The Princess who Ruled

The mystic lands of the far East, Aryavarta, were a mystery to many. The warrior prince was exiled from his own kingdom and was forced to live in a hermitage due to a condition he agreed upon with his brothers and broke. He decided to visit the lands to the east and see the natural beauty himself. Wherever he travelled, his name was famous, and people welcomed him with open arms. After all, he was the son of the great Emperor and the greatest archer of the land. While travelling through the forest dressed as a hermit, Gandhiva in hand, he stopped to rest. An arrow shot across, inches from his ears. He held up his Gandhiva.

From the clearing emerged a Prince who wore the traditional local dress. Holding up the bow, the Warrior Prince was ready for combat." Who are you? A stranger with the bow? Do you threaten Manipur or seek peace?"

The voice was that of a woman. The Prince was surprised. Initially, he thought the way this person dressed and shot an arrow was more like a Prince than a Princess.

" I am a Hermit, Princess Of Manipur. And I seek Peace."
" If you are a Hermit, why do you need a bow? Are you disguised as a Hermit, Warrior?"

She was determined to know the truth. She was the heir to the throne and the protector of Manipur. She didn't lower her bow even though the man did.

" I am Arjun, Prince of Hastinapur, Son of Pandava and Brother to Samrat Yudhisthir of Indraprastha."

She knew who he was; his name was enough. He was the warrior every warrior wanted to be. The tall, dark, and handsome man in front of her was Arjun!

" Pranipat! I am glad you came to our country. I will inform my father immediately. You are a guest of ours. Come with him to the palace."
" No, Princess. Thank you for your hospitality, but I have decided to live in huts for the last twelve years. So, I can not be your guest at the palace."

The princess rode back with her soldiers.

She sat in the garden thinking of the encounter. He was a great warrior. He was handsome as well. The princess developed a feeling that she thought she would never feel suppressed by her duties and responsibilities. She was the Prince of the Kingdom. The son her father never had. The unwanted daughter. She, for all her life, tried to become his son, wearing a man's clothes, taking up the Bow. Being ready to give her father the son he always wished for. But her feelings made her want to be the woman she was, dress pretty and impress the man who saw her as a warrior.

" What are you thinking, Chitrangada? Your father received your message and has gone to greet Prince Arjun."
" Sakhi, I think I am in love with Arjun."

" What? Love? The Future King is in love?" Her Sakhi was shocked. Like Chitrangada, she also thought Love was the last thing possible for her!

"What will I do?" Her face was grim. Her father won't be pleased.

" Go meet him."
" What?"
"Tell him what you feel, and let him decide."
" Are you sure?"
"Yes."

She decided to go meet him. She called on her maids and ordered them to dress her up as a princess. They made her wear a sari, wear jewellery and tied her long hair into a braid and bun. They decorated her feet and hands with red Alta. She wore Bangles and anklets for the first time in her life. She went into the forests looking for him.

Arjun was busy gathering fruits for his meal when the sounds of anklets caught his attention. It was followed by a sweet smell of flowers and perfume. He turned his eyes towards the sound of the anklets and found a beautiful woman standing in the clearing. She made her way toward him with a shy smile.

" Who are you? Some beautiful Apsara in this forest, or some magical illusion?" Arjun praised the beautiful woman before him.

" I am Chitrangada, and we have met before ." Her eyes caught his.

" Where is My Lady? Because on seeing you, I am so mesmerised that I want to marry you."
" Really? Marry me? Am I that pretty?"
" Tell me who your father is and where we have met so that I can seek your hand in marriage. I am..."
" I am The Princess Of Manipur, Maharathi Arjun."
" You, the one who struck an arrow yesterday?"
" Yes, my lord, I came here to tell you how I felt..."
"You are mesmerising, Chitrangada, the perfect woman. Brave and beautiful, you are a mystery. The one yesterday or you, here, now, who is the real self, My Lady?"

" Who you saw yesterday was the Princess of Manipur. Today, you meet Chitrangada, my Lord." Her head bowed before him. He took her hand and looked her in the eyes.

" Then I love both, Princess Chitrangada, who is beautiful and brave. Equal to me in the skills of warfare."

Her eyes shone with happiness.

" But my father will not agree to this union."
" Why?"

" He wants me to rule after him, and my son to rule after me. No man will accept a wife who will stay at her father's palace forever." She was sad."You know my chief wife, Panchali Draupadi?"

" Yes, my lord, her beauty and intelligence are known all over Aryavarta."
" When we five married her, she made us a promise. Since none of us can bring their other wives back into the household, we can only go meet them from time to time. My Naga wife Ullupi agreed to this when we got married."
" That means..."
" Yes, I will marry you, and you can stay back and rule Manipur."

The wedding was a grand celebration in Manipur. Their Princess was getting married to none other than Maharathi Arjun. Arjun has called on his Naga wife, Ulupi, to stay in Manipur with him and Chitrangada. He lived there for three years, and Babruvahan was born to Chitrangada. Arjun and Ulupi had Iravan. He left his two wives in Manipur under the King's care with their infant sons and left to complete his journey to the west of the country at Somnath near Dwarka. Chitangada ruled Manipur until Babruvahan grew up to become king. She continued dressing like kings do and taking an active part in wars. However, when the Kurukshetra war broke out, she refused to send her son to his father's aid because he had never once visited them in eighteen years. Ulupi, who helped Chitrangada in Manipur, sent Iravan to his father, and he died sacrificing himself to the Goddess Kali. Babruvan ruled Manipur during Yudhisthir's Aswamedha after the war, when he stopped the horse to fight his father Arjun and meet him for the first time. But not recognising Arjun in the troop, he killed his father. Ulupi saved her husband with magical powers and heard of Iravan's death from him. Chitrangada was no more, and Ullupi refused to accompany Arjun back to Hastinapur because he had made Iravan sacrifice himself without war. Babruvahan merged Manipur with the vast Hastinapur empire and accompanied his father to the Palace at Hastinapur.

The Princess of Manipur lived her life for her country and waited for her husband to return once in her lifetime. However, he, being busy with his own duties, could not do so. She made her son a valiant warrior like herself and his father and told him about Arjun. She died waiting for him to return, ruling Manipur, the place she loved more than her own happiness. She lived for her father, being his son, because he never wanted a daughter.

This story is my own representation of how Chitrangada and Arjun meet. This has no connection to the epic and is only used for the representation of the greatness of the two characters.

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