Part - 34

Hearing his words the preceptor of the gods smiled and realized that, though endowed with a thousand eyes, Indra was really blind, (lacked discernment). He said, “If anyone practises deception on a devotee of Śrī Rāma (the Lord of Māyā), it recoils on the artificer himself. O king of gods! Last time we did something knowing that it had Śrī Rāma’s tacit approval; but by resorting to some underhand means this time we are sure to meet with disaster. Listen, O lord of gods; it is Śrī Rāma’s nature not to be angry at any offence against Himself. But he who sins against His devotees is surely consumed in the fire of His wrath. The story is well known both in the world as well as in the Vedas: the sage Dūrvāsa know this glorious trait of Śrī Rāma’s character. Has anyone loved Rāma even as Bharata, whose name is ever on the lips of Rāma, while Rāma’s name is repeated by the whole world?

• We read in the Purāṇas how the sage Durvāsā, who is believed to be an incarnation of Lord Śiva and was noted for his irascible nature, once called on King Ambarīṣa, a great devotee of Bhagavān Viṣṇu. It happened to be a Dvādaśī (the twelfth day of a lunar fortnight). The king naturally invited the sage to dine at his palace and the latter accepted his invitation and went to the river bank to take his bath. The king had fasted on the previous day and according to the scriptural injunctions it was necessary that he should break his fast while it was Dvādaśī. The sage, however, did not return in time and the pious king would never break his fast until the sage had taken his meals. He was, therefore in a fix and consulted Brāhmaṇas on the point. The Brāhmaṇas advised the king to observe the formality of breaking his fast by sipping a spoonful of water in which the feet of the Lord’s image had been immersed. By doing so he would not be guilty of dining before the invitee and would also be saved from the offence of not breaking his fast during the Dvādaśī. No sooner had the king sipped the holy water than the sage returned from the river bank and flew into a rage when he learnt that the king had broken his fast and did not await his return. He pulled out a hair from his head and produced therefrom a demoness known by the name of Kṛtyā, which ran to devour the king. Ambarīṣa, who had dedicated himself to the feet of the Lord, and absolutely depended on Him, remained standing where he was and neither shrank out of fear nor made any attempt to save himself.

The Lord, however, would not allow his devotee to die without any fault of his and despatched His own discus, Sudarśana, to save his life. The discus ran after the demoness and having disposed of her pursued the sage himself, who ran for his life and wandered throughout the universe for full one year, but none afforded him shelter. Even Bhagavān Viṣṇu pleaded His helplessness and asked him to approach the king himself and ask for his forgiveness. The king, who was too good to harbour any ill-will against the sage and out of sympathy for him had remained without any food ever since he left, was moved to pity at his predicament and prayed to the Lord’s weapon, Sudarśana, to spare the Brāhmaṇa. Sudarśana granted the king’s prayer and left. The sage, who now realized the king’s greatness, fell at his feet and craved for his forgiveness for what he had done. The king in his turn felt sorry for the hardships which the sage had to suffer on his account and bade him good-bye after entertaining him to a sumptuous dinner and showing him every respect.