॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
***
Once, Sri Krishna's several sons were away in the forest to enjoy various sports. They grew tired and thristy and looked for water. They found a large old well which had no water but a strange, really huge, lizard in it! The princes took pity on the lizard stuck in the well and tried with ropes and thongs to pull him out without success. They went and reported the matter to their father, Sri Krishna. Sri Krishna came, and with just his left hand, lifted the giant lizard out of the well. The lizard at once turned into radiant divine-looking Kshatriya. Sri Krishna, sounding innocent, expressed surprise on everyone's behalf and asked the person to introduce himself and his erstwhile strange condition. The man replied:
नृग उवाच
नृगो नाम नरेन्द्रोऽहमिक्ष्वाकुतनयः प्रभो । दानिष्वाख्यायमानेषु यदि ते कर्णमस्पृशम् ॥
किं नु तेऽविदितं नाथ सर्वभूतात्मसाक्षिणः । कालेनाव्याहतदृशो वक्ष्येऽथापि तवाज्ञया ॥
गोभूहिरण्यायतनाश्वहस्तिनः कन्याः सदासीस्तिलरूप्यशय्याः ।
वासांसि रत्नानि परिच्छदान् रथानिष्टं च यज्ञैश्चरितं च पूर्तम् ॥
कस्यचिद्द्विजमुख्यस्य भ्रष्टा गौर्मम गोधने । सम्पृक्ताविदुषा सा च मया दत्ता द्विजातये ॥
विप्रौ विवदमानौ मामूचतुः स्वार्थसाधकौ । भवान् दातापहर्तेति तच्छ्रुत्वा मेऽभवद्भ्रमः ॥
पूर्वं देवाशुभं भुञ्ज इति प्राह पतेति सः । तावदद्राक्षमात्मानं कृकलासं पतन् प्रभो ॥
T: King Nriga spoke: "Oh, Lord Sri Krishna, I am Nriga, the famous king of Ikshwakus, very famous in accounts of the most generous of kings. In fact generosity is my hallmark. Of course I don't need to tell you this, Bhagavan, because I know that you know the past, present and future, of everyone and everything, but since you asked, I am narrating this."
"It was my practice to gift wonderful cows in thousands with their calves, along with horses, elephants, even young brides, to deserving Brahmins, along with gold and finery. These were all earned by me and donated during glorious Yajnas."
"However, once, just after my donating a thousand cows to a Brahmin, another Brahmin came there and claimed that one of those cows was indeed his. It had wandered away and had by mistake been mixed up in my gifted lot. The donee who had received my gift refused to return that cow, despite my offering him a large number of cows as a replacement. I also offered a number of cows to the offended Brahmin who declined my offer saying I had stolen his cow. The upshot of all this was that I incurred grave sin. Later, on Judgement Day, Yama's staff told me that surely heaven's doors were open to me owing to the merit of my incessant generosity and countless gifts to Brahmins. But a small matter of sin of offending two Brahmins and inadvertently taking away a Brahmin's cow remained and I needed to suffer the punishment for it by taking birth as a lowly creature. I chose to finish off that punishment first, and Lord Sri Krishna, that's how you found me stuck here as a giant lizard (तावदद्राक्षमात्मानं कृकलासं पतन् प्रभो).
ब्रह्मण्यस्य वदान्यस्य तव दासस्य केशव । स्मृतिर्नाद्यापि विध्वस्ता भवत्सन्दर्शनार्थिनः ॥
देवदेव जगन्नाथ गोविन्द पुरुषोत्तम । नारायण हृषीकेश पुण्यश्लोकाच्युताव्यय ॥
अनुजानीहि मां कृष्ण यान्तं देवगतिं प्रभो । यत्र क्वापि सतश्चेतो भूयान्मे त्वत्पदास्पदम् ॥
T: Nriga concluded, "Oh, Bhagavan Keshava, I am your humble servant, and am happy that retained my memory even in this life, remembering to respect Brahmins, giving generously to them, and praying to you for grace. That is perhaps why you have come to bless me! Oh Lord of Lords, the Supreme Master of the three worlds, Govinda! The Supreme Being! Narayana! Hrishikesha (master of all Gunas), the Bhagavan of impeccable reputation, infallible and inexhaustible! Kindly grant me this, oh, Sri Krishna, that even in my heavenly sojourn, I shall always cherish your divine form and seek to attain your divine feet!"
After securing such blessings from Sri Krishna, Nriga disappeared.
In his solemn voice, now Sri Krishna expatiated to all his sons the importance of holy Brahmins in society and how no one could ever withstand the punishment for stealing a Brahmin's property ( like in this instance, his cow).
दुर्जरं बत ब्रह्मस्वं भुक्तमग्नेर्मनागपि ।
तेजीयसोऽपि किमुत राज्ञामीश्वरमानिनाम् ॥
स्वदत्तां परदत्तां वा ब्रह्मवृत्तिं हरेच्च यः ।
षष्टिवर्षसहस्राणि विष्ठायां जायते कृमिः ॥
T: "Sons, know that the poison ingested by committing the theft of a Brahmin's property can never be digested. It is fatal. That sin is more potent than the biggest fire, even if the theft is of small value. So kings who think they are overlords like gods are doomed by such offences. Even if the property has been first gifted by oneself to the Brahmin, or he has received it from someone else, it does not matter! The offence of its theft/usurping is equally virulent! The punishment for such an offender having committed the theft extends to and destroys ten generations before and after him. A person who has usurped a Brahmin's possession will be born to suffer the life of a vermin for sixty-thousand years!"
Sri Krishna told his sons to observe and follow his own conduct, always most careful and respectful towards Brahmins, and then they all went back to the palace.
***
