Tapas-(Austerity) - Part 4 - Rajasika Tapas

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I would also like to narrate a beautiful incident described in the Mahabharata to illustrate the fallacy of the rajasika temperament. When the Pandavas completed their Rajasuya yajna successfully by offering huge amounts of wealth, food grains and clothes in charity, they grew proud and egoistic with all the praise showered on them by kings and priests alike.

Next day, when Yudhishthira's royal assembly was in session, a strange mongoose entered the hall - half of the hair on its back was shining like gold and other half was normal. It started rolling the other half of its body in the leftovers of wheat flour in a corner where the yajna had been performed earlier.

Puzzled by its behaviour, Yudhishthira asked for an explanation and the mongoose replied, "O King! I was passing through a province in your kingdom which has had an intense famine for many years now. A poor but pious couple lived there with their three children and spent their days in great difficulty.