Veda07- A boy with a dog like tail!

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Some parents have weird fancies! Here we have a poor man Ajeegartha who had a son named Shuna ShEpa – a name that literally means “tail of a dog”! Did this boy have a dog like tail? We don’t know. But his father found it right to give such a funny name to this boy.

 

Ajeegartha was so poor that he had tough time bringing up his family. He did not even have sufficient to feed them. Naturally, when the local King wanted to purchase his son, Ajeegartha willingly bartered away his son to the king – may be for a few bagsful of grains and some cows.

 

Who was this king who wanted to buy someone else’s son and why did he do that? This king’s name was Harishchandra. In spite of having several wives, Harishchandra had no issues. Finally, he worshipped the Rain God Varuna asking for a son. He promised Varuna that he would sacrifice his son to him if he gives him a son.

 

Varuna accepted the King’s promise and bestowed him a son. Harishchandra was elated. The son was growing up. But Harishchandra almost forgot the promise he had made to Varuna. Varuna kept reminding him of his promise, but Harishchandra kept dodging him. He kept asking for more time. At last, Varun lost his patience and cursed Harishchandra that he would suffer from a dreaded disease called Mahodara. Literally, the word Mahodara means an illness that causes the stomach to be filled with water. Maybe it was like our modern-day illness such as ascites syndrome.

 

Harishchandra could not bear the complications of Mahodara. It was threatening his life. But his possessiveness for his son was so much that he could not sacrifice his son to Varuna either. He pleaded with Varuna to spare him from the agony without insisting on the promised sacrifice.

 

Varuna at last agreed and suggested an alternative. If only Harishchandra could sacrifice some other boy in the place of his own son, Varuna was prepared to spare Harishchandra.

 

But who would be willing to give their beloved son to the King knowing fully that he would be sacrificed? In a similar story in the Bible, at least the God was kind enough to accept the sacrifice of some lamb in the place of a boy. But our Varuna was insisting on human sacrifice or NaramEdha.

 

So, Harishchandra was on a look out for a parent who would willingly give his son for the sacrifice. That is when he came across Ajeegartha.

 

Ajeegartha was more than willing to get rid of his son. At least then he would have one less mouth to feed. How cruel the poverty is! It makes people helpless. Ajeegartha sold ShunashEpa to the king in return for some food and cows.

 

ShunashEpa was brought to the fire altar. He was tied to the sacrificial pole. But who on earth would slaughter him? None came forward. Finally, it was the same Ajeegartha who agreed to slaughter his own son in exchange of some more cows and food. Now it seemed that all is over for ShunashEpa. So, he started praying to God to free him from his current situation.

 

In deep state of meditation, ShunashEpa composed several Mantras in praise of Gods. Gods are supposed to be spell bound by the Mantras. One after the other they came and suggested to ShunashEpa how he could free himself. ShunashEpa composed almost 100 Mantras. Finally, Varuna appeared and agreed to free Harishchandra from the curse. He also freed ShunashEpa.

 

All the sages praised ShunashEpa and declared that he too had become a sage since he composed several powerful Mantras. They were prepared to accept him as one among them. ShunashEpa‘s father Ajeegartha came running with open arms to greet his son who had won over the Gods and had become a sage himself.

 

But ShunashEpa refused to go to is father. He was quite unhappy about his father who did not hesitate to kill him just for the sake of some cows and grains. One of the sages namely Vishwamitra who officiated this sacrifice, adopted ShunashEpa as his own son. He renamed him as DEvaraata meaning “gift of God”. ShunashEpa became a well-known Vedic sage. The Mantras composed by him were included in the Vedas.

 

This story of ShunashEpa appears in various Indian scriptures including Ramayana though with minor variations. So, it is likely that it is based on some real incident. It shows how someone can attain great heights by shear efforts. It also shows how the ancient sages were open while accepting any meritorious person irrespective of his background.

 

So, remember even a person with a tail of a dog can be a great sage 😉

 

 

There are many such stories which narrate how different sages contributed to the Vedas. But these contributions were not considered to be original contributions but rediscoveries since the Vedas are eternal. They always existed. They were and are ApaurushEya. Authored by none, not even God! The sages only ‘visualized’ already existing mantras while they were in deep states of meditation. That is why these sages are called Rishi – the one who had the vision.

 

 

A series discussing the most ancient of the Indian scriptures, nay the world scriptures namely the Vedas. © Dr. King, Swami Satyapriya 2021