Yamaraja, the lord of the afterlife, once argued with the sage Narada about what kind of person he is: simple or cunning. Yamaraja said that there is no creature simpler than man, and Narada said that man is very cunning and cunning.
“Brother Yamaraja,” said Narada, “you always deal with the dead.” And if you happen to run into a living person, you’ll start singing completely differently.
Yamaraja heard this and ordered his servants:
“Bring me one person alive from the mortal world.”
The servants came to earth, and the first one they met was a patwari named Lakhan. They grabbed him:
- Let's go! Yamaraja is calling you.
Patwari was scared at first, but then he realized and said:
- Wait a little. I just want to say goodbye to the kids. And then I’ll go with you.
Under such a pretext, he gained time, ran into his house and wrote a decree there to Yamaraja, as if from Bhagavan himself, the Almighty. This is what he wrote: “Yamaraja! As soon as you receive this decree, immediately transfer all your power to Lakhan Patwari. And from today you will receive a pension.” Lakhan prepared a decree and went to Yamaraja with his envoys.
He comes there and, bowing obediently, places his decree at the feet of Yamaraja. Who dares not fulfill the will of the Almighty? He read the decree of Yamaraja and immediately handed over the reins of government to his entire kingdom to Patwari Lakhan. Lakhan sat on the throne of Yamaraja. He sits and thinks: “All my life I only knew that I was sinning. Now I need to introduce such an order so that when I die, I will receive eternal grace.” He took and changed the law of Yamaraja: he gave such an order that sinful souls from hell would ascend to heaven, and the righteous from heaven would be thrown into hell.
These new orders created a commotion on earth, underground and in the sky. The gods gathered and all together came to the Almighty with a complaint. The Almighty called Yama-raja and began to Interrogate him. Yamaraja says:
- Defender of the poor! It's not me. Lakhan-patva-ri did all this. The one whom you sent with a decree to take over power in my kingdom.
The Almighty heard this and was amazed.
“I,” he says, “didn’t send anyone to you with such a decree.”
Then Lakhapa Patwari was called. He came, the Almighty asked him:
– Why did you resort to deception and forgery?
“Lord of the poor!” says Lakhan. “Yamaraja, against the law, ordered his servants to bring me to him alive. I thought: “Who knows how he will treat me?” So I figured out how to better defend myself.
The Almighty investigated this matter and sees that the patwari told the truth. “If it were just a quarrel between a patwari and Yamaraja, everything would be fine,” he thinks. “But this patwari overturned the laws of the afterlife, cast sinless souls into hell and needlessly doomed them to torment. We will have to send him to Kumbhipak - to hell where sinners are fried."
The patwari heard this decision and folded his prayer
Hands and asks:
- Oh ocean of kindness! Would you please order that I be released back to the mortal world for an hour? Having returned from there, I will humbly accept your punishment.
Why do you need to go to earth? - asks the Almighty.
“I’ll go and tell them not to pray to you anymore and not to make sacrifices to the gods.” I will tell them: “You will appear before the eyes of the Almighty, and he will send you to hell. That's what happened to me. I have been honored to see the Almighty - and I have to go to hell.”
The gods heard such words and became alarmed - who would then make sacrifices to them? They began to persuade the Almighty:
“Give him generously with wealth and go back to earth, otherwise his speeches will cause unrest there.”
The Almighty listened to the gods and ordered the patwari to be taken home.
The patwari now began to think: “After all, when I die, Yamaraja will certainly get even with me. We have to come up with something to evade retribution.” He thinks so, but lives by his old custom: no one can see any good from him. He only grabs everything for himself and doesn’t give a crumb to anyone else.
Thus his whole life passed in the bustle of the world. But at his death hour he performed a good deed - he gave a barren old cow to the Brahmin priests.
He died. They brought him to Yamaraja, and the counting of his deeds began. There is sin upon sin, but merit is only this barren cow. Yamaraja asks him:
– What do you want to receive reward for first: for sins or for merits?
Patwari answers him:
- First, reward me for my merits, and then I’ll go to hell to bake.
Yamaraja agreed.
A cow appeared before them and asked the patwari:
-What will be the order? Whatever you command, I will do right away.
Patwari folds his hands as if in prayer and says:
- Mother! Stick your two horns into the belly of this Yamaraja and shake him thoroughly to get the spirit out of him.
The cow heard this and went to Yamaraja, who ran away. He runs, begs and asks the cow to stop, but she doesn’t want to listen to anything.
The gods intervened in this matter, and the patwari agreed with Yamaraja that Yamaraja would give him a place in heaven. This is how the patwari ended up in the abode of the gods, and Narada’s words came true that Yamaraja would have a hard time from a living man.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru