As Vaisampayana was narrating the story,
Janamejaya asked him, “You explained how Maya and Aswasena were saved from the conflagration. But how did
the Saranga birds escape?”
Janamejaya then narrated how the Saranga
birds were saved from being burnt by the fire.
There was a great saint by name
Mandapala, who was well versed in the scriptures and who practiced strict austerity.
Having achieved complete control over
his senses, he left his body and went to Pitruloka, the land of the ancestors.
He met Indra, the lord of the celestials who was sitting beside Yama, the God
of death and asked him,“Why have I not got the fruits of my austerity? Why have
I not reached this region of yours after all the penances I have undertaken?”
Indra said “Men are born as debtors.
Their debts will be discharged when they observe austerities and perform
penances and sacrifices and when they get children. These regions remain inaccessible
to you only because you have no children. The Vedas say only a son can rescue a
person from the hell called Put. (That is why a son is called Putra.)”
Hearing this, Mandapala reflected how he
could beget many children within a short time. He then realized that of all the
creatures, the birds were endowed with fecundity. So he assumed the form of a
Saranga bird and connected with a female Saranga bird by name Jarita. He begot
four male birds, all of whom were Vedic scholars even when they were born.
Even before his offspring could come out
of their eggs, Mandapala went to live with another female bird by name Lapita.
Jarita had intense love for its offspring and brought them up with care and affection.
Once, when Mandapala happened to fly over Khandava
forest along with Lapita, he saw Agni going towards the forest. He became aware
of Agni’s intention to burn the forest.
Intending to save his offspring from the
fire, he addressed Agni, “You are the mouth of the entire world. You are the
carrier of the sacrificial butter. The wise people perform the sacrifices in
your presence. Brahmins, along with their wives and children, reach eternal
regions as a result of their sacrifices done through you. Oh, Agni! The flames put forth by you consume every creature. The
Vedas are your word. All creatures depend on you. You are the Ashwini Devas,
you are Surya, you are Chandra and you are Vayu.”
Agni was gratified by this praise and
asked Mandapala,“What good can I do to you?”
Mandapala prayed to him with folded
hands, “When you burn the Khandava forest, please spare my children!”
Agni said, "So be it!”
Accordingly, his flames did not touch
Mandapala’s four children.
When the flames began to engulf every
place in the forest, the infant birds became anxious. They had no means of
escaping. Their mother cried helplessly, “My children, whose feathers have not
developed, are not capable of escaping from the fire, nor am I capable of
carrying them and escaping. I won’t abandon them.”
She then spoke to their children, “I
will cover you with my wings and die with you. Your cruel father left me
sometime back, telling me, ‘My race will be dependent on my eldest son Jaritari.
My second son Sarisrikka will get children for expansion of my ancestor’s race.
My third son Stamvamitra will be devoted to asceticism and my youngest son
Drona will become the foremost of those acquainted with the Vedas.’ But this
terrible tragedy has overtaken us.”
The infants told their mother, “Oh
mother, go to a place where there is no fire. If we are killed here, you can
have other children in future. If you are killed here, we will have no more
children for our race. Do what is good for our race. Don’t be influenced by
your affection for us, which will only destroy us as well as you. If you save
yourself, you may have the wishes of our father gratified.”
Jarita said, :There is a rat hole
underneath the tree. Enter the hole immediately. After you enter the hole, I
will cover its mouth with dust. When the fire is put out, I will return here
and remove the dust from the mouth of the hole. This seems to be the only means
of escape from the conflagration.”
The infant birds said, “If we enter the
hole, we will be eaten by the rat. If we stay here, we will be eaten by the
fire. Considering both the options, we feel that death by fire is preferable,
since such a death is approved by the wise.”
Jarita said, “The rat that came out of
the hole was seized by a hawk and taken away. So you may safely enter the
hole.”
The little birds said, “There may be other rats living there. On the other
hand, the fire may not reach this place. We already see an adverse wind blowing
the flames away. Oh, mother, a position in which death is uncertain is better
than one in which death is certain. It is your duty to escape.”
The mother bird, then, as advised by its
sons, left them and flew to a spot where there was no fire.
As the fire came towards the young
birds, Jaritari, the eldest, said, “The person who is wakeful when death approaches him does not feel the
pangs of death. One who is not, feels the pangs of death and never attains
salvation.”
"The second, Sarisrikka told his
elder brother, “You are patient and intelligent. The time has come when our
lives are threatened. Only one among
many becomes wise and brave.”
The third, Stamvamitra, said, “The
eldest brother is called the protector. He is the one who protects the younger
ones from danger. But if the eldest himself fails to save the younger ones,
what will they do?”
The youngest, Drona said, “The cruel god
of fire, with seven tongues and seven mouths, comes towards us fast, blazing
forth in splendor and licking up everything in its path.”
The sons of Mandapala then recited hymns
in praise of Agni.
Jaritari said, “Oh, Agni, you are the
soul of air and the body of earth’s vegetation. You are the father of water and
water is your father. You flames, like the rays of the Sun, extend to all
sides.”
Sarisrikka said, “Oh, smoke-bannered
god, our mother is not to be seen, and we know not our father! Our feathers have not yet grown. We have no
one to protect us, except you. You are the one who gives heat to the rays of
the Sun. We are young and we are sages. Please protect us.”
"Stamvamitra said, “You are
everything. You sustain every creature and support the universe. You are the
carrier of the sacrificial butter and you are the excellent sacrificial butter
itself. Having created the three worlds, you destroy them when the time comes.
You are the productive cause of the universe and you are the essence into which
the universe dissolves itself.”
"Drona said, “Oh, lord of the
universe, remaining within the bodies of the creatures, you cause the food they
eat to be digested. Therefore everything is established in you. The Vedas have
sprung from your mouth. You assume the form of the Sun, suck off the water and
every juice from the earth and give them
back to it in time in the form of rain and thus cause everything to grow.
"From
you, all the plants have grown, from you all the tanks and pools and even the
oceans have sprung forth. This body depends on Varuna (the Water God) and hence is unable to bear
your heat. Oh, auspicious protector, do not destroy us. Just as the ocean saves
the houses on its banks, save us, by going along some remote route.”
Agni, pleased by the praises showered on
him by the four brothers and remembering the promise he had made to Mandapala,
told them that he would spare them.
Drona told Agni,“Oh, Agni, these cats
trouble us. Consume them with their friends and relatives.”
Sage Mandapala
became anxious of his sons. He shared his concern with his second wife Lapita.
“If my children are unable to save themselves, how will their mother be able to
save them? If she can’t save them, how will she compose herself? Oh, my sons,
how are you and how is your mother?”
On hearing the sage’s lamentation,
Lapita, gripped by jealousy said, ”You need not worry about your children, whom
you have described as sages endued with great energy and prowess. You spoke to
Agni in my presence and he also promised you that he would spare them. He will
not go back on his promise. You are distracted by thinking of my rival Jarita.
It is clear that your love for me is not equal to the love you have for your
first wife. You better go to Jarita. Hereafter, I will wander alone,
considering it as a reward for getting attached to a wicked person.”
Mandapala replied,”I am with you only for the
sake of getting children. The children I already have, are in danger. One who
abandons what he has for the sake of what
he may acquire is a wicked person. The world disregards and disrespects such a person. So, I have to go.
You can do whatever you please to do. While the fire that is devouring the
trees causes sorrow in me, it raises evil sentiments in you.”
In the meanwhile, after the fire had
subsided, Jarita came to see the fate of her children. She was elated to find
all the four of them alive. The young birds began to weep on seeing their
mother. She embraced each of them.
Just at that time, Sage Mandapala
arrived there. But none of his children expressed joy at seeing him. He spoke
to each of them and their mother, but none of them responded.
Mandapala then asked his children, “Who
among you is the first born, who is the second, who in the third and who is the
last? Why don’t you speak to me? It is true that I had left you but I was not
happy where I was.”
Jarita replied, “Why should you know
which of them is the eldest, which is second and so on? Go back to that Lapita
of sweet smiles, for whom you have forsaken me, considering me deficient!”
Mandapala said, “For women, there is
nothing so destructive of their happiness as a co-wife and a clandestine lover.
There is nothing else that inflames the fire of hostility as these two. Even
the auspicious and well-behaved Arundhati was jealous of the illustrious
Vasishtha of great purity of mind, who was always devoted to the good of his wife. Arundhati
insulted the wise sage, who was the foremost among the seven sages.
"As a
consequence, she has become a little star which. like fire mixed with smoke, is
sometimes visible and sometimes not and is
like an omen portending no good, among a constellation of seven bright stars
representing the seven Rishis. Like Vasishta who never wronged his wife, I
never wronged you. Your behavior towards me, like the behavior of Arundhati
towards Vasishta, is born out of jealousy. Men should never trust women, even
if they be wives! When a woman becomes mother, she doesn’t bother about her
husband.”
After hearing Manadapala’s words, his
children came to him and showed their respect to him. He spoke to them kindly
and reassuringly. “I spoke to Agni requesting him to spare you all. He also
assured me that he won’t harm you. Because of this assurance and because of my
knowing about your mother’s devotion to you and the great energy all of you
have, I didn’t come earlier. So don’t have any resentment towards me. You are
all Rishis well versed in the Vedas. Agni also knows you well.”
Mandapala then took his wife and
children with him and went to some other country.
Indra came to Krishna and Arjuna along with
Maruts and told them, “You two have achieved a feat even a celestial could not.
Ask a boon that is not obtainable by any celestial.”
Arjuna asked Indra to give him all his
weapons. Indra agreed to give him all his weapons which would be useful to him
when the time came. Krishna asked that his friendship with Arjuna be eternal.
Indra, after granting the boons asked by
Krishna and Arjuna, went back to his abode.
Agni after becoming gratified after
having eaten, in abundance, the flesh of the animals and birds and drunk their
fat and blood, told Arjuna and Krishna, “I have been gratified by you two
tigers among men. You will be competent to choose wherever you choose.”
Arjuna, Krishna and Daanava Maya then
sat on the banks of the river.
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