- Censure of Nobles
Once there lived a man born in the race of kṣatriya. He was merciless and indulged in betraying and harming others. Brahmins were often censured and dishonoured by him. Because of this very sin, he got a short span of life and after that became a frightful demon. The demonic nature made him eat whatever or whoever that he saw before him. This became routine of his life.
One day, the demon saw a noble brahmin doing penance by meditating upon Lord Vāsudeva, near the bank of a river. Immediately, the demon ran towards that brahmin to harm him. He was stopped by the divine power of the brahmin and then he remained in the same place for four months, till the brahmin completed his penance. On seeing the demon who became very weak and powerless, the brahmin was overwhelmed with compassion and enquired about his visit. The demon confessed his sin of censuring and betraying the nobles and sought his blessings and atonement.
The brahmin replied “Censure of nobles who lead the life in a righteous manner brings disastrous results. If angered, they can destroy with the power of mantras. Being born as a demon is the apt atonement for the sin committed by you. I cannot teach dharma to a demon”. He went away saying this. Unable to find a way to get rid of the sin, the grief-stricken demon wandered in the forest.
One day, there came a brahmacārī (celibate), who was the son of a sage for collecting fruits. Confounded by the sinful thought, the demon caught hold of that brahmacārī. Giving up the hope of life, the brahmacārī asked the demon reason for his cruel action. The demon said “I have been hungry for the past five days. Hence, I want to satiate my hunger by eating you”. The brahmacārī replied “I have come to collect fruits for my teacher. After giving the fruits to my teacher, I will come back quickly. Kindly wait for me”.
The demon became ready to leave him believing his words. But before leaving, the demon asked the brahmacārī to advise on the ways to get rid of the sin. Doubting the worthiness of the advice being given to a demon, the brahmacārī thought “If I have served my teacher truly, performed all the rituals as laid down in the ancient scriptures, I should get protected”.
Then, emerged the goddess of learning Sarasvatī from the fire, invisible to the eyes of the demon and visible only to the eyes of the brahmacārī. She promised the latter to do the needful by remaining in his tongue.
Soon after that, the brahmacārī told the demon that the latter will get rid of the sin by hearing and chanting the names of Lord Viṣṇu with deep devotion and faith. By adhering to the advice of the brahmacārī, the demon got rid of the sin and attained the heavenly abode.
There are many examples in the History to emphasise the fact that the censure of nobles brings disastrous results. Lord Indra was dethroned because of the curse of sage Durvāsa. King Daṇḍaka got ruined along with his family due to the curse of sage Śukrācārya. The king of Kāśī, Divodāsa got dethroned and ruined by being cursed by a brahmin.
Moral of the story: A noble person should never be censured or disrespected.
- Power of Karma
Once there lived a person named Kośakāra, who was the son of a sage named Mudgala. Kośakāra was highly knowledgeable and gained mastery over all Śātras. He got married to Dharmiṣṭhā, the daughter of Vātsyāyana. She was very compassionate, righteous and endowed with all good qualities. A son was born to them who was dull-witted, deaf and dumb by birth. Dharmiṣṭhā abandoned her own son on sixth day after he was born at the gate of her home.
Then, there came a demoness named Śūrpākṣī along with her child who was very weak. Due to her habit of seizing young children, Śūrpākṣī took away the son of Dharmiṣṭhā, leaving her own weak child there. When she reached her abode with the child, her husband by name Ghaṭodara, who was blind, asked her “What have you brought”? She replied that having left her own child, she had brought the child of a brahmin. Ghaṭodara said “What is done by you is wrong. The brahmin is highly knowledgeable and he will curse us if angered. Hence please go quickly, leave his son and bring the other one”.
Advised by her husband thus, the demoness flew through the sky. The child of demon went outside the house and wept loudly placing the thumb in his mouth. Hearing the crying of the child, both husband and wife came out. Kośakāra tied the son of demon chanting vedic hymns. In the meanwhile, Śūrpākṣī came there and threw away the child of Kośakāra from a very distant place. Kośakāra caught hold of the child. Unable to get her own son, Śūrpākṣī went away and told everything to her husband.
Both the children were handed over by Kośakāra to his wife. They were named as Divākara and Niśākara respectively. After the children became seven years old, Kośakāra performed Upanayana ceremony. Divākara studied Veda and Niśākara did not study due to his dull wittedness. As the result of which Niśākara was censured by the relatives. Angered by this, Kośakāra threw his son into a well with no water and placed a big stone on it as a cover. Niśākara remained there for many years.
After the lapse of ten years, Dharmiṣṭhā came there and wondered on seeing the well covered with the stone. Hearing the voice of mother, Niśākara spoke “The stone has been placed by father”. On being asked by Dharmiṣṭhā, Niśākara said “I am your son Niśākara”. Immediately, Dharmiṣṭhā removed the stone and threw it away. Niśākara came out of the well and paid respects to his mother.
Dharmiṣṭhā narrated the incident to her husband. Niśākara started telling the reason for his dull wittedness and physical disability. He said “I was born in the family of a brahmin. My father made me knowledgeable by teaching me the scriptures, the bestowers of dharma, artha, kāma and mokṣa. I became arrogant due to excessive pride and indulged in evil deeds. I possessed lust for others’ wives and others’ wealth. I went to the hell after death. After the completion of thousand years, my sin not being exhausted fully, I was again born as a tiger. I was caught by the king in a cage. Even though, I was a tiger, my knowledge earned in the previous birth got manifested completely.
“One day, the king went out of the city. His wife by name Jitā, who was unparalleled in beauty, came near me. Seeing her, lust increased in me, driven by my lustful nature in my previous birth. By mutual agreement, we decided to have sexual intercourse. As soon as the queen opened the cage, I immediately came out. Seen by the royal servants, I was seized and killed by them. Then, I went to the hell again due to the sin of possessing evil eye towards someone else’s wife.
Niśākara continued “After the completion of a thousand years, I was born once again as a white ass in the house of a brahmin who had many wives. Once, one of his wives named Vimati wanted to go to her father’s house by riding on me. On the way, the beautiful lady Vimati got down from my back and descended into the river to take bath. Once again engulfed by the fire of lust, I ran towards her and fell. Seen by the attendant sent by the brahmin, I was caught and tied by him. Then, I died in six days.
Having gone to hell again, I was reborn as a parrot. Caught by a hunter in a jungle, I was sold to the son of a merchant. There I was kept in the harem full of young ladies and nourished by them with various delicious eatables. Once I was taken by Candrāvalī, the beautiful wife of the merchant’s son in her hand. Because of the unchaste feeling towards Candrāvalī, my dwelling in the hell continued after my death.
I was born again as a bull in the house of Cāṇḍāla. Once, yoking me in the cart and mounting his wife on it, Cāṇḍāla went before and his wife began to go behind him singing. Hearing the song, I lost control over my senses. Seeing backwards, I ran fast and died tied to the yoke tightly”.
Thus, after narrating a long story about his previous births, Niśākara further said, “After spending a thousand years in the hell, I was reborn in your house with the clear memory of my previous births. I will never commit any sin with my mind, action and speech. You kindly engage Divākara into household duties. I will go to the forest for destroying sin and for virtuous growth”. Having said thus, saluting his parents, Niśākara went to the hermitage known as Badari.
Moral of the story: One has to face the consequences of good and bad deeds. Hence one should always be good.