Disclaimer: This translation does not guarantee complete accuracy, please confirm with the original page text.
Drdhaprahari Muni's endurance of adversity with equanimity
Yoga Shastra, First Light, Verse 12 (Mukhiya) - He saw and did not hesitate, like a butcher, he killed the poor cow with a single stroke of his sword. The impoverished Brahmin, who had come to confront the thief, was also beheaded with a single blow of the sword, falling to the ground like a pineapple tree. At that time, his pregnant wife came before him and cried out, "Oh, merciless sinner, what have you done?" But he did not listen to her, and like a wolf suddenly attacking a pregnant goat, the cruel man attacked the pregnant woman and cut her in two with his sword. The child in her womb was also torn to pieces. It was an extremely tragic sight, seeing the child trembling like bel leaves, writhing and convulsing, even a heart of stone would have sprouted seeds of compassion. At that very moment, the Brahmin's son came there, wailing loudly, "Alas, father, alas, father!" Seeing the hungry, naked, thin, and black-haired children with dirt on their bodies, Drdhaprahari began to repent and think, "Alas! I have become merciless and killed this Brahmin couple! What will happen to these poor unfortunate children? Just as fish cannot survive without water in a reservoir, how can these children survive without their parents? Oh! This cruel act, I don't know what misfortune it will lead me to? Who will save me from the fruits of this sin? Whose refuge should I seek now?" Thinking in this way, a sense of detachment arose. Therefore, instead of going to the village, he reached a garden outside the village. There he saw a sage-Muni, like a medicine for the disease of sin. The murderer Drdhaprahari greeted him and said, "Lord! I am a great sinner. Not only that, even the one who talks to me becomes a sinner. Because the person who touches a person covered in mud also gets mud on him. It is a common belief that whoever kills even one of a child, woman, Brahmin, or cow, is surely destined for hell. I, being merciless, have killed all four. Lord! Only a holy sage like you can protect a merciless and sinful person like me." When it rains, it does not consider whether it is fertile land or barren land?" That purifier of the fallen, the Muni, instructed him in the path of virtuous conduct, full of austerity and self-control, to completely free him from sin. Just as a man who is afraid of the heat puts on an umbrella, so too, with great curiosity, he accepted the virtuous path to escape the fear of the suffering of sin. He also took this vow: "As long as I remember this sin, I will not eat and I will seek complete forgiveness." The great-minded Drdhaprahari Muni, desiring the destruction of karma, while wandering, reached near the same village where he had previously spread terror. When the villagers saw him, they recognized him and said, "This is the same head of sinners, the great sinner, the cunning one has now deceitfully donned the garb of a sage. Drive him away." Many people said, "This is the same murderer of the cow, the Brahmin, the child, and the woman. A hypocrite! Let him come, we will make him taste the consequences!" Thus, for many days, people cursed, scolded, rebuked, and condemned the Mahatma in various ways. Wherever he went for alms, people would hit him with stones, just as dogs are hit with stones. In this way, Drdhaprahari Muni, when he went to the village every day for alms, etc., would hear these slanderous words, and because of this, he would remember his sins and, according to his vow, would not respond to anyone, but would remain in a state of forgiveness; he would also not eat. Truly, for a courageous soul, nothing is difficult. Sometimes in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon, and sometimes in the evening, whenever he met the villagers, they would remind him of his past sins. Therefore, he did not eat even for a single day. People would beat him with stones, sticks, fists, etc., throw dust on him; yet he endured all these disturbances with equanimity and thought, "Self! Just as you have committed sins, so too, you must experience the fruits of sin! As you sow, so shall you reap. It is very good that these people, by being angry with me, are unknowingly giving me the opportunity to attain the perfection of being free from desire. If their hearts are filled with joy by being angry with me, let them be; I endure their harsh words with love. Therefore,
.38