Mahabharatha episode - 26

 

Shaunaka said: “Sutanandana! I wish to know why that great sage was called Jaratkaru. For what reason did he become known as Jaratkaru on this earth? Tell me the meaning of Jaratkaru.” The Suta said: “Understand that ‘Jara’ means reduction and ‘Karu’ means a very large body. It is said that that sage, by intense penance, gradually reduced his very large body. Brahmin! For this reason, Vasuki’s sister was also called Jaratkaru.”

Hearing this, the righteous Shaunaka smiled and said to Ugrasrava, "You are right!"

The Suta said: “A great deal of time passed. Yet that sage, who had taken a vow of penance and was engaged in penance, did not desire a wife. That great soul, Urdhvareta, engaged in meditation and penance, traveled all over the world without the slightest fear. Not a single desire for a wife entered his mind.

After a long time had passed, as time had come, a famous king named Parikshit was born in the Kaurava dynasty. Like his ancient forefather, he was mighty-armed, the greatest archer on earth, and fierce.

That Lord of the Earth was roaming around hunting deer, boars, hyenas, bison, and many other wild animals. Once, having shot a deer with an arrow, he shouldered his bow and followed it into the dense forest.

Just as Lord Rudra searched for the sacrificial animal in the heavenly world, Dhanushpani began searching for it here and there. No beast he had killed before had survived. The beast that had now disappeared seemed to signify the death of King Parikshit.

Having gone a long way in pursuit of the deer, Mahipati, tired and thirsty, saw a sage in a cowshed in the forest, drinking only the foam of milk from the mouths of the calves as they drank milk. The king, who was suffering from hunger and thirst, approached him with speed, raised his bow, and asked the sage, sanshitavrata:

"Brahmin! I am King Parikshit, son of Abhimanyu. A deer that I shot has disappeared. Have you seen where it has gone?" The sage, who was observing a vow of silence, did not answer him. The king, enraged by this, picked up a dead snake from the end of his bow and put it around his neck. Even then, he did not speak a word, good or bad.

Seeing the sage in that state, the king let go of his anger and sadly returned to his city.

He had a young son named Shringi, who was very bright, very ascetic, very angry and difficult to persuade. That omniscient one, sitting in his seat with perfect self-control, worshipped the Supreme Lord Brahma from time to time. As ordered by Brahma, he returned to his home.

To that sage, who was filled with a fiery anger, his friend Krisha, the son of another sage, said with a smile and in jest:

"Shringi! Give up your pride. You may be an ascetic and a brilliant person. But your father is carrying a corpse on his shoulders."

You do not need to do any business with us, the sons of sages, who are ascetics, Siddhas, and Brahmans.

"Where is your manhood and where do your words of pride go when you see your father carrying a dead body?"