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Once great sage Vishwamitra approached Harishchandra and informed him of a promise made by the king during the sage's dream to donate his entire kingdom. Harishchandra was so virtuous, that he immediately made good his word and donated his entire kingdom to the sage and walked away with his wife and son.
Since, the entire world was under the sage after he donated his kingdom;But, the sage, proclaimed that for an act of donation to be completed, an additional amount as Dakshina (honorarium) had to be paid. Harishchandra, with no money in his hands, had to sell his wife and son to a Brahmin Grihastha to pay for the Dakshina. When the money collected still did not suffice for the purpose, he sold himself to a guard at the cremation ground, who was in charge of collecting taxes for the bodies to be cremated.
The king, his wife and son had to sustain tremendous hardships doing their respective chores. The king helped the guard cremate the dead bodies, while his wife and son were used as household helpers at the house of the Brahmin. Once, the son had been to the garden to pluck flowers for his master's prayer, when he was bitten by a snake and he died instantly. His mother, having nobody to sympathise for her, carried his body to the cremation grounds. In acute penury, she could not even pay the taxes needed to cremate him. Harishchandra did not recognize his wife and son. He asked the lady to sell her golden mangalsutra and pay the tax. It is at this instance that his wife recognizes him. She has a boon that her husband only could see her mangalasutra. Harishchandra then came to her and recognized her as his wife and was stung by pangs of agony.
But, Harishchandra, was duty bound by his job to perform the cremation only after the acceptance of the tax. So, he asked his wife, if she was willing to undergo further hardships and stand by him in this hour of calamity. The faithful wife readily gave assent. She had in her possession only a saree, a part of which was used to cover the dead body of her son. She offers half of her lone dress as the tax, which Harishchandra could accept and perform the last rites of his son. When she proceeded to remove her dress, miracles happened.
Lord Vishnu. Indra and all Devas and the sage Vishwamitra himself manifested themselves on the scene, and praised Harishchandra for his perseverance and steadfastness. They brought his son back to life. They also offered the king and his wife, instant places in heaven. The virtuous king refused saying that he cannot leave behind his subjects. He asked for a place in heaven for all his subjects. But the gods refused, explaining that the subjects had their own Karma and they have to undergo them. The king was then ready to forego all his virtues and religiousness for his people, so that they could ascend to heaven leaving him behind. The gods, now immensely pleased with the unassailable character of the great king, offered heavenly abode to the king, the queen and all their subjects.
The sage Vishwamitra helped to populate the kingdom again and installed Harishchandra's son as the king.
The readiness for extreme sacrifice by Shastriji reminded me of this story of Raja Harishchandra.........Also, by giving away his punya to someone and taking his paap, is also the act of earning punya.........also, whatever Shastriji is doing today, is for his daughter's well being and as he mentions - though Lord Ram knew that there is no "Golden Deer' he still chased the deer.........Likewise, Shastriji is doing everything because God has thought of something for him and about him..........Today, it was the "test" of pitha...........test by Kanha for a father to see whether he would really sell himself for wellbeing of his daughter...he wants to have a grand wedding for his daughter, so that the world would forget that he is not her real dad.....Also he is keeping his promise given to himself the day he held Rads in his hands for the first time, that even after facing any number of troubles, he would make sure that she is happy.........and he did ..........and he knew that his Isht Dev (Kanha) will know why he was ready to trade his Punya...............
Today, my head bows before this Truthful, dutybound Pitha...........truly he is a punya-atma...................
Udne Ki Aasha
