“The sage said, ‘O mighty-armed monarch, listen to me as I narrate to thee this story that is fraught with truths connected with Virtue, Profit, and Pleasure. A wicked and terrible fowler, resembling the Destroyer himself, used in days of old to wander through the great forest. He was black as a raven and his eyes were of a bloody hue. He looked like Yama himself. His legs were long, his feet short, his mouth large, and his cheeks protruding. He had no friend, no relative, no kinsman. He had been cast off by them all for the exceedingly cruel life he led. Indeed, a man of wicked conduct should be renounced from a distance by the wise, for he who injures his own self cannot be expected to do good to others. Those cruel and wicked-souled men that take the lives of other creatures are always like poisonous snakes, a source of trouble to all creatures. Taking his nets with him, and killing birds in the woods, he used to sell the meat of those winged creatures, O king (for livelihood). Following such conduct, the wicked-souled wretch lived for many long years without ever understanding the sinfulness of his life. Accustomed for many long years to sport with his wife in the forest in the pursuit of this profession, and stupefied by destiny, no other profession was liked by him. One day as he was wandering through the forest intent on his business, a great storm arose that shook the trees and seemed about to uproot them.
In a moment dense clouds appeared on the sky, with flashes of lightning playing amidst them, presenting the aspect of a sea covered with merchants’ boats and vessels. He of a hundred sacrifices having entered the clouds with a large supply of rain, in a moment the earth became flooded with water. While yet the rain fell to torrents, the fowler lost his senses through fear. Trembling with cold and agitated with fear, he roved through the forest. The killer of birds failed to find any high spot (which was not under water). The paths of the forest were all submerged. Inconsequence of the force of the shower, many birds were deprived of life or dropped down on the ground. Lions and bears and other animals, availing themselves of some high spots they had found, lay down to rest. All the denizens of the forest were filled with fear in consequence of that frightful storm and shower. Frightened and hungry they roamed through the woods in packs, small and large.
The fowler, however, with limbs stiffened by cold, could neither stop where he was nor move. While in this state he eyed a she-pigeon lying on the ground, stiffened with cold. The sinful wight, though himself in the same predicament, beholding the bird, picked her up and immured her in a cage. Himself overwhelmed with affliction, he scrupled not to overwhelm a fellow-creature with affliction. Indeed, the wretch, through force of habit alone, committed that sin even at such a time. He then beheld in the midst of that forest a lordly tree, blue as the clouds. It was the resort of myriads of birds desirous of shade and shelter. It seemed to have been placed there by the Creator for the good of all creatures like a good man in the world. Soon the sky cleared and became spangled with myriads of stars, presenting the aspect of a magnificent lake smiling with blooming lilies. Turning his eyes towards the clear firmament rich with stars, the fowler began to advance, still trembling with cold. Beholding the sky cleared of clouds, he cast his eyes on all sides and seeing that night was already upon him, he began to think, ‘My home is at great distance from where I am.’ He then resolved to pass the night under the shade of that tree. Bowing down to it with joined hands, he addressed that monarch of the forest, saying, ‘I am a suppliant for the shelter unto all the deities that have this tree for their resort.’ Having said these words, he spread some leaves for a bed, and laid himself down on it, resting his head on a stone. Though overwhelmed with affliction, the man soon fell asleep.'”
SECTION CXLIV
“Bhishma said, ‘In one of the branches of that tree, a pigeon with beautiful feathers, O king, lived for many years with his family. That morning his wife had gone out in search of food but had not yet returned. Seeing the night had come and his wife still unreturned, the bird began to indulge in lamentations: ‘Oh, great has been the storm and painful the shower that came today! Alas, thou has not yet returned, O dear wife! Woe is on me, what can be the cause that she has not yet comeback to us? Is every thing right with that dear spouse of mine in the forest? Separated from her, this my home appears to me empty! A house-holder’s home, even if filled with sons and grandsons and daughters-in-law and servants, is regarded empty if destitute of the housewife. One’s house is not one’s home; one’s wife only is one’s home. A house without the wife is as desolate as the wilderness. If that dear wife of mine, of eyes fringed with red, of variegated plumes, and of sweet voice, does not come back today, my life itself will cease to be of any value. Of excellent vows, she never eats before I eat, and never bathes before I bathe. She never sits before I sit down, and never lies before I lie down. She rejoices if I rejoice, and becomes sorry when I am sorry. When I am away she becomes cheerless, and when I am angry she ceases not to speak sweetly.
Ever devoted to her lord and ever relying upon her lord, she was ever employed in doing what was agreeable to and beneficial for her lord. Worthy of praise is that person on earth who own such a spouse. That amiable creature knows that I am fatigued and hungry. Devoted to me and constant in her love, my famous spouse is exceedingly sweet-tempered and worships me devoutly. Even the foot of a tree is one’s home if one lives there with one’s spouse as a companion. Without one’s spouse, a very palace is truly a desolate wilderness. One’s spouse is one’s associate in all one’s acts of Virtue, Profit and Pleasure. When one sets out for a strange land one’s wife is one’s trusted companion. It is said that the wife is the richest possession of her lord. In this world the wife is the only associate of her lord in all the concerns of life.[433] The wife is ever the best of medicines that one can have in sickness and woe. There is no friend like unto the wife. There is no refuge better than the wife. There is no better ally in the world than the wife in acts undertaken for the acquisition of religious merit. He that has not in his house a wife that is chaste and of agreeable speech, should go to the woods. For such a man there is no difference between home and wilderness.'”
SECTION CXLV
“Bhishma said, ‘Hearing those piteous lamentations of the pigeon on the tree, the she-pigeon seized by the fowler began to say to herself as follows.’
“The she-pigeon said, ‘Whether I have any merit or not, verily there is no limit to any good fortune when my dear lord thus speaks of me. She is no wife with whom her lord is not content. In the case of women, if their lords be gratified with them all the deities also become so. Since the marriage union takes place in the presence of fire, the husband is the wife’s highest deity. That wife with whom her husband is not pleased becomes consumed into ashes, even like a creeper adorned with bunches of flowers in a forest conflagration.’ Having reflected thus, the she-pigeon, afflicted with woe, and immured by the fowler within his cage, thus spoke unto her woe-stricken lord, ‘I shall say what is now beneficial for thee.’ Hearing me follow thou my counsel, O dear lord, be thou the rescuer of a suppliant.
This fowler lies here by thy abode, afflicted with cold and hunger. Do him the duties of hospitality. The sin that a person commits by slaying a Brahmana or that mother of the world, viz., a cow, is equal to that which one incurs by suffering a suppliant to perish (from want of help). Thou art possessed of knowledge of self. It ever behoves one like thee, therefore, to follow that course which has been ordained for us as pigeons by the order of our birth.[434] It has been heard by us that the householder who practises virtue according to the measure of his abilities, wins hereafter inexhaustible regions of bliss. Thou hast sons. Thou hast progeny. O bird, casting off all kindness for thy own body, therefore, and for winning virtue and profit, offer worship to this fowler so that his heart may be pleased. Do not, O bird, indulge in any grief on my account. (See, how unimportant I am!) Thou mayst continue to live, taking other wives!’ The amiable she-pigeon, overcome with sorrow, and casting her eyes upon her lord from the fowler’s cage within which she had been immured, said these words unto him.'”