28 MORAL FABLES FROM SANSKRIT LITERATURE-TALE 6

 

The greedy jackal

There was a hunter by name Bhairava in a hamlet called Kalyana Kataka.  He was a sinner by his acts.  Once he went to the Vindhya forest for hunting the animals.  When he moved along with a deer which was killed by him, then he watched that a gigantic wild boar.  So that the hunter kept the deer in a place and he killed that wild boar with a shaft. When he killed the boar which angrily cried loudly, afflicted his with its tusk and kicked him by which the hunter also fell like a tree which was cut and he became dead.  A serpent which came accidentally there, that too died by moving between both of them when those were shaking their legs at the time of their last breath.

At this juncture, a jackal by name Dheergharaava which roamed here there in that forest, was happen to watch those dead bodies of deer, hunter, serpent and boar and happily overwhelmed.  Then it thought thus: Alas! Today is good day for me.

“Akruthepi udhyame pumsaam anya janma krutham phalam l

  Subha-Asubham samabhyethi vidhinaa sanniyojitham  ll ”

I am so lucky because without any effort I have the result of my birth. I will get my heavy food easily. 

“Maasam ekam naro yaathi dhvou maasou mruga-sookarou l

  Ahirekam dhinam yaathi adhya bhakshyo dhanur gunah ll ”

The flesh of hunter for one month, the flesh of the deer and boar for two months and the flesh of the serpent for one day. While taking the food one should consume it slowly.  Now I shall eat string of this bow.  So that I can whet the first stage of my hunger by eating this tasteless string which connected in the two ends of the bow.  By telling so, when it started to break or tear the string from that bow, the tightened string became loosen, sprang with heavy force from the bow and stroke the chest. 

Then the greedy jackal Dheergharaava became dead with broken chest.

Moral of the story:-

“Athi-thrushnaa na karthavyaa thrushnaam naiva parithyajeth l

  Athi-thrushnaa-abhipoothasya sikhaa bhavathi masthake ll”

Never one should be extra-ordinarily greedy.  But no one can be away from greediness. If anyone with extra-ordinarily greediness (there will be fire on his head) he will face the disaster like the greedy jackal.

(This story is taken from the titled Mitralabhah the 1st volume of the book Hitopadesa which has four volumes viz., Mitralaabhah, Suhrudbedhah, Vigrahah and Sandhi written by Narayana Pandita who lived in later part of the 14^th Century A.D.)

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