Snakes that came in search of nests

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People search for a new home

Long ago, 50 families left their hometown in search of livelihood. Owing to severe draught, agriculture work came to standstill, leaving everyone to struggle for food. The cattle starved to death. So, they left.

They pitched a tent in a place, and went in groups of 10, in different directions, in search of some land to rest. Meghanadhan was in the group that went south. A forest area caught his eye. It looked like a green oasis. The splashing sounds of a waterfall made him further happy.

Immediately, he stopped everyone and started exploring the forest. He noticed that the trees and bamboo were tall, touching the skies and came to a conclusion. He decided that he could make enough wood out of these trees for their house’s doors, windows and roofs, and shared his idea with others. The next day he took everyone to that location. The work started speedily. He looked up to cut those trees. That’s when he noticed large beehives in some of the trees. A thought occurred to him. He decided he could make money out of these beehives and instructed them to fell the trees that was devoid of beehives. Everyone agreed. Work commenced quickly.

Cleared snake nests to build home

One elderly man, who happened to pass by, told, “Meghanatha, this place is full of snake nests. Without destroying them, you cannot build your home. However, if you do so, you would incur the curse of these snakes and your entire clan would suffer! What would you do?”. He did not pay heed to the elder, especially because he had already decided. Also, everyone were starving and he had to do something quickly. He took 10 people with him and destroyed the snake nests.

Snakes hurried out of their nests and fled in all directions. Some of them died. Many of the snake eggs were destroyed. He did not bother about any of these. They went ahead and constructed their homes. All started living happily. Time rolled on.

Generation Change

Meghanathan’s generation and his son’s generation too passed by. It was now the generation of his grandson. Until then, things appeared to be ok. However, like a thunderbolt from the sky, all the children of this generation were born blue-eyed and had jointed fingers akin to a snake hissing before it bites. Some children perished in the womb. Everyone suffered without knowing the cause. As it happened, Meghanathan’s grandson Nandhan got married. His wife was good natured, lovable, affectionate and caring towards all. She befriended everyone around.

Nandhan’s wife and the wood splinters

As a daily routine, after her husband left for work, she used to go to the forest to collect wood splinters and stored them for burning the stove during rainy days. She became pregnant in due course of time. One day, when she was in an advanced state of pregnancy, she went to the forest to fetch splinters. Her neighbours cautioned her. She convinced them that she would go that day alone and went ahead.

As she bundled the splinters into a cloth, looking around for a rope to tie the bundle, she heard a low pitched hissing sound of a snake. Alarmed, she noticed a baby snake hanging, stuck amidst a thorny bush.

She got scared. Gathering courage, she approached the snake. Her motherly nature showed up. She thought about the agony of the baby snake’s mother at the loss of her baby and empathised with it. She joined two twigs to form a small plank. Slowly gathering courage, she went beside the baby snake. She lifted the baby snake slowly and threw it away to safety. The baby snake lifted itself up and looked thankfully at her. After a moment of thankful gesture, it slowly slipped away into the woods. She reached home hungrily and had a hurried lunch. She decided to take a nap, but suddenly she experienced labour pains.

Nandhan and midwife conversation

The neighbours helped her quickly while some of them hurried in search of the midwife. Nandhan quickly came by in a bullock cart. He quickly drove to the neighbouring town and brought back a midwife. On his way, he noticed a gathering near the town hall. On enquiry, the midwife mentioned that recently a holy sage used to visit regularly and blessed the crowd with his wisdom on karma. As he drove quickly and reached the destination, the midwife went to check his pregnant wife. After a while, she came out and stood twiddling her fingers.

Nandhan sees the sage

“Nandha, there seems to be some complications with the delivery. I’m afraid I can’t help. Please take your wife to the hospital in the neighbouring town”, she said. Nandhan stood helpless for a moment. Suddenly, an idea flashed. He took his wife and the midwife in the cart to the town hall and sought guidance from the holy sage. The sage, whose wisdom cuts across the past, present and future, smiled knowingly, and sprinkled holy water on his wife and told, “Now, attend to her delivery”.

At once, the people screened the area with a curtain. Delivery commenced at once. A male child was born. The midwife cleansed the baby and handed it over to Nandhan. Nandhan immediately scanned the eyes and hands of the baby. He couldn’t believe his eyes. The baby was just as normal as himself. Elated, he kept looking at the baby. Noticing this, the sage called Nandhan and asked, ‘What’s the confusion? Are you confused that your baby is born well?”.

“Yes”, he admitted

Sage reveals the truth

The sage told him about the deeds that his wife had done in the forest. He was very surprised. “Are you looking for a permanent solution for your entire clan?”, asked the sage.

He nodded.

The sage continued, “Your grandfather Meghanathan destroyed several snake nests and killed several snakes thereby creating bad vibes of Mars and Rahu karma. As a result, your generation is affected. However, your wife has created positive vibes of Moon, Mars and Rahu by saving the baby snake. As a result, you are blessed with a healthy baby”

“Now, you go home and ensure that you don’t destroy snake nests anymore. Let them grow. The snakes that settle there are living snakes. They won’t harm you. Fear not. If you do this, the descendants of your entire clan would live happily”, said the sage.

People accept the change

The snakes come back to their nests

Subsequently, snakes started coming to the nests one by one. They lived happily. Healthy babies were also born subsequently. Everyone lived happily ever after.

Live prosperously!