The god Ishvara decided to test a king and his chief councilor to see who was truly righteous, so he took the form of a mangy dog on the side of a river.
The dog howled and whined, showing that he wanted to cross the river.
The king would not touch the dog, but his councilor lifted the dog in his arms and carried him across.
To the king's surprise, he was the one who caught the mange, even though he had not touched the dog.
The councilor did not get mange, for he had God's blessing.
Inspired by: Heeramma and Venkataswami, or Folktales From India by M. N. Venkataswami
Notes: The title "Ishvara" is often associated with the god Shiva; you can learn more at Wikipedia. Compare also the story of how the god Dharma (Yama) took the form of a dog in order to test his earth-born son, King Yudhishthira.
No comments:
Post a Comment