Gaṇḍā

Gaṇḍā was a devoted maidservant. She served the seven great ṛshis (seers) and Arundhatī on their wandering across the earth in a time of famine. Her husband was the śūdra Paśusakha, who wandered with her.

Like the ṛshis, she went hungry, refused the wealth of King Vṛshādarbhi, and met the rākshasī Kṛtyā at the lotus pond. Like them, she answered Kṛtyā by giving the meaning of her own name.

Companion of the seven ṛshis

The Mahābhārata calls Gaṇḍā the servant (paricārikā) of the company of the seven ṛshis and Arundhatī. Her husband Paśusakha was with her. All ten wandered the whole earth together, doing tapas (austerity) and samādhi (deep meditation) in search of the eternal worlds of Brahmā. Then a great famine came and left the whole company starving.

At the lotus pond

The company came to a lotus pond guarded by the rākshasī Kṛtyā. Each person had to say his or her own name before taking bisa (lotus stalks). Gaṇḍā, like each ṛshi before her, had to do the same.

She explained her name through the prominent cheek-bone (gaṇḍa) of the face. Her answer was in the same riddling way as the name-explanations of the ṛshis. Kṛtyā could not understand it, so Gaṇḍā was allowed to enter the pond unharmed.

The end of the trial

Gaṇḍā endured the famine. She showed no lobha (greed) at any test. She refused Vṛshādarbhi’s wealth with the ṛshis and kept the shared discipline of the group. With the rest of the company, she received the imperishable worlds that Indra gave at the end of the account.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 93