This story is a variation of the Sanskrit drama The lady of the jeweled necklace which is attributed to king Harsha and discusses the life of princess Ratnavali.
In the kingdom of Kaushambi. King Udayana marries queen Vasavadatta. However, his minister wants him to marry princess Ratnavali of the Sinhala Kingdom for a sage had predicted that whoever marries Ratnavali would become a great emperor.
It so happens that King Vikramababu, the father of Ratnavali is also Vasavadatta’s uncle. Knowing full well that a second wife will spoil the love between the king and the queen he opposes the marriage proposal between Ratnavali and Udayana. In the meanwhile, the minister spreads a rumor that the queen is dead in a fire accident. When Vikramababu hears this rumor he agrees to the marriage proposal. He sends Ratnavali by ship to Kaushambi in order to marry king Udayana and become his second wife.
Ratnavali becomes Sagarika
Man proposes however nature opposes. Ratnavali’s ship is caught in a storm and gets damaged. She falls into the sea but she is rescued by a merchant ship who brings her to the shore. She realizes that the queen in still alive. Fearing for her life and Ratnavali pretends to be a commoner.
However the minister recognizes her by the necklace (ratnavali – a garland of gemstones) that her father had gifted her. He gives her new name Sagarika, meaning maiden in from the sea and brings her to the palace in the capacity of the queen’s maid. While Ratnavali emerges from the sea, her identity submerges waiting to be rescued through the virtue of her necklace.
Falling in love
Ratnavali, though shocked makes peace with her situation. She wants to leave town, however upon seeing the king she falls in love with at first sight. One day Sagarika draws the portrait of king Udayan and declares her love to the man in the portrait. Her friend in turn makes a portrait of Sagarika and puts them side by side.
When the king sees the portraits together and learns that Sagarika had painted his portrait he falls in love with her. However Sagarika refuses his advances knowing that it would anger the queen. King Udayana compares Sagarika a beautiful jeweled necklace that slipped away from his hands. Here the person Ratnavali and the necklace ratnavali become one and the same – a commodity to be possessed.
The trouble with falling in love
Though Sagarika rejectes the advances of the king, she is still in love with him. Knowing this her friend approaches the minister and together they make a plan to bring the couple closer. After informing the king, that Sagarika will come to him dressed as Vasavadatta, they send Sagarika his way. In a twist of fate, the real Vasavadatta, reaches the chambers of the king who proposes to her thinking that she is Sagarika.
The queen gives the king a piece of her mind and walks away in anger. When Sagarika learns what has happened she decides that it is not worth living and tries to commit suicide. King Udayana sees a woman who looks like Vasavadatta tying a noose around her neck and begs her to forgive him.
When the king realises that it is Sagarika who is trying to commit suicide he tells her that he loves her and wants to be with her. The queen overhears this conversation and imprisions Sagarika. Shortly afterwards, there is a fire in the prison where Sagarika is kept. Vasavadatta has a change of heart and together the king and the queen rescue Sagarika and bring her to the royal court.
Ratnavali – the garland of gemstones
The minister and the royal jester recognize the poisoner as Princess Ratnavali and show the necklace ratnavali as the proof of her identity. They argue that only a woman of a noble birth and royal status would wear a piece of jewelry with gemstones so rare and rich. Thus, by establishing the provenance of the necklace, they establish the status and the Identity of the woman wearing the necklace.
As the woman looks like a princess when she wears the necklace, she must be the princess.
King Vikramababu arrives soon afterwards and confirms that Sagarika is indeed his daughter Ratnavali and that he had sent her here to marry the king. The queen gives her consent and the king and Ratnavali are married. The prophecy comes true and king Udayana becomes a mighty emperor.
While the identity of Ratnavali is eventually established because of her face, her status changes from being maiden of the sea to the lady of the jeweled necklace because of the necklace that she wears.
Story Re-told by K.Narasimhan for Jewelry in Narratives.
References and Further reading
Doniger, Wendy. 2017. The Ring of Truth and Other Myths of Sex and Jewelry. New Delhi: Speaking Tiger Publishing Pvt. Ltd.
Dutt, Michael Madhusudan, trans. 1904. Ratnavali: A Drama in Four Acts. Indian Culture. Calcutta: Bangabasi Press. https://indianculture.gov.in/flipbook/108279.
Note
All stories have been collected from various sources, including oral histories and temple histories and compiled to form one narrative. Hence, there may be differences from the master narrative. The project hopes only to be a curator of stories and not an expert on history, religion and iconography.