In a kingdom named Mrunalkand lived Shribhuti, the priest of the royal family. He and his wife Saraswati had a daughter by the name Vegvati. She grew up to be a beautiful young girl. But with that youth came ego about her beauty and status. She roamed around the town carrying her arrogance and attitude.
Once she saw a monk in the meditative state in the town’s park. Many men and women had come there to pay respect to the great saint and seek his blessings. Vegvati thought of making a mockery of the monk and having some fun. She came near the monk and started telling everyone –
“Are you bowing to this monk? You all are so innocent. I have seen this monk having an affair with a woman. He has sent that woman away to another place and he is now standing and meditating here. You are worshipping him?”
As a daughter of the royal priest, everyone believed Vegvati. Those who were worshiping and praising the monk until now started to ridicule him. Vegvati started to enjoy this. She started provoking the people –
“Beat him, beat him, he is a liar and a cheat.”
Everyone around started shouting and hitting the monk. What a strange world. For no fault of the monk, he had to suffer the stigma and beatings of the people. He had done nothing wrong to Vegvati nor did he know her.
The monk was a complete celibate and a great spiritual seeker. Vegvati, in her arrogance and for a few minutes of fun, wrongly blamed the monk and got him beaten up. She did not think of the consequences of this and what she will have to go through.
The monk made a firm pledge to himself –
“Until I prove myself innocent and wash this stigma, I will not leave this place and will continue to meditate.”
The local deity of the town could not bear seeing the great saint being tortured by the people. He, through his knowledge, got to know that all this was happening because of the cruel act of Vegvati. Using his powers, he turned her fair and beautiful face into a black face like coal.
When people saw this sudden change in Vegvati’s face, they got scared and started telling her –
“Vegvati, why has your face become so black?”
“What? My face and black? It can’t be.” Vegvati was now scared.
The news spread like wildfire in the town. Vegvati’s father Shribhuti also got to know about this. He went running to her and seeing her face, he was completely devastated. People told Shribhuti what had occurred. Realizing that it was because of Vegvati the monk had to suffer so much, he lost his temper and screamed at her –
“You wicked girl, what did you do? You falsely blamed the saint. You did not even think once? You got the fruit of your doing right here. Your face has turned black like coal.”
Vegvati started to cry and repent on her doing –
“Father, I made a mistake. The monk is innocent. I only created this false story and wrongly accused the saint.”
“Go right now and ask forgiveness from the monk. Repent on your sin and declare to everyone that the monk is innocent. Tell them that it was all your doing.” – scolded Shribhuti.
Vegvati immediately went where the monk was meditating and started to repent in front of him in a way all the people standing there could hear –
“O, great monk! You are an innocent and holy person. It is me who wrongly accused you. I did this unthinkable act in my arrogance and to have fun. I’m a sinner. Please forgive me. You are a great ascetic.”
Vegvati continued to cry and repeatedly asked for his forgiveness. After completing his meditation, the monk blessed Vegvati and forgave her. All the people who had tortured the monk also repented their doing and asked for his forgiveness.
Vegvati was none other than Sita in her previous life.
Wisdom Bite
There is a saying – “What you sow so shall you reap”. The karma of our deeds will come to haunt us. Sita(Vegvati) had accused a great saint of no fault of his. She did it just to have fun but eventually had to pay a heavy price for it. Sita was a Sati but she had to bear the stigma and prove her innocence to her own people. A small act of fun cost her life-long pain and suffering.
The laws of karma are very clear, it does not differentiate between people, caste, or creed. It is very important to be conscious of what we do and how we act. If we face any difficulties in life, we find reasons and blame others for our suffering but it is our own doing. We have to own and take responsibility for whatever is happening in our life.
