STORY EIGHTEEN
The Cremation ground looked terrifying on all sides filled
with ‘cremation fires’ protruding their greedy tongues of flames, and the wild
flesh-eating birds and animals. The king undaunted by all the gory scenes
quickly walked towards the Shimshapaa tree. When he climbed up to remove the
corpse he was shocked to see many corpses hanging from all the branches of the
tree. He was unable to find the real one.
“Aha! What is this? Is the Vetaala with magical powers
trying to waste my time and delay me? I do not know which corpse I should take
away! If I do not succeed in finishing my work this night, I should enter the
fire rather than get ridiculed by one and all.”
Pleased by his determination, the Vetaala withdrew its
magic. There was just only one corpse left on the tree. The king removed it;
placed it on his shoulder and started to walk. The spirit spoke through the
corpse-
“King! If you do not mind, let me tell you a story.”
There is this city of Ujjayini which was like the third
wonderful phenomena after the city of Bhogavati built by Lord Shambu wanting to
create an extraordinary abode for Gouri pleased by her penance and the city of
Amaraavati , the abode of Indra.
The people who are meritorious enough to live there enjoy so
many pleasures that they do not desire even the heaven of Indra.
In that city,
the beautiful women have - hardness कार्कश्यं in breasts (not in
words);
restlessness चापलं in the eyes (not in the mind);
bending भङ्गिः in the brows (not in the character).
In that city-
darkness तमः is there at night (not तमः ignorance in the minds of people);
वक्रत्वं (Vakrokti Alankaara) in the compositions of poets (not वक्रत्वं
crookedness in the minds);
intoxication मदः in elephants (not मदः
arrogance in the
people);
coolness जाड्यं was in the pearls, sandal paste and moon
(not जाड्यं
foolishness in the people).
This city was ruled by a king named ChandaPrabha.
He had a Brahmin minister named DevaSwaamy who was
well-known; rich; highly learned and had performed many sacrifices. He had a
son named ChandraSwaamy.
ChandraSwaamy went to gamble in some assembly of gamblers
which had –
dices namely disasters looking like dark black eyes throwing
their glances always as to “Whom shall I catch here?”;
and high raised
voices of players shouting-“Who is
there , whose wealth will not be taken away by me even if he is Kubera the Lord
of Alakaapuri?”
ChandraSwaamy soon lost to the deceitful players all his
expensive garments and money while gambling. He gambled for more money and lost
that too. But as he could not give the money, the owner of that gambling club
got him beaten up with clubs. The wounded Brahmin boy fell down and remained unmoving
pretending to be dead. Two days passed like this. The wicked master of those
gamblers told the deceitful players-
“This man is like a stone. Throw into some dry well. I
will myself give the money which he owes you.”
The fraudulent players carried ChandraSwaamy who had not
even clothes on his body, outside the club and searching for a dry well to
throw him went to the far away forest. One old man among those players then
said-
“This fellow is anyhow dead. Why bother to throw him in a
well? Let us leave him here somewhere and report that we have thrown him inside
a well.”
So they threw him there itself and went away.
After they were gone ChandraSwaamy got up. As he wandered,
he saw Shiva’s temple and entered it. There he rested for a while and thought-
‘Ha! What a difficulty! I trusted those wicked players
and got cheated out of everything that I had. Now I am stuck here without any
clothes to cover me and covered by dust. Where shall I go? What will my father,
relatives and friends say? I will remain here itself now. At night I will go
out and try to get some food.’
As this Digambara (naked one- who has directions as cloth)
was thinking like this distressed, Sun discarded his ‘Ambara’ (sky) and went
off to the western Mountain.
(Sun set in the west.)
Then an acetic whose limbs were covered by ashes; who had
performed many austerities, who held a spear in his hand, who looked like
another Shiva, came there.
He saw ChandraSwaamy and asked-
“Who are you?”
ChandraSwaamy saluted him and confided in him everything.
The ascetic said to him-
“O Good man! You have come to my hermitage and are my
guest now. You seem to be hungry. Get up. Have a bath and share my alms.”
ChandraSwaamy said to him-
“Bhagavan! I am a Brahmin. How can I share your alms?”
Hearing this, the Siddha-ascetic felt compassionate towards
the guest; entered his hut; recited the sacred chants of the Goddess of
learning who could fulfill any wish.
She appeared and asked-
“What should I do?”
He ordered her-
“Please offer
hospitality to the guest in the due manner.”
She consented.
Immediately a golden city rise up there filled with gardens
and girls. ChandraSwaamy was amazed by all this.
The girls approached him and said-“Good man! Get up!
Come! Take bath! Eat! Enjoy the company of our Mistress!”
They took him inside; gave him a bath; applied fragrant
pastes on his body; clothed him with beautiful garments; took him to another
house.
There ChandraSwaamy saw a very beautiful girl as if made by
the Creator using his full talent. She got up as soon she saw him; made him get
seated on a throne; offered him various delicacies and fruits and Taamboola (betel
leaf with nuts); later he enjoyed her company at night on a beautiful bed.
When he got up in the morning ChandraSwaamy found himself in
the temple of Shiva
“Bhagavan! By your grace, I spent the night happily. But
without that divine girl I cannot live.”
The ascetic smiled and said-
“Stay here itself. You will have the same experience at
night again.”
ChandraSwaamy remained in the hermitage and experienced the
same pleasures every night by the power of the Yogi.
As days went by, ChandraSwaamy understood the value of the magical
learning. Prompted by fate, he pleased the ascetic in many ways and pleaded
with him-
“Bhagavan! If you are really pleased with me who has
taken shelter with you, then teach me that learning by which all this magic
occurs.”
Again and again pleaded like this, the ascetic said to him-
“Good man! This learning cannot be mastered by you. This
has to be practiced staying inside the waters. When one is reciting this chant
inside the waters, many delusory events will occur disturbing the practioner so
that he fails in his endeavor. The practioner may find himself born as a child;
growing into a youth; marrying; getting a child; seeing enemies, friends and so
on. He will forget the present identity and his endeavor to attain the learning
in this birth.
However if one is able to practice the recital of the chant for twenty
four years, he will remember the original birth; understand the delusory
happenings around him; enter the fire in the delusory life; come out of the
water and have the mastery of the learning. This is possible only for a true
disciple. If it is taught to a wrong person, Guru also will perish. By my
Siddhi itself you are enjoying the fruits of the learning, then why you want to
master it? If I lose the power of the learning, then all these experiences of
your also will cease to occur.”
ChandraSwaamy said-
“ Bhagavan! I can do everything needed for the practice.
Do not worry.”
The ascetic agreed to teach him the sacred chant.
आश्रितानुरोधेन किं हि न कुर्वन्ति साधवः ?
What the good will not
oblige with to please those who have taken shelter in them?
ChandraSwaamy went to the river-side with the ascetic. The ascetic said to
him-
“Child! As you chant the Mantra inside the water, you will have delusory
visions. Then enter the fire inside that delusory life itself when I warn you
by my power. I will wait here till you return.”
ChandraSwaamy took bath; purified himself through rites. The ascetic taught
him the Mantra. As the Guru stood on the bank, ChandraSwaamy saluted him and
quickly entered the water. He started reciting the Mantra. Immediately he was
deluded. He forgot his identity as ChandraSwaamy; saw himself born to some
other Brahmin; growing; getting the Upanayana (sacred thread wearing ceremony) performed;
studying scriptures; marrying; experiencing pains and pleasures; getting
children and so on. Getting attached to the wife and children he lived there
itself with his parents, and relatives.
As if he was undergoing false life-experiences inside the
water, the kind ascetic manifested the learning which could wake him up in
time. ChandraSwaamy suddenly remembered his real identity and life in the
middle of that delusory life. He decided to enter the fire in that life so that
he could attain the fruits of his magical chant in his original birth. His
parents and relatives of his delusory life were distressed and tried to stop
him from entering the fire. But ChandraSwaamy was after the divine experiences
resulting from the chant; so he went the river bank; prepared a fire and got
ready to enter it. All his relatives,
parents, wife, and children of that delusory world started to weep and cry
loudly.
ChandraSwaamy thought-
“Alas! What a problem! If I enter the fire, all these
relatives will also die. I do not also know whether the Guru’s words will turn
out to be true or false! Should I enter the fire or house? Or how can the words
of such a powerful ascetic turn false? So I better enter the fire itself.”
So thinking ChandraSwaamy entered the fire. But instead of
the heat of the fire, he felt the fire as cold as the snow. Surprised and freed
from the fear of fire, he got out of the waters. He saw the ascetic standing
there and saluted him. He told him all the experiences he had under the waters.
Then his Guru said to him-
“Child! You have done something wrong. How could the fire
have turned cold? This is an impediment in the mastering of the learning.”
ChandraSwaamy said-
“Bhagavan! I do not remember
to have done anything wrong.”
Then the Guru tried to call on
the deity of that learning. She did not appear before him or the disciple. Both
of them left that place as both had lost the power of the learning.
END
Vetaala finished the story and asked the king-
“King! Clear this doubt of mine.
Though everything was done as prescribed, why did both of
them lose the learning?”
The king answered-
“Yogeshvara! I know you want to waste my time through all
this; yet I will answer you.
The required result is obtained not by performing the
difficult task; but by the purity of the mind accompanying the effort.
When the foolish Brahmin boy was woken up from his
delusion, he still had doubts and misgivings. So he could not succeed in
mastering the learning.
Having taught an undeserving person, the Guru also lost
his learning.”
Hearing the king speaking like this, Vetaala vanished and
hung on the tree. The king undaunted ran behind it.
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