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Articles: Moral Stories | kaakolikyam
- Mr. Siri Siri
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THE BRAHMIN AND THE COBRA
Once upon a time, there lived in a village a poor Brahmin named Haridutt. He had a small piece of land on which he practiced agriculture to earn his livelihood. But it was not a very rewarding job for him and for most part of the year he remained hand to mouth.
One day, while he was taking rest under the tree in the middle of his field the Brahmin saw a cobra with its hood raised as if ready to charge. Haridutt thought, perhaps it was not worshipping the cobra that has made him live in poverty.
He bought a bowl full of milk and offered it to the cobra. The cobra drank the milk and slipped back to his home silently without causing any harm to the Brahmin. Next morning, when Haridutt went to his field he was amazed to find a gold coin in the bowl. Now he started feeding the cobra with milk daily and everyday received a gold coin in return.
One day, the Brahmin had to visit another village to attend some urgent work. Before leaving, he instructed his son to feed the cobra with milk. The son kept the bowl full of milk near the mouth of the hole where the cobra lived. Next morning when he came to take the bowl he was surprised to see a gold coin in it. He thought that there must be a treasure in the cobra’s hole. So he tried to kill the cobra after digging up the hole.
But he could only injure the cobra which bit the Brahmin’s son in anger. The Brahmin's son died and was cremated in the same field by his neighbours. When Haridutt returned, he got the news of his son’s death. But instead of feeling sorry for his son, he supported the cobra’s act. He said -
'A person not passionate to people who have taken his refuge gets destroyed in the same way as the swans living in Padmasarovar were destroyed.'
All the neighbours curiously asked about the story.
Haridutt told the following tale -
KING AND THE GOLDEN SWANS
There used to live a king named Chitrarath. There was a big lake in his palace well guarded by the guards. In that lake lived a flock of swans with golden wings. The king used to get a golden wing from them every sixth month.
One day, at the lake arrived a big bird that also had golden wings. For the fear of losing their value, the swans were not pleased by the arrival of that uninvited guest. They requested him to go back but the big bird refused. The swans told him- 'This lake belonged to us because we pay tax for living here.'
The big bird met the king and complained -
'The swans are not allowing me to stay in the lake. They say that they have purchased that lake from you and now even you can not do anything to them.'
The king became very angry. He ordered his men to kill those arrogant swans. An old swan saw the king’s men coming. He understood everything. He advised all the other swans to fly away before they could reach the lake.
After completing his story, Haridutt again went to the Cobra with a bowl full of milk. He wanted to please the cobra once again with his worship. Without coming out from his hole, the cobra said -
'Your greed and lust have have made you so bold that you don't feel the pains and the sorrows caused by your son's death. From now onwards, the friendship between us will never be the same as it used to be earlier. Neither can I forget the blows your son gave me and nor can you forget your son’s death. Each of us would be skeptical of the other since now. So forget about that friendship; it can never be real.'
The snake then presented Haridutt with a diamond for the last time and told never to come again. The greedy Brahmin went away cursing his dead son.
Completing his story Raktaksh said -
'You can rule without any obstacle only after the killing of Meghavarna.' Arimardan, the king of the owls asked his second minister Kruraksha about his opinion.
Kruraksha told that it was not proper for a king to kill a person who has taken refuge. Then he narrated this story -
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