[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Reference works](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference) › [Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.mani-1975) › c4.657 # Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c4.657 Purāṇic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Purāṇic Literature c4.657 - **Language:** English ### [c4.657](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.mani-1975.c4.657) 2) Curse on Dharma. After going about in the world for many years with the tip of the trident in his body, Aṇi Māṇḍavya once asked Dharma: "Oh! Lord, why is it that an innocent man like me is afflicted with the trident?". Dharma answered: "In your boyhood you once caught small birds and pierced them with a grass reed. It is a result of that sin that you have been pierced with the trident." Māṇḍavya replied: "The Śāstras ordain that there shall be no punishment for sins committed till the age of twelve. Therefore the punishment inflicted on me is wrong. As the murder of a Brahmin is a greater sin than any other murder, may you be born as a man in the ‘Śūdra Caste’." - [Previous: c4.656](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.mani-1975.c4.656) - [Next: c4.658](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.mani-1975.c4.658) - [Up: c4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.mani-1975.c4) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.mani-1975.c4.657](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.mani-1975.c4.657) · Pramāṇa