‘“On one occasion, another brahmana arrived at that spot. He had matted hair and was dressed in rags and hides. He was extremely pure and devoted to studying. He was humble and controlled in his food. He was devoted to the brahman and accomplished in the Vedas. The brahmachari, who hailed from the same country257 as his beloved friend, came to that village of the bandits. Since he avoided food cooked by shudras, he looked for the home of a brahmana. In the village, which was inhabited by a large number of bandits, he roamed around in every direction. That supreme among brahmanas then entered Goutama’s house. When Goutama returned, they met each other. When he returned, he had a load of cranes in his hand and wielded a bow in his hand. His limbs were covered in blood and he appeared at the door of the house. On seeing this flesh-eater, who had deviated and fallen, he still recognized him as the brahmana and in shame, spoke these words. ‘Why are you acting in this stupid way? You were born in the lineage of a brahmana. You were known in the central regions. How have you come to act like a bandit? Remember the first and foremost among the brahmanas, renowned for their knowledge of the Vedas. You were born in that lineage! The way you are now, you are the worst of your lineage. Awake and realize your own self of truthfulness, good conduct, learning and self-control. O brahmana! Remember your compassion and give up this attire.’ O king! He was thus addressed by his well-wisher, who had his welfare in mind. Having decided, he miserably replied, ‘O best among brahmanas! I possess no riches. I am not learned in the Vedas. O supreme among brahmanas! Know that I have come to this state in search of a means of subsistence. O brahmana rishi! On seeing you, I know that I will be successful. We will leave together in the morning. Dwell here during the night.’”’
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‘Bhishma said, “When night was over, that supreme among brahmanas departed. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Goutama also left and headed in the direction of the ocean. Along the road, he saw some traders advancing towards the ocean. In the company of their caravan, he went towards the ocean. O great king! However, in a mountainous cavern, that caravan was attacked by a crazy elephant and most of them were killed. In some way, the brahmana managed to escape. Not knowing the directions but wishing to save his life, he fled in the northern direction. He lost everything—the caravan, the directions, the riches. He fled alone through the forest, like a kimpurusha. He eventually managed to reach a road that led in the direction of the ocean and then reached a beautiful forest that was full of large blossoming trees. There were beautiful and flowering mango trees in every direction. That spot was like Nandana258 and was inhabited by yakshas and kinnaras. There were groves of shala, tala, dhava, ashvattha and sandalwood trees. The best among trees were full of flowers. The beautiful valley in the mountains was extremely fragrant with auspicious scents. Excellent birds warbled and chirped in every direction. There were the famous bharunda birds,259 with faces like that of men. In every direction, there were bhulingas260 and other birds that frequented the ocean. Listening to the extremely melodious and pleasant sounds of the birds, the brahmana, Goutama, moved along.
‘“He then saw a lovely region that was spread with golden sand. It was wonderful and the region had a complexion like that of heaven. There was a giant and handsome banyan tree and it was rounded. It was adorned with beautiful branches and was like an umbrella. Its root was sprinkled extremely well with water mixed with the best of sandalwood. Covered with divine flowers, it was as handsome as the grandfather’s261 throne. It was supreme and loved by the sages. On seeing it, Goutama was delighted. Surrounded by flowering trees, it looked like the house of a god. He joyfully approached it and seated himself under its branches. O Kouravya! As Goutama was seated there, a pleasant and auspicious breeze began to blow. O king! That sacred breeze touched all the flowers and removed all the exhaustion from Goutama’s heart and limbs. The brahmana was touched by the auspicious breeze. He slept happily and the sun set. When the sun set, twilight manifested. The king of cranes was known by the name of Nadijangha. He was supreme among birds and was Brahma’s beloved friend. The immensely wise one was descended from Kashyapa. He returned to his abode. Unsurpassed on earth, he was also known by the name of Rajadharma. He was the son of a celestial maiden. He was handsome and learned and was like the lord of the gods in his complexion. He was covered in golden plumage and his ornaments were like the sun. Blazing in prosperity, he was adorned all over his body. He was descended from the gods. On seeing the bird arrive, Goutama was astounded. He was overcome by hunger and thirst and glanced at it, desirous of causing injury.262
‘“Rajadharma said, ‘O brahmana! Welcome. It is through good fortune that you have come to my house. The sun has set and twilight has presented itself. You have come to my residence as a beloved and unblemished guest. In accordance with the prescribed rites, you will be worshipped. Leave in the morning.’”’
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‘Bhishma said, “Hearing these sweet words, Goutama was astounded. O king! He was curious and looked at Rajadharma.
‘“Rajadharma said, ‘I am the son of Kashyapa and Dakshayani is my mother.263 O bull among brahmanas! You are a guest and possess all the qualities. Welcome.’”
‘Bhishma said, “In accordance with the prescribed rites, he gave him all the honours. He fashioned a celestial seat that was covered with shala flowers. That region around the Ganga was traversed by Bhagiratha’s chariot and was inhabited by a large number of fishes. Kashyapa264 properly lit a blazing fire and cooked some extremely large fish, offering them to Goutama, the guest. The brahmana fed on these and was delighted. The great-minded one then fanned him with his wings, so that his exhaustion might become less. When he was seated and rested, he asked him about his gotra. He said, ‘I am Goutama, a brahmana.’ He did not say anything else. He gave him a celestial bed covered with fragrant leaves and adorned with divine flowers. Goutama happily lay down on it. Once he had lain down on the bed, the eloquent Kashyapa, the king of the cranes, asked him, ‘What is the reason behind your coming here?’ O descendant of the Bharata lineage! At this, Goutama replied, ‘O immensely intelligent one! I am poor. I have come to the ocean with the object of acquiring some riches.’ Kashyapa cheerfully replied, ‘O foremost among brahmanas! You should not be anxious. You will be successful. You will return to your home with riches. O lord! It is Brihaspati’s view that there are four means of obtaining riches—inheritance, fate, deeds and friends. I have appeared before you as a friend and you are also my well-wisher. I will try on your account, so that you can truly obtain riches.’ When it was morning, he asked him265 whether he was comfortable and said, ‘O amiable one! Advance along this path and you will be successful. Once you have travelled three yojanas, there will be a great lord of the rakshasas. He is immensely strong and is known by the name of Virupaksha. He is my friend. O best among brahmanas! Go to him. Because of my telling him, there is no doubt that he will give you as much of riches as you desire.’ O king! Having been thus addressed, Goutama was no longer exhausted and departed.
‘“O great king! Along the way, as much as he wished, he ate fruit that was like amrita and progressed quickly. There were excellent forests of sandalwood, aloe and cinnamon. He reached a city named Meruvraja, with stone walls. There were ramparts made out of stone and a mechanical gate made out of stone. O king! It was announced to the intelligent Indra among rakshasas that a beloved well-wisher had sent a beloved guest to him. O Yudhishthira! At this, the Indra among rakshasas told his messengers, ‘Goutama has arrived at the gates of the city. Quickly go and bring him here.’ Men attired in white garments emerged from that supreme city. O great king! The messengers of the lord of the rakshasas went to the city gates and told the brahmana, ‘O Goutama! Make haste and come quickly. The king wishes to see you. The brave lord of the rakshasas is Virupaksha and you have heard of him. He wishes to see you swiftly. Therefore, you must make haste.’ Because of his amazement, the brahmana’s exhaustion vanished and he hurried. Goutama saw the prosperity of the city and
marvelled greatly. With the servants, he quickly arrived at the king’s residence. At that time, the brahmana wished to see the Indra among the rakshasas.”’
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‘Bhishma said, “Announced to the king, he entered that supreme house. He was honoured by the Indra among rakshasas and seated himself on an excellent seat. He was asked about his gotra, his code of behaviour, his studies and the nature of his brahmacharya. However, the brahmana told him nothing, other than his gotra. He no longer observed brahmacharya and had stopped studying. The king only got to know about his gotra and asked him where he lived. ‘O fortunate one! Where do you dwell? What is the gotra of your brahmana wife? Tell me everything. Do not be frightened. You should happily rest.’ Goutama replied, ‘I have been born in the central regions. I dwell in Shabara’s house. My wife is a shudra who has married again. I am telling you this truthfully.’ At this, the king thought, ‘How is this possible? What should I do now? How can I obtain merit?’ He used his intelligence to think about this. ‘This one has been born as a brahmana. He was sent here to me by my great-souled well-wisher, Kashyapa. Since he has always sought refuge with him, I must do what pleases him. He is my brother and relative.266 He is also a friend who is dear to my heart. This is full moon in the month of Kartika267 and one thousand excellent brahmanas will eat in my house. He will also eat here and I will give him some of my riches.’ One thousand learned and ornamented brahmanas arrived there. They had bathed and prepared themselves. They were attired in long linen garments. O lord of the earth! Those best among brahmanas came to Virupaksha from many directions. He received them as they deserved, following the prescribed rites.
‘“On the instructions of the Indra among the rakshasas, blankets were spread out on the ground. O supreme among the Bharata lineage! The servants spread out cushions on these. Seated there, the best among brahmanas were worshipped by the king. O great king! They were as radiant as the lord of the nakshatras.268 There were sparkling, pure and golden vessels, decorated with diamonds. These were filled with excellent rice, flowing with honey and ghee, and offered to the brahmanas. Many brahmanas always received this, in the months of Ashadha and Magha.269 Honoured well, they always received the excellent food that they desired. But it has been heard that the full moon in Kartika, after autumn is over, was special and brahmanas were given jewels—gold, silver, gems, pearls, extremely expensive diamonds, lapis lazuli, skins of black antelope and skins of ranku deer. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The immensely illustrious Virupaksha threw away a large pile of jewels as dakshina and told the foremost among the brahmanas, ‘Take these jewels, as much as you can, and as much as you wish. O best among brahmanas! Whatever be the vessels you have eaten from, take those too, and go to your own homes.’ When addressed by the great-souled Indra among rakshasas in these words, the bulls among brahmanas accepted a sufficient quantity of jewels. All of them were worshipped with those sparkling and extremely expensive jewels. Attired in excellent garments, the brahmanas were delighted. O king! The Indra among rakshasas restrained the rakshasas and again spoke to the brahmanas, who had arrived from many directions. ‘O brahmanas! This is one day when you need have no fear from the rakshasas. Amuse yourselves, as you like, and leave quickly.’ At this, all the large numbers of brahmanas fled in different directions.
‘“Goutama also swiftly grasped a load of gold. O brave one! He bore this with difficulty and approached the banyan tree. He was exhausted and sat down. He was tired and hungry. O king! At that time, Rajadharma, supreme among birds, who was devoted to his friend, arrived and welcomed Goutama. The bird fanned him with his wings and removed his exhaustion. He honoured him and made arrangements for his food. Having eaten and having rested well, Goutama began to think. ‘Because of both my greed and my confusion, I have seized this extremely large burden of gold. I have a long distance to travel. There will be no food on the way, whereby I can stay alive. How will I be able to sustain my life?’ He thought in this way. He could not see any food that would be available along the route. O tiger among men! The ingrate thought in his mind, ‘This lord of the cranes is by my side and he is a heap of flesh. I will kill him and take him with me. I will then swiftly depart.’”’
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‘Bhishma said, “For the sake of protection, the Indra among the birds had kindled a great and blazing fire there and the wind was its charioteer. Having done this, the king of the cranes trustfully went to sleep by the side. Wishing to kill him, the evil-souled ingrate remained awake. With a blazing brand, he killed that trustful one. Having killed him, he was delighted, not seeing the consequences this would lead to. He removed the wings and the feathers and cooked the rest over the fire. Then, taking this and the gold, the brahmana left speedily.
‘“After another day passed, Virupaksha told his son, ‘O son! Today, I have not seen Rajadharma, supreme among birds. Every evening, he always goes to show his obeisance to Brahma. After this, the bird never goes home without having seen me first. It is now two evenings and two nights since he came to my residence. Therefore, I am disturbed and must find out about my well-wisher. That worst among brahmanas was disunited from studying and the radiance of the brahman wasn’t there in him. He has gone there and it is my fear that he might have killed him. I noticed that his conduct was wicked and from signs, could make out that he was evil-minded. He did not perform rites and was terrible in form. He was dark, like the worst among bandits. Goutama has gone there. That is the reason my mind is anxious. O son! Swiftly go to Rajadharma’s abode. Immediately find out if the one who is pure in his soul is still alive.’ Having been thus addressed, he quickly went to the banyan tree with some rakshasas and saw Rajadharma’s skeleton there. Weeping, the intelligent son of the Indra among the rakshasas speedily rushed, to the best of his capacity, to seize Goutama. A short distance away, the rakshasas seized Goutama. They also obtained Rajadharma’s body, bereft of the wings, the bones and the feet. Having taken this, the rakshasas hastened to Meruvraja.
‘“They showed Rajadharma’s body and the ungrateful man, Goutama, wicked in his senses, to the king. The king, with his advisers and priests, lamented on seeing him. Great sounds of lamentation arose in the residence. The city, with the women and the children, were distracted. The king told his son, ‘Slay this wretch. As you wish, all of you merrily feast on his flesh. He is wicked in his conduct. He is evil in his deeds. He is dastardly in his soul. His determination is sinful. It is my view that the rakshasas should kill him.’ Having been addressed by the Indra among the rakshasas, the rakshasas, terrible in their valour, did not wish to eat him and said, ‘He is wicked in his deeds. It is proper that this worst among men should be given to the bandits.’ O great king! The travellers of the night addressed the Indra among the rakshasas in this way. Before the lord of the large number of rakshasas, they bowed their heads down on the ground and said, ‘You should not give him to us to eat. He is evil.’ Having been thus addressed by the travellers of the night, the Indra among rakshasas instructed the rakshasas that he should be given to the bandits. Thus instructed, the servants picked up tridents and clubs in their hands. They chopped the wicked one up into pieces and gave him to the bandits. However, even the bandits did not desire to eat the evil-acting one. O Indra among kings! Predatory creatures did not eat the ingrate either.
‘“If someone kills a brahmana, if someone is a drunkard, if someone is a thief, if someone has broken his vows—there are indicated means of atonement. O king! But there is no salvation for someone who is ungrateful. Someone who injures his friends, someone who is violent and someone who is ungrateful is the worst among men. Predatory creatures, worms and other such beings will not devour someone like this.”’
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‘Bhishma said, “The rakshasa270 had a funeral pyre constructed for the king of the cranes. It was decorated with gems, fragrances and garments. O king! The Indra among the rakshasas then followed the prescribed ordinances and performed the funeral rites for
the powerful king of the cranes. At that time, the auspicious and illustrious goddess, Dakshayani Surabhi,271 appeared overhead. O unblemished one! Froth and milk flowed from her mouth and streamed onto Rajadharma’s funeral pyre. O unblemished one! The king of the cranes was revived at this. The lord of the cranes arose and approached Virupaksha. At that time, the king of the gods came to Virupaksha’s city and told Virupaksha, ‘It is good fortune that he has come alive.’ Indra told Virupaksha about an ancient curse that had, in earlier times, been imposed by Brahma on Rajadharma. ‘O king! When the lord of the cranes did not worship Brahma, the grandfather was enraged and spoke to the Indra among the cranes. “This worst among cranes has foolishly not presented himself before me. Therefore, this evil-souled one will shortly be killed.” Because of those words, he was slain by Goutama. Having been sprinkled with amrita, the crane has again been brought back to life.’ When this was spoken, Rajadharma bowed down before Purandara and said, ‘O Purandara! If your mind is inclined towards showing me favours, let my extremely beloved friend, Goutama, come back to life.’ O bull among men! Vasava agreed to these words. He revived Goutama and handed him over to his friend. O king! The lord of the cranes was supremely delighted and embraced his friend, who was still carrying the burden.272 Then, Rajadharma, the lord of the cranes, took his leave of the evil-acting one and his riches and entered his own residence. The crane went to Brahma’s assembly, as he should have. And Brahma honoured the great-souled one as a guest.
Mahabharata: Volume 8 Page 63