Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c7.924

c7.924

Mataṅga sadly returned to his father and after telling him what he had heard from the mother-donkey set out to perform an austere penance with the object of becoming a Brāhmaṇa. Devendra appeared to him and asked him what he wanted. Mataṅga asked for a boon whereby he could become a Brāhmaṇa; Indra vanished after saying that it was impossible. After that Matanga performed penance for hundred years, standing on one foot. Indra appeared again and repeated that it was impossible for Matanga to become a Brāhmaṇa. Then Matanga continued his penance for a thousand years, standing on his toe. Indra appeared again and transformed Matanga into a Deva named "Chandodeva". Indra told him that though he could become a Deva, he could never achieve Brahminhood. In his extreme grief Matanga renounced his life and entered Heaven. (M.B. Anusāsana Parva, Chapters 27, 28 and 29).