hitopadesha

One day in ancient India a King by the name of Dasharatha was out on a hunting trip and he didn’t have much luck that day as he did not encounter any animals. Dasharatha was the ruler of Kosala kingdom with Ayodhya (in present day North India) as its capital and was known to be a wise and just king.

At this stage, we need to pause a bit about Dasharatha’s story and talk about something else that was happening at the same time. A young man by the name of Sravana Kumar was crossing the forest with his blind and aged parents. His parents were very old and quite helpless by themselves and all they had was their son. They were very poor and had to travel from place to place so that the son could find work and support everyone for a while before they had set out for another city. Sravana Kumar was a very dutiful son as he took great care of his old parents and he used to carry them on his shoulder by placing them on two baskets and connecting the baskets by a long stick. The basket was then hung on the two ends of the stick and the parents sat on the basket at both ends. He then used to carry them around from place to place with the stick on his shoulder. His parents were very proud of him and felt helpless sometimes that they were burdening him so much. On the other hand Sravana Kumar felt no such feelings and he thanked God for giving him the opportunity to serve his parents as according to him there was no greater deed than to serve and keep ones parents comfortable and happy.

Now they were crossing the same forest in which Dasharatha was hunting. After a while into the forest, the old parents became thirsty and requested Sravana to fetch them some water to drink. Leaving his parents under the shade of a tree, Sravana took a pot and went in search of a stream to fetch water. He found one after a bit of wandering and was filling his pot with water.

Dasharatha was a very skilled archer. He was so skilled that he could shoot his arrow in the direction from which a sound is emanating and the arrow would find its target. Fate was such that on that day Dasharatha was having no luck spotting an animal and he was getting desperate for a kill. While Sravana tried to fill his pot with water, it made a gurgling sound of air escaping the pot and Dasharatha heard it from the place where he was looking for a kill. Upon hearing the sound, he felt it was an animal drinking water and immediately shot his arrow in that direction, only to find that his arrow did not kill an animal but shot right through Sravana’s heart.

When Dasharatha came to collect his game, he was shocked to see that he had killed another helpless human and was shattered by his action. Sravana, was slowly dying and when he saw the king he called him closer. Dasharatha felt terrible by his action and sought forgiveness from him. Sravana dismissed it and told the king that it was an accident and he would not have done something like this had he know it was a human and not an animal and hence he does not hold any grudge and also need not have to forgive the king. This is even more difficult to deal with for a king where Sravana Kumar was just too good and he felt helpless and ashamed of his act. As he was dying, Sravana said to the king if he could do him just one favor; as his parents were thirsty and waiting for his return, he requested the king to give them the pot of water lest they suffer in thirst. Dasharatha readily agreed and having said that, Sravana passed away.

Dasharatha then took the water to where the parents were resting and without saying anything he gave them the water. The parents drank the water and they, even though blind, sensed that it was not their son and asked the stranger who he was. Dasharatha then related the whole story and ended with the death of Sravana. Naturally, the parents were devastated as their only reason to live was their son and he has been killed too. In a fit of anger they cursed Dasharatha that he too would die one day pining for his son the same way the old blind couple was suffering. And, saying that they immediately lay dead. Dasharatha went home a sad man unable to mend any of the incidents of the day and with the burden of the curse of an old couple.

Dasharatha is none other than the father of Rama who in the end died true to his curse pining for Rama who was banished to the forest by his step mother.

This is first of the series of stories I plan to write from Ramayana and you will read more about this exalted incarnation of Vishnu in the future posts.

Thank you for reading and until next time,

peace,
aditya.