Once there lived myriad swans in the Manasa Lake in the Himalayas. When swarmed together they looked like the darting grove of lotuses. When they dispersed in segregation the beauty of the lake even surpassed the splendour of the embellished blue sky with the white clouds. Their soft and silky-voice was more sonorous than the sound of a woman’s anklets. Furthemore, the king of the swans, called Dhritarastra was golden hued and appeared far more gracious than others. His commander-in-chief, Sumukha, however, resembled his king in every way. All the more, both were equally virtuous and elegant.

By and by, the elegance of the two birds became a favourite topic of discussion among the celestial and supernatural beings like the Devas (radiant beings), Nagas (Serpants), Yaksas (ogres with great supernatural powers; also the attendants of Kubera); and the Vidyadhara women (believably dwelling in the Himalayan region and possessing the power of special sciences to perform spells). These beings also conversed with the enlightened human beings, who in turn, conversed with their disciples and friends. Thus, the fame of the two swans spread all over the human land like a wild fire and reached the court of the king of Varanasi, too.

Impressed and charmed the Varanasi king’s urge to possess the two birds became so intense that he decided to capture them by all means. So, he had a magnificent lake constructed, which rivalled the splendour of the Lake Manasa. Thence, a variety of attractive water plants, water lilies and lotuses of all sorts, namely, padma, utpala, kumuda, pundarika, saugandhika, tamarasa and kahlara were grown there. The lotus pollen carried by the ripples of the lake would embellish the banks like the gold wires. Further, the limpidity and calmness of the lake’s transparent water displaying the fair hue of the swarms of fishes swimming beneath its surface would catch the eye of every beholder. Thus, at night the lake would become a mirror for the moon and stars. Further, the elephants dipped their trunks and blew forth the cascades of spray like the loosened pearls from a string there. And the fragrance of which then mingled with the odour of their ruts and the juices of the trampled flowers and the emanated pastes of the bathing beauties of all over the places, made the lake the most spectacular site on the earth.

When the fowler came near them, he noticed that one of the two prized swans was not caught. Nonetheless, it was neither flying away nor showing any sign of fear. The fearlessness of that bird surprised him. Further, when he came closer, Sumukha, the uncaught fearless bird, requested him to hold him captive in place of the other swan as he was his king. The exemplification of such loyalty and valour by a bird changed the mind of the nishada so much so that he released both the birds notwithstanding the fear of incurring the wrath of the Varanasi king by defying the royal order order, which meant nothing but the death sentence. The two birds did not fly away to take advantage of the situation. When set free, they wanted to reciprocate goodness to the fowler. So, they perched on his shoulders and asked him to carry them to his king because they wanted him to be saved from his king’s wrath.