bpage15

                                                                                             

 

The test of the King Harischandra :=

 

King Harishchandra was the son of King Trishanku. Remember Trisanku was the king of the second heaven. And Lord Sri Rama was also a descendant of King Harishchandra. Sage Biswamitra tested the king to let everyone know that he is the greatest Satyabadipurusha of the universe.

Satyabadi purusa means a man who do what ever he says. He do that in any condition and any situation he do that. In one word truthful man or true word man and very, very honest person.

 

Full Story:=

 

In diffrent books diffrent story described. I will tell you both story.

 

Story 1 (this is the main story in this book)=

King Harischandra lived in Treta Yuga. He was a virtuous king known for his good deeds. During his regime, everyone was happy and prosperous. He had a wife named Taramati (also known as Shaivya ) and a son named Rohitshawa..

Once in heaven there was a meeting by lord Indra he invited all Brahmarshi from Earth to join the meeting. So he invited Brahmarshi Basistha also. After some time before meeting was started Brahmarshi Basistha proposed that They should call Biswamitra also. But lord Indra was silent and after some time he asked, why ? then , Brahmarshi said because after some years he will be Brahmarshi so he had not much time to be a Brahmarshi. So they sent lord Narada to Biswamitra to invite him. Then Biswamitra said that he sent you because he knew that I respect you and I cannot deny you. If Indra had come, I would have refused, and if the Brahmarshi Basistha had come, he would have refused, but I can not refuse you. Then Narada Said , I had to come because you are like my family member because I am a son of Lord Brahma and you are the grand child of lord Brahmha. Then Biswamitra said I know that lord and now I am ready to go to heaven with you to join the meeting. After that they departed to heaven. After reaching to swarga(Heaven) they were greeted with respect. Then the meeting was started. The first question was how to teach human the value of truth and respect and how to teach them the value of word ..? , Is there still a human exist on Earth who respect his own word and make the word true in any condition .

Everyone give his comment about it. But Rajarshi Biswamitra was silent. Then Brahmarshi Basistha asked to Rajarshi Biswamitra, “ O sage what is your opinion about it “. Then Rajarshi said ,” Sage if you want to know about my opinion then listen, today also a man exist who is actually satyabadi and he respect and know the value of words and if he promised something then promise makes it come true.

No one believed that and asked his name then Rajarshi Said ,he is King Harischandra he is the descendant of King Trisanku. Brahmarshi Biswamitra also agreed with him because Brahmarshi Basistha was the total master of Suryabansh. Then also no one believed then Biswamitra said I will prove it that no one is like that , no people of  heaven is like him , who makes own word true  in any condition. If he passed in his test I will give him half of my power to him.

After that lord Indra said , “This gathering is stopped here until Biswamitra proves this”. Then all earthly sages returned to earth from paradise. Then Biswamitra started his examination for King Harischandra.

He went to the palace of King Harischandra. King welcomed to sage with respect. With respect the king told the sage to take the seat and asked , “O sage for which reason you tried to come here , I would have been called , I would have come at the same time . The sage said, "I have a little work from you”.  The king said, "Let me order how I can serve you."  Sage said , “ I want to do a havan (Offering prayers to God in front of fire) in which I will require lots of money.” The King said, “in this case I'm glad you missed me to help you, but how much money you actually require”.  The sage said, “If a strong man sits on top of an elephant and throws the a stone to up, the higher the stone goes up that much amount of money I need for havan.” Then the king ordered an employee to give that much amount of money from treasury of palace to the sage then the sage said, “I do not want now, keep that money in your treasury of place, when I will start the havan I will ask you for that money.” Then the king said,” As your command.” Then the sage left from the palace.

After that Biswamitra came to his hut and starts his tapasya as usual. Then his student Nakhyatra came to him then Biswamitra said now Harischandra’s examination is started. He made some animals and sent it to the village which is in the state of king Harischandra and the animals attacked the villagers. Then the villagers complained to the king about it. Then the king takes his position and offered all people lots of money and he went to the village and killed all animals who are in that village.

Then Biswamitra create two girls by the power of his tapasya and ordered them that they will make king Harischandra a lust person and take him to the feet of sage. The girls accepted the order and went to the jungle where the king went for hunting the animals who killed the villagers. The girls asked an employee to meet the king because they want to earn some money by show the king there dance because they are dancers. The employee enters the camp of the king,and ask the king that, "O king, two girls want to show their dance to you and want to earn some money". The king wants to help the girls because he thinks they are poor so want money so the king said, “ok manage dance”.

The dance danced well but their dance was full of lust so the king get angey and said to his minister that give them there money and tell them to leave the place. They danced well but their dance was full of lust so the king get angey and said to his minister that give them their money and tell them to leave the place. But the girls said that if our dance did not make you happy then we cannot accept money.

 

Then the king said, "you have to take something if you did not want to take money then what you want to take ?". Then the girl said that we want you as our husband. King, enjoy us and indulge and enjoy us. Then the king said, "I am a married man and every couple promises each other that they will support each other and will not see anyone else. So I can’t accept anyone else. And you have to take money and after that you can go." The king then enters his camp and the girls then leave. Then the student of the sage Biswamitra, Nakhyatra, told the king and said, "O king, you know what you did, you know who you said "no". They are the creations of sage Biswamitra and the creations are like son and daughter. So you said "no" to the daughters of sage Biswamitra. Accept them, otherwise the sage will be angry. But the king said, “ No, I can’t brake my own promise”. Then the king returned to his palace and became worried with his wife, son and minister. Everyone said king you are not wrong so don’t be afraid the sage will understand.  

But the next day the sage angrily came to the palace and said, "O king, why didn't you accept my daughters ..?" , the king said with respect , “ Sage, I am already married and in Sastra (Hindu scripture) say that marriage is a holy bond and non of both also can’t think about anyone else”. Then the sage said , “Oh that means you are saying no to my daughters, then for them you have  to pay something, means yesterday night they danced for you so you have to pay your entire kingdom they want it.” The king said , “Ok I will pay it.” And the king left the palace and abandoned the kingdom. Then as he was leaving, the sage said, "King, do you remember your promise? The Promise was about my havan money." The king said , “ Yes , I remember that.” Then the sage said, “ So how do you will make your promise true, now you are not a king, so from where you will get that much amount of money..?”  The king said with respect, “ That’s not your problem ,I will give you your money so don’t worry..” Then the sage said, “ I have not so much time, I have only one month, can you give me in one month otherwise you will be a non truthful man.” Then the king said, “I will pay sage don’t be worry.” Then the sage said, “ How do I believe on you, so my student Nakhyatra will go with you and when you pay all of the money Nakhyatra will come to me and you and your family will be alone.” Then king said ok no problem. And then the king, queen Taramati and the little prince Rohitshawa and Nakhyatra left the kingdom. Because the entire India was under the sage after he donated his kingdom, the king went to Varanasi, a holy town dedicated to Lord Shiva.And for many days then visited many Pilgrimage. When the day came near and the king don’t get any idea to how to earn that much amount of money then the queen said ,”O husband, please make your words true, I am your wife and helping husband is the first work of wife , so I want to help you, please sell me as a servant and get the money, and after that I will serve them lifetime for free. And after that when we we earn that  much amount of money you will buy me from them .” After that the king started crying and said,  “O Wife, what are you telling...?, you are my wife and how  a husband can do that, no I can’t.” Then the queen said, “O king, not the time to think, how can I see that whole world  will call my husband a non truthful man..” , and she forced to sell herself. Then the king went to the market, where servants were used to sold. He tell everyone about his family and tell the amount of price. No one was agree because the price was too high. But a deity came as a Brahmin man because no one wants to fall down the king. He asked the king about the price and told in rude voice that she has no break time and she has to do all work of my home .. are you agree then everyone was agreed Then he pull the prince also and take them to his home and he gives to Nakhyatra that amount of money. Then all left that place.

But when the king was sad and sit at a bank of river and Nakhyatra was not with him, Biswamitra came near to Nakhyatra and said, "Tell the king that it is your payment, and still he not paid my money to me yet." Then Nakhyatra cried and said, "O sage, he is a very truthful man please don't do that with him, I don't want my payment, please you take it and leave him." Then Biswamitra get angry and said, “ If you don’t do it then....”, then Nakhyatra feared and said ok. Then Nakhyatra goes to near king and said, “O king, where is the payment of the sage...?”, the king saw him with surprise face and said, “  What...what are you saying sir ?, I paid him ... right ?”, then Nakhyatra said, “ No, the payment was for me..” , Then king said,..”Your payment..??”, Nakhyatra said, “ Yes because I have been with you for so many days and I worked hard for sage's payment, so shouldn't I get payment?”, Then the king said, "Yes you are right .., but how will I repay the sage ..? I have nothing now, I have already sold my wife and my son too. Then Nakhyatra said," Yes you can pay that too, but you have to sell yourself too ... ".

Then the king did that. He went to that market and tell everyone about the payment and asked everyone to buy him but no one can buy because the amount of payment was too high. But a group of Chandalapeople, they lived in cemeteries and drank a lot of  taadi/toddy (a type of country liquor that smells very bad), came and said that we will buy him, but Nakhyatra said, “but do you know about the price?”, then the leader Birbahu said, “Yes I know , come and take the price..”.Then they gives a new name to the king and the name was Birdas.... and said now you are my servant. Then the king said, “ yes sir now I am the servant you are my lord..”, then Nakhyatra fell on their feet and started asking for forgive and said, 'This is the order of the sage, that's why please forgive me, So Harischandra smiling said that no matter what , not your fault. After that Harischandra started working in the cremation ground.

          Taramati worked as  a servant in Brahmin’s house, the wife of the Brahmin was so rude sometimes she did not gives food to Taramati and her son. Each time she beat them and torture them a lot. Brahmin was not so rude so sometimes he helps them. And there Harischandra(Birdas) used to worked as a servant for the chaldal Birbahu in cremation ground. He used to took care of the graveyard as security guard. He used to took tax from them who bring dead body to the graveyard and to cremated of them.

He was a best servant of the chandal Birbahu, Birbahu always happy of him. One day when Taramati was getting care of the Brahmin’s home her son Rohitshawa asked his mother, “ O my mother, can I play with the elder brothers (boy who are the students of the Brahmin man)”. Taramati said, “ Ok, but don’t go far from this place.” The ball went into the jungle while they were playing there. Then Rohitshawa said don’t But Rohitshawa said, "Please let me go there and he departs towards the forest". And after that the rest of the boys left behind because they cared about that child. When they reached to the forest they found the ball but when Rohitshawa started lifting the ball, Biswamitra creates a snake and ordered that snake to bite Rohitshawa, the snake went and bites Rohitshawa. Rohitshawa died there and fell there. All boys became feared and returned to the home of the Brahmin and said everything. Taramati wept and as she started going to her child in the forest, the Brahmin's wife stopped her and told her to finish all the housework first and then you could go. But Taramati said "Mistress, now let me go, she is my son and how can a mother ignore her son's corpse." . But the Brahmin's wife said, "No, I bought you with a very high amount of money , so how can  you do it. Go and finish all work(said in rude voice)". 

Taramati went back home and started cooking, then started washing clothes, then cleans the house etc. Then when they had finished there dinner and Taramati washed all dinner ware ,she asked for the permission of her mistress for go to her dead son, but her mistress said, “my feet are hurting, press it and when I sleep you can go there” .Taramati was sad and crying but she started pressing them. After her mistress slept, she ran towards the jungle. Seeing the dead body of her son she cried a lot and took the dead body towards the cemetery. It was late at night so it was very dark and no one could recognize anyone's face. So when she reached to the cemetery there Birdas(Harischandra) asked her for the tax. She said everything that she has no money. Then Birdas said, "Then you cannot do the funeral of your son, I am sorry but this is my owner's order." But she Cried and begged for the funeral of her son. But the Harischandra was adamant on his duty.

Then she saw the king's golden locket and she recognized him and said, "Are you King Harischandra?", Then the king also recognizing her voice said, "Taramati  ... are you Taramati?". Then Harischandra said, "Does this mean that our son .. Rohitshawa?". He became so sad, and said "But I am no longer the king, I have also sold myself, so now I am a servant, please collect the money and pay it to me, then we can cremate our son. As a servant I can't help us”. Then Taramati then left her son with Birds (Harischandra) and said please take care of your son, till I collect the money and pay you tax, and went towards the city to help with the money.

When she went to the city , by the maya trap (Maya trap means one type of heavenly magic) of Biswamitra, a corpse has came down her leg, she became afraid. And at that time the people of the city saw her. They took him to the king of the city, and said, "O King, he killed your son for money ..". But she said, "O king, I am not that thief, I did not kill your prince. Yes I need money but I did not steal anything. My son is also dead and I need money for his cremated. But I did not steal and I did not Killed your son ". But the king did not listen to her and ordered to separate from the torso(head) of his head.   They took her to the graveyard and tell everything to the master of graveyard (Birbahu). Then Birbahu Tell everything to Harischandra ordered Birdas(Harischandra) to cut her head from her body. But Harischandra tried to convince everyone that she could not do it, but nobody listened to him. Birbahu  ordered to separate Taramati's head and also Taramati said, "O husband, do your duty and kill me please, and forgive me if I If i ever make a mistake till today". Harischandra became helpless and took a big sword and told Taramati to put her neck on the cutting iron, which consisted of two separate pieces of relatively thin iron with a hole big enough for the victim's neck.

As he was going to cut her head, Biswamitra appeared and said, “O Harischandra, you still have time to marry my daughters, I will return everything to you.” But Harischandra said, “No Maharishi, you know that I had promised that I could not marry another.” As soon as the neck of Taramati was cut, it cannot cut and the sword change into flowers. Then Biswamitra told that, “ O Harischandra you are great, you passed in my test.” He called Harischandra’s son and he became alive and came back to them.

Then Biswamitra said you proved that no one is truthful like you in entire world. Saw Harischandra your master/owner is Deity Yama( the deity of death) and Taramati’s Owners are Lord Shiva and Mata Parbati. Every deity gives them many blessings and as Biswamitra promises he gives half of his power to him. And he proves that truth has real power to win.

So what did we learn from this?

Make your words true in any condition is the most important, it is applicable to any situation of life.

 

i)              Like if a company like did not fulfil his promise then next time no one will trust the company no one will buy their product.

 

ii)             If you are a leader of any political party then if you did not fulfil your promise then no one give you vote in the next election because they will not believe on you.

 

iii)            People who invariably fulfil their promises are predictable characters in a society, and give their society that particular quality which exists on a vast scale throughout the universe.

 

iv)            You can find many more examples in your life.