Saudāsa and Kalmāshapāda
Saudāsa, also called Mitrasaha, was a righteous king of the Sūryavaṃśa (the Solar dynasty). The Nārada Mahā Purāṇa tells how a rākshasa tricked him into feeding human flesh to his guru Vasishṭha Maharshi. Vasishṭha’s śāpa (a curse) turned the king into a man-eating rākshasa for twelve years, and he became known as Kalmāshapāda. One drop of Gaṅgā water ended the śāpa. The Mahābhārata also tells of Saudāsa during these years, in the account of Uttaṅka.
Saudāsa, a righteous king
Saudāsa came from the line of Bhagīratha in the Solar dynasty. He knew all dharma (sarvadharma-jñātā), wished well for all beings (sarvabhūtahita-bhāvan), and was firm in dharma. Like the great Sagara, he ruled with a father’s love and protected all four varṇas. A rākshasa soon tested his virtuous rule. (Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Poorvardha, Chapter 9)
The tiger and the rākshasa’s vow
Saudāsa went hunting near the river Revā. In a cave he found a pair of tigers mating, and he killed the tigress with an arrow. As she died, her body showed the form of a rākshasī. The male tiger was really a Vyāgharākshasa (a tiger-rākshasa). Mad with grief, he vowed revenge and vanished.
The rākshasa’s trick and Vasishṭha’s śāpa
Long afterwards Saudāsa began an Aśvamedha yajña (a horse sacrifice), with Vasishṭha as his purohita (priest). The Vyāgharākshasa saw his chance. He took the form of Vasishṭha Maharshi and told the royal cook to prepare nara-māṃsa (human flesh). Then he disguised himself as the cook, prepared the dish himself, and served it to the king as prasāda for the guru.
The real Vasishṭha Maharshi arrived, and the dish was set before him. Through his divya-jñāna (divine knowledge) he knew at once that it was human flesh. In anger he pronounced a śāpa on the king: “You have given me human flesh. Therefore you too shall have the rākshasas’ food of human flesh as your natural food.”
Saudāsa was shaken. He told Vasishṭha that he had been tricked. Vasishṭha reflected in samādhi and saw the rākshasa’s deception. He could not take back the śāpa, but he said it would last only twelve years. After that, a single Gaṅgā-bindu (drop of Gaṅgā water) would cure Saudāsa.
The water of the king’s own śāpa
Saudāsa had already lifted water in his palm to answer Vasishṭha with a śāpa of his own. His wise queen Madayantī stopped him. She reminded him of the pāpa (sin) of cursing one’s guru. Saudāsa could not pour the water anywhere else, because it would destroy whatever it touched. So he poured it on his own feet. His feet became dark-spotted (kalmāsha), and from this he got the name Kalmāshapāda.
(Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Poorvardha, Chapters 9-10)
Twelve years as a rākshasa
In his rākshasa form Kalmāshapāda was terrifying. He was thin, with huge bones and reddish hair. He wandered through empty forests and ate animals, humans, serpents, monkeys and birds. He stayed six months in each region, spread ruin there, and then moved on. At last he reached the bank of the Narmadā, a place often visited by siddhas and munis.
The brāhmaṇa and his wife
There Kalmāshapāda met a brāhmaṇa and his wife. He seized the husband to eat him. The frightened wife begged him with folded hands: “O king! You are of the Sūryavaṃśa, born noble. I am alone and helpless in this wilderness. My husband is my protector, my life. You know dharma, and you know that a woman lives only through her husband. Do not make me a widow in my childhood. A pregnant woman, a widow, and the unprotected: protect them all. Grant me life, for the gift of life (prāṇadāna) is the greatest dāna.” She fell at the rākshasa’s feet, weeping. Kalmāshapāda ate the brāhmaṇa all the same.
The brāhmaṇī was full of grief and anger. She pronounced a śāpa on him: “You violated my husband in the act of love. I too pronounce a śāpa on you: whenever you approach a woman, you shall die.” Then she gave a second one: “Since you ate my husband, may your state as a rākshasa last forever.”
Kalmāshapāda was furious at the two śāpas for one wrong. He answered: “You gave two śāpas for one wrong. May you and your son become piśācas.” The brāhmaṇī became a piśācī at once.
This meeting in the rākshasa-filled forest on the Narmadā leads into the teaching on the guru.
(Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Poorvardha, Chapter 9)
The Brahmarākshasa Somadatta
Kalmāshapāda and the piśācī came to another forest. A brahmarākshasa lived there in a dry tree. His name was Somadatta. He had been a very learned brāhmaṇa of Magadha, skilled in all the śāstras. He became mad with three kinds of pride, in learning (vidyā), wealth (dhana) and youth (yauvana), and he showed disrespect to his guru. That disrespect (guru-avamāna) made him a brahmarākshasa. Since then he had eaten hundreds of thousands of brāhmaṇas, and hunger tormented him all the time.
When Kalmāshapāda came near, Somadatta called out. He asked who they were and how they had come to such a state. Kalmāshapāda told his story and asked Somadatta about himself. Somadatta explained his fall and added: “May no one who wants his own welfare (śreyobhilāshī) ever disrespect the guru.”
Kalmāshapāda was curious. He asked, “Who exactly is the guru? Who deserves worship?” Somadatta gave a full answer. These are all gurus, each in his own field:
- the teacher of the Veda (veda-adhyāpaka)
- the teacher of the śāstras (śāstra-pravaktā)
- the teacher of dharma (dharma-śikshaka)
- the teacher of ethics (nītiśāstra-upadeshṭā)
- the giver of a mantra (mantra-dātā)
- those who protect from fear
- those who give food
- the father of a girl, who gives her in marriage (the father-in-law)
- the maternal uncle
- the elder brother
- one’s own father
- the guru who performs the upanayana
- the one who performs the nisheka rite
- the one who performs the saṃskāras
All of them deserve respectful namaskāra and honour (ādara).
Kalmāshapāda asked which of them is supreme. Somadatta replied: “The one who, by teaching the śāstra, removes the three sorrows of the ātmā, the adhyātmika, the adhibhautika and the ādhidaivika, and so makes liberation possible, is the supreme guru. Before this teaching guru (upadeśa-guru), all others come second, though all deserve namaskāra.”
Somadatta said that service of the guru (guru-sevā) is the highest dharma. The guru removes ajñāna (ignorance), the root of all suffering. His teaching rests on the śāstra (śāstra-mūla), and it lets the ātmā reach its true nature.
(Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Poorvardha, Chapters 12-13)
Freed by Gaṅgā
When the twelve years ended, Vasishṭha’s words came true. A single drop of Gaṅgā water touched Kalmāshapāda, and the rākshasa body dissolved at once. The cleansed king had his human form again, with a bright mind, and Gaṅgā’s touch filled him with jñāna. He bowed before Vasishṭha Maharshi and became a devoted servant of Śrī Hari. He ruled with dharma for the rest of his life.
(Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Poorvardha, Chapter 9)
Uttaṅka and the earrings (Mahābhārata)
The Aśvamedhika Parva of the Mahābhārata keeps an episode from Saudāsa’s own twelve years as a rākshasa. Here he is called by the name purushāda (man-eater). The ṛshi Uttaṅka was looking for a guru-dakshiṇā (a teacher’s fee) for the wife of Gautama, Ahalyā. He came to Saudāsa in an empty forest to ask for the divine maṇi-kuṇḍalas (jewelled earrings) that his queen Madayantī wore.
It was the fixed evening hour for Saudāsa’s meal, and he was very hungry. Even so, he agreed to an arrangement. He would let Uttaṅka go and finish his errand, if the brāhmaṇa promised to come back afterwards and put himself at the king’s disposal. The kuṇḍalas belonged to the queen, so Saudāsa sent Uttaṅka to Madayantī. She could be met that day at a forest stream, because in his rākshasa state her husband could not see her at that hour.
Madayantī asked for a token (pramāṇa) before she would give up the kuṇḍalas. Saudāsa gave the token as a śloka: “This course (gati) of mine does not lead to welfare (kshema). I can see no other way out of it. Knowing this state of mine, give him the maṇi-kuṇḍalas.” Madayantī was satisfied and gave Uttaṅka the kuṇḍalas.
Uttaṅka then asked Saudāsa about the hidden meaning behind the śloka. The king told him about his life as a rākshasa. He said he was sure that a king who opposes the brāhmaṇa jāti finds no good course (gati), in this world or the next. Uttaṅka asked whether he should keep their agreement and come back, since he was speaking to a “man-eating” friend (mitra). For Uttaṅka’s own good (śreyas), Saudāsa freed him from his promise and told him never to return, because his death would be certain if he did.
In this account the queen’s name is Madayantī, as in the Nārada Mahā Purāṇa. The Ādi Parva of the Mahābhārata names the queen who bears Saudāsa’s heir Adṛśyantī.
(Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapters 57-58)
Sources
- Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Poorvardha, Chapters 9-13
- Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapters 56-58
- Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva (the queen’s name, Adṛśyantī)