STORY OF JADABHARATA - PART III

While Jadabharat was roaming about in the forests and various places, he reached the forest area of the then Sindhu Desha. Rahugana was the ruler of Sindhu Desha in that period. King Rahugana was basically very spirituous, philosophical, pious and righteous. He honored culture and tradition. He had that appetite for knowing the secrets of Vedanta. Kapila Muni was known to possess such knowledge. Kapila Muni was in a remote place and King Rahugana decided to meet him and know from him the hidden meaning of Vedanta. He got into a palanquin and started the journey to meet Kapila Maharshi. The palanquin needed four persons to be carried. There were only three and they started searching for a strong person to carry the palanquin. They found this Jadabharata loitering, ordered him to carry the palanquin and Rahuhana sat in the palanquin. However, Jadabharata did not feel hurt, harassed or exploited. He silently took his position and carried the palanquin on the shoulder, as directed by the servants of Rahugana. The palanquin carriers had to maintain a particular speed and balance. Even if one of the four failed to maintain the speed and the balance, the carrying would become difficult. for the other three. Incidentally that is what happened. Jadabharata was rushing without caring for pits, uneven surface or anything. At times, he would become very slow. He would not bother about thorns on the road. As the palanquin was shaking, wavering and highly insecure to sit, Rahugana was enraged. He chided the carriers, who informed him that the whole imbalance and disturbance was being caused by Jadabharata. When Rahugana abused Jadabharata angrily, the latter retorted: "Oh man, you may not be aware that so many insects are moving about on the earth. I do not want to kill any of them because they have not done any harm to me. You too are not supposed to kill them." Rahugana was surprised by the answer as Jadabharata did not even mention the name of King. He had called Rahugana as "man". Rahugana said: "Do you know who am I? I am the king of this region. You cannot speak to me in this manner." Jadabharata said: "How dare you think you are the king? Do you know who is the real king? You are just a puppet of that King and you have no right to ill-treat your subjects." Rahugana was terribly shaken by the answer. Being a very cultured, pious and righteous person, Rahugana sensed that there was some hidden meaning in what Jadabharata had said. (CONTD.....)