01.101
Pancharatra:Curse of Animandavya
Janamejaya said:
O Brahmarshi, what righteous act did he perform by which he incurred a curse? And by whose curse was he born in a śūdra womb?
Vaiśampāyana said:
There was a brāhmaṇa known as Māṇḍavya, steadfast and versed in all dharmas, established in truth and austerity.
He, the great ascetic, stood with arms raised at the entrance of his hermitage under a tree, a great yogi observing a vow of silence.
In the course of time, as he stood in penance, bandits carrying stolen goods came to that hermitage, pursued by many guards, O best of the Bharatas.
They placed the stolen goods in his dwelling, O best of Kurus, and hid themselves there out of fear as the guards approached.
When they were hidden, the guards quickly arrived and, following the thieves, saw the sage there.
They then asked the ascetic, O king: “O best of twice-born, by which path did the bandits go? We shall go quickly by that path, O Brāhmaṇa.”
Thus, though the guards spoke to him, the ascetic did not utter a single word, whether good or bad, O king.
Then the king’s men, searching the hermitage, saw the hidden thieves there along with the stolen goods.
Then suspicion arose among the guards toward the sage. Restraining him, they reported both him and the bandits to the king.
The king, along with the thieves, ordered his execution; and the great ascetic, unknown to be innocent, was impaled on a stake by the executioners.
Then the guards, having impaled the sage on the stake, returned to the king carrying the goods they had recovered.
Though impaled on the stake, the righteous brāhmaṇa-sage, without food for a long time, did not die and sustained his life, calling other sages to him.
As the great-souled sage suffered on the stake with his intense austerity, the other sages experienced extreme anguish, O scorcher of foes.
That night, assuming the form of birds, the sages gathered from all sides and asked him, O best of brāhmaṇas: “O brāhmaṇa, we wish to know what sin you have committed.”
Then the tiger among sages said to the ascetics: “Whom shall I blame for this fault? Indeed, no one else has offended me.”
Hearing of the matter, the king came out with his ministers and sought forgiveness from the sage who was on the stake.
O best of sages, what I did was out of delusion and ignorance; I beg your forgiveness. You should not be angry with me for that.
Thus addressed by the king, the sage granted his grace. Then, the king, having received it, took him down from the stake.
Having taken him down from the stake, he pulled out the stake—indeed. But being unable to remove it entirely, he cut it off at the root.
Thus the sage roamed with the stake still embedded. By his penance he conquered worlds unattainable by others, and hence is known in the worlds as Aṇīmāṇḍavya.
The brāhmaṇa sage, knower of supreme truth, went to the abode of Dharma. Seeing Dharma seated, he reproached him.
What misdeed did I unknowingly commit, the fruit of which has brought me such suffering? Tell me the truth quickly—behold the power of my penance.
Dharma said:
A blade of grass was inserted by you into the tails of insects. This is the fruit of that act, O ascetic.
Aṇīmāṇḍavya said:
For such a small fault, you inflicted a great punishment upon me. Therefore, O Dharma, you shall be born as a human in a śūdra womb.
Today I establish the law of karmic fruitfulness in the world: henceforth, up to the fourteenth year, actions will not incur sin; fault will lie solely with the doer if imposed by another.
Vaiśampāyana said:
By the fault and the curse of that great soul, Dharma was born in a śūdra womb in the form of Vidura.
Skilled in dharma and artha, free from greed and anger, farsighted and devoted to peace, he was ever engaged in the welfare of the Kurus.
