(A story narrated by Narada from Mahabharata, Shanti Parva, chapters 162-167)
Long ago, there lived a learned man from the Gautama clan. He (referred to as Gautama hereafter) traveled far north from his hometown in search of livelihood and finally settled in a colony of savage bandits. The bandits offered him a house and a maid to live with for one year. Very soon, the learned man, Gautama, went native. Moreover, he helped bandits and learned some archery from them. Henceforth, he regularly hunted geese and forgot everything he had learned about ahimsa.
Once, a scholar friend of Gautama stopped by while traveling north. As the friend walked into the bandits’ colony, he saw a man carrying a bunch of freshly hunted geese hanging from his arms. The man looked as if bathed in the goose blood. The friend was shocked to know that the man was none other than his friend, Gautama.
He sighed and cried, “My friend! What have you become? You are a learned man, a descendant of sage Gautama, and come from a place with fine culture. How could you live amidst savage robbers like one of them? You disgrace your family! What happened to the values learned at school? There is nothing more important than righteousness, good conduct, and self-control to a learned man. How could you go native?”
All of a sudden, Gautama sank in shame. Then, he explained his helpless situation when he badly needed a livelihood. Further, he insisted that his friend stayed with him that night. And, both of them would flee away from the bandits’ colony the next morning. Early the next morning, they did exactly as planned.
Bidding farewell to his friend, Gautama began walking towards the sea. On the way, he met a caravan of merchants also going towards the sea. Then, he joined them. But, on the way through a forest, a wild elephant attacked the caravan destroying it completely and killing everyone except Gautama.
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