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.'"
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