Raghu’s Golden Integrity
Preface: In olden times, students used to live in their Guru’s ashram to study and complete their education. At the completion of their studies, they used to make an offering to their Guru as a token of their gratitude towards him. This offering was called “Guru Dakshina”.
Kautsa, the son of Devdatta, an ordinary Brahmin of the city Paithan, was a disciple of Sage Vartantu. After completing his studies in the Ashram, he humbly asked His Guru “Guru Ji, I wish to offer you Guru Dakshina. Please instruct me as to what should I offer?” Guru Ji replied, saying, “I know that you come from a humble background and have nothing to offer to me. I am very pleased with your impeccable services. You don’t need to offer me anything. You are free to go and practise what you have learnt from me.”
Kautsa pleaded to Him, “Guru Ji! There must be something that I can offer you. Please oblige me by asking for an offering”. Seeing his disciple’s constant persistence, Guru Ji finally agreed and said, “Alright, I have given you the knowledge of 16 subjects. Hence bring me 16,000 gold coins.”
Kautsa gladly accepted his Guru’s instruction and started to make plans to get 16,000 gold coins. He thought, “As a Brahmin, I have the right to beg for alms. I will beg for 16,000 gold coins. But who will have so many gold coins to give in alms!” All of a sudden an idea flashed through his mind. He thought of approaching King Raghu. King Raghu was the great grandfather of Lord Ram and was widely known for his magnanimity and benevolence. Kautsa thought that King Raghu would certainly have that much to give.”
So, Kautsa went to see King Raghu. As he reached the King’s palace, he saw King Raghu dressed in ordinary clothes. King Raghu welcomed Kautsa by washing his feet in vessel made of clay. Kautsa was given a warm welcome but he was disappointed. He thought in his mind that if the king is washing my feet in clay vessels, then he would not have anything to offer to him.
King Raghu welcomed the young Brahmin and asked him the purpose of his visit. Kautsa replied “Nothing. I was passing through here and thought of seeing you”. King Raghu humbly enquired, “Respected Brahmin! I know Brahmins don’t frequent palaces. You must have come for a reason. Please tell me how I can serve you?” Kautsa kept quiet. The king continued, “Please tell me what is it that you desire is. It will be a great shame for me if a Brahmin came to my door and left without satisfying his desire.” Narad Ji paid a visit to KuberHearing this, Kautsa told him the purpose of his visit, to get 16,000 gold coins to offer to his Guru as Guru Dakchhina. King Raghu immediately summoned his treasurer and asked him to check the royal treasury to see what it contains. The treasurer came back dejected, saying, “My Lord! There is nothing left there. You have given away even the Queen’s jewels in charity”. King Raghu thought for a moment. He then summoned his army chief and ordered him to prepare the army to attack Kuber, the celestial God of wealth, to get 16,000 gold coins from him, for in those times, kings never begged for alms. Instead, they conquered other kingdoms in battle, to get whatever they needed.
Meanwhile, Kuber was relaxing in his palace, completely unaware of Raghu’s plan to attack him. Just then, Sage Narad arrived and said, “Kuber, Wake Up. Do you not know that King Raghu is making preparations to attack you?”
Raghu’s strength was known to all. As a nine-year old, he had single-handedly defeated Indra (The king of swarg) and dragged him in chains to his father Dilip, when Indra had stolen Dilip’s horse, while he was performing the Ashwamedha Yagya.
Hearing Raghu’s name, Kuber panicked. “O Great Sage! Why would Raghu attack me? What wrong have I done to him?” Sage Narad replied, “Nothing. King Raghu needs 16,000 gold coins to give in alms to a Brahmin. If you fill up his treasury with 16,000 coins, he will have no reason to fight with you.” Kuber immediately filled King Raghu’s royal treasury with gold coins. Seeing the royal treasury fill up, the treasurer came running to Raghu and said “My Lord! A miracle seems to have happened. The treasury is overflowing with gold coins.” Raghu called off the attack and asked the treasurer to bring all the gold in the treasury and give it to the young Brahmin.”
The young Brahmin replied, “I do not want all the gold. I only want 16,000 coins for my Guru. I shall not accept any more.” The situation became awkward, as Raghu would not agree to keep any part of the wealth that came in the young Brahmin’s name and the young Brahmin would not take more than 16,000 gold coins. Both were equally adamant.
Finally, Guru Ji was called upon to intervene and resolve the conflict. Guru Ji then explained that he had asked for the 16,000 gold coins to test his disciple and that he did not need any money. He instructed King Raghu to build rest houses, granaries and temples and donate all the wealth for the wellbeing of society, which Raghu gladly obeyed.
Celestial gods have much more intellectual power than humans. They realized that despite the knowledge they were so attached to the material opulence in swarg lok that they could not have forsaken it. On the other hand, Raghu (a human) proved that he was completely detached from material opulence (see Whose job is it to set ideals?). Seeing such strength in Raghu’s character, the celestial gods (devi-davata) from swarg Lok, showered flowers on him and sang his praises.