History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c95.258

v7.c95.258

When the son of Gautamī, who was an old woman that had attained control of mind, died by snake-bite, a hunter caught the snake, brought it bound to Gautamī and said that he would kill the snake for having bitten an innocent and unoffending boy. Gautamī dissuades him from killing the snake by stating 'by killing the snake my son would not be brought back to life, I see no good in killing the snake.' Then Kāla came forward and explained 'Just as a potter moulds from a lump of clay whatever he desires, so man secures fruits of deeds done by himself; the boy's death was due to his deeds in a former life' and Gautamī agreed that her son died by his own deeds in a previous life and that her bereavement by the death of her son was due to her own former deeds.²⁵⁴⁶ This story occurs in the very first chapter of the Anuśāsanaparva.