Hitopadesha 3.107

3.107

śṛṇu deva !
puṇyāl labdhaṃ yad ekena tan mamāpi bhaviṣyati |
hatvā bhikṣuṃ yato mohān nidhy-arthī nāpito hataḥ //

Listen, Sire!
‘What was gained by one through religious merit, that shall be mine too’—
for through delusion, the barber seeking a treasure struck down a mendicant and was killed.”

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rājā pṛcchati--katham etat ?

The king asked: “How did that happen?”

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mantrī kathayati-

The minister related:

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kathā 9

Story 9

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asty ayodhyāyāṃ puri cūḍāmaṇir nāma kṣatriyaḥ | tena dhanārthinā mahatā kleśena bhagavāṃś candrārdha-cūḍāmaṇiś ciram ārādhitaḥ | tataḥ kṣīṇa-pāpo 'sau svapne darśanaṃ dattvā, bhagavad-ādeśādy-akṣeśvareṇādiṣṭo yat tvam adya prātaḥ kṣauraṃ kārayitvā, laguḍa-hastaḥ san sva-gṛha-dvāri nibhṛtaṃ sthāsyasi, tato yam evāgataṃ bhikṣukaṃ prāṅgaṇe paśyasi taṃ nirdakṣaṃ laguḍa-prahāreṇa haniṣyasi | tato 'sau bhikṣukas tat-kṣaṇāt suvarṇa-kalaso bhaviṣyati | tena tvayā yāvaj-jīvaṃ sukhinā bhavitavyam | tatas tathānuṣṭhite tad vṛttam |

In the city of Ayodhyā there was a kṣatriya named Cūḍāmaṇi. Desiring wealth, he worshipped the divine Lord with the crescent moon on his crest for a long time with great hardship. Then, his sins being exhausted, [the god] granted him a vision in a dream, and instructed by the Lord of the Yakṣas at the divine command, said: ‘This morning, having had your hair shaved, you must stand quietly at the door of your house with a club in your hand. Then, whichever mendicant you see arriving in your courtyard, you must strike him down mercilessly with a blow of the club. Then that mendicant will instantly become a golden jar. By means of that, you shall be happy for the rest of your life.’ Then, when this was carried out, that took place.

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tatra kṣaura-karaṇāyānītena nāpitena tat sarvam ālokya cintitam-aye nidhi-prāpter ayam upāyaḥ | tad aham apy evaṃ kiṃ na karomi ? tataḥ prabhṛti sa nāpitaḥ pratyahaṃ tathāvidho laguḍa-hastaḥ sunibhṛtaṃ bhikṣor āgamanaṃ pratīkṣate | ekadā tena prāpto bhikṣur laguḍena vyāpāditaḥ | tasmād aparādhāt so 'pi nāpito rāja-puruṣair vyāpāditaḥ | ato 'haṃ bravīmi-puṇyāl labdhaṃ yad ekena ity ādi |

There, the barber brought to perform the shaving, observing all of that, thought: ‘Aha! This is the method for obtaining a treasure! So why should I not do the same?’ From then on, that barber, in the same way, with a club in hand, daily awaited in secret the arrival of a mendicant. One day, a mendicant arrived and was killed by him with a club. For that crime, the barber too was put to death by the king’s officers. Therefore I say: ‘What was gained by one through religious merit,’ and so forth.”

"Thus, then," concluded King Silver-sides, "in entertaining strangers a man may add to his friends."

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