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Bhishma Instructs Yudhisthira Maharaja, Part 5

By 

Isvara Dasa

"I Will Now Narrate To You A Story That I Had Once Heard From The Rishis Residing At Parashurama's Ashram."

There Was Once A Rishi Living On Fruit And Roots Within An Uninhabited Forest. Because Of His Severe Austerities, This Brahmana Became Highly Purified At Heart, So That He Exhibited Great Kindness Toward All Living Creatures. All Of The Forest Animals Knew Of The Rishi's Goodness And So They Used To Approach Him With An Attitude Of Friendship- Even The Lions, Tigers And Elephants. Indeed, These Ferocious Animals Acted Just Like The Brahm-Ana's Disciples By Consulting Him In Various Ways.

A Dog Had Lived With The Gentle Rishi. He Was So Devoted That He Continually Sat At The Brahmana's Feet, Without Leaving For Even A Moment. By The Rishi's Good Association, The Dog Exhibited The Gentle Qualities Of A Human Being, And It Performed Austerities As Well. In Fact, Due To Fasting, The Dog Eventually Became Very Weak And Skinny.

One Day, A Hungry Leopard Came To The Rishi's Ashram, Hoping To Eat The Dog. Becoming Exceedingly Frightened, The Dog Begged His Master To Protect Him. The Brahmana, Who Knew The Languages Of All The Animals, Replied, "There Is No Need For You To Be Afraid. I Shall Transform You Into A Leopard!"

Instantly, The Dog Became A Leopard With Golden Skin, Black Stripes And Very Sharp Teeth. Upon Seeing The Dog-Turned-Leopard, The Hungry Leopard Gave Up His Animosity And Quietly Left The Rishi's Ashram. Thereafter, The Dog-Turned-Leopard Continued To Reside At The Rishi's Ashram Without Any Fear, Until One Day, A Hungry Tiger Came There To Eat Him.

Once Again, The Dog-Turned-Leopard Fearfully Approached The Rishi For Protection. Out Of Affection, The Brahmana Transformed Him Into A Tiger. At This, The Hungry Tiger Went Away. Thereafter, The Dog-Turned-Tiger Continued To Reside Fearlessly In That Forest. But, Due To His Change Of Body, The Former Dog Gave Up Eating Fruit And Roots And Began Subsisting Upon The Other Animals.

One Day, As The Dog-Turned-Tiger Was Sleeping Peacefully In The Rishi's Ashram, He Suddenly Awoke With A Start To See A Gigantic Elephant Rushing Toward Him Through The Forest. The Frightened Dog-Turned-Tiger Once More Took Shelter Of The Rishi, And So The Brahmana Instantly Transformed Him Into An Elephant. Upon Seeing This, The Mad Elephant Went Away. Thereafter, The Dog-Turned-Elephant Continued Residing In The Forest Without Fear.

Once However, A Mighty Lion That Was Accustomed To Eating Elephants Came There. When He Saw Him, The Dog-Turned-Elephant Trembled With Fear. This Time, When The Former Dog Took Shelter Of Him, The Brahmana Transformed Him Into A More Powerful Lion And So The Real Lion Became Afraid And Ran Away.

Thereafter, As The Dog-Turned-Lion Continued To Reside At The Rishi's Ashram, All Of The Other Animals Stayed Far Away Out Of Fear. Then, One Day, A Great Sarabha, Having Eight Legs And Eyes Upon Its Forehead, Came There To Kill The Rishi's Lion. Upon Seeing This Ferocious Animal, Which Is The Slayer Of All Other Animals, The Rishi Transformed The Dog-Turned-Lion Into A More Powerful Sarabha. The Real Sarabha Ran Away And Thereafter, The Dog-Turned-Sarabha Continued To Fearlessly Live By The Rishi's Side. Because His Nature Was Carnivorous, He Ate The Other Animals In The Forest.

Finally, The Ungrateful Beast That Lived Upon The Flesh And Blood Of Others Got The Idea Of Eating The Rishi. The Brahmana Could Understand This, By His Yogic Power. He Said To The Dog-Turned-Sarabha, "Don't You Remember How I Had Affectionately Transformed You Into Various Animals For Your Protection? Because You Have Become So Ungrateful That You Are Prepared To Kill Your Benefactor, I Will Punish You By Turning You Back Into A Dog!"

Immediately, The Sarabha Resumed His Real Form As A Dog. Upon Seeing The Change, He Became Exceedingly Depressed. The Rishi Chastised The Dog Very Severely And At Last, Drove Him Away From His Ashram.

Bhishma Said, "Yudhisthira, From This Story We Learn That A King Should Very Carefully Examine The Qualities Of A Servant Before Giving Him The Authority To Perform State Functions. If A King Fails To Scrutinize Some One, That Person May Turn Out To Be His Greatest Enemy. In Other Words, One Who Is No Better Than A Dog Should Never Be Given A Position For Which He Is Not Worthy. Otherwise, He Will Become Intoxicated With Pride And Thus Prove To Be A Liability Rather Than An Asset."