14 JAN UPDT:Mothers Sad at AYODHYA !!!!!!!!! - Page 3

u guys know so much👏 ,

that ws interesting story avinash

When the Khandav forest was burning, then Takshak was not present there as he had gone to the field of Kurukshetra. The akashwani, which told Indra to desist from fighting also told him that his friend Takshak was safe because he was not in Khandav at that time. Thus Takshak survived.

Takshak's son Aswasen was there in the Khandav forest. But Indra saved him. Indra caused a violent wind, which made Arhun unconscious for a few moments. During these few moments, Aswasen succeeded in escaping.

Out of those animals and birds, who were present in the forest, the only survivors were Aswasen, Maya and Sarngaka birds.
I have told how Aswasen and Maya survived. Now let me tell about Sarngaka birds.

There was a great rishi named Mandapal. After death, he did not attain the celestial regions, which he had expected. He asked gods the reason for this.
The gods replied, "Certain regions can be attained only by those, who have children. You have no child."
Mandapal thought that birds give birth to children very fast. So, using the power of his askesis, he took birth as a Sarngaka bird and went to Khandav forest. There, he beget four sons upon a female bird named Jarita of the same species. When the children were still in eggs, Mandapal left that forest. Jarita gave birth to the children and raised them herself.
One day, sage Mandapal came to that forest while wandering. He saw Agni coming towards the forest to burn it down. Mandapal worshipped Agni. Agni was happy and asked Mandapal to ask for a boon. Mandapal requested that his children be spared. Agni gave that boon.

When the forest was burning, then Jarita did not know how she could save her children. Those small birds were still not capable of flying. And she was not strong enough to carry all four of her sons to a safe place. Her children said, "Mother, you leave us and save yourself. If you are alive, then you can give birth to more children. But if you die, then soon our race will stop."
Jarita said, "There is a hole here made by a mouse. Enter this whole. After entering it, cover the mouth of this hole with dust. When the fire has stopped, then I will return here and remove the dust.

The infants replied, "We are so small. If we enter the hole, then the mouse living inside the hole will kill us. Anyway, we are going to die. We prefer death by fire than by being eaten up by a mouse."

Jarita said, "The mouse who made this hole came out of this hole and was killed by a hawk. So, without fear, enter this hole."

The infants replied, "There may be other mice inside this hole. If we enter the hole, we will definitely die. If we stay here, it is possible that we will survive because we can see wind blowing the fire away from here."

Jarita tried again and againt to convince her sons to enter the hole by saying that there was no mouse inside the hole. But the infants refused because they were not certain of their survival in the hole. They told their mother to save herself. Jarita left her sons there and went to a spot, where there was no fire.

After some time, Agni came towards the place where the infant birds were.
The eldest of the four (Jaritati) said, "Wise are wakeful in view of death. When death comes, they feel no sorrow. But those, who are perplexed, feel sorrow when death comes and they do not attain salvation."

The second (Sarisrikka) said, "Our lives are threatened. Very few can remain wise and brave in this danger. You are certainly brave and intelligent."

The third Stamvamitra said, "It is the duty of the eldest brother to save his younger brothers."

The fourth Dron said, "The cruel god of fire is quickly coming here eating everything in his path."

Then all the four brothers gratified Agni by praising him. Agni became happy. Moreover, he also remembered his promise to sage Mandapal. Therefore Agni spared the lives of those infant birds.

@Chandraketu,

Thanks Akhl for the second story as well.

Do you happen to know what made Takshak such a close friend of Indra that he defended him even though Takshak had killed his great grandson Parikshit? One would have thought that the same Indra, who deprived Karna of his kavach-kundala to save his son Arjun, would sympathize with the family of Arjun's grandson Parikshit, rather than with his killer Takshak. (Granted, Parikshit's death was the result of a curse, but still, wouldn't one expect Indra's sympathies to lie with him?)

Also, re Jarita, I recall reading that while she was pregnant, Mandapal became friends with another female bird, and that infuriated Jarita. Is that part of what's to follow?

wow thanks avinash for all info😛