Prince Benjamin Makes His Own Pool

There lived a prince named Benjamin in a distant kingdom. He had spent most of his life preparing for his role as king. He was known for taking what he wanted. It was not uncommon for Benjamin to take food from the kitchen or take toys from children he would play with when he was younger. He was never told "no" because he was the prince. Everyone feared saying anything to the prince. So as time when on, the prince got older. He got wiser. However, he still had the mentality of taking what he wanted.

As the time came closer and closer to his coronation, Benjamin decided to take a short vacation. Just to have some time to himself. He decided to go visit a small town near the Yamuna river.

The prince decided to take a walk through a nearby forest to enjoy some fresh air. While he was walking he noticed a strong fragrance. As he is walking towards the Kadamba tree, he noticed the scent getting stronger. On closer inspection of the tree, he saw that the tree was hollowed out and inside there was a bowl of liquid. The fragrant scent was tempting to the prince. So the prince took the liquid. To his surprise it was wine. He had never had wine that good. He drank it all.

The prince, warm and giddy from the wine, began to dance and sing. The prince was enjoying his time away from all responsibility and just let loose.

Afterwards, the prince wanted to swim. He called to the Yamuna river to come to him. The river would not listen. The prince only wanted to swim in the spot he was. He called to the river again, "Yamuna river! Come to me. I wish to swim." Again, the river did not listen.

Angered and outraged, the prince took his plowshare and went to the river. He said, "I am telling you one last time that I want to swim. Go to where I was standing before."

Benjamin became even more enraged. He went to a nearby tool shed and grabbed a plowshare. He swung the plowshare into the river and dug a channel back to where he wanted to swim. He did not stop until he was back at the exact spot he called to the river the first time.

The river was in agony. She felt her currents get weaker and the life in her began to fade. The river took human form and followed Benjamin. The woman was young and her face looked miserable. She had tears streaming down from her bright eyes. She cried to the prince and begged him to restore the river, "Please prince... I beg of you to return the river." The prince felt nothing and continued digging. The woman prayed and begged to the prince.

Once the prince was able to reach the original spot he swam, all the while ignoring the woman who was still begging and praying to him. After his swim the prince closed the channel and went on his way, ignoring the woman. Slowly the river gained its currents again. The water level got higher. The woman got stronger. She went back to the river and disappeared.

Author's note: I took a specific encounter from Adventures of Balarama and Pradyumna and retold it. Balarama is the brother of Krishna! His name means strong- Rama. He is also known as Baladeva, Balabhadra, Haladhara and Halayudha. I'll be referencing him as Balarama. He has strong associations with farming and agriculture. That is why he used a plowshare to cut the river. Also, he used it in the original story.

I retold the part where Balarama gets drunk on wine and carved a channel to make a pool. He did that because while drunk he asked a river to come to him and create a pool where he was so that he could swim there. The river did not listen to him. This made him mad. He did the same thing in the original story. I wanted to create a back story that would explain why he would cut a channel to bathe in a specific spot. I tried to make him look stubborn and hot-headed.

Shri Krishna of Dwarka and Other Stories by C. A. Kincaid (1920)

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