Śvārshi Saṃvāda

This is a short account from the Śānti Parva of the Mahābhārata. A ṛshi in the forest becomes the friend of a dog. Again and again he uses his tapas (austerity) to turn the dog into a stronger animal. At last the dog, now a śarabha, turns on the ṛshi himself, and the ṛshi puts it back into its first form with a śāpa (a curse).

The friendship

A ṛshi lived in the forest. A dog came to him and asked for his help and friendship. The dog was gentle and humble. The ṛshi was moved by compassion and became its friend.

The dog asked to be protected from a cheetah that threatened it. Through the power of his tapas, the ṛshi turned the dog into a cheetah.

The changes, one after another

As a cheetah the dog lived more safely. Then it said that tigers frightened it. The ṛshi turned the cheetah into a tiger.

As a tiger it lived more powerfully. Then it said that elephants challenged it. The ṛshi turned the tiger into an elephant.

As an elephant it was strong. Then it said that lions threatened it. The ṛshi turned the elephant into a lion.

As a lion, the greatest hunter of the forest, the creature seemed content for a time. Then it said that there were creatures greater even than the lion: the śarabha, an eight-legged beast of great power that can kill lions.

The ṛshi turned the lion into a śarabha.

The attack

Now, in its strongest form, the śarabha turned on the very ṛshi who had made all these changes. It lunged at him.

The ṛshi saw what had happened and cursed it with a śāpa. At once the śarabha went back to its first form, a dog.

The teaching

The account teaches about a person of base character (nīca).

• Outer change does not change inner nature. At each stage the dog received a new body, new power and new standing. But its svabhāva (inborn nature) never changed. Only its power to do harm grew. Its character stayed that of a dog.
• Raising an unfit person destroys the one who raises him. The ṛshi’s kindness, helping the dog at each stage, made a creature strong enough to threaten the ṛshi himself. The fault was not the kindness. It was the repeated raising of one who had not changed within.
• The rule for rulers. Giving a person a place far above his inner worth is not generosity. It is a failure of viveka (discernment). A base person placed in high office does not become a noble person. He becomes a more dangerous base person.

The Śānti Parva also has a companion account, the Ushṭragrīvopākhyāna (Chapter 112, the camel’s neck). It makes the same point from the other side: even a gift from Brahmā, without the understanding (buddhi) to use it well, becomes the means of one’s own ruin.

Together these accounts set a rule for choosing ministers in the Śānti Parva: fit the person to the place, not the place to the person.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Rājadharmānuśāsana Parva, Chapters 116–117 (the Śvārshi account)
• Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Rājadharmānuśāsana Parva, Chapter 112 (the Ushṭragrīvopākhyāna)