Once there lived a sage named Āruṇi who went to the forest to do penance. He was doing penance without food and water near the banks of the beautiful river Devikā. Then he went to the river to take a holy dip. He took bath and chanted Vedic mantras. Suddenly, there came a hunter with bow and arrow. He was very frightening in appearance. The purpose of his visit was to kill the sage as he nurtured hatred towards brahmins. Āruṇi, being fear-stricken on seeing the hunter, meditated upon Lord Nārāyaṇa. After seeing the sage in the trembling stage, the hunter said “I came with the intention of harming you only. But the intention is gone now after seeing you. I had murdered thousands of people for the sake of my livelihood. But I never got huge money in my life. Now, I want to do penance, by being with you. Kindly bless by accepting me as your disciple”.
Āruṇi was silent thinking about the heinousness of the sin of killing brahmins. The hunter patiently took refuge under the tree near the hermitage of the sage. One day, the sage went to the river to take bath. There came a tiger to kill the sage when he was under the water. Before he came out of the water, the hunter killed the animal.
On hearing the roar of the animal, the sage came out of the water and chanted the name of Lord Nārāyaṇa. On the verge of the death, the tiger heard the name of the Lord. Immediately, a person emerged from the body of the tiger and started narrating his story. He said “I was a king named Dīrghabāhu. I knew the meaning of Vedic hymns and was knowledgeable enough to know good and bad. But I used to condemn brahmins severely. Because of that I was cursed by them. That is why I had become tiger. Before I became tiger, I realised my sin and requested them to forgive, on which they said that when I hear the name of Lord Nārāyaṇa from the mouth of a noble brahmin, the sin will be pardoned”. Having said thus, the king went to heaven.
Sage Āruṇi turned towards the hunter and said “Now you have become a pure soul by serving me with devotion and by taking holy dip in the river Devikā. Start doing penance by being with me”.
The hunter started doing penance without food and water. He became very lean and weak. The sage, pleased with his devotion gave him the boon of knowledge of all ancient scriptures and named him as Satyatapā.
Moral of the story: Association of the nobles is always fruitful.
