The last of the Tirthankaras, Lord Mahavira in his days of penance once decided to visit the village of Vachala. In the forest next to the village lived a deadly and poisonous snake whose gaze was enough to kill any living creature. Villagers were terrorized and never dared to venture into this forest.
Mahavira decided to do his penance in this forest. As he passed through the village and towards the forest, the villagers requested and begged him to take another route. They said, no one returned alive from the forest and death was inevitable.
Mahavira had love and compassion for every living being on the planet. He had no fear. He continued his journey to the forest. He came across a deserted and dead area of forest where plants, trees around had all died. The poison of the snake had made the place uninhabitable for other living beings.
Mahavira stood across the tree where the dreaded cobra lived and started to meditate. The snake sensed the presence of a human and came out of his burrow. He saw Mahvira standing and meditating in front of him. He thought –
“How dare this human come to my area?”
The snake started hissing to threaten Mahavir. When he saw no reaction or sense of fear in Mahavira, he became angry. He used his poisonous gaze at Mahavira which would kill anyone. However, nothing happened to Mahavira as he continued to meditate. He was calm and tranquil. This made Chandkaushik angrier, he was surprised that his poisonous gaze did not affect Mahavira. He rushed towards Mahavira and using his poisonous fangs, bit Mahavir’s toe. He was flabbergasted that nothing happened to him, but instead of blood, milk flowed from his toe.
Mahavir opened his eyes and with deep compassion and love said –
“Bujh Bujh Chandkaushik” [calm down, calm down, Chandkaushik].
As soon as the snake heard the name Chandkaushik, something flashed in his mind – “I have heard this name somewhere…”.
Thinking deeply he recollected his previous birth. He was a monk by the name ChandKaushik. He was very short-tempered. He lived in the forest where he had a huge farm. He only ate fruits from his farm and lived an austere life. Some boys from the village used to come and steal the fruits from his farm which enraged him. He had developed a lot of anger and hatred towards the boys.
One day he decided to catch the boys and punish them. He hid behind a tree with an axe in his hand and waited for the boys. The boys came and started climbing the tree as usual not knowing that the monk was waiting for them. Chandkaushik ran towards the boys holding the axe in the hand. The boys seeing the monk jumped from the tree and started running towards the village. The enraged Chandkaushik started chasing them. During the chase, he missed seeing a ditch in front of him. He stumbled and fell while the axe in his hand flew up in the air. It landed right on Chandkaushik’s head killing him instantly.
Chandkaushik due to his anger was reborn as this venomous snake. This entire happening flashed back in front of the snake. He realized what anger and attachment with his farm had done to him. He bowed down at the feet of Mahavira and retreated to his burrow with deep repentance in his mind. He became quiet and harmless.
Wisdom Bite
Anger is part of our nature which we cannot deny. We get angry for one reason or the other. However, what is important is the intensity and duration of anger. Sometimes showing anger may be necessary for certain situations but uncontrolled anger is one of our worst enemies. It can destroy us and everything around us.
One of the main reasons for our anger is our ego. More the ego, more the anger within us. When our ego is hurt we get angry. If something does not happen as per our expectations we get angry. It was Duryodhana’s ego and anger that resulted in the Mahabharata. Ravana invited his death because of his ego.
Ancient scriptures talk about four different types of anger – one which is like a split in the water which vanishes in no time. The second one is like a line in the sand, it disappears in a short time, the third is like a crack in the land, it could take several weeks to months to fill. The last is like a crack in the mountain which could take hundreds of years to seal. We need to introspect and see which category do we fall into.
Anger burns good energy and creates a negative aura around us. We end up making bad decisions and take wrong actions. The realization comes only later when we see the impact of it.
So how do you overcome anger? One of the ways is to become aware and conscious when we get angry. Start observing your breath and the expression on your face. Practice yoga and meditation with breathing techniques to calm the mind. It could take several weeks and months of practice to overcome this deadly enemy.
December 5, 2020
Wow😀 nicely written…
December 5, 2020
Thank you!
December 2, 2020
True that..
December 2, 2020
Very nicely depicted. Thank you for sharing!
December 2, 2020
Thank you Shiv for your appreciation. 🙏