Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c8.488

c8.488

Once on the shores of Gaṅgā a Brāhmaṇa and a Caṇḍāla sat side by side and performed penance. After some days of foodless penance the Brāhmaṇa felt hungry and his thoughts went to the fishermen he had seen earlier. He thought thus, “Oh how happy are these fishermen. They catch good fishes and eat to their heart’s content and are happy. They are the luckiest people of this world”. The thoughts of the Caṇḍāla also went to the fishermen. But he thought thus: “Oh how cruel are these fishermen! How many innocent lives do they destroy to fill their belly. They must be demons to do so.” Both of them died after some days and the Brāhmaṇa was born as a fisherman and the Caṇḍāla a prince. Both of them were re-born near their abodes in their previous birth and both remembered their previous lives. The Caṇḍāla was happy but the Brāhmaṇa regretted his fault. (Taraṅga 1, Madanamañcukālambaka, Kathāsaritsāgara).