Book Excerpts: PUNYAM -  Stories from Scriptures

[Raikva: The Cart-Driver Saint]

"King Janasruti was an emperor of unparalleled fame. His name had spread far and wide due to his immense acts of charity. The king’s kitchen was always active, preparing food for the poor and the needy. “They would eat food in my name”, the king used to say with great exaltation as he happily bore all expenses for the travelers who would come and stay in the many inns and rest-houses that he had built throughout his kingdom.

The king had boundless faith in the act of giving and he became known as a great giver. His purity of mind, goodness of heart and the great acts of charity that he performed made Janasruti an exceptionally great person, outwardly as well as inwardly.

The king also mastered the language of the birds and thus it was, on an extremely hot summer night, as the king lay on his bed on the terrace of the palace that he saw two swans fly across the sky. One swan was saying to the other one: “O, you stupid! Are you blind? Can’t you see that the great King Janasruti is lying below? His effulgence is reaching till the skies due to his great acts of charities and if you fly too close to him, you may get burnt by his effulgence.”

The other swan retorted: “You are speaking as if Janasruti is a very great man. Who is this Janasruti by the way? Is he as great as Raikva with the cart? You say that I may get burnt by the effulgence of this man but is he really that great when compared with Raikva?”

The two swans thus flew away conversing with each other. The king was awake and he understood what the swans were talking about. He was highly surprised to know that there was someone in his kingdom who was even greater than him and yet he was not aware of this man!

“What is the use of my virtues, of all the great charities that I do, if all these are nothing compared to the virtues of this man Raikva? Who is this man Raikva with the cart? I must find him”, the king muttered to himself as he dozed-off to sleep.

Janasruti slept fitfully that night. The next morning, as he left for the palace, he heard the bards sing his glories. While on other days Janasruti would have been highly pleased to hear an account of his virtues and he would have rewarded the singers handsomely, but on this occasion he was not pleased at all. He dismissed the bards and summoned his most trusted minister...."

(This story is from Chandogya Upanishad)