Kāyavya

Kāyavya was born of a kshatriya father and a nishāda mother. He was a dasyu (a robber-chief) in the forest of the Pāryātra mountain, as told in the Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Āpaddharma Parva, Chapter 135. Bhīshma tells his story to show that even an outcast can rise above his station by the turn of his inner life.

Though he lived as a robber, Kāyavya kept a strict code. He protected brāhmaṇas, women, children and ascetics. He looked after his old blind parents in the forest. Through this steady conduct of dharma he reached siddhi (spiritual accomplishment).

Birth and background

Kāyavya’s father was a kshatriya and his mother was a nishāda. This put him outside the four varṇas, in the nishāda group, a forest-dwelling tribal line. He became a dasyu (an armed robber and leader of outlaws) in the Pāryātra mountain forest.

He was a man of great power. He was a planner who knew everything about animals, seasons, land and the forest peoples. He was a fighter who could alone defeat armies of hundreds.

His code

Kāyavya was very different from other dasyus. He did these things.

• He never harmed women, children, the frightened, ascetics or those who did not fight.
• He cared with tenderness for his old blind parents in the deep forest. He gave them honey, meat, roots, fruits and fine foods.
• He guarded brāhmaṇas. He provided for them, fought for them and never broke their holy duties.
• He left food in secret at the homes of brāhmaṇas who would not take food from him because of rules of purity. He left before dawn, so they found the food without knowing where it came from.
• He ordered his followers to keep the same code when he became their chief.

Hundreds of dasyus chose him as their leader. He agreed only on the condition that they all follow his code. They did.

Siddhi

The text says that Kāyavya reached great siddhi through this life of protection and service. His followers kept his code too, and they turned away from pāpa (sin) and gained puṇya (merit).

The account ends with Bhīshma’s teaching. Whoever thinks daily on the Kāyavya-carita (the story of Kāyavya) will be free from fear of all creatures of the forest. Kāyavya himself is likened to a bull among beasts, who holds natural authority through right conduct.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Āpaddharma Parva, Chapter 135