King Shourya was ruling the Kingdom of Kashmir. At that time another powerful king named Vetala ruled the island of Simhala (Sri Lanka). These two kings were fast friends. As a token of friendship, the kings used to send each other rare and precious gifts. The king of Kashmir once sent to his friend a pair of hounds of rare breed. In return, the king of Simhala sent two baby elephants to the king of Kashmir.
The hounds grew up in the island of Simhala under the care of an expert trainer.
One day the king ordered: "Make arrangements for a hunting expedition."
The king and his advisers decided to hunt only the hares. It was declared that no other animal should be killed. Thus the hunt began.
The drums were beaten Conches were blown.
Hilarious shoutings!
The forests were shaken up.
Animals panicked and ran helter skelter.
Seeing their panic the princes laughed aloud.
Groups of hares started showing up. They emerged from their hideouts and started running for their lives.
The king released a hound into the pack of hares. The hares jumped sideways and scattered. One hare ran straight ahead and, the hound followed its trail. When they were almost out of sight, the king raced after them on his horse. Others followed the king.
The hound had almost caught the hare. The soldiers watched: the scene, holding their breath. Suddenly the hare turned round and with one quick stroke notched the eyes of the dog. The dog by that time could just bite the hare once. Bleeding profusely, both the hare and the dog started running again. They ran blindly and fell into a dirty pool of water and slush. Both fought with each other in that pool. The fight however did not last long. Both fell dead.
The kind and the soldiers were watching the fight. sanyasin (ascetic) was also watching the tight on the other side. He uttered aloud to himself: "Even though the lives have changed, the effect of actions continues."
He heaved a deep sigh. The king noticed it.He got down from his horse, went to the Sanyasin, paid his respects to him and looked around.
A little away, he saw an Ashram.In the immediate surroundings of the Ashram he saw strange 1hings happening. A cobra and a mongoose were playing like friends. A leopard and a deer were frolicking about. On the folded-up tail of a peacock a snake had crawled up without fear. Elephants and lions were playing about.
"Which is this place where animals live in perfect peace and fearlessness, forgetting their natural antagonism?" asked the king.
"O king! This is the Ashram of Sage Vatsa (Chest). I am his disciple, Swa Kandhara"said the Sanyasin. (Swa=One's own Kandhara = neck, the which supports the head. Allegorically it means one who bears one's head on one's own neck, i.e. a person of discrimination and independent judgement. He is also a disciple of 'Vatsa'. Vatsa meaning the chest or the heart, i.e. a person. Who is also sensitive to the intuitions of his "heart" that is to say, a person in whom both the qualities of the heart and head have been well developed)
By that time, a celestial vehicle came down there. Welcomed warmly by angels, the souls of the dog and the hare boarded the skycraft, rose high into the sky and disappeared from human vision.
The king and his retinue witnessed the scene with amazement.
"Revered Sir. I am astonished to see the souls of my dog and the wild hare going up in a celestial vehicle to the heavens. I an eager to know how this could happen," said the king.
"O king!" said Swa Kandhara, "did you notice that both of them died in that pool of water? That must be the reason why they got evolved to the higher worlds."
"You mean the water of that dirty pool has so much power and glory?"
"Must have!"
"What ?"
"Power and Glory!"
"O king! All I know is that, that pool has been formed by the water which has flowed out and stagnated there, where I wash my feet before entering the Ashram premises. It is a routine for me to wash my feet every time I enter the Ashram."
"Revered Sir, I am asking you because of my ignorance. Ho come that water has acquired so much sanctity and power?"
"O king! I chant and study the fourteenth chapter of the Bhagawad Geeta every day. My Guru also does it. It is on account of the glory of the fourteenth chapter of the Geeta that the anima1 forget their natural enmity towards each other and co-exist here in mutual love. Even the water used for washing my feet has become sacred, as you observed just now. That is why the hare and the dog attained the higher worlds."
"Sir, I heard you remark something about lives and effect actions. Whom did you implicate by these remarks?"
Swa Kandhara smiled.
"Oh that is simple. Listen. A brahmin named Kesu once lived in Maharashtra in the town of Pratyudaka. He was a gambler and a drunkard. His wife was not at all faithful to him, and she led an immoral life. One day Kesu caught her red-handed when she was indulging with another person, and killed her immediately. After some time Kesu also died.
He lived a number of lives in the lower worlds of animals and ultimately he was born as a hare in this birth. Similarly, his wife also went through a number of births and deaths in the realms, and was born as a dog in this birth. Even though they went through a number of births and deaths, yet the instinct of mutual enmity persisted in them. I could not help laughing when I saw their mutual antagonism exhibiting so vigorously even after the lapse of so many births, when they fought so furiously and died in that dirty pool. Indeed, even though the lives have changed, the effect of actions continues to dog them."
The king was astonished. A doubt lingered in his mind, He asked: "How could you know all these things?"
"On account of my study of the fourteenth chapter of the Geeta, am able to know not only my own previous births, but that of others too. So great is the Geeta, and its fourteenth chapter, therefore, why don't you also start studying and practising the fourteenth chapter of the Geeta? Give up these silly pastimes of hunting and killing. Start practising the fourteenth chapter!"
The King accepted the advice of the Sanyasin and started studying the fourteenth chapter of the Geeta. Gradually, he evolved to the higher worlds.
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