Punished for being not guilty ?

By Manju Gupta?

In the Rig Veda there is a story of Juhu, who was Brihaspati’s wife and not only a beautiful woman, but intelligent too. She wrote many verses and these find a place in the Rig Veda.

A serious calamity befell on this talented Juhu once. A wicked king named Som kidnapped her. She wanted to escape from his clutches but could not. At the same time she came to learn that if she went back to her home, her husband was not willing to accept her back. She began to feel suffocated in the situation, caught as she was in the restrictions imposed by the triumvirate of society, her husband and the upholders of justice. She could not understand what her fault was that she was being disowned for something in which she had no role to play.

She prayed to the gods  and one day, the God of fire, of wind, Indra and other gods got together and went to Brihaspati to plead for the cause of Juhu. They told him to take back Juhu, who was not guilty of any wrongdoing. Then they went to King Som and told him to personally apologise to Juhu for his wrong act. King Som agreed to do so. The gods then told Brihaspati that his wife Juhu was pure and innocent and had become a victim of physical atrocity due to a sinful person. He did take some time before he was convinced of his wife’s innocence.

Brihaspati agreed to accept his wife Juhu back. Seeing his bold and progressive act, the society too accepted his decision and lauded Brihaspati for his bold decision.