Retelling by Shloka-s in Sanskrit with Stories
How BhagavAn VEdavyAsa taught MahAkavi KALidAsa a lesson
Once KALidAsa went on a pilgrimage to VAraNAsi. There he visited many temples and holy ghat-s. Amongst them was a temple dedicated to MahaRshi VEdavyAsa. Remembering that VyAsa had had to use the word "cha" (= and) many times in the PurANa-s and the ItihAsa he wrote as a filler for balancing the meter, KALidAsa supposedly did the following perhaps with a bit of a sense of superiority: he touched the belly of the icon of VyAsa reciting "SRee ChakArajaTHarAya namah (= चकारजठराय नमः = My obeisance to the One with a belly full of Cha sound)! It was done purely in gentle mischief because KALidAsa himself used “cha” very seldom!
After the satirical act, KALidAsa tried to withdraw his hand from the belly of the icon -- but the hand would not move. It felt as if it was glued to the icon’s stone surface! The MahAkavi tried again and again, but no success! The hand was stuck there. He started to sweat and a wave of remorse surged through his mind and he asked for VyAsa's forgiveness.
Suddenly an elderly person came that way and enquired of KALidAsa -- “Is everything all right ? Why are you panting and sweating ?”
In desperation, KALidAsa explained everything.
Then the elder spoke: "I see. Perhaps your plight is the result of your feeling superior to VyAsa, who has only the first Poet of the World Vaalmeeki as his equal! I will tell you a samasyA. And if you complete it satisfactorily, your hand will be released. It is a magical samasyA. But one condition: your pooraNam should have only one "cha" in it! Here it is: tRitayam tRitayam tRishu — त्रितयं त्रितयं त्रिषु
Although KALidAsa was sweating and was tired and totally desprited, he was able to complete the samasyA through the blessing of SRee MahAkALi using as topic the experience of PAnchAli from the MahAbhAratam!
पति-श्वशुरता ज्येष्ठे पतिदेवरतानुजे |
इतरेषु च पाञ्चाल्यास्त्रितयं त्रितयं त्रिषु ||
pati-śvaśuratā jyēṣṭhē patidēvaratānujē |
itarēṣu ca pāñcālyāstritayaṁ tritayaṁ triṣu ||
For Paanchaali, YudhishTHira was both husband and father-in-law. Sahadeva was her husband and brother-in-law. And the other three PANDava-s were her husband, brother-in-law, and father-in-law — three positions — depending on which month it was.
Explanation: During two months and 12 days of the year, YudhishTHira was draupadi's husband. During the rest of the year he was her father-in-law according to the principle: "To the wife of the younger brothers, their older brother is like a father-in-law."
The youngest PANDava, SRee-sahadEva was draupadi’s husband for two months and 12 days and was her brother-in-law for the rest of the year when his older brothers were her husbands by turns.
The other three PANDava-s had three positions—tRitayam — husband, father-in-law or brother-in-law depending on the time of the year. For instance, Bheema was draupadi's husband for two months and 12 days and then when YudhishTHira was her husband he was her brother-in-law and when aRjuna, nakula, or sahadEva were the husbands, Bheema was her father-in-law. So on and so forth for the three remaining PANDava siblings! All this information was packed into four lines by KALidAsa with the help of his PRatibhaa, which was nothing but the blessing of SRee MahAkALi!
Notice that in these four lines, KALidAsa used only one "cha" sound.
As soon as the elder heard the samasyA-pooraNam, he was impressed by it and all of a sudden, KALidAsa's hand was released from VyAsa's icon! When KALidAsa looked around to do namaskAram to the elder who had given him a way out of his predicament, he was nowhere to be seen!! Wasn't it BhagavAn VyAsa himself ?
Another version of the story says that the elder (Vyasa in disguise) chided KALidAsa by saying, "Even you had to use one "cha" for just one SlOkam. Why don't you remember that VyAsa created millions of SlOka-s, and therefore there is no wonder that he had to use a few thousand "chakaara-s" !! Your PaiSunam = chhidrAnvEshaNam पैशुनं = छिद्रान्वेषणं does not befit your PRatibhA-vilAsam प्रतिभाविलासं !” ananta-kOTi namaskAram to BhagavAn VEdavyAsa who performed this miracle, MahAkavi KALidAsa who solved the samasyA, and SRee MahAkALi who must have been present at the event at the VyAsa Temple invisibly guiding her beloved poet!