Manoramā, Wife of Svaroci

Manoramā is a vidyādharī princess whose rescue from a terrible curse led to her becoming the wife of the Svaroci and give birth to Svārociṣa.

Origins and the Curse of the Ṛṣi

Manoramā was born as the daughter of Indīvarākṣa, a vidyādhara, and his wife Marudhanvā. She lived a celestial life alongside her two close friends, Vibhāvarī and Kalāvatī. One day, while visiting a lake on the sacred Kailāsa mountain, Manoramā saw an extremely thin and frail ṛṣi whose body was worn down from performing intense tapas. Finding his appearance strange, Manoramā laughed at the ṛṣi. This act of disrespect angered the sage, who immediately placed a curse on her, declaring that she would soon be captured and troubled by a rākṣasa. When her friends tried to defend her by insulting the ṛṣi, he cursed them as well, causing them to suffer from painful diseases.

The Pursuit of the Rākṣasa

Following the curse, a fearsome rākṣasa began to hunt Manoramā relentlessly. For three days, she fled through the mountains, unable to find safety as the creature loomed closer, shouting terrifying threats. During her flight on Mandara mountain, she encountered the radiant hero Svaroci. Desperate for help, she begged him for protection. To ensure his victory, Manoramā gifted Svaroci a powerful and secret astra that had been originally given by Bhagavān Rudra to Svāyambhuva Manu. She taught him the specific mantra-s needed to activate this weapon so he could destroy the monster following her.

Rescue and Revelation

As Svaroci prepared to fight, the rākṣasa suddenly grabbed Manoramā, causing her to cry out in terror once more. Svaroci aimed the powerful astra at the creature, but the rākṣasa begged for mercy and revealed his true identity. The monster was actually Indīvarākṣa, Manoramā’s own father, who had been turned into a rākṣasa by a curse from the muni Brahmamitra for secretly stealing the knowledge of āyurveda. The threat of Svaroci’s weapon and the hero’s presence fulfilled the conditions to break the curse, and Indīvara returned to his beautiful vidyādhara form.

Marriage and a New Home

Grateful for being saved from his monstrous state, Indīvarākṣa offered Manoramā’s hand in marriage to Svaroci. Manoramā, who had already felt a deep attraction to Svaroci’s brave and kind nature, was happy to accept. However, she selflessly worried about her two friends, Vibhāvarī and Kalāvatī, who were still suffering from the ṛṣi’s curse. Svaroci promised to use his newly acquired knowledge of āyurveda to heal them, which he did shortly after their wedding. Manoramā then lived with Svaroci on the beautiful mountain peaks, eventually giving birth to a brave son named Vijaya.