Lomaśa the Cat

Lomaśa was a cat who lived in a great tree in a forest. He is the main figure of the Mārjāra-Mūshika Saṃvāda, the talk between the cat and the mouse, in the Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Āpaddharma Parva, Chapters 131–138.

In it, Lomaśa and Palita the mouse, who is his natural prey, were forced to make a short alliance so that both could live. Each faced a deadly danger from other enemies. Bhīshma gives this account as a teaching on sandhi (making peace or an alliance) and vigraha (enmity or war) as tools of rājadharma (the duty of a king).

Lomaśa and his home

Lomaśa had lived for many years in a great tree in the forest, and he had made it his home. He lived by hunting birds and small animals nearby. His natural enemy was Palita, a mouse whose burrow was at the root of the same tree. Between the two there was always the plain relation of hunter and hunted.

The alliance with Palita

Danger came to both at the same time. A caṇḍāla hunter named Pārigha arrived and set his nets at the root of the tree. Lomaśa was caught in the net. At the same moment a mongoose named Harika and an owl threatened Palita from different sides, and the mouse had no safe way out.

Palita came to Lomaśa with a practical offer: “I can gnaw through your net. In return, protect me from Harika and the owl with your presence.”

Lomaśa was a hunter by nature, but he accepted, because he had no other way out. He held back his urge to kill Palita. Even while he lay bound in the net, his strong presence kept Harika and the owl away, and Palita sheltered in his shadow through the danger.

After the danger

When the danger had passed and Lomaśa was free, he called out to Palita in a warm voice and asked him to trust the bond they had made. Palita answered plainly that an alliance made under force is not lasting friendship. Then he went back into his burrow. The mouse had done his part of the agreement in full.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Āpaddharma Parva, Chapters 131–138