THE BEDTIME SHLOKA OF OUR MOTHERS

                                      

    (Prabhawati Tikoo ,my maternal  grandmother who taught the Shloka to my mother )

BED TIME SHLOKA THAT OUR MOTHERS RECITED..

Before sleeping , mother would recite ,

"Ahalya ,Dropdi, Tara, Sita ,Mandodhari

Hey Devi dusht swapanam na darshiti. "

One day I asked her  why and what was she reciting daily at sleep time ,she said  this:-

"I have learnt it from my mother,  Prabhawati Tikoo.  I can only tell you what my mother has told  me. The Shloka was told to my mother by our  Kul Purohita when I was barely 9 or 10 years old. And my mother asked me to remember and recite it every night at sleep time. I have never slept without reciting it.  Ahalya, Dropdi, Tara, Sita  and Mandodari were our great women . I am requesting  Jwala Ji, our Kuldevi to grant me  a sin free life like them . I am also requesting our Kuldevi not to bring any bad dream in my  sleep tonight . That is what I understand  from  this Sanskrit  Shloka . " 

Later as I grew ,I learnt that these five women were known as Panchkanyas. They were characters from Ramayana  and Mahabharata. They were icons of purity, selflessness, compassion, devotion,  chastity  and   sacrifice     . I also learnt that like my mother, many Kashmiri Pandit  women would recite this Shloka at bed time after a day full of  hardwork and family chores.  I also saw some elderly women from Dogra families of Jammu reciting it. At many places in the country, I found women reciting a little different Shloka and also replacing Sita with Kunti .I also found that there is a story on Panchkanyas in  Somadeva's  Kathasaritsagara written in Kashmir.

( Avtar Mota )

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