Soudasa
Suta obliged.
Soudasa was a king. And as a king he was good and righteous. He was learned in the shastras. Blessed with good fortune, he had many sons and grandsons and was exceedingly wealthy. He ruled happily for thirty thousand years.
Once King Soudasa went to the forest for a hunt. With him were his soldiers and ministers. But while pursuing a black buck, Soudasa got separated from his companions. His pursuit led him to a place in the forest where he found two tigers sporting. With an arrow, the king killed one of the tigers. Before dying, the tiger adopted the form of a gigantic rakshasa.
“I shall have my revenge,” said the other riger and vanished.
Soudasa was mystified at these happenings. He was also slightly scared. When he was reunited with his companions, he related to them all that had transpired. With slight misgivings,the retinue returned tot he capital.
After some days had passed, the king decided to organize a horse sacrifice. Vashishtha and other sages were invited to act as chief priests. After the yajna was over, Vashishtha went off to have a bath.
Meanwhile, the rakshasa who had been in the form of tiger appeared before Soudasa. But he was now in the disguise of Vashishtha and the king did not see through the deception.
“King,” said the rakshasa, “get some meat cooked for my meal. I am going to have my bath>”
Soudasa instructed his cook to do the needful. The rakshasa now adopted the form of Soudasa’s cook and brought the king some cooked human meat. Soudasa did not realize this and he waited patiently for the sage to return.
When the real Vashishtha came back after completing his bath, Soudasa served him the human meat.
Vashishtha of course recognized the meat to be human meat and was furious. “Audacious king,” he exclaimed, “how dare you serve me human meat? That is the food of rakshasa. For this sin, I curse you that you will become a rakshasa and will live on human meat.”
The king did not understand what was going on. But through his powers, Vashishtha got to know that the entire affair what been no fault of the king’s. He had been deceived by a demon. When Soudasa realized this, his anger was aroused. He felt that his guru (teacher) Vashishtha had unjustly cursed him. Soudasa therefore prepared to curse the sage.
But the king’s wife Madayanti intervened. “Have you taken leave of your senses?” She asked. “How can you curse your own guru?” Control yur anger. What was destined to happen to you has happened. How can you blame Vashishtha for that?”
Madayantis words curbed Soudasa’s anger. But the act of cursing required some water to be taken up in one’s hands. Mantras (incantations) were then to be chanted over this water. What was going to happen to the water over which Soudasa had chanted incantations? It had become sanctified and was energized.
Soudasa flung the water onto his own feet. The holy water immediately blackened the king’s feet. Since the word kalmasha means black and pada means feet, Soudasa henceforth came to be known as Kalmashapada.
The king touched Vahishtha’s feet and begged forgiveness. “Please pardon me, ” he begged.
Vashishtha was now dismayed at his own anger. He realized that he had been hasty and had punished the king for no fault of his own. “A curse once imposed cannot be revoked,” he told Soudasa. “But you will not remain as a rakshasa indefintely. The duration of the curse will be for a period of twelve years. After this period is over, the holy water of the river Ganga will purify you and you will return to your human form.”
The unhappy king retired to the forest as a rakshasa. He lived on deer, lizards, birds and humans. When all the living beings in the forest had been eaten, he moved on to another forest. Thus it continued and Soudasa the rakshasa moved from forest to forest.
Eventually the demon arrived on the banks of the river Narmada. A sage and his wife lived on the banks of river. Soudasa grabbed the sage and prepared to devour him.
The sage’s wife begged the demon to spare her husband. “You are not really a raksahas, ” she told the king. “You were born a kshatriya (the second of the four classes) and used to be a king. Please remember that you belong to the great solar dynasty, that you are the king Mitrasaha or Soudasa. Please recollect the way of dharma. I am like a daughter unto you. Protect me and spare my husband.
Soudasa paid no heed to these words. He ate up the sage.
The sage’s wife thereupon cursed Soudasa. “You did not listen to my entreaties,” she said. “Therefore, I curse you. You will die when you meet your wife. Moreover, you will continue to be a rakshasa for a long time.”
“I have committed only one sin,” replied Soudasa, “yet you have cursed me twice. You have cursed me that I will die when I meet my wife, that is curse number one. You have also cursed me that I will be a rakshasa for a very long time, that is curse number two. My single sin had been that of eating your husband. Two curses for one sin is most improper. I accordingly curse you. You will become a pishacha (demon).”
Now there were two demons who were wandering around, Soudasa and the sage’s wife. These two demons came to the banks of the river Narmada. In a banyan tree that stood near the river, there lived a third rakshasa (demon). “Who are you two?” asked the demon.
Soudasa and the sage’s wife told him their stories. “And who are you?” Soudasa then asked the demon.
The demon related his story.
He used to be a brahmana (the first of the four classes) named Somadatta lived in the Kingdom of Magadha. He was extemely religious and devoted to the Vedas. But unfortunately, he happened to insult his guru and was cursed that he would become a rakshasa.
Having exchanged notes on their past lives, the three demons continued to live there.
One day, a brahmana from the land of Kalinga happened to arrive at that place. The brahmana’s name was Garga. The three demons saw Garga coming and were delighted. “Food has come, food has come,” they exclaimed. But Garga was busy chanting the names of Shiva and Vishnu, and the demons could not even approach the brahmana. They then addressed Garga and said, “You must be a very holy man. We have eaten several brahmans, but you are the first one whom we could not even approach. You alone can deliver us. Please sprinkle some water from the holy river Ganga on our bodies.”
Garga was slightly surprised at hearing three demons praise the river Ganga, but he did as he had been bidden. He took up some of the holy water in a tulasi(basil leaf) and sprinkled it on the bodies of the demons. Immediately, the demons attained divine forms. The sage’s wife and Somadatta both ascended to heaven.
As for Soudasa, he first went on a pilgrimage to the city of Varanasi. Thereafter, he returned to his own kingdom and ruled there happily.
Need one say more about the wonderful properties of the holy river Ganga?
