Tilottama

“The twin brothers Sunda and Upasunda have been terrorizing heaven and earth with their army for months on end. They completely conquered the earth and almost all of the heavens. The only survivors are beautiful young women, but the twins captured every single one and forced them to stay in their village. Since gorgeous women seem to be the twins' only weakness, I made you, Tila, to kill the brothers. You are a mosaic of the most beautiful parts of a woman, but you can only kill them by seducing them to kill each other. They can only die at their own hands. When you succeed, I, Lord Brahma, will personally grant you a boon. Any questions?” Tila bowed and said, “I won’t disappoint you, Lord Brahma.” Then she headed for the brothers’ village.

When she arrived, she met up with her contact, Uttama, who happened to be a maid for the twins. The gods told Uttama in a dream that she would have to help Tila, and Uttama offered no resistance because she was a kind and god-fearing woman. When they met up, Tila lied to Uttama and said she was a spy sent by the gods to learn about the brothers’ next attack. Uttama agreed to help her because Tila's work only involved spying on the twins and not killing them. Technically, Tila wouldn’t be doing the killing, but she felt sick inside for lying to such a good woman.

Tila hid in Uttama’s house for a few months so that she wouldn’t draw attention to herself. She helped Uttama with her chores and learned everything she could about the twins. Consequently, she also learned a lot about Uttama. Before the twins captured her, Uttama worked as a cook in a prison. Her kind heart helped her befriend even the most sinister criminals. She always believed that prisons should be a place of rehabilitation because everyone deserves the help and the opportunity to be better. Even after the twins slaughtered her family and friends, she didn’t have hate in her heart, only sadness. She was a good maid that didn’t spit in the twins' food or hide nails in their mattress pads as other maids did. She had a warm heart for everyone and everything, and Tila admired that. Soon they became really good friends.

Uttama showed Tila a place where the brothers discussed their plans alone. One afternoon, Tila went there by herself, intending to ambush the brothers. She put on her most seductive sari and pranced out into the field to pick some flowers. The wind blew her skimpy outfit around, catching the twins’ attention. Filled with lust, they both ran up to her and asked, “aye yo ma, can I get yo number,” but she asserted that she was only interested in being with one man. Because they were so intoxicated by her body, they immediately hefted their maces to fight each other. Apparently, hoes come before bros.

They both inflicted deadly wounds on one another and eventually bled to death at her feet. Some of the blood literally squirted onto her feet, so she washed it off before she went back to Uttama’s house. Unfortunately, Tila missed a spot of blood on her leg, and when Uttama asked her about it, Tila didn’t have the heart to lie to her anymore. Uttama was her best friend now. She told Uttama that she pitted the brothers against each other, and they died. Uttama felt betrayed because Tila said she wouldn’t kill anyone, but Tila didn’t intend to hurt Uttama. She just wanted to do her job.

Uttama ran to the brothers’ meeting area, and Tila ran after her. Uttama mourned over their dead bodies and screamed out, “You promised me you wouldn’t kill them, Tila!” Tila countered, “They were tearing the universe apart! I had to!” Uttama shouted, “You are unbelievably beautiful, Tila. You never said it, but it was obvious you would be their greatest weakness. Yet, you used that to kill them instead of shaping them to be better! You could have turned them from their evil ways, but you refused!”

After seeing the dead brothers and hearing the ladies’ argument, Lord Brahma descended onto the field to give Tila her boon. Also, out of respect for Uttama’s morals, he offered Uttama a boon. She was so grieved by the dead bodies and the betrayal from her friend that she asked Brahma to kill her. She didn't want to feel any more pain. Tila implored Brahma not to kill Uttama but to restore their shattered friendship instead. Brahma listened to their requests but offered a dual boon instead. He explained, “Why don’t I combine you two into one person? Together you would be the most beautiful and the most moral woman to ever exist. Then you really could use your beauty, inside and out, to make the world a better place. The only catch is that you wouldn’t be able to kill anyone, for Uttama’s sake.” They stood in silence for a while, considering Brahma’s idea. Then Uttama broke the silence. With tears still in her eyes, she asked, “What do you think, Tila?” Tila smiled and said, “Whatever it takes to make you happy, Uttama.” Brahma said, “It is settled then. By the power vested in me, I declare you Tilottama.”

Author’s Note:

This story is pretty different from the real story about how Tilottama defeated Sunda and Upasunda. In the original story, Tilottama was just one person, and she seduced the demon twins. They fought against each other for her until they both died, and the universe was saved. Brahma offered her a boon, but before she could even say what she wanted, he granted her a boon to be so beautiful that no one would be able to gaze at her. Though I’m sure he meant it as a compliment, it sounded like a terrible gift to me.

The name “Tilottama” means someone whose smallest pieces are made of the highest quality. It came from the Sanskrit words “Tila” and “Uttama” meaning bit and better or higher, respectively. To me, if every part of Tilottama is of the highest quality, then that means she has to be the most beautiful but also the kindest and most forgiving person. I can’t imagine being the kindest and most forgiving person while also being totally fine with killing some creatures, even if they are terrible demons. I wanted to show the side of her that used seduction to complete the mission successfully, but also the side of her that may have been hurt by having to enforce this justice.

Bibliography:

Tilottama. Source: Wikipedia.

The Mahabharata by Vyasa. Source: Sacred Texts.

Images:

Banner Image: Ardhanarishvara. Cropped. Source: Wikimedia.

Sunda and Upasunda fighting. Source: Wikimedia.

Painting of a Beautiful Indian Woman. Source: Wikimedia.