The Story, as Bholenath Spoke It
There was a Brahmin named Indrasharma of the Kanyakubja lineage, whose wife, Rudramati, was of a wicked and quarrelsome nature.
O Goddess, that Brahmin was devoted to the daily recitation of the Vedas and the six limbs of the Vedas. Once, a Kshatriya king died in that country, and the Brahmin was invited to the funeral rites. O Goddess, the Brahmin ate at the Kshatriya’s funeral and accepted gifts of a bed, an elephant, and other things. He took everything home. O beloved, he enjoyed that wealth for a long time.
After a considerable time had passed, that Brahmin died. Upon death, he went to the realm of Yama and fell into a terrible hell. O Goddess, after suffering the consequences of his actions for an entire age, he was reborn in the forms of an elephant, a tiger, and an insect, experiencing each of these existences separately. Then, according to the influence of his past karma, he was reborn as a human being.
Due to the consequences of his past actions, he had no sons, but many daughters. Or, his wife’s children would die, and she would suffer from many diseases. O Goddess, now I will tell you the remedy for this, by which he will obtain a son.
Recite the Gayatri Mantra and the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra one hundred thousand times each, perform ten thousand homas, and donate one-sixth of your wealth. Donate cows of ten different colours to a Brahmin and feed 100 Veda-reading Brahmins. O Goddess, by doing this, a son will be born, diseases will be cured, and the sins of past lives will be destroyed.
Human Meaning of the Story
The story begins with a difficult partner. In symbolic psychology, the spouse represents the Venus field — our emotional harmony, values, and capacity for relational alignment. A quarrelsome wife reflects an underlying imbalance in how Indrasharma handled emotional sensitivity, partnership, and value-based decisions. Indrasharma himself was learned and disciplined. His outer duties (Sun) were intact. But funerals are Saturn’s domain — moments of grief, confusion, and emotional vulnerability. When he accepted a bed, an elephant, and significant gifts from the grieving royal family, he crossed a subtle karmic line.
The issue is not receiving. The issue is receiving more than appropriate when others are vulnerable, and not using that wealth responsibly or meaningfully afterward. In Taurus, artha (wealth) is natural; in Capricorn Navamsa, karma (responsibility) must guide how artha is used.
When artha drifts away from karma, imbalance forms. The animal rebirths — elephant, tiger, insect — symbolise states of heaviness, consumption, and insignificance. The absence of sons and repeated daughters show continuity breaking and responsibility increasing. Illness in the spouse mirrors disturbance in the Venus field — relationships and values strained until balance is restored.
Modern Interpretation
This story mirrors situations today where professionals — doctors, lawyers, consultants, spiritual guides, judges — hold expertise while others depend on them during distress. The karmic imbalance appears when someone:
- charges more than appropriate during another’s grief, confusion, or vulnerability,
- recommends services or actions that aren’t genuinely needed,
- uses their knowledge or authority to secure personal comfort instead of providing sincere help, or
- earns well but doesn’t use that wealth responsibly or for any meaningful purpose.
This may not always come from conscious wrongdoing, but the imbalance still forms. Whenever artha (Taurus) separates from karma (Capricorn) — wealth from responsibility, comfort from correct action — Saturn brings correction until alignment returns.
A quarrelsome or disharmonious partner today mirrors the same value imbalance: emotional disconnection, relational friction, or partnerships strained because deeper values are not aligned. “No sons” becomes stalled progress or plans that don’t move forward. “Many daughters” shows up as situations that demand humility, giving, and responsibility — life’s natural way of restoring balance to what was once taken without awareness.
The Essence of Bholenath’s Remedy
- Gayatri Mantra: Purifies intention and restores clarity. Let light guide receiving and decision-making.
- Mahamrityunjaya Mantra: Releases heaviness absorbed from taking in a vulnerable environment. Cleanse what entered through grief.
- Ten Thousand Homas: Realigns authority and action with purity. Use fire to purify, not to accumulate.
- Donate One-Sixth of Wealth: Corrects imbalanced receiving. Return with awareness what came without alignment.
- Donate Cows of Ten Different Colours: Restores emotional nourishment and Venus balance. Bring stability, gentleness, and responsibility back into the value-field.
- Feed 100 Veda-Reading Brahmins: Rebuilds humility and respect for the field of knowledge. Feeding 100 reflects Saturn’s principle — repetition until the lesson becomes natural. Honour true knowledge repeatedly until respect becomes your inner nature.
Modern Equivalent of the Remedy
These remedies today translate into restoring responsibility and cleaning distortions in how you use your knowledge and wealth.
- Give Back Consciously: give a meaningful portion of income; support someone genuinely in need; use earnings for community, stability, or service
- Use Knowledge to Uplift, Not Extract: avoid charging extra in moments of helplessness; bring transparency and fairness into your work; handle distressed people with care, not advantage.
- Heal the Emotional / Venus Field: nurture relationships; reduce emotional friction; offer stability and gentleness; restore harmony where value imbalance has caused strain.
- Rebuild Respect for Your Profession: learn from ethical mentors; support students or juniors in your field; give back to the institutions or teachers who shaped you; repeatedly engage with true experts to realign your values. “100” means doing this enough times that humility and respect become natural.
Essence: Shift artha back into karma — align wealth with responsibility, knowledge with integrity, and comfort with purpose.
Closing Reflection
Krittika Pada 2 teaches that earning is natural and comfort is allowed, but the purity of what we receive depends on how and why we receive it. Indrasharma’s misalignment was subtle: taking more than appropriate in a vulnerable moment and not using that wealth for anything meaningful. Saturn restores balance gently but firmly — through responsibility, humility, value-correction, and repeated giving. The lesson of this pada is simple:
Wealth becomes sacred when aligned with responsibility. Authority becomes dignified when guided by empathy. And what we take must always be balanced by what we return.
Quiet Reflections 