राजा च तम् ऋषिं श्रुत्वा निष्क्रम्य सह मन्त्रिभिः ॥
प्रसादयाम् आस तदा शूलस्थम् ऋषिसत्तमम् ॥
यन् मयापकृतं मोहाद् अज्ञानाद् ऋषिसत्तम ॥
प्रसादये त्वां तत्राहं न मे त्वं क्रोद्धुम् अर्हसि ॥
एवम् उक्तस् ततो राज्ञा प्रसादम् अकरोन् मुनिः ॥
कृतप्रसादो राजा तं ततः समवतारयत् ॥
अवतार्य च शूलाग्रात् तच् छूलं निश्चकर्ष ह ॥
अशक्नुवंश् च निष्क्रष्टुं शूलं मूले स चिच्छिदे ॥
स तथान्तर्गतेनैव शूलेन व्यचरन् मुनिः ॥
स तेन तपसा लोकान् विजिग्ये दुर्लभान् परैः ॥
अणीमाण्डव्य इति च ततो लोकेषु कथ्यते ॥
rājā ca tam ṛṣiṃ śrutvā niṣkramya saha mantribhiḥ ||
prasādayām āsa tadā śūlastham ṛṣisattamam ||
yan mayāpakṛtaṃ mohād ajñānād ṛṣisattama ||
prasādaye tvāṃ tatrāhaṃ na me tvaṃ kroddhum arhasi ||
evam uktas tato rājñā prasādam akaron muniḥ ||
kṛtaprasādo rājā taṃ tataḥ samavatārayat ||
avatārya ca śūlāgrāt tac chūlaṃ niścakarṣa ha ||
aśaknuvaṃś ca niṣkraṣṭuṃ śūlaṃ mūle sa cicchide ||
sa tathāntargatenaiva śūlena vyacaran muniḥ ||
sa tena tapasā lokān vijigye durlabhān paraiḥ ||
aṇīmāṇḍavya iti ca tato lokeṣu kathyate ||
"And the king, having heard of that sage, went out together with his counselors and began to entreat the pardon of the foremost of sages who stood upon the stake: 'For the wrong done by me through delusion, through ignorance, O foremost of sages -- for that I beg your forgiveness; you should not be angry with me.' Thus entreated by the king, the sage showed him mercy; and the king, having obtained forgiveness, then had him taken down from the stake. Having taken him down from the point of the stake, he began to draw out that stake, but, unable to draw it out, cut it off at the base. Thus, with the stake remaining inside him, the sage went about; and by that austerity he conquered worlds hard to attain for others. And therefore in the worlds he is called Animandavya -- 'Mandavya of the stake-point.'"
ade81c760a4d · published Jul 12, 2026, 4:30:26 PM UTC
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Here the king, discerning the truth, repents and obtains forgiveness. The ruler's humility is significant: he does not justify himself by his own authority, but admits his fault -- 'through delusion, through ignorance' -- and begs the saint not to be angry. Here is a model of repentance: even a king bows before a brahmin, for an offense against a saint is graver than any other. And Mandavya's magnanimity is significant: he forgives at once -- there is no room for vengeance in the righteous. The detail of the stake, too, is significant: it cannot be drawn out, and it remains within the ascetic's body forever -- a visible sign of the suffering he bore, become a source of glory. Thus disfigurement turns into a crown: by the name Animandavya ('[Mandavya] of the stake-point') the whole world honors him, and by that very austerity he conquers the highest worlds, hard to attain. Herein lies a consoling truth: suffering borne righteously, without complaint or revenge, does not destroy but exalts; injustice endured becomes an ascent. By this the ascetic is ready to stand before the god Dharma himself -- not as a complainant, but as a victor.