The butcher who taught a Brahmin

In the text — not yet checked

A butcher in Mithila outranks a yogi who can burn birds with a look.

Markandeya tells Yudhishthira of a proud ascetic, Kaushika, who burns a crow and a crane with a glance. A housewife tending her sick husband says she is not a bird to be burned and shows she knows his thoughts, crediting duty rather than austerity, and sends him to a righteous butcher (dharma-vyadha) in Mithila. The butcher teaches that no honest duty is impure, ahimsa and truth are pillars of dharma, and Brahmin status comes from conduct. Vivekananda called it one of the highest flights of Vedanta.

Who: Kaushika, Dharmavyadha, Markandeya, Yudhishthira

Bound to

Shankara's 700 verses mirror

The Yaksha's questions at the lake mirror

Markandeya sees the flood and the child on the banyan leaf teaches

Places: Mithila (Bihar/Nepal)

Where this comes from

CE (critical edition) · Wikipedia: Vyadha Gita Vana Parva (Markandeya-samasya)
modern-popular · Prekshaa: Conversations with a Butcher, Hari Ravikumar, 2016

See it on the tree · All stories

← The Yaksha's questions at the lake · Ashtavakra: cursed in the womb →