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King Brihadyumna, a disciple of the sage Raibhya, performed a great
sacrifice at which he requested his teacher to let his two sons Paravasu and Arvavasu
officiate. With the permission of their father, both of them went joyfully to the capital
of the king.
While arrangements were being made for the sacrifice, Paravasu desired
one day to go and see his wife and, walking alone all night, he reached his hermitage
before dawn. Near the hermitage, he saw in the gloaming, what seemed to him a beast of
prey crouching for a spring and, hurling his weapon at it, killed it.
But to his horror and grief, he discovered that he had killed his own
father clad in skins, mistaking him for a wild denizen of the forest. He realised that the
fatalmistake was the effect of the curse of Bharadwaja.
When he had hastily performed the funeral rites of his father, he went
to Arvavasu and told him the doleful tale. He said: "But this mishap should not
interfere with the sacrifice of the king. Please do the rites on my behalf in expiation of
the sin I have unwittingly committed.
Author : Shri C. Raja Gopalachari
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