There was a king who became impoverished by giving liberally to the sages who approached him for help.
His descendants approached the sages who had benefited from the king's munificence and asked for monetary help. But the sages refused to help.
Angered, the royals slaughtered the sages. They did not spare even the women and children. However, a pregnant lady, because of her penance, was able to hide her pregnancy from the angry royals. Her son was the great rishi Ourvar.
When he came to know what had happened, he decided to destroy all kings. But his ancestors appeared before him and urged him not to embark on a vengeful path. They explained that the kings were not to be blamed, for they (the sages) had grown tired of life on this earth and had wanted to leave. So they had deliberately annoyed the kings and provoked them into killing them.
We do not have the right to decide who should live and who should not, said M.V. Anantapadmanabhachariar. It is God who decides that. And no form of life is so lowly that we should think we are somehow superior to other life forms. Once, a sage saw a worm move back and forth across a path and wondered why the worm was doing so. The worm replied that there were sheep and cows on the road, as well as chariots. What if the worm had been crushed by any of these? The sage wondered why a mere worm should take such care of itself. The worm replied that its life was precious to it. Would the sage fall in front of the chariot? God had given the worm its life, and it led a simple life, befitting the form it had taken. But that was no reason why it should not take precautions to save itself, the worm remarked.
Once a king fleeing from his enemies, took refuge behind a bush, and fell asleep. He woke up when a mosquito bit him and he was angry at having been woken up by the mosquito.
But the bite of the mosquito had been timely, for the king's enemies had come very near the bush, and if he had not been vigilant, he would have been killed. So even little creatures that we think of as insignificant have their roles to play.
