Burning of the Khandava Forest

Part 6: Story of Sarang Birds

There was a famous rishi whose name was Mandapala. He was very learned and also practised many austerities; he was able to control his passions very well. In his drive for sadhna, he did not get married and was not versed in the experiences of a household life. One day during his tapas, he left his body and went into the netherworld or the ‘pitruloka’. There he saw that he had not obtained the fruits of all his austerities. So, he went to Dharmaraja, the god of death. Dharmaraja was sitting with many other gods. Mandapala asked “Why am I not getting my due rewards? Did I commit some form of ingression in the human form?” The gods answered him that man has to fulfil three obligations – worship without doubt, celibacy, and giving birth to children. Dharmaraja cited that Mandapala could not reap the benefits of his tapas because he had not fulfilled one of the three obligations. Mandapala had fulfilled the obligation of celibacy and worship but since he did not marry or have any children, the third obligation remained unfulfilled.

The word Mandapala means slow – something which comes as an obstacle to higher experiences. It means the creative energy is dull and is not enough to be transformed; hence meaning one whose sex energy is dull. Sadhna is the transformation of sex energy but even after observing celibacy, the rishi was called Mandapala. By practice, the attention which has the habit of going out is trained to move in. At the same time the sex energy rises from down to up – both these processes should be simultaneous. Here the rishi was devoid of the basic energy which is symbolised by his not getting married and having children. Thus, because there was not enough energy to rise he did not get the higher experiences of meditation.

As a result, Mandapala decided to get married and have children. As he had not purified his lower psychic nature he thought of a cunning way to expedite the process. He decided to take birth as a Sarang crane so that he could grow up, get married, and have children very fast. He courted a female crane called ‘Jarita’ and in a short span of time, she gave birth to four young cranes. Even before the eggs had hatched into young chicks, Mandapala fell in love with another female crane and let his wife Jarita. Hence, Jarita had to hatch the eggs and then rear the chicks by herself.

Mandapala married Jarita which represents the aging process. So, dull energy became a victim to the process of aging. Unmanifest desires that were lying in the unconscious mind, now after his marriage, started appearing and lust came into his life. His falling for another woman while being married represents this lust. Her name was ‘Lapita’ – one who sticks like glue, a person who keeps on talking. So the rishi who had worked so hard to calm the mind, once again fell a victim to its incessant chatter.

After Mandapala left her for Lapita, Jarita started worrying of how she would look after the children alone. She worked hard so she could feed her four hungry sons. In the meantime, Lapita and Mandapala were roaming in the forest where he saw that Agni was about to start the burning of the forest and he started worrying about his little chicks.

This brought him to his senses and he started worshipping Agni. He said “O Agni you are the source of energy, the fire that lights the sacrifice. You are the life of all living beings, them you feed and purify with your fire. You live and work mysteriously in everyone’s heart. The great rishis call you as Trividha or the one whose pierce is threefold. That is, by igniting the fire of yoga within one’s self the yogi can free himself of the three knots or granthis that bind him to the physical, astral, and mental worlds. The rishis worship your fire as all creative process of the universe depends upon it. The seen universe will destroy itself if you withdraw feeding it with your flames. You are the electricity that fills the clouds in the sky and provides the light that dispels darkness. O great wave of purity, I bow down to you that you may grant my children, my wife, and me with your grace so that we may rise above the troubles of the world.”

Agni was pleased with Mandapala’s words of worship and he appeared before him and asked him how he could grace him. Mandapala folded his hands and prayed to him that when he burns the Khandava forest, he should spare his four innocent children. Agni promised him not to harm them and then continued burning the forest.

Here we see how transformation and purification can come through the fire of love and repentance. The thought of his innocent children brought out the father in Mandapala. He prayed to Agni and in that he was transformed.

The young chicks were unaware of Agni’s promise to their father and as the flames were burning the forest they started fearing for their lives. Their mother Jarita started crying and said “The fire which gives light to the universe and has always been worshipped by our ancestors, is today for me a source of pain and suffering. Every moment it is burning trees and coming closer to my little children whose feet and wings have not yet formed and so cannot escape it. I cannot do anything to save them and this is burning me more than the fire whose flames are destroying everything. Maybe I can carry one away, but which one out of the four. What justice is there in my flying away when these innocent children of mine will surely die in these flames? Even with deep mentation, I can see no road that can let us escape this predicament. Let me cover you with my wings and when the fire comes I too will be burnt along with you.”

In life, moments come when conditions are so adverse that we see no hope of escape. It is exactly in such situations that our unconscious mind opens up and can lead to a rise in consciousness and a deep transformation.