Koushika Burns the Crane in Anger
A brahmana named Koushika, learned in the Vedas and rich in austerities, is reciting under a tree when a crane drops excrement on him. Overcome by anger, he fixes the bird with a terrible stare — and it falls dead on the ground. But the moment the crane lies still, Koushika is flooded with compassion and regret.
There was a brahmana named Koushika. He was foremost among those who knew the Vedas — he had studied them together with the Angas and the Upanishads. He was rich in austerities, an ascetic, a man who followed dharma in his conduct.
One day he sat under a tree reciting the Vedas. A female crane perched on the branch above him. At that moment, it dropped excrement on the brahmana.
Koushika was angered. The anger rose in him like something with its own will. Overcome, he directed a terrible stare at the crane — and the crane, injured by the brahmana's gaze, fell down to the ground, bereft of its senses.
Dead.
Koushika looked at what he had done. The bird lay still. And he was overcome by compassion and regret.
"Overcome by the force of passion and hatred," he said to himself, "I have done that which I should not have."
He said it several times. Then he got up and went to a village to beg for alms. Aranyaka Parva, Chapter 494