the King agreed and wedded in royal fashion.
Something soon became apparent to him. He tried out schemes to win over over her but her mind dwelled constantly on her Chenna Mallikarjuna. The most powerful man in the kingdom, who could summon a hundred women to keep his bed warm every night, could not possess this one girl in the way he wanted.
It infuriated him beyond and made him feel small. He saw there was nothing that he could to make Mahadevi look at him in the way she looked while talking about her Lord.
Enraged, he made attempts to stop her worship. He tore up all her poetry, smashed up the small altar at which she would make offerings, vandalized her musical instruments and burnt the silken cloth that she used to lovingly wrap her idol.
The King forbade any holy men or philosophers from visiting her, threatening them again with a painful death if they disobeyed.
She responded, 'Maharaj, you are playing a dangerous game. You promised that you would not interfere in my devotion to the ultimate.'
'Who do you think you are? You are some girl I picked up off the streets. The clothes on your back, the jewels on your chest, even the food that warms your belly is what I have given you. You will bend to my will, for without me you are nothing! There is not a speck of dust that belongs to you in this world.'
Fuming, he watched, at first she seemed to be lost in thought. Thinking the matter was settled, he was surprised when she began wordlessly removing the flowers from her hair. Every jewel he forced her to wear followed.
Finally his eyes widened as she continued to remove even her clothing. 'You are correct, king. There is nothing here that is mine. Everything on my body is something you have given me.'
'Mahadevi...'
'But luckily, none of these are things which I need. Thank you for opening my eyes.'
The king watched as she stripped herself down to her bare skin. He realized what he had set in motion. He got on his knees, and helplessly tried to take her hands in his.
She made no move to pull it away, but he could see something had shifted. He could not believe what was happening.
'I wish you well.'
He watched spellbound and as she walked out of the palace, naked as the day she was born.
Mock-up