Nagar Vadhu: A Curse To The Most Beautiful Girl

Beauty was nothing less than a curse for the most beautiful girl in history. She no longer belonged to a single man, but to everyone. Amrapalli had spent her entire life in anguish, and the source of her misery was her own attractiveness.

Nagarvadhu of Vaishali; Image Source: Divya Marathi

Women's status began to deteriorate in the late Vedic period. Women were degraded in every instance and their rights were snatched by a male-dominated society.

This didn't stop there and prevailed with the coming times, and a time came when women, in the name of different rituals, were sacrificed. Be it a devadasi, a courtesan, or a royal dancer. Everyone had their own set of rules, which they followed mindlessly. That's how women have become mindless.

It was at the same time that, along with Devdasi Pratha, the Nagarvadhu was also nominated. The question here is: what is a nagar vadhu? As the name suggests, Nagar means the town, and Vadhu means the bride. So a nagar vadhu was the bride of the entire town. How could it be possible? How could a woman be the bride of the entire town? Many questions must have popped into one’s mind.

This story begins when a very beautiful woman was born in the city of Vaishali. No one knew from where she came. It has been said that she was found under a mango tree, hence the name given to her was Amprapalli by her adoptive parents. She was nothing special as a child and lived a very normal life.

Through the growing years, she turned out to be more and more beautiful. Men were lining up in front of her house to win her hand in marriage, but she went about her business, unconcerned. Very soon, the talk reached other people outside of the town. Hearing about a beauty that can turn your eyes blind would surely attract more than enough tourists to just get a glimpse of her.

Her parents didn't worry too much because she was at the right age to mature, and it was obvious that people would come asking for her hand, and the fire would soon be extinguished. But who knew that as she grew older, she would become more and more beautiful?

Amrapalli was surely no less than an apsara right from heaven. She kept getting proposals even after her mid twenties, as girls were married off at a very early age at that time, and the number of lovers had just increased more than twice as before.

How could she have known that the beauty she was gifted with would become a curse too? The curse, which will turn her world upside down, and she will be left helpless. Even if at some point her parents would have thought to marry her off to some rich man, they couldn't ignore the threats from people if Amrapalli wouldn't be theirs. After giving it a lot of thought, they decided, with the help of the king, to make Amrapalli the bride of the entire town. This was the only way to restore peace in the kingdom and avoid bloody murders.

The decision was taken without considering Amrapalli’s thoughts. Being a commoner, she accepted the decision. In other words, it wouldn't be wrong to call her a concubine even.

Her job was only to get ready and look as beautiful as possible to entertain someone at night. Only rich nobles, wealthy zamindars, and courtesans had access to her. She was closed off from the entire world, and getting a single glimpse of her would have been no less than tasting the immortal drink. People from all places would come and wait in front of Amrapalli’s palace to get a glimpse of her.

Yet no one knew what Amrapalli wanted. Her voice was unheard by the townsmen who lusted after her. Her wailing was ignored by everyone, even by those of her own sex. She just watched as the world turned a blind eye towards her, but she was not meant to die like this. She deserved all the rights of a dignified woman.

Even today, every woman has dignity and it's just society that snatches all the rights and makes women helpless.

This Amrapalli was the same Amrapalli about whom one can find in Buddha’s history. It was one such time that the monks came to Vaishali to get alms and would be staying there for a couple of months. One of the young monks went to beg for alms, and that's how he ended up at the doorstep of Nagarvadhu’s. In her life, she never found any men charismatic, but the monk seemed charismatic to her. She offered the young monk to stay at her place during the rainy season. The monk humbly replied, "I can only answer you with a positive or negative after discussing it with my guru."

The monk sought Buddha’s guidance upon returning. Strangely, he was given a green signal, but the other monks were jealous of him as he got to stay with such a beautiful lady, but Buddha had full faith in him.

After the rainy season was over, the monk returned with amraplli. She sought forgiveness, saying, "I am sorry from the bottom of my heart. I tried to seduce your disciple and I failed. Please accept me as a refugee under you and make me your disciple. "

She impressed Buddha with her consistent efforts, and he accepted her as a disciple. She was the first Buddhist nun, and she didn't end the way she thought she was supposed to be.