Kapotī

Kapotī was a female pigeon. She appears in the Kapota–Lubdhaka Saṃvāda (the dialogue of the pigeon and the hunter) in the Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Āpaddharma Parva, Chapters 143–149.

The hunter Lubdhaka caught her in his net. From inside the net she taught her mate Kapota the absolute duty of atithi-dharma (the duty to a guest) toward the very man who had trapped her. When Kapota entered the fire as an offering, Kapotī followed him. Her calm in captivity, her clear understanding of dharma and her willing death are shown as the highest form of pātivratā (a wife’s devotion to her husband). She did not only follow her husband in loyalty. She taught him the highest dharma.

The teaching from within the net

The hunter set his trap and caught Kapotī. From inside the net she saw that the man who had come to her home was now her atithi (guest), even though he was her captor. The rule of atithi-dharma does not depend on the guest’s worth, or on how he has treated the host. It depends only on the fact that he has arrived.

She called to her mate Kapota and gave him this teaching calmly.

This moment is the highest example of bhāryā-praśaṃsā (praise of the wife). She taught dharma to her husband while she herself was in distress. This was not passive devotion. It was active teaching of dharma.

Following Kapota into the fire

Kapota entered the fire as an offering to the hunter. Kapotī watched from the net. She did not grieve in the usual way. She understood what her husband had done and what it asked of her.

She spoke to the hunter. Her husband had gone, and she belonged wherever he was. A wife who had followed her husband in dharma all her life would not stay behind when he left. She asked to be let free. She also said clearly that she was going to find him in any case.

Kapotī also entered the fire. Both birds reached svarga (heaven) through this willing offering.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Āpaddharma Parva, Chapters 143–149