Senasurā in Parker’s farming tale

Overview

A farmer afflicted by Senasurā’s adverse influence finds that his work fails. On a friend’s advice he alternates dry-field clearing with wet-rice cultivation whenever the weather changes, so that the conditions intended to thwart him benefit the other crop. Senasurā then limits the harvest to an amuna from each stack. The farmer divides the crop into tiny stacks of one or a few sheaves, obtaining the full allowance from each and filling his stores.

An astrologer predicts that Senasurā will visit in human guise. When the visitor arrives, he identifies himself as the Divine King and asks what help the farmer wants. He gives a book with instructions to retain it privately and offer repeated obeisance; following them brings success and prosperity. Parker’s footnote identifies Senasurā as the deity of Saturn, and the teller is attributed only to the North-western Province. The story’s private book is described but its contents are not transcribed; the episode is a public narrative about a sacred figure, not a general account of all Sri Lankan worship.

Parker’s separate Western Province No. 236 gives Senasurā a more destructive role. He urges a wealthy beggar to challenge a king at gambling, which costs the king both palace and kingdom. After the dispossessed king abandons his sleeping queen, Senasurā takes a leopard’s form to scatter the caravan she has joined. Appearing separately as a polan̆gā snake, he asks the king to move him off the road, then bites his hand. The resulting disease and altered appearance are supernatural narrative consequences, not a medical account of snakebite.

The queen finds work making garlands and is eventually recognized as a neighbouring king’s sister. A gathering arranged to find her husband reunites them, and they remain at her brother’s court. This witness does not narrate recovery of the lost kingdom, removal of Senasurā or magical restoration of the husband’s former appearance. Parker compares it with Nala and Damayantī, but notes that his Sri Lankan tale omits both the dice themselves and an explanation of Senasurā’s jealousy. Those elements of his comparative retelling are not silently imported into this version.

Origins & earliest records

Sri Lankan narratives collected and translated by H. Parker

Records & interpretation

Complete tale and all its printed variants/comparative notes read; relevant introduction passages on collection and translation directly read.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, Volume I

   H. Parker (collector and translator) · 1910

   No. 3, The Story of Senasurā, pp. 54–56 and notes

2. 02

   Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, Volume III

   H. Parker (collector and translator) · 1914

   No.236, How the Beggar and the King gambled, pp.249–252 and notes; Western Province.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Primary records and illustrations

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Historical collected oral narrative translationParker, Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon I — No. 3, The Story of Senasurā, pp. 54–56 and notesResearch access: 2026-10-05
2. Historical collected oral narrative translationParker, Volume III, No.236Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.