Learning from experiences

Oasis

Veethahavya a king who belonged to the Haiheya clan killed the king of Mahishmathi for a particular reason. Prathardana the son of the assassinated king wanted to avenge his father’s unreasonable death. Veethahavya knew that he had committed a blunder and deserved to be punished. Yet he was not willing to be killed. He went to the Ashram of sage Bhrigu and sought asylum, stating that his life was in danger. The good sage obliged his refugee unquestioningly.

After a while, Prathardana appeared at the Rishi’s doorstep and cited his case. The truth dawned on sage Bhrigu. He had unwittingly embroiled himself in a moral conundrum. He could not breach his promise of the sanctuary to Veethahavya. However, the Rishi could see that Prathardana was not wrong in wanting to execute his duties as both a king and a Kshatriya. He gave the matter a thought. Then he made a categorical statement that those present in his Ashram were only Brahmins. He hesitated momentarily and turned away albeit doubtful. All the same, Prathardana felt triumphant because he felt that he had relieved Veethahavya of the qualities of a Kshatriya and none less than sage Bhrigu had pronounced the verdict for whatsoever the reason.

When Prathardana went his way, the sage heaved a sigh of relief and went into his hermitage. Veethahavya sat cowering in a corner in trepidation. The Rishi repeated his cryptic words that only Brahmins stayed in his Ashram. That was a moment of enlightenment for Veethahavya. He knew that his payback time had come. He decided consciously to give up his kingdom and the Kshatriya way of life as penance for his crime and also as a sign of gratitude to the sage.

Veethahavya was suitably chastised almost wordlessly by the commitment of the sage towards his word of honour. He started leading the life of a Brahmin to render the words of the sage true. Over a period of time Veethahavya went on to become a Brahmavadi and later on a Brahmarishi by strictly sticking to a life of Truth and integrity. This story from the Bhagavatha Purana throws the spotlight on various facets of human behaviour, values and lessons to be learnt from our experiences to upgrade our lives qualitatively.