The hermit & the butcher

1. THE HERMIT & THE BUTCHER.

Kausika was a great scholar in vedic sciences & a pious Brahmin (priest-class). He decided to renounce the family life & become a hermit. He went to a nearby forest & began to chant the name of Lord Siva; he expected to gain true enlightenment & super-natural power soon. Every noon he used to visit the nearby village & ask for food from a Brahmin family; the village ladies had worshipful respect for him. So they offered him sumptuous food in a big platter. He would take it in his food-bag (joli) to his asylum in the forest, worship Sun God & offer the food to Sun God & eat it later.

One day during noon, Kousika was about to start for village; a crow on the tree excreted & it fell on his shoulders; the hermit was angry & looked up; the crow was burnt to death & fell down; then Kousika realized he acquired some super-natural powers and felt happy. He took his noon bath in the nearby river; did noon-prayer to Sun God & then set out to the village to beg for food.

He reached the house of a Brahmin family; and shouted aloud: “Oh! Mother! Give me food!” The lady of the house is known as Annapurna; she is a pious & noble lady past middle age. She came out saw the hermit. She said, “Please wait! I shall bring you food.” She went inside the house. In the mean time her husband came & entered the house; he greeted Kasika & asked him to wait.

Kausika was standing in the noon sun (very hot) and waited for about one hour. She did not come out. As per convention, he can not go to another house & ask for food, when he got promise of food in one house. So he stood and he was losing patience. After about three ghaties (about 1 hr-12 ms), the lady came out & offered him sumptuous food in a big plantain leaf placed in a silver platter.

Kausika was much annoyed & stared at the lady angrily; then lady replied in a calm tone, “Oh! holy hermit Kausika, do not stare at me angrily. I am not a crow to be burnt by your angry looks. My husband returned home from the farm, working in the field; it is my first duty to attend on him, bathe him, serve him food & fan him; then press his feet when he takes noon-nap. I worship my husband more than any God & serve him with love and care. This service to husband protects me from any harm, also I gained super-natural powers, with no effort. So I know what happened some
2 hours earlier in the forest. I am of the age of your elder sister; the true quality of a hermit is renunciation of anger, greed, hatred, pride and such evil qualities. So you have to learn many lessons before you attain the state of a true hermit. I give you a fond advice. Eat your meal; go and take rest for a ghatika (24 minutes); the go to the out-skirts of the village; there is a harijan colony there. There is one butcher by name Dhrmavyadha; go to him & he will teach you some good lessons.”

Kausika was stunned; his pride and anger were gone; he saluted the lady with reverence and took the alms (food) and returned to his asylum. He did his offering & ate the food, he took rest for a while. He then walked to the harijan colony.

As he entered that colony, he was annoyed by the filthy atmosphere there. Soon he found the butcher’s shop; the shop owner saw Kausika from a distance; he immediately ran to him; prostrated before the hermit; then rose of offered him a wooden seat under a nearby tree and asked: “ how are you venerable Sir; I am really fortunate to have you here in our colony; I know you were sent by that holy mother Annapoorna, to me.” Then Kausika was surprised and asked “how do you know her, did she sent you a word through any person about me.”

Dharmavyadha, the butcher, replied, “ Oh! No! sir; I do not know her; I never saw her. She never comes out of her house except to visit the temple. She can never visit our harijan colony, as she is a holy Brahmin lady. I serve my old parents as my Gods, with devotion and care; I lead a pious life; I do not kill any animal; the butchers kill, remove the skin and bring the meat to my shop; I pay them the price and sell it to my customers. I practise truth, non-violence and lead a pious life. My service to my old parents and their blessings bestowed on me supernatural powers. I don not get any sin in my my profession; it is my family profession for thousands of years; I am honest & genuine in my business. I lead a disciplined and pious life. I got the message to tell you about me & my life-style from the holy mother Annapurna by divine telepathy. She acquired super-natural powers by her pious life and service to her husband, in-laws and her children with dedication & devotion to God.”

Then wisdom dawned on Kausika. He realized the truth; (1) A person need not do penance in a forest to gain enlightenment & supernatural powers; (2) It is enough if he / she performs his / her duties with dedication (3) It is necessary the person leads a pious life with devotion to God and serve the humanity; then the all people like him & he gains wisdom & supernatural powers with no effort.

(The story was from Sri Mahabharatha epic in Sanskrit & other Indian languages)