Nṛga Moksha (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa)

King Nṛga of the Ikshvāku line was a great giver. In the Uttara Kāṇḍa of the Rāmāyaṇa, Rāma tells his court how Nṛga gave away a cow that belonged to a brāhmaṇa without knowing it. The brāhmaṇa who owned the cow spoke a śāpa (a curse), and Nṛga became a lizard (godha) in a well. The account ends with his freedom when Śrī Kṛshṇa lifted him out at Dvārakā.

Why Rāma told it

Rāma told this account at court while the talk was about the dharma of kingship, about how serious it is to take a brāhmaṇa’s property, and about the heavy results of a wrong act even when it is done without intent. The account belongs to the past, and it was to be completed in the Dvāpara Yuga by Śrī Kṛshṇa, the next great avatāra (descent) of Vishṇu.

Nṛga’s giving and the mistake

King Nṛga was famous for his great giving. He was a mahādānī (a great giver) of the first rank. He gave cows to brāhmaṇas by the tens of thousands, and also land, gold, food and every kind of wealth.

Once, among all these gifts of cows, he gave away a cow that really belonged to a brāhmaṇa. It had strayed into his herd, and he did not know. He gave it to another brāhmaṇa as his gift. The first owner came to claim the cow, but the one who had received it would not give it back. The quarrel between the two brāhmaṇas came to Nṛga’s court. Nṛga was deeply troubled and offered ten thousand other cows in its place. Neither brāhmaṇa would accept this. Each held his ground.

The first owner was not satisfied, and he spoke a śāpa on Nṛga: “You have given away what was not yours to give. You will become a lizard and live in a well.”

The śāpa and the freedom

Nṛga became a lizard and lived in a great well for countless ages. He had always followed dharma and had given much, but he could not escape the śāpa, because even an unintended wrong against a brāhmaṇa’s property has this power.

In the Dvāpara Yuga, the companions of Śrī Kṛshṇa found a huge lizard in a well at Dvārakā. They tried to lift it out but could not, because it was far too large and heavy for any ordinary being. Śrī Kṛshṇa came and put his hand into the well. The lizard caught hold of his hand, and at that touch the śāpa broke. King Nṛga rose from the well in his shining celestial form, bowed low before Śrī Kṛshṇa, and was freed.

Rāma’s teaching

Rāma told the account to stress one point. A king must take great care in matters of property that belongs to brāhmaṇas. Even when the wrong is done without intent, and even when the king’s whole life has been one of giving and dharma, one wrong against a brāhmaṇa’s property can bring a terrible result. A king must keep careful ways of working so that such mistakes do not happen.

Sources

• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 55