The curse on Nalakubera and Manigreeva – From Srimad Bhagavatham

On the occasion of Janmashtami, here is a beautiful episode from Srimad Bhagavatham.

Nalakubera and Manigreeva were the two sons of Kubera, the Lord of Wealth. Typical of children of rich parents, both these young men were full of arrogance and conceit caused by their being immensely rich.

One day, both of them, intoxicated with drinks, were sporting in the waters of the Ganga along with their wives. They looked like a group of mad elephants in the water, splashing the water wildly and shouting at the top of their voices.

Rishi Narada was passing by. The wives of the young men saw him and rushed to the banks and covered themselves in clothes which they had left under a tree. They respectfully paid their obeisances to the divine Rishi while Nalakubera and Manigreeva just did not care. They were totally blind to who was around. Not that they did not notice the Rishi. But the haughtiness caused by their wealthy disposition and their sense of entitlement prevented them from observing even the basic courtesies. Scantily clad, as they were in water, they continued sporting in the water making loud noises wantonly not recognizing the presence of the Rishi.

Rishi Narada was upset and very angry with their behaviour.  He cursed them. “Nalakubera and Manigreeva” he said. “Both of you have forgotten your decorum and manners due to your immeasurable pride of being born wealthy. You act as if you don’t have a mind . I curse you to become trees on earth!”

Rishi Narada’s curse brought the brothers back to reality. They immediately came out and covering themselves hurriedly, fell at the feet of the Rishi and sought his forgiveness.

Rishi Narada’s anger cooled down. “Sriman Narayana is going to be born on the earth. You will be trees in the place where He will grow up. Though you will be trees, you will have full knowledge about your past lives. And when He decides that your punishment period is over, you will be redeemed from the curse!” said he.

Nalakubera and Manigreeva were now born as Arjuna trees (botanical name- Terminalia Arjuna and Tamil name – Marudha Maram). They were growing in the backyard of Nandagopa’s house in Gokul by the side of each other like twin trees.

Krishna was born and He was growing up in Gokul.

One day,  Yashoda decided to churn butter herself since her helpers were all occupied with some work or the other. As she was churning the butter and was almost done, Little Krishna walked up to her with an angry look. He was very hungry and here, His mother was busy churning butter. Yashoda stopped her work and took Krishna lovingly onto her lap and started feeding Him something to eat.

Suddenly she could hear the sound of milk overflowing on the stove in the kitchen followed by a burning smell. Hurriedly she placed Krishna on the floor and rushed to attend to the milk. Krishna was irritated that His feeding had been stopped abruptly. He got up with a cross look on His face. Picking up a wooden ladle, He hit the pot in which the butter had been churned. The pot broke and the buttermilk gushed out. Krishna hurriedly gathered the butter which was in the pot and scurried to the back-yard of His house. He sat on the mortar- stone which was kept in a corner and started relishing the butter in His hands. Few monkeys from the trees  came near Him as they knew He would give them. He fed them too and was in the process of licking His fingers clean.

Yashoda, in the meanwhile went to the room where she had been churning butter and was shocked to find everything in disarray. Tired as she was already, her temper shot up as she knew who the culprit was. Taking a small stick, she ran to the back-yard and spotted Krishna sitting on the mortar-stone. She then ran to catch Him. The nimble Krishna saw her and jumped from the mortar-stone  and started running around in circles.

Poor Yashoda! Her hair and dress were disheveled by this running game and she was panting for breath when Krishna thought it was enough. He willingly let Himself to be caught. Yashoda’s anger was at its peak. Catching Krishna,  she started scolding Him.

‘This is too much mischief even for me Krishna!” she said. “I am fed up of all the tricks you keep playing”. She then raised the stick to beat Him when she saw Krishna’s  lotus eyes full of tears. He was sobbing and pretending to be terribly afraid of the stick. Yashoda’s heart melted. But just for one moment. “I should not give in to my emotions” she said to herself.

Turning to Krishna she said, “Wait you little rascal. I will tie you up here. Let me see how you do mischief then”. Hearing the commotion, many Gopis of the neigbourhood had gathered there, surprised at Yashoda’s action, nevertheless wanting to see what would happen. After all, it was their long-standing demand that Krishna should be punished for His pranks!

Yashoda went inside the house and brought a rope. Krishna was standing near the mortar-stone with a frightened look on His face. “I will tie you to this stone” said Yashoda. “Let me see what you can do..” Krishna meekly submitted Himself but to Yashoda’s ire, the rope was not long enough. She ran inside again, and again, and again bringing out longer ropes each time. However, they always seemed not long enough.

Finally Krishna decided that He had teased His mother enough and this time the rope she brought was long enough. Mumbling something to herself with anger, Yashoda tied one end of the rope around Krishna’s waist, knotted it and tied the other end around the mortar-stone. Looking at the Gopis watching her, she got annoyed. “Don’t you girls have anything to do at your houses than watching what is happening in my house? Hmph.. Get lost. Go back to your houses. This is not some show happening…” she snapped. Then, with an irritated look, she went inside her house. The Gopis also went away murmuring something.

Now Krishna was left alone. There was no one nearby. Some older boys were playing afar but they were not looking at Krishna.

Now Krishna got down on all his fours and started crawling. With one pull, the mortar-stone also fell on its side and started rolling. There was not much sound since it was a mud floor. Slowly and stealthily, Krishna looked around and continued crawling till he reached the two Arjuna trees which had grown side by side with a small gap enough for a small child to pass.

Krishna crawled into the gap and continued moving forward. The mortar-stone which was following him could not come in that gap and got stuck behind the trees.

Krishna pulled, and pulled,  and suddenly, the trees were uprooted and fell down with a thunderous crash. Two divine glowing forms, which were that of Nalakubera and Manigreeva appeared from the trees with folded palms and bowed to Krishna. “Thank you Lord for delivering us from this curse” they said in unison. Krishna smiled at them and blessed them. They vanished.

In the meanwhile, Yashoda and all the Gopis came running to the backyard. They were shocked to see two huge trees fallen near Krishna, but Krishna was safe. Yashoda was filled with a deep sense of guilt. They were all talking amongst themselves as to how the trees had fallen exactly when Krishna came there.

The older boys who had observed this incident from a distance came and told Yashoda and the other people that they had seen Krishna crawl in-between and the mortar-stone hitting the trees. They also said, that they saw two luminous figures coming out of the tree and talk to Krishna and that later the figures rose up like stars and disappeared. But neither Yashoda nor the Gopis and Gopas who had gathered there believed them. “Would a mortar-stone pulled by a child be strong enough to fell trees? That too two of them? Huh! Ridiculous!”  they thought to themselves. And for the luminous figures, the elders dismissed it as a wonderful figment of imagination of the boys!

And thus Nalakubera and Manigreeva were relieved of their curse by the grace of Lord Krishna!

Note: There are other stories from Srimad Bhagavatham as well on this website and one can access them by using the search tool and searching for ‘Bhagavatham’.