Shree Mahavir Bhagwan: Sacred Teachings to Chandkaushik Snake

During the time before attaining absolute Knowledge, Lord Mahavir not only gave sacred teachings to cowherds and Yaksha Dev, but also compassionately guided beings from the Tiryanch Gati (animal realm), such as serpents, and led them to upliftment. Bhagwan's sole focus was on the upliftment of others, never once did He think of his own comfort. True benefactors of the world place themselves at risk, yet remain entirely devoted to the liberation of others.

After taking Diksha, Bhagwan Mahavir continued traveling from village to village, and wherever he went, he uplifted and liberated beings. Chandkaushik was a fearsome serpent whose breath was so venomous that anyone who inhaled it would die instantly. This terrifying serpent lived deep within a dense forest.

Chandkaushik Snake

In his previous birth, Chandkaushik was a sage who did heavy penance. Owing to this penance, he had developed a lot of ego and was filled with anger. One day, while returning from a jungle after doing penance, he stepped on a frog and it died. The disciple who was with him advised him to repent for this mistake so that he becomes free from the sin of killing a frog. The monk did not hear to what he said.

As a rule, when the day ends, one is supposed to repent for all the faults happened throughout the day and seek forgiveness from God so that the sins do not accumulate and one feels light. This is a good practice that we should follow. For at least 10 minutes every day, before going to sleep, we should recollect all the incidents during the day in which we may have hurt any living being because of our anger, pride, deceit or greed. Then for each incident, do pratikraman by remembering the Pure Soul (God) residing in that living being, repenting heartily and making a firm resolution by praying, “This was wrong on my part. I will not do this mistake again.” This will help us progress on the path of liberation and will also increase peace in our life.

Therefore, during evening, the fellow disciple once again reminded the sage to repent for killing the frog. This made the sage furious and he ran after him to hit him with a stick. However, he collided with a pillar and died there in the state of anger. In his next birth, owing to his hard penances, he went to Heaven. Thereafter, he became a monk and lived in a huge farm that he owned. He had deep attachment towards this beautiful farm wherein he grew a lot of fruits and flowers. Anyone stepping into this farm and breaking even a twig would make him go wild. Once, while he was in penance, a lot of young boys came to play in the farm and they were enjoying themselves by plucking flowers, throwing stones and dropping fruits. The moment the monk got the news, he ran after the boys with an axe in his hands to catch and punish them. However, on the way, he fell and his own axe pierced into his head. He died in great agony and as a result, he became a ferocious snake who would kill anyone on the spot just with its poisonous glance!

One day, while doing vihaar (moving on foot from one place to another), Mahavir Swami had to pass through this dense jungle where the Chandkaushik snake lived. On the way, the villagers blocked the Lord’s way and pleaded Him to not go ahead, as the snake did not spare any being that came in his way. However, the Lord continued walking on that path for He knew that the time had come for Him to bless this snake.

As the Lord arrived in the jungle and came closer to the snake, the snake was full of anger. He hissed loudly and repeatedly to threaten and scare the Lord. However, to his surprise, Lord Mahavir stood before him; strong and fearless! Chandkaushik could not bear this. He finally bit the Lord’s toe from where white blood started coming out instead of red. While the poison would otherwise kill the prey on the spot, the snake was shocked to see Mahavir standing calm and composed, not perturbed at all by any of his actions. The calmness of Tirthankars is always unparallel. Even the ferocious beings become still and calm the moment they come in front of them. The colour of Tirthankar’s blood is always white. Chandkaushik wondered who was this great person.

With great compassion and love in His eyes, the Lord said to him, “Wake up, wake up Chandkaushik!! Realize what you are doing!” Listening these words, the Chandkaushik snake immediately remembered his two previous lives and realized what his anger and ego had done to him in his past lives. He instantly calmed down and bowed down into the God’s feet with the feelings of surrender and repentance in his heart. He made a firm decision in his mind, “I do not want to cause slightest hurt to any living being” and got totally absorbed in doing pratikraman of all the mistakes he committed so far in this life.

This incident helps kindle awareness in our hearts that the true purpose of our life is to persevere to attain Moksha, not for wasting it by causing fear and terror in the hearts of people around us through our words and actions filled with anger and fury.

As the Lord left from there, the transformed Chandkaushik snake lied on the ground in deep meditation. Some came and threw stones at him, while few hit the bleeding snake with sticks, as they remembered how the snake had killed their loved ones. Many, on the other hand, came to worship him and offered him milk to drink and food to eat. Blood, milk, ghee and food attracted a lot of ants that came and bit his body. However, the snake did not react to anyone or anything at all. He patiently and peacefully destroyed all his bad karmas (that could have taken him to hell otherwise) by maintaining equanimity, and on death, went to heaven. This story enlightens us about the fact that no matter how ferocious our anger may be, it is possible to get out of it through repeated heat-felt pratikraman.

Let’s read further about how Lord Mahavir came across Goshala, the various incidents surrounding them, and how the Lord remained in equanimity throughout.