Love stories from the epics: Mandodari’s devotion to her husband Ravana outlives tragedy

“I burn with anguish when we are apart, When he returns, with jealous fear;
And when I see him, he assaults my heart; I faint when he is near.
No single moment can I capture bliss, When he is gone, or when he is here.
What in the world can be more strange than this? And yet, he is my dear.”

My story is of intense, passionate love and heartbreak.

From the time I was born, I was destined to be abandoned. I was Madhura in my last life, the most sought-after apsara. I was so proud of my beauty and power that I forgot myself and began lusting after Shiva. Parvati, his wife, came to know of this and, furious with jealousy and rage, cursed me. A supreme goddess’s curse is very powerful and I was turned into a frog instantly. Fortunately, my lord Shiva took pity on me and I was born as a girl on earth. My earlier frog-like form compelled me to live in a well and there, in the deep murky waters, I would have lived, unloved and abandoned, but fortune suddenly smiled on me. I was rescued by the great asura king Mayasura and his kind wife, Hema.

I changed from an apsara to a frog...

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