Once upon a time in a charming town nestled along the serene banks of the River Tungabhadra, there resided a Brahmin named Atmadeva. . Atmadeva was proficient in the Vedas and well-versed in the religious texts. His wife Dhundhuli, possessed captivating beauty though her vanity knew no bounds. Inclined towards gossip, she harboured a penchant for miserliness and occasionally exhibited cruelty. Despite these traits she was a good and proficient housewife. The couple lived a happy life and had enough money to enjoy a comfortable living.
Despite having everything they needed the Brahmin began to yearn for an offspring. He saw others with children of their own and wanted a son to carry on his lineage. He began to gift land, clothes money and cows to the needy hoping that these good deeds would warrant him the blessing of having a child. He propitiated the Gods and performed prayers and sacrifices but to no avail.
Persecuted by his deep desire for a child Atmadeva grew more and more distressed each day. Early one morning in a very melancholy mood he headed to the forest near his house. It was a blistering hot day and as he felt thirsty he drank some water from the flowing river. When he arose after quenching his thirst he noticed a Sanyasi standing a short distance away. Atmadeva went up to the Sanyasi and falling at his feet wept bitterly.
The sanyasi moved by Atmadeva’s sorrow gently helped him up and asked, “Oh Brahmana why are you weeping? What is the cause of your intense sorrow?”
Atmadeva wiped his tears and said, “I am in deep sadness. I have offered my prayers and sincere worship to the Gods but alas my prayers remain unheard. I grieve because my wife and I remain issueless. If I do not have a son I will have no one to perform my last rites. What use is wealth when I have no heir to enjoy it with? Life has no meaning for me without a child. I am desolate and lament my unfortunate fate.”
The Sanyasi was moved to compassion. He studied Atmadeva’s forehead and from the lines the holy man could read Atmadeva’s future. With a concerned look on his face the Sanyasi said, “Give up this desire for a child. It will not benefit you to hold on to this longing. It is purely a mundane earthly desire, give it up and remain happy.”
Atmadeva was adamant, “I see no point in living without a child. I would rather commit suicide and die here and now. Please I beg you save me from my misery. Bless me so that I may get a son.”
No matter how much the Sanyasi tried to convince Atmadeva to give up his desire for an offspring he could not. Finally giving up, the Sanyasi said, “You will undergo great suffering by changing what fate has destined for you. However, as I am unable to divert you from this pointless desire I am giving you a fruit which you must give to your wife. Once she eats it she will have a child.”
Taking the fruit from the Sanyasi Atmadeva thanked him and said, “I can imagine no greater misery than not having a child. I am willing to take on the consequences of changing my destiny.”
Atmadeva’s joy knew no bounds. He rushed off home smiling like he never had before. On reaching home he told his wife all about his encounter with the Sanyasi. He gave the fruit to his wife and told her to eat it so that she could then bear a child.
Dhundhuli was most displeased to hear this. She thought to herself. “If I am to have a child I will grow fat and ugly. I don’t wish to become ugly. I will also need to give up many of my activities and will be tied down to the house with a child to care for. Besides I don’t even like children!”
Dhundhuli was miserable. She did not eat the fruit.
A couple of days later her sister came to visit and she blurted out the whole story about how miserable she was now that she would have to carry a child in her womb. Her sister consoled her and said, “Don’t worry you will not have to grow fat carrying a child in your womb. I am presently pregnant. I will give you my child. I will pretend to have lost my child at childbirth and needing consolation will come and stay with you and feed the baby too. My avaricious husband will be easily appeased if you give him some money. Your only task is to feign pregnancy for the next few months. Now cheer up and go and feed the fruit to your cow.”
Dhundhuli was ecstatic. She immediately rushed out and fed the fruit to the cow.
A few months later her sister’s husband surreptitiously brought his baby to Dhundhuli and put him in her arms. Taking the money in exchange for the child he gleefully left.
When Dhundhuli announced the birth of her baby Atmadeva was so happy that his wife had delivered a heathy baby boy that he organized a grand celebration. Dhundhuli named her son Dhundhukari
A few months later Atmadeva’s cow delivered. Surprisingly she did not deliver a calf but a gorgeous human baby boy. Atmadeva could not understand how the cow had given birth to a human boy. The baby was exquisite and perfect in every feature. Atmadeva could not take his eyes off the infant and decided there and then to bring up this child too. Atmadeva named him ‘Gokarna’.
Though of the same age Dhundhukari and Gokarna were entirely disparate in their character and disposition, Dhundhukari exhibited traits of selfishness, meanness, lack of cleanliness, ill-mannered behaviour, had numerous vices, and a complete aversion to studying. In contrast, Gokarna exemplified kindness, love, good behaviour, honesty, and a mastery of the Vedas and other religious texts.
Atmadeva could not but compare the difference between his own son and Gokarna. Gradually he began to regret having yearned for a son of his own. As Dhundhukari grew he began to demand money and threaten his parents with dire consequences if they ever refused to give him whatever he demanded.
Atmadeva thought to himself, “There is no sorrow more difficult to bear than having an evil child. I believed that a son alone would bring me happiness instead all he has brought me is intolerable misery, sadness and regret.”
Dhundhukari’s demands never ended and finally Atmadeva unable to bear the torture of being with his wicked son began to realize that happiness did not lie in material comforts or in progeny.
The compassionate Gokarna seeing Atmadeva’s anguish explained, “There can be happiness only when we live without attachment and in constant gratitude to the Lord for all his blessings. The Lord blesses us with all that we need. He protects and cares for us. Unfortunately, you have created you own misery by desiring what was not meant for you. Now that you have got what you pined for you find that you are even more miserable than before.”
Atmadeva realizing the truth in Gokarna’s words decided to leave his home, family and all that he was attached to and live a life of solitude in the forest. Deep in the forest he lived a life of prayer and in contemplation of the Lord. Finally Atmadeva found true happiness and peace.
Dhundhuli was now alone to face the onslaught of her evil son. He ill-treated her and forced her to part with all her money. One day he stole everything from precious ornaments to even the utensils in the house and left. Dhundhuli bereft of everything she owned was completely devastated. Knowing she could never face anyone as a poor penniless woman she jumped into a well and killed herself.
Now that his mother was dead Dhudhukari decided to return to the house and set up his own establishment there. Being an evil man the company he kept was equally evil. He met five beautiful women who though extremely attractive were wicked at heart. They were women who thought nothing of flattering Dhundhukari in order to get the foolish man to pay for all their extravagances. Dhundhukari bought them jewellery and fancy clothes. He allowed them to stay in his house. He had maids and servants to wait on these women. He indulged their every demand because he enjoyed their company and the many pleasing things they said about him. In order to provide for them he committed the most heinous acts.
One day the women got together and decided that as there was the possibility of Dhundhukari getting caught some day for the many robberies and murders he had committed it was best that they kill him. Once dead they would divide all his wealth between themselves and end up very rich.
They killed Dhundhukari and buried his body in the grounds.
When people questioned them as to where Dhundhukari had gone they replied, “He abandoned us and left. We have not heard from him since the day he left.”
To avert suspicion the five women decided it was best that they leave the house and go their separate ways. People would then believe that as Dhundhukari had forsaken them they were unable to provide for themselves had left the town.
In death Dhundhukari was tortured by the fact that he could not leave this world and continued to inhabit it as a ghost. He suffered greatly and desperately wanted to escape from this ghostly form. He wandered from one place to another and never enjoyed a moment of peace or contentment. Finally he returned to his own empty house and resided there as a tormented ghoul.
Gokarna on the other hand had been travelling and teaching people the righteous way of living. While travelling he heard of Dhundhukari’s demise. The kind Gokarna travelled to Gaya and performed the last rites for Dhundhukari. Thereafter at every religious place that he visited he prayed diligently for Dhundhukari.
After a few years he returned to his hometown. He walked to his own house. It was late at night and finding it empty and uninhabited he lay down in the courtyard and fell asleep. Shortly thereafter his sleep was disturbed by a ghost that kept restlessly changing forms and shapes and rapidly moving from one end to the other, up and down and round and round.
Gokarna recognized the ghost as an extremely disturb spirit. He enquired, “Who are you and why are you in such torment?’
The ghost replied, “I am your brother Dhundhukari. I lived a dreadful life and now I am suffering for it. Please I beg you help me.”
Gokarna was surprised that despite all the rites performed for him Dhundhukari was still trapped in this world as a ghost.
He thought deeply about how he could save his brother. The next morning he approached wise men and referred to the scriptures. Unable to find a solution to end Dhudhiukari’s wretchedness he turned to meditating on the Sun God. It was then that he heard a celestial voice say, “Mukti will follow a complete reading of the Bhagavatam in seven days.”
The very next day Gokarna made all the arrangements for a seven day reading of the Bhagavatam. People from far and wide hearing of the reading came to the village and seated themselves at the venue. The spirit of Dhundhukari too arrived. Looking for a place to seat himself he saw a bamboo with seven joints. He entered through the hollow of the bamboo and settled inside. At the end of the very first day of the reading miraculously one joint of the bamboo cracked. At dusk on the second day the second joint cracked and so on. On the final and seventh day of the reading when the last of the joints cracked the spirit shed its form and appeared as a divine, dark brown cloud clad in yellow silk and adorned with Tulasi beads and wearing a diadem on his head. Approaching Gokarna with folded hands he said, “I thank you brother. It is your kindness that has freed me from the agony of being ghost.”
Dhudhukari had finally been washed off of all his evil ways. He received his redemption and moved on to a world of peace and tranquillity.
LIFE LESSONS
1. From Atmadeva we learn that we should be content with the blessings we receive.
2. We also learn from Atmadeva that pining for something we do not have can only make us miserable.
3. We learn from Atmadeva that God always gives us exactly what we need.
4. From Dhundhuli we learn that lying and deceiving never ends well.
5. From Dhundhukari we learn that in one way or another we will have to pay for our evil deeds.
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