In the Dwapar yug, Shri Krishna and Jambavati had a daughter named Shyama, whom Mithila calls Sama, and a son named Samba. Sama was gentle and good, and her beauty was spoken of everywhere. Brother and sister loved each other dearly.
Sama was married to Charuvakya, whom the songs call Chakeva. She went often into the forest of Vrindavan, to the ashram of the rishis, and spent her days there in their company, praying for her husband and for a long and happy married life.
There was a man at Dwarka whom the story calls Chudak, and the songs Chugla — the tale-bearer. He had wanted Sama for himself, and could not bear that she was another's. One morning he saw her coming back from the ashram, and went straight to Shri Krishna. 'Your daughter goes to the forest to meet a muni,' he said. 'She is not true to her husband.'
Shri Krishna was angered, and without asking whether it was true, He cursed His daughter: she would become a bird. In that moment Sama became a bird and flew away into the forest of Vrindavan, and lived there among the trees.
When Charuvakya learned what had happened, he was heartbroken. He knew his wife was blameless, and he could not live without her. He asked that he too become a bird, so that he could be with her; and so Chakeva became a bird as well, and the two lived together in the forest as a pair of birds.
Then the news reached Sama's brother Samba. He could not bear his sister's suffering. He went to his father and pleaded with Him to take back the curse, but Shri Krishna said that what had been said could not be unsaid. So Samba asked what else could set his sister free, and he sat in tapas, determined to bring Sama and Chakeva back to their own form.
The women came to help him. They knew Sama was true, and every evening they gathered and sang — of Sama and Chakeva, of the brother who would not give up his sister, and against the tale-bearer whose lie had done all this. They shaped Sama and Chakeva, Vrindavan and the rishis in clay, and they shaped Chugla too, and put fire to his moustache.
On Kartik Purnima Samba's tapas was complete. His prayer was granted, and Sama and Chakeva were given back their own form. The tale-bearer was punished for his lie.
That is why Mithila's sisters keep these nights for their brothers. From the Chhath parana to Kartik Purnima they shape Sama and Chakeva and the rest in clay, sing for their brothers' long life, singe Chugla's moustache, and on Purnima night send Sama off as a daughter leaves for her husband's home — asking her to come again next year.
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