Dantila and Kohala

Mataṅga was a ṛshi who kept the Vaiśākha observance faithfully. He had two sons, Dantila and Kohala. When he told them to keep the rites of Vaiśākha, they did not obey. Mataṅga cursed them to be born as a lion and an elephant. They were freed from those bodies when they heard hunter Śaṅkha and his companion speak of the glory of Vaiśākha.

The father’s order and the sons’ refusal

Every year in the month of Vaiśākha, Mataṅga bathed before sunrise. He gave water, umbrellas and cooling things to travellers on the road. He also listened closely to the Vishṇu-kathā (the telling of Bhagavān Vishṇu’s glory) of the month.

When his sons Dantila and Kohala were old enough to keep the vrata (vow), he told them: “This month, you must keep the Vaiśākha rites. Take your bath, give gifts, and listen to the Vishṇu-kathā. This is my order to you.”

The sons did not obey. The text does not say why. They did not keep the Vaiśākha rites that month.

Mataṅga learned that his sons had ignored him, and he was deeply angry. His order had been clear. The sons had heard it and understood it, and they had chosen not to follow it. For a father devoted to Vaiśākha, this was more than disobedience. It showed disrespect for the month that Bhagavān Vishṇu loves. He cursed them.

The curse and the animal births

Mataṅga said: “You have refused to keep the rites of the month dear to Mādhava (Bhagavān Vishṇu). So be born again, one of you as a lion and the other as an elephant, and stay in the forest, bound to animal life.”

Dantila and Kohala were born as a lion and an elephant. They lived out their animal lives in the forest.

Freed by hearing

They were not freed by any act of their own. As animals they could not keep a vrata or give gifts. They were freed by śravaṇa, which means hearing.

The hunter Śaṅkha, who is the main speaker in the Vaiśākha Māhātmya itself, was walking through the forest with a companion. The two were talking about the glory and the puṇya (merit) of keeping Vaiśākha. This talk took place near the place where the lion (Dantila) and the elephant (Kohala) were resting.

The lion and the elephant, with whatever memory of their earlier births was left to them, heard the talk about Vaiśākha. They heard the glory of the month dear to Mādhava. They made no effort of devotion. They were only near. That was enough.

Both animals were freed on the spot. Their animal bodies fell away. Two shining, free divine beings stood there in the forms of Dantila and Kohala. A divine aerial chariot came down for each of them.

Before they left, the freed sons of Mataṅga appeared before their father. He was a ṛshi of great tapas (austerity), and could see their divine forms. They bowed to him with respect and thanks. The curse that had seemed a punishment had led them, through the working of karma, to moksha. Mataṅga blessed them, and they went up to the divine world.

Hearing about Vaiśākha was enough for them even in animal bodies, with no human mind to understand it.

Sources

• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Vaiśākha Māsa Māhātmya, Chapter 17