Table of Contents
Story of Saudasa
Recap
The last post was about Ganga liberating the sons of Sagara. I had also shared in detail about Ganga’s travel and the geography of Bengal. Today’s post is about a king who was cursed and got liberated by the grace of Ganga.
Bhagiratha saw Ganga was flowing on earth as a river. Pleased, he returned to Ayodhya, to his mothers. He was crowned the king of Ayodhya and he was a great ruler. In time he got married and had a son, who was named Saudasa. When Saudasa was old enough, Bhagiratha handed over the kingdom to him. Bhagiratha also got his son married to a princess called Madayanti. Ensuring that Ayodhya was in safe hands, Bhagiratha then left the city to retire in the mountains, on the banks of the river Ganga. There, one day, he attained liberation. When Saudasa heard the news, he performed the customary funeral and post-funeral rites for Bhagiratha. Gifts were given to the brahmins who had come to attend the last rites.
Time passed. One day, Saudasa was out hunting. A rustle in the bush and a deer jumped out. Saudasa chased the deer and just as it had appeared, it suddenly disappeared. Then Saudasa saw it. The stripes. Moving amongst the bushes. Then a growl. He looked closely. This was definitely a tiger. He took aim, and released an arrow. The arrow went and struck the tiger. What was this? As soon as that happened, the tiger transformed into a rakshasa, who collapsed and died there. Before Saudasa could react, a tigress came there, and seeing the dead tiger, the tigress changed into a rakshashi (female rakshasa). Looking at Saudasa, the rakshasi said, “We had come here, in this forest, to make love to each other. We did not harm you. Why did you kill my husband? You will suffer for this.” Saying this, the rakshasi took the lifeless body of her mate and vanished into the forest.
Remorseful and dejected, Saudasa returned to his palace. Not sure what to do, he called his advisors and ministers. After consulting with them, he went to see his guru, rishi Vashistha. Seeing the rishi, Saudasa told him all that had happened and then told him what the rakshasi had said. Vashistha asked Saudasa to perform the Ashvamedha yagna (horse sacrifice). Accepting the rishi’s counsel, the yagna was performed. At the end of the yagna, gifts were given to all who had attended.
The rakshasi saw this happening and was disheartened. If everything went as it was now, her words would have no value. She would need to do something. She waited for some time watching everything that was happening. She saw everyone leave, including rishi Vashistha. This was her opportunity. She took the guise of the rishi and went to the king. Seeing the rishi return, the king wanted to know if all was well. To that the rishi said he was hungry and wanted to eat some meat. The king said the yagna’s horse had been sacrificed and said if the rishi wanted some meat, the sanctified horse meat would be cooked and served soon. He asked the rishi to have a bath and come. The rakshasi, in the guise of the rishi, left the place. As soon as she was out of sight, she then took on the guise of a cook and went to the kitchen. She went to a corner and cooked a meal. Instead of the meat of the horse, she used human flesh and cooked that. That dish was then sent to the king. Saudasa assumed that this was horse meat that had been cooked. He then sent for the rishi.
Vashistha was a bit surprised. Why was he being sent for? He went and saw the king, standing there with a bowl of meat. The rishi sat down to eat. The rakshasi, still in the guise of the cook, served the dish cooked using human flesh, to the rishi. She took what was there in the serving dish and kept that in front of the rishi, and walked away from that. The rishi was surprised. He began to inspect the bowl and discovered that it was human flesh that had been cooked. Losing his temper, the rishi shouted, “How dare you serve me human flesh. For this reason, you will become a flesh-eating rakshasa.”
Saudasa lost his temper. Taking some of the sacrificial water in his hand, he said, “O rishi, you cursed me for no fault of mine. I shall transform you into a pile of ashes.”
The rakshasi heard the mutual curses and realized that she had caused massive chaos. She fled from there. The rishi closed his eyes and tried to understand what was happening. He then realized it was the rakshasi who had come to the king, taking his form, and had asked for meat. While this was happening, queen Madayanti heard what was going on. She rushed to the site and asked the king not to curse the rishi. The king said, “My dear, I wish you had come earlier. Now what do I do with this water? If I throw it in the skies, the devas will perish. If I throw it on the ground, all vegetation will die and the earth will become barren. I see only one option now.” Saying that, the king sprinkled some of the water on his own feet. His feet bore the brunt of the water and became stained with the water, and Saudasa got the name, Kalmashpada.
Saudasa felt a change coming over his body. Seeing that, Vashistha said, “What is happening to you is the effect of the curse. You will become a rakshasa. That curse cannot be avoided. You are a noble king and yet, I cannot take the curse away. What I can say is, you will live as a rakshasa for eleven years. After that period, the curse will be broken.”
Saudasa fell at the rishi’s feet and asked, “How will I get liberation from that life?”
Vashistha said, “The curse will end when you touch the waters of Ganga. The sight of the river itself will do wonders. Till then live the life of a rakshasa.”
By that time, Saudasa completely transformed into a rakshasa. Before he could do any harm to anyone there, he left the place and retreated far away from civilization. He had become a brahmarakshasa and he would live on banyan trees and kill and eat unsuspecting brahmins. Time went on like this, and soon the eleven-year period came to an end. The last day of the eleven-year period came, and Saudasa was hungry, He had not found any brahmin to kill and eat. Roaming around in search of food, Saudasa ended up in the holy place of Prabhasa. There, spotting a banyan tree, Saudasa sat there. Sitting there, he saw a brahmadaitya (ghost of a dead brahmin who had led a bad life) sitting on another branch of that tree. Seeing Saudasa, the brahmadaitya said, “I have been staying here. Why have you come here? Now, where shall I go?”
Hearing this, Saudasa said, “I have not eaten for three days. You are a ghost of a brahmin and I will eat you today.” And saying that, Saudasa caught hold of the ghost. A fight started. They were both equally strong. For months they kept fighting. When they realized that they were both equal in strength and they would not be able to defeat the other, they stopped. Saudasa told the ghost how he had become a rakshasa. Hearing that, the ghost said, “I used to be a brahmin called Baradatta. I studied the Vedas in my guru’s ashrama for a very long time. Upon completing my education, my guru asked for his fee, from me. Hearing this, I refused to pay the fee and even ridiculed him. Angry at me, my guru cursed me to become a brahmadaitya. He said when I would see the waters of the river Ganga, I would be relieved from this curse.”
Saudasa said, “You have awakened my consciousness. I should have spent my days looking for Ganga. Come, let us try and see how we can get to see the divine river, Ganga.” Together they began searching for the river.
One day they saw a rishi carrying water in a pitcher, singing songs. From his singing, Saudasa and the ghost understood that the rishi was carrying in pitcher, water from the river Ganga. This was a rishi from the dynasty of rishi Bhrigu. Both Saudasa and the ghost appeared before the rishi. Their appearance did not bother the rishi. The two then begged for some drops of water from the pitcher. Hearing that, the rishi said, “This water is from the river Ganga. I cannot defile this water. I need this for the worship of Lord Shiva.” Hearing this, the two said, “The waters from the river can never be defiled.”
The rishi realized the truth. Taking a blade of grass, he dipped that into his pitcher and sprinkled that on the two. As soon as that happened, the two became released from their curses. Having regained their original forms, they thanked the rishi and left for their respective homes.
Analysis
Human beings may become trapped by karma, anger, ignorance, and suffering, but remembrance of the Divine and contact with divine grace can restore their true nature and bring liberation.
One thing that can be found here is about intentions. The king never had any evil intentions. He never wanted to hurt anyone. He unknowingly killed a tiger, not knowing that it was a rakshasa. Later, he did not knowingly serve human flesh to Vashistha. In both cases he was innocent. Even then, he ended up suffering. This goes on to say that human beings cannot fully control the outcomes of their actions.
If one looks for heroes and villains like one sees in stories, the rakshasa is the villain here, or a villainess, if that is the term. She sets about a chain of actions in which both the king and rishi get caught. The rishi loses his temper and curses the king. The king gets ready to curse. How great are they? Greatness is not being a great king or having knowledge. It is the control over one’s emotions. Still, the guru has a special place and Queen Madayanti prevents the king from cursing the rishi. From the king’s perspective, he had every reason to fight back. He had done nothing wrong. Even when he has to throw the water that he had taken up, to curse with, he poured it on himself and absorbed the suffering himself. His outer form changed, he became a rakshasa and later he realized his own futility when the brahmadaitya mentions Ganga. Saudasa had completely forgotten about that.
In the previous post I had shared about Ganga liberating the sons of Sagara. If someone asks what happened after that, this is an answer Krittibas shares. Ganga continued to liberate people. Grace of Ganga is not a one-time miracle. It is there, for all of us, even today.
No one can completely control events.
Saudasa could not prevent the curse. Vashistha could not withdraw it. Baradatta could not escape. Ganga’s grace resolved what humans could not.
Only Ganga's grace finally resolves what human effort cannot.
This is a recurring theme in Krittibas's Ramayana:
Human power has limits; divine grace does not.
Character Analysis
Saudasa is a fascinating character, neither flawed nor flawless. He is human. He accidentally kills a rakshasa, and then seeks guidance. What to do? He takes the water and prefers to destroy his own feet rather than destroy the earth. He has a big flaw – anger.
Queen Madayanti plays a very brief role. She intervenes and prevents a catastrophic event from occurring.
Vashistha is shown not as a divine rishi but as a human. He is emotional. He is angry. Anger can destroy, and if anger can affect a rishi, ordinary people should be even more careful.
The Rakshasi or the villain. Her mate was killed. She wanted revenge and used deception. In a way, it is because of her that Saudasa got the grace of Ganga.
A single mistake can change a life. Appearances can deceive. Wait – understand the situation completely and then react. Acting before understanding the full truth can be dangerous.
Who are these characters then? Saudasa is the ordinary human being. He is not evil. Good people can become trapped by karma, mistakes, misunderstandings, and circumstances.
Rakshasi is the resentment. She cannot let go. She does not want justice, she wants revenge. That is how resentment acts. Lying dormant and then one day it sees an opportunity and what happens? Probably something worse gets created.
Barring Vashistha’s anger, the rishi represents knowledge. He is the mentor or the conscience.
If the rakshasi is resentment, then Madayanti represents restraint.
Human flesh - its significance
The human flesh is symbolic. It is something impure. This is not about ‘meat versus no-meat’. How would one obtain human flesh? Through violence and deception. That would be unacceptable.
A rakshasa is described in texts like Ramayana and Mahabharata as one who eats humans, eats rishis, disturbs yagnas, etc. The king here appears to have behaved like a rakshasa by giving consent to have human flesh served.
Saudasa is falsely accused of behaving like a rakshasa and then he is cursed to become a rakshasa. The curse forces him to experience firsthand the condition he was wrongly blamed for.
Other sources for the story
Kalmashapada / Saudasa’s story is found in many texts.
- Mahabharata (Adi Parva, Chaitra-ratha Parva, Chapter 178): The king has a quarrel with the eldest son of rishi Vashistha and gets cursed.
- Valmiki Ramayana (Uttara Kanda, Chapter 65): The story is in Valmiki Ramayana, where the king is tricked by a rakshasa to serve human flesh to Vashistha. The story is also briefly referred to in Valmiki Ramayana - Ayodhya Kanda (Sarga 110) where the name of Kalmashpada is mentioned.
- The story appears in the Vishnu Purana (Book 4, Chapter 5).
There are inconsistencies in terms of genealogies, but almost all texts say that the king belonged to the Ikshvaku dynasty.
The story that Krittibas presented is based on these and some other Puranas. Apart from these, I want to mention some other texts. The Padma Purana and the Skanda Purana have stories which talk about Kalmashpada getting liberation due to the grace of Ganga. Another Purana that mentions this is an Upapurana called Brihaddharma Purana. Krittibas’s story is closest to the tale in this Purana.
Conclusion
There is nothing that is impossible for Ganga. She can redeem even a king who became a man-eating Rakshasa and a Brahmin who became a ghost. Next week, I will touch on king Dilip. Not King Bhagiratha’s father. This is another king Dilip, whose son was the majestic Raghu.
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