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Articles: Moral Stories | kaakolikyam
- Mr. Siri Siri
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THE THIEF AND THE DEMON
Once upon a time there lived a poor Brahmin named Drona. Begging for alms was his only means of livelihood. He had never seen the pleasures in life. His hair had grown long, so was his unshaved beard. His physique had become weak due to constant beating by the excessive weather conditions.
One day, taking pity on him, someone presented Drona with a pair of calves along with a large quantity of grains and cereals. Since then, he looked after the calves with great care. With time, the calves grew up into robust oxen.
Soon the oxen began to attract learing visions. A thief decided to steal them. As he was going towards the Brahmin's house he met a demon in the way. The thief became terrified of him. The thief asked who he was and where was he going. The demon replied that he was going to devour the Brahmin. The thief said he too was going to steal the Brahmin’s oxen. Both of them then went to the Brahmin’s house together.
The Brahmin was sleeping at that time. The demon wanted to devour the Brahmin first, but the thief wanted to do his job first. Both of them started quarreling on this issue. Hearing the commotion the Brahmin woke up. He drove the demon by chanting the sacred mantras and beat the thief with a stick. After completing his story Vakranas said -
'This is the reason why I say that the differences between the enemy's ranks is always advantageous.'
Arimardan then asked his fifth minister named Prakarkarna about his opinion.
Prakarkarna said -
'Sthirjivi is unworthy of killing. Perhaps sparing his life we would be able to lead our life peacefully and amicably. It has been said that those who do not protect the secrets of each other, get destroyed just like the snakes who had destroyed each other by revealing their secrets.' Arimardan curiously asked -
'How did it happen?'
Prakarkarna narrated the following story -
TALE OF THE TWO SNAKES
There lived a king named Devashakti. One day, a snake entered into his son’s stomach through his opened mouth while he was sleeping. This made the prince very weak day by day. The king consulted many physicians but it was all in vain. This made the prince so dejected that he started living in a hermitage after renouncing every thing. There was another king named Bali. He had two daughters. One of them used to greet the king daily in the morning saying -
'Long live the king! By whose grace we get all kinds of joy and pleasure.'
But the other princess greeted him saying -
'O king! Taste the fruits of your actions.'
One day he became so angry with his second daughter that he decided to marry her to a stranger as a punishment. He said to his minister -
'Give this wicked girl to some alien, so that she herself tastes the fruits of her action.'
The second princess was given to the prince who had a snake in his stomach and was living in the hermitage. The princess too accepted him as her husband without complaining. She took him to another city. She requested him to wait till she returned after making arrangements for lunch. The prince waited at the edge of the lake where the pleasant wind made him drowsy and soon he fell asleep. The snake living in the stomach was gasping for air. So, it came out from the opened mouth of the prince. Right there on the ground, another snake too was basking after coming out of his hole. Both the snakes started talking to each other.
In the meantime, the princess had arrived. She was amazed to see the snakes that talked. She hid herself behind a tree and listened to their conversation. The second snake was telling the first snake -
'O wicked fellow! Why are you tormenting this prince? Why don’t you come out from his stomach?'
The first snake replied -
'Why are you polluting the treasure contained in two pots, which lie beneath your hole?'
The second snake angrily said -
'Doesn’t anybody know that you could be killed easily if the prince is made to drink old and boiled Kanji (rice starch) mixed with mustard seeds?'
The first snake replied in anger -
'Doesn’t anybody know that you too can be killed by pouring boiling oil or boiling water in your hole.'
When the princess heard this she did the same and as a result both the snakes were killed. The prince was cured besides he had got a good wife and a lot of treasure because of her wisdom. He returned to his father along with the princess and newly found wealth. There they lived happily.
If secrecy is thrown open, it brings death and destruction. When Prakarkarna finished his story, he found Arimardan nodding his head in agreement.
But Raktaksha did not like this decision. He said -
'A country where wicked people are honoured and lenient people are dishonoured, faces the danger of famine, death and fear.'
But nobody listened to him. Sthirjivi was brought to the owls’ place of hiding.
Sthirjivi was pleased that his plan had been working successfully. He said -
'I am of no use to you in this injured condition. So throw me into the fire, so that I die. In my next birth, I want to appear as an owl so that I can take my revenge with that wicked Meghavarna.'
Raktaksha said -
'Dear! You are not only wicked and mean but also expert in mocking. But listen! Your nature is not going to change even if you take birth as an owl.'
Then Raktaksha narrated the following story to prove his point -
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