Jarita tries to convince her sons to enter the safe hole
As Agni's fire sweeps through Khandava, the bird Jarita finds a hole she believes is safe and urges her sons to hide. But the young Sharngakas are paralyzed by a different fear: the rat that lives in that hole might kill them if the fire does not.
The fire was coming. Jarita, the sharnga bird, had found what she believed was their only chance: a hole in the ground. But her four sons, the Sharngakas, would not enter. They were afraid of the rat that lived there.
Jarita tried to reassure them. "The rat emerged from this hole," she said. "The little creature was seized by a hawk in its claws and carried away. Therefore, you have nothing to be scared of."
Her sons were not convinced. Their logic was cold and precise. "We do not know for certain that the rat was carried away by a hawk. There may be others there and we have every reason to fear them." They weighed the dangers: the fire's approach was not certain — the wind could be seen turning — but death from creatures in the hole was a near certainty. "O mother! An uncertain death is superior to one that is certain," they told her. "Take to the sky as you should. You will have other handsome sons."
Jarita pressed her case, offering eyewitness testimony. "I myself saw the powerful hawk approach the hole, roam around, and then fly away from the hole with the rat." She described how she had followed the hawk, pronouncing blessings on it for removing their enemy. She begged them to enter the hole confidently. "It is certain that I have seen the hawk carry away the rat."
The Sharngakas remained unmoved. "O mother! We do not know whether the rat has really been carried away by the hawk. Without knowing, we cannot enter the hole."
Jarita insisted she knew the truth. The Sharngakas' reply shifted from practical fear to a deeper, more devastating resignation. "It is not that you are trying to free us from our great fear through a falsehood," they said, acknowledging her good faith. But they pointed to her muddled state — "When a person’s knowledge is muddled, his acts do not result from intelligence" — and then to the bleak reality of their relationship.
"You have received no favours from us. You do not even know who we are. Who are we to you that you are trying to save us through so much suffering to yourself?" They reminded her of her own life, severed from them by their father Mandapala's neglect. "You are young and beautiful and are capable of finding a husband. Follow your husband and you will obtain handsome sons."
They released her from any obligation. "We will enter the fire and attain the beautiful worlds. If the fire does not consume us, you will come back to us again."
Having failed to move them, Jarita finally left her sons in Khandava and flew to a safe region, where there was no fire and no fear.