(Sambhava Parva continued)
"Vaisampayana said, 'Thus asked, the tiger among Munis then answered those
Rishis of ascetic wealth, "Whom shall I blame for this? In fact, none else
(than my own self) hath offended against me!" After this, O monarch, the
officers of justice, seeing him alive, informed the king of it. The latter
hearing what they said, consulted with his advisers, and came to the place
and began to pacify the Rishi, fixed on the stake. And the king said, "O
thou best of Rishis, I have offended against thee in ignorance. I beseech
thee to pardon me for the same. It behoveth thee not to be angry with me."
Thus addressed by the king, the Muni was pacified. And beholding him free
from wrath, the king took him up with the stake and endeavoured to extract
it from his body. But not succeeding therein, he cut it off at the point
just outside the body. The Muni, with a portion of the stake within his
body, walked about, and in that state practised the austerest of penances
and conquered numberless regions unattainable by others. And for the
circumstances of a part of the stake being within his body, he came to be
known in the three worlds by the name of Ani-Mandavya (Mandavya with the
stake within). And one day that Brahamana acquainted with the highest
truth of religion went unto the abode of the god of justice. And beholding
the god there seated on his throne, the Rishi reproached him and said,
"What, pray, is that sinful act committed by me unconsciously, for which I
am bearing this punishment? O, tell me soon, and behold the power of my
asceticism."
"'The god of justice, thus questioned, replied, "O thou of ascetic wealth,
a little insect was once pierced by thee on a blade of grass. Thou bearest
now the consequence of the act. O Rishi, as a gift, however small,
multiplieth in respect of its religious merits, so a sinful act
multiplieth in respect of the woe it bringeth in its train." On hearing
this, Ani-Mandavya asked, "O tell me truly when this act was committed by
me." Told in reply by the god of justice that he had committed it when a
child, the Rishi said, "That shall not be a sin which may be done by a
child up to the twelfth year of his age from birth. The scriptures shall
not recognise it as sinful. The punishment thou hast inflicted on me for
such a venial offence hath been disproportionate in severity. The killing
of a Brahmana involves a sin that is heavier than the killing of any other
living being. Thou shall, therefore, O god of justice, have to be born
among men even in the Sudra order. And from this day I establish this
limit in respect of the consequence of acts that an act shall not be
sinful when committed by one below the age of fourteen. But when committed
by one above that age, it shall be regarded as sin."'
"Vaisampayana continued, 'Cursed for this fault by that illustrious Rishi,
the god of justice had his birth as Vidura in the Sudra order. And Vidura
was well-versed in the doctrines of morality and also politics and worldly
profit. And he was entirely free from covetousness and wrath. Possessed of
great foresight and undisturbed tranquillity of mind, Vidura was ever
devoted to the welfare of the Kurus.'"