The Mahabharata
Book 1: Adi Parva
Kisari Mohan Ganguli, tr.
[1883-1896]
SECTION CVIII
(Sambhava Parva continued)
"Vaisampayana said, 'Thus asked, the tiger among Munis then answered those
Rishis of ascetic wealth, 'Whom shall I blame for this? In fact, none else (than
my own self) hath offended against me!' After this, O monarch, the officers of
justice, seeing him alive, informed the king of it. The latter hearing what they
said, consulted with his advisers, and came to the place and began to pacify the
Rishi. fixed on the stake. And the king said, 'O thou best of Rishis, I have offended
against thee in ignorance. I beseech thee to pardon me for the same. It behoveth
thee not to be angry with me.' Thus addressed by the king, the Muni was pacified.
And beholding him free from wrath, the king took him up with the stake and endeavoured
to extract it from his body. But not succeeding therein, he cut it off at the
point just outside the body. The Muni, with a portion of the stake within his
body, walked about, and in that state practised the austerest of penances and
conquered numberless regions unattainable by others. And for the circumstances
of a part of the stake being within his body, he came to be known in the three
worlds by the name of Ani-Mandavya (Mandavya with the stake within). And one day
that Brahamana acquainted with the highest truth of religion went unto the abode
of the god of justice. And beholding the god there seated on his throne, the Rishi
reproached him and said, 'What, pray, is that sinful act committed by me unconsciously,
for which I am bearing this punishment? O, tell me soon, and behold the power
of my asceticism.'
"The god of justice, thus questioned, replied, 'O thou of ascetic wealth, a
little insect was once pierced by thee on a blade of grass. Thou bearest now the
consequence of the act. O Rishi, as a gift, however small, multiplieth in respect
of its religious merits, so a sinful act multiplieth in respect of the woe it
bringeth in its train.' On hearing this, Ani-Mandavya asked, 'O tell me truly
when this act was committed by me. Told in reply by the god of justice that he
had committed it, when a child, the Rishi said, 'That shall not be a sin which
may be done by a child up to the twelfth year of his age from birth. The scriptures
shall not recognise it as sinful. The punishment thou hast inflicted on me for
such a venial offence hath been disproportionate in severity. The killing of a
Brahmana involves a sin that is heavier than the killing of any other living being.
Thou shall, therefore, O god of justice, have to be born among men even in the
Sudra order. And from this day I establish this limit in respect of the consequence
of acts that an act shall not be sinful when committed by one below the age of
fourteen. But when committed by one above that age, it shall be regarded as sin.'
"Vaisampayana continued, 'Cursed for this fault by that illustrious Rishi,
the god of justice had his birth as Vidura in the Sudra order. And Vidura was
well-versed in the doctrines of morality and also politics and worldly profit.
And he was entirely free from covetousness and wrath. Possessed of great foresight
and undisturbed tranquillity of mind, Vidura was ever devoted to the welfare of
the Kurus.'"
