Mandavya was a Brahmin who gave away his vast wealth and went away to Himalayas to become an Ascetic and came to be known as Rishi Mandavya.
Once Rishi Mandavya was deep in penance at his Ashram and was under a vow of Silence.
A gang of robbers, running away from soldiers, found the Rishi’s hermitage to be ideal place to hide, hid their loot & themselves in his humble hermitage.
The King’s soldiers who came searching asked the Sage about the whereabouts of the robbers.
The Sage, being under a vow of silence did not answer and continued with his penance.
The soldiers repeated the question several times, but the sage did not answer.
The Soldiers went inside the hermitage and found both the loot and the thieves.
Mistakenly they arrested the Rishi too as they believed that he was helping the robbers by being silent when asked about the thieves.
The Sage, being under a vow of silence did not answer and continued with his penance.
The soldiers repeated the question several times, but the sage did not answer.
The Soldiers went inside the hermitage and found both the loot and the thieves.
Mistakenly they arrested the Rishi too as they believed that he was helping the robbers by being silent when asked about the thieves.
THE PUNISHMENT :
The Angry King ordered SHOOLA DANDA on them, including the Rishi (as he believed the Sage to be the robbers associate)…..meaning trusting them with a Spear and thus killing them.
The rishi Mandavya, in spite of being pierced and without food, though his yogic powers and ascetic merit was alive and continued with his penance.
The great sage continued with is penance.
Many sages, in the guise of birds visited rishi and expressed their sorrow and unhappiness, Mandavya but the great sage consoled them saying “No one is responsible for my suffering. I think its all due to my past Karma” and continued with his penance.
The people in and around were surprised to see the great sage surviving the pain of the trident and still pursuing the penance. For anybody’s query he used to reply that no one was responsible for his suffering.
A few days later the king came to know through his soldiers that the sage was surviving the heavy odds. The king rushed to the spot and ensured the sage was safely grounded from the trident. The King himself tried to remove the trident but in vain. Then they cut off the trident but the upper pointed edge was struck to the Sage’s body. The king profusely apologized and begged for forgiveness.
The sage pardoned the King saying “You are not to be blamed Rajan...” and began wandering with the trident edge and kept his penance continuously. He was famously called and eulogized by all as ‘Ani Mandavya’ (Mandavya with trident).
THE CURSE TO LORD YAMA :
The sage was not angry with the King but was definitely surprised as to why he, such a Dharmic person was punished “As far as I remember, I havent done any crime. So, why did the Lord Punish me this way”. These questions kept bothering the Sage.
So, the great Sage Mandvya met the God of Dharma, Lord Yama and asked“Hey DharamaRaja, Lord Yama, be kind enough to let me know the reason, I had to go through such a harsh punishment. I did not commit any heinous crime, atleast in this janma. And I would like to know from your records, if I did anything in my previous janma, and if it was my prarabda karma. “
The Lord of Death replied, ‘When you were in your childhood you had inserted the sharp darbha (kusa grass in Sanskrit) grass into the tails of insects. Just as a small gift to someone increases religious merit manifold, a small sin will also multiply manifold and served to the same person. Hence, I have imposed this punishment upon you “
So, the great Sage Mandvya met the God of Dharma, Lord Yama and asked“Hey DharamaRaja, Lord Yama, be kind enough to let me know the reason, I had to go through such a harsh punishment. I did not commit any heinous crime, atleast in this janma. And I would like to know from your records, if I did anything in my previous janma, and if it was my prarabda karma. “
The Lord of Death replied, ‘When you were in your childhood you had inserted the sharp darbha (kusa grass in Sanskrit) grass into the tails of insects. Just as a small gift to someone increases religious merit manifold, a small sin will also multiply manifold and served to the same person. Hence, I have imposed this punishment upon you “
The shocked and surprised saged asked…”I never remember hurting anyone, even an insect. When was this”? Lord Yama replied “when you were a child”.
Mandavya was furious and disagreed with the logic and reasoning of the God of Dharma.
He argued “Even the scriptures does not consider any sinful act committed upto the age of 12 as punishable and you being, Lord of Dharma, have committed injustice and meted out punishment which is disappropriate to the act. The law, after all, should be ethical and amenable to reason. Any unrighteous act (adharma) committed during the ignorant childhood age should not attract punishment.” Saying this, the Sage cursed the God of Dharma to born on to a Slave Woman.
And then with his power of tapas, he ordained that ‘no child below 14 shall attract sin for its done in innocence without knowing consequences'
Later on the God of Dharma was born as Vidura, brother of Dhritarashtra and Pandu Maharaja.
LEARNINGS :
1. Pain is to the body and not to the soul.
1. Pain is to the body and not to the soul.
2. Mistakes done unknowingly should be pardoned.
3. Never punish someone without doing proper analysis and investigation.
TEMPLES ASSOCITED WITH THE GREAT RISHI MANDAVYA:
Mandya in Karnataka owes its name to Rishi Mandavya. The Great sage did his penance here.
Mandya in Karnataka owes its name to Rishi Mandavya. The Great sage did his penance here.
Once King Indravarma (1001A.D.) who did not have any children asked Mandavya Rishi for guidance, the sage advised him to build a temple for Sri Janardhana Swamy and Lakshmi devi. The King soon had a baby boy.
The Temple is very famous today as SRI LAXMI JANARDHANA TEMPLE.
Couples who don’t have children come here and pray for a child and they do get blessed with progeny.
Hence the Lord is also called as MAKKALA JANARDHANA.
Couples who don’t have children come here and pray for a child and they do get blessed with progeny.
Hence the Lord is also called as MAKKALA JANARDHANA.
Mandavya Rishi taught Veda to even all the Wild Animals around him. Hence, the forest in which he did his penance is called VEDARANYA (FOREST OF THE VEDAS). The area around Mandya was earlier known as Vedaranya.
VASANTA VALLABHRAYA TEMPLE in Bangalore was built by Mandavya Rishi.
The temple is more than a thousand years old. The legend (sthalapurana) associated with the temple is that it was established (pratishtha) by the sage Mandavya.
Once upon a time, the disciples of Mandavya found him missing from his ashrama. Mandavya settled down in Vasantapura, meditating. It is also believed that if someone unable to go to Tirupati visits the Vasantapura temple, they get an equivalent amount of benefit (punya) from the visit.
The Shiva Linga inside Someshwara swamy temple in Ulsoor, Bangalore was also worshipped by Mandvaya Rishi.
The Main Deity in the RANGANATHA SWAMY TEMPLE in MAGADI as also installed by Mandavya Rishi.
Source :
MAHABHARATHA and other scriptures
Stanza 20
mān
dṛṛ
avya-śāpād bhagavān
ṁ prajā-sa yamano yamah ṛ
bhrātuh
ṛ
ks
etre bhujis ṛ yāyā ṛ ṁ
jātah satyavatī-sutāt
mān
dṛṛ
avya-śāpād bhagavān
ṁ prajā-sa yamano yamah ṛ
bhrātuh
ṛ
ks
etre bhujis ṛ yāyā ṛ ṁ
jātah satyavatī-sutāt
Regards,
Srikanth Matrubai
Srikanth Matrubai Author of the Amazon Best Seller DON'T RETIRE RICH
