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The Story of Sulas
Chapter Two of the Yoga Shastra, Verse 30: A sadhu (holy person) pretended to be a sadhu and acted in an unrighteous manner. Seeing this, Shrenik, out of concern for the reputation of dharma (righteousness), stopped him and explained the error of his ways. The deva (god) then took the form of a pregnant sadhvi (holy woman) and claimed to be a sadhvi. Shrenik, out of devotion to dharma, brought her home and protected her. Seeing this, the deva thought, "Indra Maharaj praised him in the assembly, and I have found it to be true. Indeed, the words of such noble souls are not false." Then, the deva presented Shrenik with a necklace like a constellation of stars shining in the day, and two orbs. As the deva disappeared like a dream, he said, "Whoever joins this necklace when it breaks will die soon." The king gave the divine, beautiful necklace and the two orbs to his queen, Chelna. Jealous, Nandrani thought to herself, "Am I worthy of such a trivial gift?" In anger, she struck the two orbs against a pillar, causing them to break. From one orb emerged a pair of pure earrings like the moon, and from the other, a pair of radiant, divine garments. Seeing these divine objects, Nandrani was delighted and accepted the gifts. Great souls receive unimaginable benefits.
Afterwards, Shrenik returned to his palace and, offering an inducement, said to Kapila, "My dear, if you will feed the sadhus with devotion even once, I will make you rich and free you from servitude." Kapila replied, "My lord, even if you were to make me entirely of gold, or in anger, kill me, I would not do this unrighteous act." The disappointed king called Kalasaukarik and said, "Give up this business of killing living beings. If you do this for the sake of wealth, I will give you enough." He said, "I cannot give up this business of killing living beings, which has been passed down from my ancestors. Many people in my family depend on it. How can there be any fault in doing this violence, which sustains humanity?" The king had him thrown into a blind well. How could he commit violence without weapons in this blind well? He would be confined for a whole day and night. Thinking this, Shrenik went to the Lord and pleaded, "Lord, I have stopped Kalasaukarik from committing violence for a day and a night." The omniscient Lord said, "King, even in the blind well, he has killed five hundred buffaloes made of the filth of his body. Go and see for yourself." The king went and found it to be true. Shrenik was filled with remorse. "Damn my past karma. The Lord's words are not false."
The butcher, who always killed five hundred buffaloes, continued to increase his store of great sins. Before he attained hell, he developed terrible diseases in his body. Finally, at the time of his descent into hell, due to his great and terrible sins, he died in this world, suffering from a disease like that of a pig. At that time, he cried out loudly, "Woe is me! Oh, my father!" He found the pleasures of women, beds, flowers, the sound of the veena, sandalwood, and other agreeable comforts, as well as his eyes, skin, nose, ears, and tongue, to be extremely painful, like being pierced with thorns. Seeing his father's condition, Kalasaukarik's son, Sulas, went to the great and fearless Shri Abhayakamar, who was a liberated soul, and told him everything about his father. "The fruits of the terrible deeds of violence and other sins committed by your father are like this. It is true that the fruits of intense sinful actions are also intense. No one else can escape the consequences of these sinful actions. Nevertheless, for his sake, do something that will bring him peace. The way to do this is to make him consume things that are opposite to his senses. Water is not the right remedy for the stench of excrement."
Upon this, Sulas went home and fed his father bitter and pungent substances, gave him hot water like the juice of heated copper, smeared his body with excrement, made him sleep on a bed of thorns, made him listen to the harsh sounds of donkeys and camels, and showed him terrifying forms like those of demons, ghosts, and skeletons. By consuming these and other such unfavorable things, Kalasaukarik found relief. He said to Sulas, "Son, after a long time, I have eaten delicious food, drunk cold water, lain on a soft, ticklish bed, been smeared with fragrant substances, heard sweet sounds, and seen beautiful forms."