Dhundhu Obtains Boon from Brahma

Madhu and Kaitabha had two sons. The elder was known for his learning. The younger, Dhundhu, was different — immensely energetic, immensely radiant, and driven by something that austerity alone might satisfy. He went into the wilderness and began to perform tapasya (austerities). He stood on one leg and did not move. He ate nothing. He drank nothing. The flesh melted from his frame until he was held together by nothing but his own veins — a skeleton standing on a single leg, sustained by will. Brahma was pleased. The creator appeared before Dhundhu and offered him a boon — anything he wished. Dhundhu thought carefully. He had seen what happened to his fathers. Madhu and Kaitabha had been killed by Vishnu, cut down in the prime of their power. Dhundhu wanted to be certain that nothing like that could happen to him. He asked: "I should be incapable of being killed by gods, danavas, yakshas, serpents, gandharvas, and rakshasas." The grandfather told him that it would be that way. Dhundhu touched Brahma's feet with his head and departed. He had what he wanted — or so he believed. He had covered every class of being that might threaten him: the gods in heaven, the danavas (demons) of the underworld, the yakshas (nature spirits), the serpents, the celestial musicians, the flesh-eating rakshasas. He had not asked about men. He had not asked about kings. He had not thought to include the one category that could still destroy him.