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Articles: Moral Stories | Panchatantra stories
- Mr. Siri Siri
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KING KAKUDDROOM THE JACKAL
There used to live a jackal named Chandarav in a forest. Once, feeling restless because of hunger, he strayed towards the city.
When the dogs saw him, they began to chase him barking ferociously. To save his life the jackal entered the home of a dyer and fell into an earthen trough in which the solution of indigo was stored.
When the dogs went away, the jackal came out of the trough. Now, he was not the same jackal; his colour had changed to blue.
The jackal proceeded towards the forest. All the animals were terrified to see such a strange animal. They started running helter-skelter. The jackal was very pleased to see this. He shouted-
'Listen! Brahma has sent me to rule over you, because this forest does not have any king. From today, I am your king. I assure you that I will rule justly. So do not be afraid of me. My name is Kakuddroom.'
All the animals came and gathered around him. They requested the jackal to accept their services. The jackal appointed the lion as his minister. Similarly the tiger, leopard and the fox were entrusted with various jobs. He drove the other jackals out of the forest.
In this way, the jackal enjoyed his rule. All the animals including the lion were at his service now. One day, the dishonored jackals started howling in groups.
Kakuddroom too heard their howling. He could not control himself and started howling along with them. When the lion and other animals heard him howl they understood about his real identity – that he was just an ordinary jackal. They were ashamed that the jackal had been fooling them for so long. They at once killed the imposter jackal.
Lesson: One who abandons his kith and kin is killed just like that jackal.
After completing his story, and feeling assured that Pingalak had fallen into his trap, Damanak went to see Sanjeevak. He made salutations to Sanjeevak and sat quietly with a gloomy face.
When Sanjeevak saw his worried face, he asked if there was any problem.
Damanak replied -
'How can anybody be well with a servant because the person who is the servant of royalty has his wealth controlled by others, not only is he restless he is also unsure about the safety of his life.'
Sanjeevak could not understand anything, he said-
'What are you trying to say, say it clearly.'
Realizing that the iron had become hot Damanak said-
'Pingalak harbours ill intentions against you. He was saying that he would kill you next morning. I tried to dissuade him but he said that the enemity between him and you was natural because he was a carnivore and you a herbivore. When I found him unrelenting I decided to inform you.'
Sanjeevak was so shocked by his words that he fainted. When he regained his consciousness, he said to Damanak-
'It was my mistake to have befriended with Pingalak. Even if I try to make him understand my point he won't understand it. I know the reason behind his anger. Being jealous of the favour shown by my master, somebody has poisoned Pingalak's mind. Learned people perform their tasks without caring for the means they apply. It doesn't matter to them whether the means is just or unjust, just as the crow and other animals did with the camel.'
Damanak curiously asked- 'Where and how did that happen?' Sanjeevak then narrated the following tale-
KATHANAK- THE CAMEL
Once there lived a lion in a forest. His name was Madotkar. A crow, leopard and a jackal were his followers. Once he saw a camel who had strayed into the forest. The name of the camel was Kathanak. When the lion saw the camel, he became amazed because he had never seen a camel in his life. He said-
'Look at him! Just find out if he is a wild animal or he belongs to a village.'
The crow said -
'That animal belongs to a village. It is a camel and is worth eating so you must kill him.'
But the lion refused to kill the camel. He said-
'It will be improper on my part to kill this camel because he has come to my place and so he is my guest.'
The lion then instructed the crow, leopard and jackal to bring that camel with full honour saying that he would like to know why it had strayed into the forest. When the camel arrived, the lion asked him why did he come in the forest. The camel replied that he had escaped from his home because his master used to torture him.
The lion felt pity on him. He asked him to live in that forest without any fear. Since then, the camel started living in the forest.
Once the lion had a fight with an elephant and got badly injured by its tusks. Now he was unable to hunt. Even the crow, leopard and the jackal started to starve because they used to eat the leftovers of the animals killed by the lion.
The lion felt pity on their condition. He instructed them to find such an animal, which he could kill even in his injured condition.
The crow and the jackal wandered all across the forest but could not find such an animal. At last both of them thought of killing the camel.
'But our master has given him amnesty, how can we dare to kill him', said the crow.
Then both of them went to the lion to seek his permission to kill the camel.
'We did not find any animal. We are dying of hunger. Your condition seems to be the same. With your permission can we kill Kathanak and satisfy our hunger', asked the jackal.
At this, the lion got very angry.
'Shame on you! Don't you know that I have granted him amnesty? I will kill you the moment you say it for the second time, I do not want to commit a sin by killing my guest,' said the lion.
The jackal then said-
'Lord, you would certainly commit a sin if you kill him. You will however not commit any sin if Kathanak is ready to sacrifice his life voluntarily to protect your life from hunger. If it is not possible, you can kill any of us to satisfy your hunger, because if you die of starvation, we too will have to face the same consequence sooner or later.'
Madotkar - the lion said, 'Do as you like.'
Now according to his plan, the jackal said to his friends that had assembled there-
'Look, the condition of our master has deteriorated. Like this he would soon starve to death. If this happens, who would protect us? Let us make a sacrifice to save him so that he survives and we too would be free from our indebtedness towards him.'
Saying this, the jackal sat down before the lion with tears in his eyes. The crow was very impressed by the jackal's love for his master. He did not want to remain behind. He said-
'Lord! Save your life by devouring me, so that I could attain salvation.'
The jackal then said-
'How could the master be satisfied by devouring you. You are so small. Moreover the scriptures say that eating the flesh of a cow leads to serious sin. Expressing your feelings you have already freed yourself from your indebtedness towards him. Now, move aside, lord save your life eating me so that I could attain both the worlds.'
The leopard who was listening to all this, said-
'Lord! Devour me so that I could attain heaven.'
Kathanak who was unaware of the jackal's plan fell into the trap. He thought that the lion did not kill anybody, though everybody was most willing to die. So he too decided to please the lion by such flattering words, he said-
'O Leopard! How can the master kill you? You belong to the same species. Move aside let me request the master,' then turning towards the lion he said- 'Lord! All these animals are not fit for your food. So save your life by killing me so that I could attain both the worlds.'
Hardly had Kathanak finished his words that the leopard and jackal tore his stomach apart killing him.
After finishing this story Sanjeevak said -
'I will not shift to another place even if my master is angry with me, because people who have power also have long reach. They catch their enemy, no matter where they go. So, I have no option except face battle with him.'
When Damanak heard this, he became worried that if Sanjeevak inflicted injuries to Pingalak with his sharp horns, it would be bad. Damanak only wanted to avoid to go to some other place. He wanted to avoid the fight. Damanak said -
'Friend! What is the use of a fight between master and a servant. One should protect oneself when faced with a powerful enemy otherwise he is bound to meet the fate of the lapwing who in his arrogance was destroyed by the sea.'
Sanjeevak curiously asked about the story of the lapwing and the sea -
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