After the death of his father, Harischandra became king of Ayodhya. He got married to the princess Shavya. He had a son called Ruhidas.
Let us deviate a bit and talk off Indra. One day, Indra was enjoying the dance of five apsaras. During the course of the dance, they missed a beat. Angry Indra cursed them to trapped in the ashrama of Rishi Vishwamitra. When they wanted to know how they would be freed, they were told that once king Harischandra came there, they would be free.
The apsaras went to the ashrama of Vishwamitra. They could not get out. Vishwamitra was not there, so not knowing what to do, they starting playing with the trees in the ashrama, and in the process ended up breaking many branches.
When Vishwamitra came back, he was surprised to see this. He put a curse - who ever tried to do this, would end up getting bound by creepers in the ashrama. The apsaras got bound.
The next day, Harischandra came there. He was out hunting, and seeing the ashrama on the way, he had stopped by. The apsaras started calling out to him. Looking to see who was calling him, the king touched the creepers that bound the apsaras and they got freed.
Vishwamitra was not in his ashrama at the moment. The king went back home.
Next day when Vishwamitra was walking around his ashrama, he noticed the apsaras missing. He closed his eyes and realized it was Harischandra who had freed them. Angry he went to the king.
The king was glad and welcomed the sage with open heart.
The sage asked the king, why had he freed the apsaras that he had bound.
The king said I have not knowingly done anything wrong and I always follow the path of truth. I give away all I can to the needy and people know me as such,
The sage said if you take pride in being a provider of alms, then promise me you will give me what I ask for.
The king said he would do so, and he would not deviate from the path of truth.
The sage then said, Let all gods be witness, O king. Give me your land, your kingdom over to me.
The king agreed. He got three fists full of soil, and by giving that over the sage, he symbolically handed over his land to the sage. The sage along with the land I need wealth.
The king said he had a treasury full, and he would give from there.
The sage, having donated his kingdom away , he had no right over the treasury now.
The sage told the king to go to the land of Varanasi and stay there, along with his wife and son. There he would have to earn wealth and hand it over. The sage gave a time of seven days within which the gold would have to handed over to him.
The king did not know how to get the wealth. His queen then told him to sell her in the market and hand over to the sage whatever wealth he would get. The king went to the market.
A brahman came and bought both the queen and her son. What Harischandra could get was only a part of the the amount he needed to give the sage. The sage refused to take part of the amount and demanded the full amount.
Harishchandra went back to the market and there he put himself up for sale. A person called Kalu, who burnt corpses in the crematorium agreed to take Harishchandra as his helper. The king first took the amount and handed over what was due, to Vishwamitra and then went off with the person who had bought him.
His duty was to look after the pigs that this person had. He was also told to take money as a collection from all, who came to burn their dead in Varanasi.
In time, the king became dark from roaming around with the pigs and the smoke of the burning grounds. Anyone who knew him as the king, would not be able to recognize him.
In the brahman's house, the queen and her son served as servants. One day the brahman asked the queen to send her son to the garden and get from flowers for the worship. He was bitten there by a snake and he fell dead.
Seeing her son not returning, the queen went in search of her son and found him, lying dead in the garden.
(There is one part which I had skipped here. The queen used to be given a portion of the fodd that she would share with her son. The brahman seeing this decided to engage the son in gathering flowers for his worship. In lieu of that, he would give the son additional food, so he would not have to eat his mother's share. The garden where the prince had been was actually the garden of Visxhwanitra. He plucked flowers and came back home, When Vishwamitra realized that Harishchandra's son had plucked his flowers, he put a curse that, if came again, he would be bitten by a snake, who would strike him on his chest. The next day, when the boy came again, the snake was in the branches of the trees and the boy got bitten.)
She started lamenting. A king's daughter now a slave, and now her son also dead. She decided to end her life by entering the pyre in which she would burn her son. She went to the same place where her husband was now serving.
Harischandra saw the queen come. His senses blinded, he could not recognize his wife. He just saw a woman carrying the dead body of a child. He demanded money from her, for burning the dead. She said she had no wealth to give and the king told her to go somewhere else with the dead.
She did not know what to do. She said all she had with her was the garment that was covering her body, and she could give half of that away. She started crying out to her husband to come and help her. The king realizing, told the lady to stop crying. I am the unfortunate king - he said.
The queen said this is my fate. I am here with a dead son and a cremation ground guard now calls himself my husband. When I was the queen of Ayodhya, people like this would not dare show their face.
The king said I know you, princess of Somdatta. You are Shavya. You married me and we had a son called Ruhidas. Vishwamitra took my kingdom away.
The queen looked at the king. The eyes looked like her husband's eyes. Both then started weeping at the death of their only son. Finally both decided that they would burn their son and enter the pyre and burn along with their dead son.
They set up a wood pyre and then putting their son in the middle and the king and queen sat on two sides of the pyre.
King of Death, Yama then came there. On his touch, the dead boy came back to life. Vishwamitra came there. He said all the good will he had earned by his penances were lost because of the kingdom he had got from Harischandra. He handed over the kingdom back to the rightful king.
Harishchandra returned back to Ayodhya with his wife and son.
When it was time, Ruhidas was made king of Ayodhya.
When Harishchandra passed away, he made his way towards heaven. Many animals like dogs and pigs also started going with the king, heavenwards.
Vishnu was amazed to see this. He did not like the fact that these animals were entering the heaven. He called Narada and asked why this was happening. Narada went and asked Harischandra why he wanted to go to heaven.
Proud of what he had done, the king started boasting about his feats.
The more he boasted, more he came downwards. Seeing this, the king stopped. The animals went back to their land, the king got stuck midways between heaven and earth.
Let us deviate a bit and talk off Indra. One day, Indra was enjoying the dance of five apsaras. During the course of the dance, they missed a beat. Angry Indra cursed them to trapped in the ashrama of Rishi Vishwamitra. When they wanted to know how they would be freed, they were told that once king Harischandra came there, they would be free.
The apsaras went to the ashrama of Vishwamitra. They could not get out. Vishwamitra was not there, so not knowing what to do, they starting playing with the trees in the ashrama, and in the process ended up breaking many branches.
When Vishwamitra came back, he was surprised to see this. He put a curse - who ever tried to do this, would end up getting bound by creepers in the ashrama. The apsaras got bound.
The next day, Harischandra came there. He was out hunting, and seeing the ashrama on the way, he had stopped by. The apsaras started calling out to him. Looking to see who was calling him, the king touched the creepers that bound the apsaras and they got freed.
Vishwamitra was not in his ashrama at the moment. The king went back home.
Next day when Vishwamitra was walking around his ashrama, he noticed the apsaras missing. He closed his eyes and realized it was Harischandra who had freed them. Angry he went to the king.
The king was glad and welcomed the sage with open heart.
The sage asked the king, why had he freed the apsaras that he had bound.
The king said I have not knowingly done anything wrong and I always follow the path of truth. I give away all I can to the needy and people know me as such,
The sage said if you take pride in being a provider of alms, then promise me you will give me what I ask for.
The king said he would do so, and he would not deviate from the path of truth.
The sage then said, Let all gods be witness, O king. Give me your land, your kingdom over to me.
The king agreed. He got three fists full of soil, and by giving that over the sage, he symbolically handed over his land to the sage. The sage along with the land I need wealth.
The king said he had a treasury full, and he would give from there.
The sage, having donated his kingdom away , he had no right over the treasury now.
The sage told the king to go to the land of Varanasi and stay there, along with his wife and son. There he would have to earn wealth and hand it over. The sage gave a time of seven days within which the gold would have to handed over to him.
The king did not know how to get the wealth. His queen then told him to sell her in the market and hand over to the sage whatever wealth he would get. The king went to the market.
A brahman came and bought both the queen and her son. What Harischandra could get was only a part of the the amount he needed to give the sage. The sage refused to take part of the amount and demanded the full amount.
Harishchandra went back to the market and there he put himself up for sale. A person called Kalu, who burnt corpses in the crematorium agreed to take Harishchandra as his helper. The king first took the amount and handed over what was due, to Vishwamitra and then went off with the person who had bought him.
His duty was to look after the pigs that this person had. He was also told to take money as a collection from all, who came to burn their dead in Varanasi.
In time, the king became dark from roaming around with the pigs and the smoke of the burning grounds. Anyone who knew him as the king, would not be able to recognize him.
In the brahman's house, the queen and her son served as servants. One day the brahman asked the queen to send her son to the garden and get from flowers for the worship. He was bitten there by a snake and he fell dead.
Seeing her son not returning, the queen went in search of her son and found him, lying dead in the garden.
(There is one part which I had skipped here. The queen used to be given a portion of the fodd that she would share with her son. The brahman seeing this decided to engage the son in gathering flowers for his worship. In lieu of that, he would give the son additional food, so he would not have to eat his mother's share. The garden where the prince had been was actually the garden of Visxhwanitra. He plucked flowers and came back home, When Vishwamitra realized that Harishchandra's son had plucked his flowers, he put a curse that, if came again, he would be bitten by a snake, who would strike him on his chest. The next day, when the boy came again, the snake was in the branches of the trees and the boy got bitten.)
She started lamenting. A king's daughter now a slave, and now her son also dead. She decided to end her life by entering the pyre in which she would burn her son. She went to the same place where her husband was now serving.
Harischandra saw the queen come. His senses blinded, he could not recognize his wife. He just saw a woman carrying the dead body of a child. He demanded money from her, for burning the dead. She said she had no wealth to give and the king told her to go somewhere else with the dead.
She did not know what to do. She said all she had with her was the garment that was covering her body, and she could give half of that away. She started crying out to her husband to come and help her. The king realizing, told the lady to stop crying. I am the unfortunate king - he said.
The queen said this is my fate. I am here with a dead son and a cremation ground guard now calls himself my husband. When I was the queen of Ayodhya, people like this would not dare show their face.
The king said I know you, princess of Somdatta. You are Shavya. You married me and we had a son called Ruhidas. Vishwamitra took my kingdom away.
The queen looked at the king. The eyes looked like her husband's eyes. Both then started weeping at the death of their only son. Finally both decided that they would burn their son and enter the pyre and burn along with their dead son.
They set up a wood pyre and then putting their son in the middle and the king and queen sat on two sides of the pyre.
King of Death, Yama then came there. On his touch, the dead boy came back to life. Vishwamitra came there. He said all the good will he had earned by his penances were lost because of the kingdom he had got from Harischandra. He handed over the kingdom back to the rightful king.
Harishchandra returned back to Ayodhya with his wife and son.
When it was time, Ruhidas was made king of Ayodhya.
When Harishchandra passed away, he made his way towards heaven. Many animals like dogs and pigs also started going with the king, heavenwards.
Vishnu was amazed to see this. He did not like the fact that these animals were entering the heaven. He called Narada and asked why this was happening. Narada went and asked Harischandra why he wanted to go to heaven.
Proud of what he had done, the king started boasting about his feats.
The more he boasted, more he came downwards. Seeing this, the king stopped. The animals went back to their land, the king got stuck midways between heaven and earth.
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