Pṛṣadhra

Pṛṣadhra was a son of Manu and a king of the solar lineage. He is known for the tragic episode in which he unknowingly killed the homadhenu of an Agnihotrī Brāhmaṇa while hunting in the forest and was subsequently cursed with śūdratva by the Brāhmaṇa’s young son. The account of Pṛṣadhra is narrated by Mārkaṇḍeya and illustrates the workings of karma, the destructive power of krodha, and the virtue of śama and compassion.

The Hunt in the Forest

Pṛṣadhra, the son of Manu, once went into the forest with the intention of hunting. He wandered here and there through the deserted forest but could not find any deer. Exhausted by the heat of Sūrya’s rays and afflicted by hunger and thirst, he continued to roam through the wilderness in search of prey.

The Killing of the Homadhenu

While wandering, Pṛṣadhra came upon a beautiful homadhenu belonging to an Agnihotrī Brāhmaṇa. The cow was standing amidst thick creepers, and half of its body was hidden by the foliage. Pṛṣadhra, mistaking the cow for a gavaya, a wild animal, released an arrow upon it. The arrow pierced the cow’s heart, and it fell dead upon the earth.

The Wrath of Bābhravya

The son of the Agnihotrī, a young brahmacārī named Bābhravya who was devoted to tapas, had been appointed to protect the cows. When he saw his father’s homadhenu fallen and slain, he was overcome with rage. His jñāna was lost due to extreme anger. His body became wet with drops of perspiration, and his eyes filled with tears and rolled with fury. In this state, he prepared to curse the king.

Pṛṣadhra’s Rebuke

King Pṛṣadhra, seeing the drops of perspiration arising from anger on the body of the muni-bālaka, spoke to him thus. He told him to be pacified and asked why he was displaying anger like a Śūdra. He said that although Bābhravya was born in an excellent Brāhmaṇa kula, he was behaving like a Śūdra, and that he had never seen any Kṣatriya or Vaiśya become so subject to anger.

The Curse of Bābhravya

When the king insulted him by comparing him to a Śūdra, Bābhravya cursed the evil-minded king. He declared that Pṛṣadhra would indeed become a Śūdra. Furthermore, because Pṛṣadhra had killed his father’s homadhenu, the Brahma-vidyā that the king had learned from the mouth of his guru would be completely destroyed.

The Confrontation and the Father’s Intervention

Having received the curse, Pṛṣadhra was afflicted in mind and, seized by anger, took water in his hand to deliver a counter-curse upon the boy. At that same moment, Bābhravya too became extremely angry, intending to destroy the king with a further curse. Right then, his father, the Agnihotrī Brāhmaṇa, arrived quickly. He restrained his son and spoke to him with great wisdom.

He addressed his son as Vatsa and told him to abandon anger, calling it a severe enemy to one’s future. He said that for Brāhmaṇas, śama alone is the giver of auspiciousness in this world and the next. He explained that anger destroys tapas, that with the occurrence of krodha the span of life is diminished, jñāna is destroyed, and poverty follows. A man possessed of krodha cannot earn dharma or artha, and if one is subject to anger, he becomes incapable of attaining desires or happiness.

He further reasoned that even if the king had killed the cow knowingly, it would be appropriate for a man desiring his own welfare to show compassion toward him. And since the king had killed the cow out of ignorance, he asked how such a person could be worthy of a curse, for his inner consciousness was faultless and free from defect. He said that whichever man afflicts others for his own benefit, it is appropriate for compassionate ones to show mercy even to such a foolish-minded person. And if wise men impose punishment for an offense committed unknowingly, he considered ignorant men to be superior to such wise ones. Therefore, he told his son, the Kumāra, that he should not give a curse to the king. He concluded by saying that the cow, subject to its own karma, had fallen into such a painful fate of death.

Pṛṣadhra’s Plea for Forgiveness

After hearing the words of the Brāhmaṇa, Pṛṣadhra also bowed his head and saluted the son of the muni. He spoke in a loud voice, asking Bābhravya to be pacified. He confessed that he had killed the cow unknowingly, having mistaken it for a deer, and thereby destroyed the homadhenu. He pleaded with the muni to show grace toward him.

The Irrevocable Curse

The son of the Ṛṣi replied to the king. He said that since his birth he had never spoken a lie, and therefore his anger also could never be in vain. The curse, he declared, could not be made otherwise. However, he acknowledged that he had been prepared to give a second curse to the king, and from that he would desist. He would not deliver the second curse. After the boy spoke in this manner, his father took him back to the āśrama.

The Fate of Pṛṣadhra

Subsequently, Pṛṣadhra attained śūdratva, fulfilling the curse pronounced upon him by Bābhravya. Thus, through a chain of events born of mistaken perception, hasty anger, and the power of a Brāhmaṇa’s word, the son of Manu lost his varṇa and the Brahma-vidyā he had received from his guru.

Source: Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa Chapter 109