How Death Came Into the World
A great Hindu king had the misfortune to lose in battle a grandson whom he dearly loved. Filled with grief and distress, he said to his very wise friend, Sanjaya,…
From: Unknown To: 1922 C.E.
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
From Ancient Tales From Many Lands by Rachel M. Fleming, 1922.
A great Hindu king had the misfortune to lose in battle a grandson whom he dearly loved. Filled with grief and distress, he said to his very wise friend, Sanjaya, "What is death? Why does death take away all living creatures? O godlike one, tell me this!"
Sanjaya, comforting him, told him this story, which had been told before to a sorrowing king.
Listen, O mighty King! In the beginning, Brahma created all things that have life. As he was the powerful Lord of All, and was filled with undying energy, he made all living things so well that they showed no signs of decay, but lived on for ever. They increased to such an extent that the goddess Earth groaned beneath their weight. In her distress, she called upon Brahma to lighten her burden by destroying the creatures that lived upon her.
Brahma wished to help the goddess Earth, but he could not think of a way. As Earth continued to moan and complain of the weight upon her, Brahma fell into great wrath, and from the wrath of the Lord Brahma, a mighty fire sprang up, which blasted the rocks, burnt the trees, and licked up the water in the rivers. The fire blazed so fiercely that it threatened to destroy the whole universe.
Then Siva became alarmed, and appealed to Brahma, the Lord of all the gods, saying, "O Lord, thou hast made all living creatures with great care, and now thou art destroying them. My heart is filled with pity for them. I pray thee to spare them."
Brahma replied that he did not wish to destroy the universe, and that what he had done was for the good of the goddess Earth, not to bring evil upon living creatures. Then Siva, the Protector of all Living Things, begged Brahma not to destroy the universe and all living things.
Brahma, hearing his words, became filled with a desire to do good to all living things, and shut up within himself the wrath from which the fire had been kindled. But even as he put out the destroying fire, there was born a beautiful woman with dark hair and glowing red eyes. She stepped forth from the fire as it died down, and smiled upon Brahma. Then Brahma called upon her by the name of Death, and asked her to slay the creatures whom he had made.
On hearing this, the lotus-eyed Death became very sad indeed, and wept. The Lord of All caught the tears she shed in his hands. Then she pleaded with him to spare her this dreadful task, saying:—"How can I do such a cruel and evil act as to take away the dear life breath from thy creatures? Sons and friends, and brothers and fathers, are always dear. How, then, can I leave thy creatures weeping in sorrow for them?"
But Brahma told her that to do what he, the Lord of all the World, ordered her to do, was not cruel and wicked, but was her duty. Then the tears she had shed, and which he had caught in his hands, became diseases whom Brahma ordered to be helpmates to Death in her work of destroying all living creatures. Then Death knew that she must obey the Lord of All, and went forth from his presence weeping bitterly.
Fleming, Rachel M. Ancient Tales From Many Lands. Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1922.
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