Jaratkaru Discovers His Ancestors in Peril

Jaratkaru was an ascetic of immense power, celibate, rigid in his vows, and controlled in his food. He never spilt his semen. He was the chief among mendicants. Once, while travelling, he came upon a great cave. Inside, he saw a terrible sight: his own ancestors, hanging upside down. Their feet pointed upwards, their heads hung down. They were tethered by a single rope of grass, and rats living secretly in the cave were slowly eating it away. Jaratkaru asked, “Who are you, hanging like this?” They replied, “We are rishis known as the yayavaras. We are descending into the earth because we have no descendants. We have only one descendant, named Jaratkaru. But that unfortunate fool has adopted the path of austerities. He does not think of taking a wife to get a son. That is why we hang here, decaying. Despite having a protector, we are unprotected.” They did not recognize him. They asked who he was, sorrowing for them like a relative. Jaratkaru said, “I am Jaratkaru himself. You are my fathers and grandfathers. Tell me what I should do.” His ancestors told him the law: the fruits of virtuous action and the stored-up merits of austerities could not match the gains accrued by having a son. He was their only recourse. For his sake and theirs, he must endeavour to have a son to continue their lineage. Jaratkaru had always resolved never to have a wife. But for their welfare, he agreed. He laid down his conditions: “If I get a girl under my conditions, I will marry her. Her name has to be the same as mine. Her relatives must willingly bestow her on me as a gift. But who will give a wife to a poor man like me? I will accept a girl who is given to me as alms.” He promised them, “For the sake of relieving you, I shall have offspring from her so that you may attain the eternal state and be happy there.”