SECTION CVII
(Sambhava Parva continued)
"Janamejaya said, 'What did the god of
justice do for which he was cursed? And who was the Brahmana ascetic from whose
curse the god had to be born in the Sudra caste?'
"Vaisampayana said, 'There was a Brahmana
known by the name of Mandavya. He was conversant with all duties and was
devoted to religion, truth and asceticism. The great ascetic used to sit at the
entrance of his hermitage at the foot of a tree, with his arms upraised in the
observance of the vow of silence. And as he sat there for years together, one
day there came into his asylum a number of robbers laden with spoil. And, O
bull in Bharata's race, those robbers were then being pursued by a superior
body as guardians of the peace. The thieves, on entering that asylum, hid their
booty there, and in fear concealed themselves thereabout before the guards
came. But scarcely had they thus concealed themselves when the constables in
pursuit came to the spot. The latter, observing the Rishi sitting under the
tree, questioned him, O king, saying, 'O best of Brahmanas, which way have the
thieves taken? Point it out to us so that we may follow it without loss of
time.' Thus questioned by the guardians of peace the ascetic, O king, said not
a word, good or otherwise, in reply. The officers of the king, however, on
searching that asylum soon discovered the thieves concealed thereabout together
with the plunder. Upon this, their suspicion fell upon the Muni, and
accordingly they seized him with the thieves and brought him before the king.
The king sentenced him to be executed along with his supposed associates. And
the officers, acting in ignorance, carried out the sentence by impaling the
celebrated Rishi. And having impaled him, they went to the king with the booty
they had recovered. But the virtuous Rishi, though impaled and kept without
food, remained in that state for a long time without dying. And the Rishi by
his ascetic power not only preserved his life but summoned other Rishi to the
scene. And they came there in the night in the forms of birds, and beholding
him engaged in ascetic meditation though fixed on that stake, became plunged
into grief. And telling that best of Brahmanas who they were, they asked him
saying, 'O Brahmana, we desire to know what hath been thy sin for which thou
hast thus been made to suffer the tortures of impalement!'"
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