Doha 30

In this way the king groaned within himself. Seeing his miserable plight the wicked queen sulked within her heart and said, “Is Bharata not your son? And have you bought me in consideration of money? (1) “If my words pierced you like arrows the moment they entered your ears, why should you not make promises after careful thought? Either say ‘yes’ (to my demands) or decline. You are true to your promise (more than anyone else) in the race of Raghus. (2) “Refuse the boons you promised me; abandon truth and court infamy in the world. Loud in your praise of truth, you promised me a couple of boons, imagining, of course, that I would ask for a handful of parched grain. (3) “Śibi*, Dadhīci† and Bali‡ redeemed their plighted word, maintaining whatever they said, even at the cost of their life and possessions.” In this way Kaikeyī uttered most pungent words as though applying salt to a burn. (4) * King Śibi was noted for his piety and large-heartedness. Once upon a time the gods deputed Indra and Agni (the god of fire) to put his generosity to the test. Agni took the form of a pigeon and Indra appeared as a hawk. While the king was sitting in his court the pigeon flew into the hall and hid in his lap. The hawk too followed him; and while the pigeon sought his protection against the hawk, the latter insisted that the pigeon was its lawful spoil and should be made over to it. The king, who knew his duty, resolved to save the pigeon’s life at all costs; for as a true Kṣatriya he could not betray one who had sought shelter with him. At the same time he recognized the validity of the hawk’s claim and did not want to rob it of food which it had fairly won and without which it would die of starvation. The king offered the hawk anything else that it chose to name; but the hawk would be satisfied with nothing short of an equal weight of the king’s own flesh. Scales were accordingly brought; and while the pigeon was put in one balance the king chopped his flesh with his own hands and put it in the other. But even though the monarch hacked and hewed large pieces of flesh from his muscular body, the pigeon outweighed them all. The king at last bodily mounted the balance and was just going to sever his head when Indra and Agni appeared in their own celestial forms. and interposed. They blessed the king and made him whole again. † When Indra and the other gods were hard pressed by the demon Vṛtra, they approached Bhagavān Viṣṇu and sought His protection. God Viṣṇu told them that there was a great saint named Dadhīci practising penance in the Naimiṣa forest, and that if he would let them have his bones they could be made into weapon, before which no enemy could stand. Dadhīci, as soon as he heard what they wanted, gave up his ghost and out of his bones Viśvakarmā, the artisan of the gods, made a thunderbolt with which Indra easily dispatched Vṛtra. ‡ The demon-king Bali was so powerful that he acquired dominion over all the three worlds and ousted the gods from heaven. The mother of the gods, Aditi, prayed to Lord Viṣṇu for relief and the latter was born as a son to Aditi in the form of a dwarf (Vāmana). The dwarf appeared before Bali as a Brāhmaṇa boy and asked for alms. The demon-king promised to give him whatever He asked. Bhagavān Vāmana said He wanted only as much land as could be measured in three strides. King Bali, who was noted for his generosity, granted the Brāhmaṇa’s request at once. The divine Dwarf now assumed colossal dimensions; in one stride He measured the whole earth and covered heaven with another. For the third step Lord Vāmana planted His foot on the blessed demon and sent him down to the subterranean region known by the name of Sūtala, of which he became the sovereign. Won by his unique self-sacrifice and adherence to truth, Bhagavān Vāmana ever waits as a porter at his door. King Bali will be installed as Indra in the next Manvantara.

A champion of righteousness, the king took courage and opened his eyes, and beating his head, sighed out, “She has smitten me in the most vital part.” (30)