Pigeon Couple and the Hunter

Chapter 10 of the Gautamī Māhātmya in the Brahma Mahā Purāṇa tells of a pigeon couple on Brahmāgiri. A cruel hunter was caught in a storm and took shelter under their tree. The hunter had trapped the she-pigeon in his cage. From inside the cage she taught her husband the highest dharmas, atithi-sevā (serving a guest) and pati-vratā (devotion to a husband). The he-pigeon followed her teaching and gave himself as food for the hunter. Their deaths together set the hunter free from his pāpa (sin), and he was made pure by the Gautamī. The place became Kapotatīrtha.

The hunter and the storm

On Brahmāgiri there lived a hunter of terrible look and nature. He was fierce, blue-eyed and misshapen, with a braying voice and a bow always in his hand. He killed animals and birds and troubled brāhmaṇas and tapasvīs (those who practise tapas).

One spring afternoon he wandered through the thick forest and was caught in a sudden violent storm. Thunder roared, hailstones fell, and a fierce wind drove the rain in sheets. He was blinded and worn out, and he could not tell water from land or a path from a pit. He thought: “I am the one who takes the life breath of all living beings. Now the force that brings even my own death has come. I see no one who can save me.”

He found a great tree in the forest, like a king of the forest, like the Moon among the stars. He took shelter under it with his clothes soaked. He thought of his wife and children and wondered whether they were alive. The sun set.

The pigeon couple

That tree was the home of a pigeon couple. They had lived there happily for many years with their children and grandchildren. On that very day, by bad luck, both pigeons had gone out to look for food. The he-pigeon came back alone. He found his children apart from their mother, the nest empty, and his beloved gone in the dark and the rain. He began to cry out in sorrow.

He said: “Even now my beloved wife has not come back. She is the source of my welfare and the increase of my joy. She is the mother of my virtue and the mistress who rules over my body. She helps me gain virtue, wealth, love and liberation. She knows no holy rite, no mantra, no deva, no virtue and no wealth except me, her husband. Her husband is her holy rite. Her husband is her life. Her husband is her mantra. Without her I cannot stay alive. For her I will even give up my body.”

Meanwhile the she-pigeon, tied up and shut in a cage by the hunter, heard her husband’s cry. She spoke to him from inside the cage.

The she-pigeon’s teaching

She said: “O bird of great mind, I am here, caught and helpless. I was brought here tied with ropes and nooses. I am glad and blessed, because my husband tells of my good qualities. When my husband is satisfied, the devas are pleased with me. You are my deva, my master, my friend, my last refuge, my holy rite, the great Brahman, my svarga (heaven) and my moksha. O my beloved husband, do not worry. Keep your mind steady in virtue and dharma.”

The he-pigeon rushed to the cage. He saw his beloved, and he saw the hunter lying as if dead. He said: “The hunter does not move. I will set you free.” She stopped him.

She said: “O most fortunate one, do not set me free. Know that the bonds of this world are not firm. Living beings are food for one another. This hunter is not to blame. Keep your mind steady in dharma. For the dvija (twice-born), Agni is the guru. The brāhmaṇa is the guru of all the varṇas. The husband alone is the guru of women. The guest is the guru of all. Whoever the guest is, if he comes to your house burned by the glare of the sun and tired, you should see him as a deva.

“Devas, pitṛs (the ancestors) and the sacred fires follow the tired guest. If he is pleased, they are glad too. If he is let down, they are let down. So, O beloved husband, let my guest be honoured. If food is given to the guest, Indra is pleased. If his feet are washed, the pitṛs are pleased. If he is fed, Prajāpati is pleased. By serving him, Lakshmī and Vishṇu can be pleased. If he is offered a bed, the devas are pleased.”

The pigeon gives himself and the hunter is freed

The he-pigeon accepted her teaching. He thought: “The hunter in front of me is a guest. He is hungry and cold in the rain. What can a small bird give?” He gathered dry leaves and lit a fire. He walked around the fire three times with respect. Then he offered his own small body as food for the guest and leapt into the flames. This was his highest act of atithi-sevā.

The she-pigeon watched her husband’s sacrifice from inside the cage and could not bear to stay. Her husband had gone to svarga through the fire. She called to the hunter: “O you who are full of pāpa (sin), this cage will now bring you no gain. Let me out.”

The hunter was deeply shaken by what he had seen, and he opened the cage. The she-pigeon walked around her husband’s fire and entered it herself. This was her highest act of pati-dharma. She went up to svarga with him.

The hunter was struck to the core. He had seen two small birds, full of dharma, do what even great human beings fail to do. This broke through all the pāpa he had gathered. He became thoughtful, sorry for his deeds, and changed. He made his way to the river Gautamī and bathed to make himself pure. All his pāpa was washed away by the power of the holy river. He too was freed.

The place on Brahmāgiri where the pigeon couple lived and gave their lives became the holy tīrtha known as Kapotatīrtha, the pigeon tīrtha. It is well known in the three worlds. Its greatness destroys all pāpa and gives all that is wished for.

Sources

• Brahma Mahā Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 10