How Dhaumya became the priest of the Pandavas

In those days, a priest was a very important part of any family. Primarily because the priest prayed to the Gods for the well-being of the family and the society as the whole. Such positions went to well-read and trustworthy persons. The priest of the Pandavas was Dhaumya. Here is the story of how he became the priest of the Pandavas....

Duryodhana, the Kaurava prince, hated the Pandavas so much that he along with Karna and Shakuni planned and arranged for the Pandavas to be burnt in the House of Lac. However, with the help of Vidura, the Pandavas thwarted the plan and escaped from there. 
Everyone except ofcourse, Vidura believed the Pandavas to be dead. 
To protect themselves from further attacks, the Pandavas kept up the pretense of their death and went to the town of Ekachakra. There they lived in the house of a Brahmin. To further conceal their real identity, the Pandavas lived on alms there.

It was here that Bheema rescued the Brahmin family by killing the asura Vaka or Baka.
*********

'Do you know that King Drupada of Panchala, he has just performed a yagna?' The Brahmin told Kunti and the brothers.

'For what?' Arjuna asked. He was the one who had been responsible for the defeat of the formidable Drupada in battle. That was the Guru Dakshina which Drona had asked from him.

'Unable to bear the humiliation of being defeated by Drona, Drupada searched far and wide in his kingdom for someone who could defeat Drona!' Arjuna sighed shaking his head as the Brahmin continued. 'King Drupada was unable to find anyone who could defeat Drona. So King Drupada pleased Sage Yaja and Upayaja so that they would perform a yagna on his behalf! The sages performed the yagna and from the fires emerged a handsome man with full armour. They called him Dhristadhyumna!'

'Is he going to kill Dronacharya?' Arjuna demanded from the man.

The Brahmin nodded gravely. 'Yes! When he emerged from the fire, a heavenly voice announced that he was going to bring the death of Drona!'

Arjuna was about to retort something when the man continued. 'But that is not all!'

The brothers listened attentively as the man continued. 'After Dhrishtadyumna, from the fire a beautiful woman also emerged! The woman was so beautiful that she looked like Goddess Sri herself! She was dark with beautiful eyes and has lovely, beautiful curls! It is said that gave out a fragrance which could be scented two miles away! Because she was dark, she was called Krishna!'

The brothers looked wondrously at each other unable to remove the image which the man's words bought. Kunti studied her sons and smiled not saying anything. The man continued, not realizing that the brothers had almost stopped listening. 'When the woman arrived, the heavenly voice announced that she was born to accomplish the work of the Gods!'

Kunti thanked the man and sent him on his way, well realizing the mood of her sons. 
Long after the man had left Kunti called her sons and was surprised to find that for the first time in her life, her sons seemed rather listless and inattentive to her calls. Suppressing a grin, she called the eldest Pandava, 'Son! I think we have stayed enough in this town!' Yudhishtara looked surprised as his mother continued. 'We will have to move on!'

'Where shall we go, mother?' Yudhishtara asked suddenly feeling very happy.

'How about Panchala?' Kunti asked trying hard not to grin.

********

And so the next day, the six of them happily trudged along to the kingdom of Panchala. Probably it was destiny or probably some other undefinable reason, whatever it was the Pandavas never felt the reason to rest, when they were traveling to Panchala. They even traveled at night as they came close to the Ganga.

It was at that time that a Gandharva was there in the river enjoying with his wives. The Gandharva was proud and arrogant. 
Seeing a group of humans come up to the river late at night, made the Gandharva rather haughty. The Gandharva felt that the humans had no right to disturb him when he was enjoying with his wives.
Angrily he came up before the Pandavas. 'Who are you humans, disturbing me at this time?'

The Pandavas looked suitably shocked at the arrogance of the Gandharva. 'We were on our way! We did not want to disturb you....' Arjuna began politely. But the Gandharva rudely interrupted him. 'The night belongs to Gandharvas, yakshas and rakshasas! How dare you interrupt......'

The ever careful Arjuna realized that the Gandharva was thirsting for a fight and pulled out his bow and pointed it straight at Gandharva. Foolishly the Gandharva thought that he could win this fight. He got on a beautiful glowing chariot and laughed. 'I am Angaaraparvana! I am the best friend of Kubera and the best of the Gandharvas! You cannot pass this river!'

'How can you think of barring others from using rivers or any other water body?' Arjuna said angrily. 'Besides this is the Ganga, the river which washes away your sins! How on earth can you prevent anyone from coming to it! It is the purest river in the world.....'

The Gandharva did not even let Arjuna finish the sentence. He pulled out his bow and started firing arrows at top speed at the Pandavas. The Gandharva should have known better....
Arjuna stopped all the arrows with his shield and pulled out a gleaming arrow and pointed it at the Gandharva. The arrow gleamed at night as for the first time, there was fear in the Gandharva's eyes.

Arjuna nodded angrily. 'This arrow was given by the Guru of Indra – Vrihaspasthi to Bharadwaja and from him to Agnivesya! Agnivesya gave this to my Guru Drona and he gave this to me! See what it does!' Quick as lightning, Arjuna fired the arrow and the arrow blazed through the path and burnt the chariot of the Gandharva. The Gandharva watched in horror as his chariot was being burnt down and jumped from it to escape the fire. The impact hit the Gandharva hard and he fell unconscious....

Heaving angrily, Arjuna pulled the Gandharva from the wreckage and dragged him towards Yudhishtara.

Arjuna was looking angrily at the Gandharva who was regaining his conscious when the Gandharvi ladies ran towards Yudhishtara. One of them spoke hurriedly to Yudhishtara. 'I am Kumbasini! I am his wife! Please spare his life!'

Yudhishtara looked angrily at Angaaraparvana and then at the lady. 'Let him go, Arjuna! Don't belittle yourself by killing a man who needs protection from someone else to stay alive!'

Disgusted, Arjuna pushed the Gandharva away. The Gandharva stumbled as he got on his feet. 
'I have been defeated by you! I shall give you anything you want!' He said his voice hoarse from the fire.

'I want nothing from a man, whose life I have spared!' Arjuna said.
'No! No! No!' The Gandharva said desperately trying to save face in front of his wives.

'We Gandharvas have the power of illusion! It is called Chakshusi! This is the power which differentiates Gandharvas from the humans! I will give it to you!' The Gandharva said.

Arjuna was about to protest when the Gandharva continued. 'I will give you each, fifty horses like the once I have! They look lean, but these horses never tire, no matter how much you drive them!'

'I....I...' Arjuna faltered. He cleared his throat. 'I have nothing to give you, in return of what you are offering me!'

'You have saved my life! What more....' The Gandharva asked incredulously. The Gandharva saw that Arjuna really meant what you have said. 'I have met really good people today! For that I am grateful! As a mark of our friendship! I will not call myself, Angaaraparvana anymore!' The Gandharva looked at his chariot which was now in ashes. 'Anyway, I cannot call myself that, anymore!' (Angaaraparvana means 'blazing chariot' in Sanskrit)

'You can give me your arrow in return of my gift!' The Gandharva said finally.

Arjuna agreed happily and the exchange was made.

'Let us be friends for life!' Arjuna smiled.

'Gladly, O Tapatya!' The Gandharva said.

'Why did you call me that?' Arjuna asked frowning. 'Who is Tapti?'

'Tapti is the daughter of Lord Surya! She is the younger sister of Savitri! She was extraordinarily beautiful! A king called Samvarna loved her! It was because of the efforts of Sage Vasishta, who was the royal priest of King Samvarna that the king was able to marry Tapti!' The Gandharva smiled as he continued. 'Samvarna and Tapti had a brave son! Do you know his name?'

The Pandavas shook their heads when the Gandharva continued. 'Their son was Kuru! Kuru is your ancestor! That is the reason you are called from the house of Kurus!'

The Pandavas nodded their head and then Arjuna cleared his head. 'Friend! I will take your horses later on, when I need them! For now, keep them with you!'

The Gandharva nodded, as Arjuna continued. 'You said that the king married Tapti because of Sage Vasishta, who was his priest! Is it so important to have a priest for your own family?'

The Gandharva nodded his head head earnestly. 'Yes! The priest would pray for your welfare and prosperity. That would give you victory in all your battles. Besides it is always good to have good people around you! Such a priest is necessary for your kingdom to flourish!'
The Gadharva talked some more, trying to convince the princes the need for a priest.

'Do you know any person who would be willing to be our priest?' Arjuna finally asked.

'In this very forest, near the Ganga, there is a place called Utkochaka! There you will find a sage by name Dhaumya! He is the younger brother of Sage Devala! He would be the perfect man to be your priest!'
That very night, the Pandavas with Kunti set out to meet the Sage Dhaumya.
Seeing the serene, calm and powerful sage, the Pandavas felt an immediate connection with the sage.
The Pandavas were more than thrilled when Dhaumya accepted the position to be their priest. The relationship between the Pandavas continued throughout their lives. He was the one who performed the marriage of Krishna (Draupadi) with the five Pandavas. He was the one who performed all the yagnas in Indraprastha. Dhaumya even traveled with the Pandavas when they went on a 13 year exile from Indraprastha....He became the perfect friend and spiritual guide for the Pandavas to guide them on the path of righteousness.

The Sage, the Wife and the Butcher

Kaushika was feeling incredibly proud of himself. He had left his home to pursue to study of the Scriptures and now he could proudly say that he had masted them all.

Kaushika was sitting under a tree as he opened his eyes from his meditation. On top of the tree sat a crane. The crane was making a loud noise and disturbed the sage. The sage stared at the crane angrily. The poor crane had no chance. It burst into flames.

Kaushika looked at the bird horrified that he had done something like this. But deep down he could not help but feel proud of himself. His powers of meditation were amazing. He had managed to destroy the crane with his thoughts alone....

Kaushika got up from under the tree and went to the nearby village is search of alms. He stood outside a house asking for alms. [In those days an ascetic standing outside the house was considered a priority and had to be fed first]. The lady from the house was about to come and serve the sage when her husband came home, tired and hungry. The lady turned her back to Kaushika. 'Please wait Sage! I will attend to my duties and come later!'

Kaushika bristled at the words of the lady. But the lady did not seem to notice. She attended to her husband while the sage waited. By the time the lady finished and came out to meet Kaushika, the sage was furious from hunger and the waiting. The lady smiled as she shook her head. 'Do you think, I am a crane?'

Kaushika was flabbergasted. There was no way this woman could know what had transpired when he was outside the village. He looked at the woman as she continued. 'You are a sage. A well-read man and you have no doubt mastered the scriptures....but you still have to learn the true meaning of what is written there!' The sage listened dumbfounded at the words of the wisdom from the woman.

'A mastery of the Scriptures is necessary for a virtuous life but reading alone would not help you achieve it, sir! You need to use all the teachings in your daily life for you to be able to understand what it means....I am a wife, a mother. My first duty lies towards these people and not towards you. Only after serving them, am I obliged to look after you. And you sir...' The woman looked at Kaushika with a slightly sad expression. '...you still need to learn to control yourself. The crane came and sat on the tree. So what if it disturbed you? A man who had truly understood the Scriptures would know that none of these things would affect him in any way....But you got angry sir....' The woman shook her head. 'You still have many things to learn.'

Kaushika found that he could not talk. The words of the woman was simple, sharp and powerful. 'Please teach me some more about this 'virtue'!' He finally croaked.

The woman smiled. 'Sir! I have a lot of work. I may not be the right teacher to teach you these things.' Kaushika's face fell. The woman's face however brightened. 'There is a butcher in the city of Mithila! Please go and talk to him. He may be able to teach you what you need to know!'

Saying this the woman walked inside the house without a backward glance. Kaushika for the first time in his life realized that he really did not know anything. Without realizing Kaushika made preparations to go towards the city of Mithila.

There Kaushika was in for a surprise. Everyone in the city knew about the butcher and the butcher was highly respected. The man was a butcher and yet the people spoke of him as if he was a saint....Who was this man?

Kaushika saw the man outside his shop as he cut the meat pieces and handed it over to the customers. 'Sir, I am...'

The butcher nodded his head. 'You must be the sage whom the lady sent. Please wait....I am serving my customers. I am afraid I may be able to tell you what you wish to know only after I finish my work.'

Kaushika watched the man in a kind of trance. The man was a butcher. He killed animals and sold it to people. However the man did not look the least bit ashamed of what he was doing. In his face shone a strange light. A light of person who knew who he was. Kaushika had no doubt in the world that the butcher was an enlightened soul....

The sage watched while the butcher sold the meat and closed the shop for the day. He walked back to his home taking the sage with him. There he saw the butcher had a family and all of them looked happy and well. The butcher's parents looked thrilled on meeting the sage and they along with the butcher's wife looked after the sage well. The butcher's children were well mannered. The sage ate with the family. The food was simple and sufficient for him. After eating the food, the sage felt a strange sensation pass through him. He suddenly remembered his own parents....He had left them to study the Scriptures. What was his mother doing at this time....

'Sir! Who are you? What do you know about virtue? I think you are the only person in the whole world who knows the complete meaning of the word. Please teach it to me!'

The butcher smiled. 'Every person who does his duty and does it cheerfully with his whole heart leads a virtuous life....'

Kaushika frowned. 'Sir you are a butcher! How can you....'

The butcher smiled. 'It is my profession. My parents before me and their parents have all been butchers. I am just doing my family profession. There is no shame in it. I do it as my duty. My parents, my wife and my children....They are my life and I do everything that I can do to keep them happy. I do everything for them.....'

Kaushika felt a strange stirring in his heart. Suddenly his mother's broken words begging him not to leave them alone kept coming back. Shaking his head he looked at the butcher who was still speaking. 'A man who is totally in control of himself and does not let his emotions rule him....That is the sign of a learned man. A man who runs away from his responsibilities can never know the true meaning of virtue. Only and only when you do your duty and do it wholeheartedly, you can begin to know the true meaning of virtue....'

The butcher gave Kaushika full discourse on the soul and the means of attaining enlightenment.

By the time the butcher was finished, Kaushika was in a daze. He realized the crime he had committed by leaving his aged parents all alone at a time when they needed him the most. He turned to the butcher who had set him on the right path and asked with almost wonder in his voice. 'Sir! You are by far the greatest man I have ever seen....Then why is it that you are butcher. I cannot believe that you would have committed any crime to have to do a work which involves killing other animals...Why...?

The butcher smiled. 'Sir, in my previous life, I was a man who was well read in the Scriptures. My best friend was a king, who was extremely well versed in the art of warfare. From him I learned how to use the bow and arrow...' The butcher closed his eyes, wishing that he would forget what he was remembering. 'Once I went on a hunt with the king. The King killed a lot of animals in the forest and me....' The butcher breathed angrily. 'By mistake I killed a sage. A great sage who was meditating behind a tree.....' Kaushika listened with bated breath as the butcher continued. 'It was because of the curse of the sage that I was born as a butcher....'

The butcher continued. 'Even then in his last words, the sage taught me how to lead a virtuous life living as a butcher. It was the sage who taught me that no sin attaches to me if I do any work as my duty!...'

Kaushika looked at the butcher with a final understanding his eyes. He took leave of the butcher and went back to his aging parents. He served them well till the end of their days....

The Golden Mongoose - Part 1 of 2

King Parikshit,the grandson of the Pandavas ruled Hastinapur after King Yudhishtar gave up the throne.

King Parikshit was a just and good king. However the Kali yuga had set in. Through a series of coincidences, King Parikshit was affected by Kali and misbehaved with a sage. Parikshit hung a snake around the neck of a sage Samika who was deep in meditation. The sage's son Sringan cursed Parikshit to die from a snake bite within seven days.

Parikshit who was already feeling remorseful at his despicable behaviour with his sage, came to know about the curse. Without hesitation Parikshit gave up the throne and crowned his son Janmejaya to be the king after him. Parikshit spent the remaining seven days listening to the stories of the Lord Krishna and the Pandavas. By the beginning of the seventh day, Parikshit had made peace with himself and was ready to accept his fate, no matter what....

True to the curse, on the evening of the seventh day, Parikshit was bitten by Takshak, the king of serpents and died....

Janmejaya was only 11 when he was crowned as the King of Hastinapur. Like his father before him, he also grew up to be a good and kind king. However for many years he remained unaware of the true reason of his father's death. Then one day a Sage Uttanka [who had a private grudge against Takshak] told King Janmejaya, the real cause of his father's death.

Furious Janmejaya ordered for the Snake Sacrifice. The yagna was horrific. The mantras were so powerful that nagas were dragged from all over the place and were killed in the yagna fire.

One of the very few serpents who was not dragged by the power of the yagna was Takshak. A young sage Astik informed King Janmejaya that Takshak was protected by Lord Indra, the king of the Devas.

Pleased by this information, Janmejaya promised to give Astik any boon he wanted.

Turning his attention to the Sacrifice, Janmejaya ordered for the mantra to drag both Indra and Takshak into the sacrificial fire. As the power of the mantra dragged both of them, Indra fearing for his own safety let go of Takshak. Takshak was about to fall into the fire, when Astik stopped the Naga with his powers.

Janmejaya looked angrily at Astik, 'He is the Naga....' Janmejaya angrily looked at Takshak trembling with rage, '...It was for killing him that I had organised the Sacrifice. Then why...?'

Astik looked firmly at Janmejaya. 'You promised that you would grant me any boon I want! This is the boon I wish. I wish that you stop the killing of the Nagas henceforth. Please do not kill Takshak and the other remaining nagas.'

Janmejaya looked at Astik and whispered. 'Who are you?'

Astik smiled. 'I am Astik! My father is Jaratkaru, a sage. My mother's name is also Jaratkaru. She is a Naga!' Astik shook his head as he looked at the terrified looking Takshak. He turned his attention to the angry looking Janmejaya, 'You have killed too many of my people, my king! Please stop this right now!'

Janmejaya was stumped. 'He killed my father!' Janmejaya yelled at Astik he pointed a trembling finger at Takshak.

Unruffled Astik asked him. 'Do you know about Indraprastha?'

Confused at the sudden change of topic by Astik, Janmejaya stared blankly at the sage.

Astik smiled sadly at Janmejaya. 'Do you know that Indraprastha, the place from where the Pandavas – your ancestors, ruled, was built on a place called Khandava forest?' Janmejaya looked at Astik as he continued. 'Khandava was the home of a thousands of Nagas, my king!' Astik held up his hands looking slightly embarrassed. 'Not many of them were good and they have performed many horrific deeds!' Astik shook his head as he continued. 'However Arjuna and Lord Krishna, helped Agni destroy the entire forest....' Astik whispered. 'Almost nobody survived the destruction.....'

Janmejaya looked at Astik blankly when Astik asked quietly. 'Was Takshak not entitled to revenge for the acts of your ancestors?'

Janmejaya was unable to speak when Astik asked another question. 'Your father misbehaved with a sage! Parikshit was cursed to die! Takshak was the medium by which the sentence was carried out! Do you think Takshak deserves to die for that?'

Janmejaya could not talk as he looked shamefaced.

Needless to say, the Snake Sacrifice was called off.

Sage Veda Vyasa with his student Vaisampayana came for the conclusion of the Snake Sacrifice. Janmejaya who had heard the words of Astik was now curious. He wanted to know in detail about his ancestors,who had fought the Mahabharatha war....

And so Janmejaya was the first person who heard the narration of the entire Mahabharatha by Vaisampayana......

As part of the story, Vaisampayana also narrated the story of the Golden Mongoose....

Once the Mahabharatha war was over, the victorious King Yudhishtara of Hastinapura performed a yagna for the well being of all his subjects. The yagna was conducted lavishly. Precious and expensive gifts were given away to everyone. The yagna was so grand that people would not stop singing praises of it…

As some people were speaking, there came a little mongoose. It was the strangest mongoose ever. One side of the mongoose looked plain and normal like any other mongoose. However much to the astonishment of everyone, the other side gleamed of pure gold!

The mongoose looked at everyone and rolled over the floor and looked at itself as if expecting a change in its appearance. It rolled over the floor again. Nothing happened. The mongoose looked at all the people and specifically looked at Yudhihstara and spoke:

‘Please....!' It said disdainfully. 'I can’t even imagine why people insist of calling this a great yagna! Why? This is just a mockery...a show!’ The mongoose shook his head angrily. ‘This is not a yagna!’

Yudhishtara was so pained by the words of the mongoose that he did not pause to think as to how it was that the mongoose had spoken. He looked at all the people. ‘I have followed all the rules required to be followed during the yagna. I have religiously done everything that you people told me...' Yudhishtara looked at all the assembled people, '...then why is this mongoose telling me these things?’

The people who had assembled turned to the mongoose. ‘Foolish Mongoose! This is the most glorious yagna of all times. It marks the end of the greatest war ever. Do you know how much wealth King Yudhishtara has given away to the poor and the needy. And you have the audacity to tell us…that this is not even a yagna…How dare you?’ All of them looked threateningly at the mongoose.

The mongoose looked at all the people assembled and smiled a little mysteriously. 'I will tell you a story. You can then decide about the greatness of this yagna...'

And so saying the mongoose told them a story.

'There once lived a very poor man in a small village. He had his wife, son and daughter-in-law living with him. They lived in a hand-to-mouth existence. But because the entire family was inclined spiritually, none of them bothered about their poverty..

Unfortunately a great famine struck the kingdom. The poor family which already had very little food now starved almost daily. Unable to bear the suffering of his family, the old man went out and with great difficulty got some rice for the family.

His wife and daughter-in-law cooked the food and divided the food into four parts, one for each one of them.

As they were about to eat the food, much to the surprise of everyone, someone knocked their door.

Surprised, the old man opened the door. Outside he saw a weary traveler looking almost half dead from hunger and fatigue. The old man immediately brought the man inside. After allowing the man to wash himself, the old man spoke to the man. 'Sir!' The old man said. 'You look hungry...'

The weary traveler sadly nodded his head. 'I have been wandering for several days now without any food...'

The old man without even a slightest hesitation offered the traveler his food. 'You have come to my house at the right time. We were about to have our meal. Please have my portion of the food and satisfy yourself!'

Without pausing to think, the traveler seemed to eat the old man's portion of food. The others in the family watched the guest eating, leaving their own food untouched. The traveler however did not seem to be satisfied. He looked at the old man guiltily as if he was still hungry.

The old man's wife came forward and offered the guest her portion of the food. The old man looked distraught that his shriveled wife was handing over her pitiful portion of the food to the traveler. He took her aside and spoke to her.

'You do not have to do this....' The old man said. 'He is our guest. I have given him my portion of the food....But you....'

His wife smiled. 'I am your wife....I have promised to take part in your life through everything....If you are willing to stay hungry for feeding a guest, I think it is my duty to do the same...'

The traveler ate the second portion of food. Needless to say the traveler was still hungry.

The old man looked unhappy when the son gave the guest his portion of the food. The father shook his head emphatically when the son held up his hands. 'Father! Mother! You are my parents...You are my world. I have learnt that it is the duty of a child to fulfill the wishes of the parents. You wish to feed the guest and are even willing to give up your portion of the food to satisfy his hunger. Now it is my turn to fulfill my parent's desire and make sure our guest is happy....'

The traveler had the third portion and still looked hungry. The daughter-in-law came forward. Seeing this, the other three came forward feeling terrible. The old man shook his head. 'My daughter....I cannot let you starve...It is wrong...' The old woman and the son also shook their head.

The daughter-in-law smiled. 'Father! The sacrifice that the three of you have made is the greatest sacrifice in the world....Nothing can come close to it. I wish to be a part of this yagna...Please give my portion of the food to the guest and let us satisfy his hunger....'

Though the other three tried to talk the daughter-in-law out of the act, she remained adamant and the fourth portion of the food also went to the traveler.

A great hush fell over the assembly in the yagna hall of Yudhishtara. Everybody was now listening to the story of the strange mongoose as it continued.

The traveler was thoroughly satisfied and he was about to go out of the house. In that instant the house was ablaze with a brilliant light. The Gods who had come in the guise of the traveler blessed the entire family. 'You have performed the greatest yagna in the world. For this you have attained moksha....Come!'

The people in the Yudhishtara's yagna heard in utter amazement as the mongoose continued. 'I happened to be passing the house at that time. When I saw the family attain moksha, I saw some scrap of food which the family had given to the traveler lying on the floor. Accidentally I fell on the food .

The mongoose shook his head as he saw his body. 'The side of my body which fell on the food, was transformed into gold!' The mongoose said as he showed everyone his shining gleaming coat on one side. 'There was no more food left...So I could not transform the other side of my body and it remains normal...'

The mongoose smiled a little sadly. 'Since then I have been traveling all over the earth from one yagna to another, in the hope that I may see another yagna, which was as great as the one performed by the old man and his family. The mongoose pointed to himself. 'And I am still waiting.... I thought so many people were singing praises of your yagna, probably that would be the other yagna that I am looking for...But I guess...' The mongoose looked at King Yudhishtara. 'Your yagna is not as great as the one performed by the family of a poor man....'

Before King Yudhishtara could react to the sentence, the mongoose vanished form there!

Yudhishtara realized the hard truth finally. The only thing necessary for a yagna was a good heart and pure soul.. not money or riches or following rules and regulations....Yudhishtara realized that he had not conducted a yagna, he was merely showing off his wealth.......

The Golden Mongoose - Part 2 of 2

As Vaisampayana concluded the story, King Janmejaya was stumped. His ancestor, who was meant to be the incarnate of Lord Dharma was humbled by a mongoose....He looked curiously at Vaisampayana. ‘Who was the mongoose sir? How was it that a simple mongoose was able to humiliate the great Pandavas?’

Vaisampayana smiled at Janmejaya as he said, 'The mongoose has a very special story, King. It was no ordinary mongoose....Listen to its story:

Sage Jamadagni [the father of Lord Parashurama] was performing a difficult yagna for his dead ancestors. After deep meditation, he opened his eyes and decided to offer something to his dead ancestors. He milked his cow and collected the milk in a vessel. However at that time, Lord Dharma came to the spot. He wanted to test the sage. Assuming the form of Krodha [Anger], he entered the vessel of milk and broke it.

Sage Jamadagni realizing that it was the work of Lord Dharma, remained unmoved.

Krodha realizing that the Sage was entirely in control of his emotions, appeared before the sage and bowed before the sage. ‘Great Sage! You have definitely conquered everything. I am sorry for putting you to any inconvenience.’

Sage Jamadagni looked at Krodha and said sadly. ‘My Lord! What you have done does not bother me! But you have to realize that the milk was for my ancestors. If you wish to ask for forgiveness, then you have to ask forgiveness from them and not from me!’

With a chill, Krodha realized his mistake. He appeared before the dead ancestors and begged for their forgiveness. However they were unrelenting. ‘For your unthinking act, we curse you! We curse you to be born as a mongoose!’ Krodha fell at the feel of the ancestors. ‘Please! This is a very harsh curse. Kindly take back your curse!’

Angrily the ancestors shook their heads. ‘We cannot take back our words, but if you ever stand before Dharma and humiliate him as you humiliated us….you will regain your own body!’ The ancestors vanished from there and Krodha took the form of a mongoose roaming the four corners of the world looking for Lord Dharma on earth….

Yudhishtara was the incarnation of Lord Dharma on the earth. So when the mongoose humbled Yudhishtara, the curse was broken and the mongoose assumed its original form...

The experienced hunter

Yudhishtara had won the war....It was over....As Yudhishtara was walking up to his palace he remembered the words of the Dhirdharashtra the blind king. Don't fight the war son! Don't fight for the kingdom. Go back to the forests. Even if you win the kingdom, all that will be left for you is your remorse and guilt.....

Now that the war was over and Yudhishtara was sitting on the throne of Hastinapur, Yudhishtara acknowledged to himself the truth of the blind king's words. He had won the war, and now all he had with him was remorse...remorse that he had killed all his relatives. Remorse that he had killed his own elder brother Karna....he now had a kingdom with no one to share it with.

Yudhishtara with sudden clarity realised that for him the war would never be over and he could never win against the feelings of the guilt which washed through him everyday. Dhirdharashtra had specifically told him that he would never be happy even after he had won the war. With utter despair washing over him, Yudhishtara realised that the blind king was right. 

His brothers and Krishna slowly helped Yudhishtara feel better. Krishna realising that Yudhishtara was going to rule over the huge kingdom asked Yushishtara to obtain the guidance from Bhishma who was lying in the bed of arrows. Krishna knew that Bhishma did not have much time. The wealth of information which lay with Bhishma had to be made available to the entire world before it was too late. So Krishna sent Yudhishtara to Bhishma.

Bhishma on his death bed told Yudhishtara many anecdotes and incidents on how best to rule the kingdom. On the topic of why not to fight with one's own kinsmen, Bhishma narrated the following story....

Two doves were flying over a jungle. As they were flying through, one of them pointed to the other. 'Look! Over there!' The other dove turned and his eyes widened in surprise. There were grains lying scattered all over the ground.

Both the doves happily dived to the ground and were amazed to see plenty of grains in coarse jungle sand. Without suspecting anything, the two of them started eating the grains.

Obviously it was a trap. A very clever hunter had laid a net and on top of it, he had spread a lot of grains. As the two birds started eating the grains, unknowingly the two of them got caught in the net.

By the time they had finished eating the two of them were inextricably stuck inside the net with no way of getting out.

The two birds realized the mess they were in. The first bird yelled. 'This is all your fault! You and your hunger! Can you never control your eating?'

'Me?' The second bird shrieked. 'Listening to you someone may think I dragged you with me to eat. If you were so wise, you could have just left me alone to eat!'

The two birds were fighting and cribbing when suddenly they heard the crunching noise made by the human feet on the forest ground.

'That is the hunter! It is because of you....' The first bird yelled.

'Can you keep your mouth shut and let me think for a few seconds...' The second bird angrily shouted as he studied the net. The first bird fidgeted but with great difficulty kept its mouth shut.

The second bird then turned to the first bird. 'Look here! This is a small net and it has not been fastened very well....If we both fly together, we may be able to fly with the net....understood?'

Hearing the closing footsteps of the hunter the first bird fearfully nodded his head. The second bird lifted his wings and the first bird copied it...Heaving and giving it their best effort, the two birds were soon able to fly with the net....

The first bird saw this and gave a whoop of joy! 'I am free! I am free!'

The net started to wobble as the first bird forgot to fly as it was shouting in joy. Apologizing, the bird kept its mouth shut and flew like the second bird lifting the net.

The birds saw the face of the hunter looking surprised as they flew higher  and higher  in the sky.

The hunter looked at the two birds and looked unhappily at them. But then he started running after the two birds, following them on foot....

As the hunter was running, a sage met him. The sage looked at the hunter very strangely. 'Son! You are chasing two birds who are flying away with your net! They have flown away...gone! Why are you still chasing the birds?' The great sage asked the hunter.

The hunter smiled. 'Great Sage! These two birds are not friends. They have made a temporary friendship....They do not trust each other....'

The sage was intrigued. He looked at the wise face of the hunter. 'How do you know that and what does that have to do with you running behind the birds?'

The hunter smiled as he saw the birds and the net still wobbling. He knew he could comfortably reach the distance and spoke. 'I heard the birds squawking as I was near....So I know that they are not friends....'

'So?' The sage asked.

'The birds are flying without a definite direction. They would definitely fight with each other before they reach anywhere....And when they fight...' The hunter smiled, 'They cannot keep the net flying....they will fall!'

The great sage looked at the hunter and then at the two birds. As if on a cue, the two birds started squawking at each other. They looked so busy shouting at each other that neither of them seemed to realize that they were falling on the ground.

The sage watched as the two birds fell to the ground with a thump! Before the two birds knew what hit them, the hunter caught the net along with the two birds with a smile on his lips...

'That is why, my son, fight between the people of the same tribe can be disastrous!' The wise Bhishma told Yudhishtara...

- From the Mahabharatha