On the banks of the river Godavari stands a tree.
It is enormous. Its branches seem to touch the sky. And for miles around it… there is silence. No birds land on it. No cattle graze near it. No traveller walks that way, if he wants to live.
Because in that tree live three demons.
Their hair stands on end. Their eyes are red. Their mouths hang open, hungry. And today, a lone pilgrim is walking straight toward them.
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Vasishtha Continues His Teaching to Janaka
King Janaka had listened to the story of the Monday vow. And Vasishtha went on.
"Janaka, many people think, 'The body is comfortable. Why should I wake before dawn, bathe in cold water, keep fasts?' And so they let Karthika pass without doing anything. But a single lifetime is short. And what we do with it follows us. Let me tell you what happens to such people… and how even they can be saved."
In those days there was a pious man named Tattvanishtha. His very name means "one who is steady in the truth." He had kept the Karthika vow many times, year after year. And that year, he set out on a pilgrimage, walking along the banks of the Godavari.
As he walked, he saw it in the distance. A tree so tall, so dark, that it seemed to swallow the sky. And sitting in its branches were three brahmarakshasas.
A brahmarakshasa is a special kind of demon. Not born a demon. Made one. Usually a learned man who misused his learning, and paid for it.
These three were terrifying. Huge as hills. Thin bellies. Crooked teeth. Faces red as blood.
The moment they saw a human being, they leapt down from the tree.
Tattvanishtha ran.
As he ran, he cried out, "Narayana! Lord of the gods! Lord of the worlds! Protect me!"
The demons were right behind him. He could hear them. Closer… closer…
And then, after a long way, he looked back.
And they had stopped.
All three of them stood still. Their faces had changed. And then, to his astonishment, they bowed down at his feet.
What had happened?
Just by seeing a man who had kept the Karthika vow, just by hearing him call the name of Narayana, the demons had remembered who they used to be. Their past lives came flooding back.
"Great soul," they said, "forgive us. Holy people walk this earth only to lift up others. Just seeing you, our sins have begun to melt."
Tattvanishtha's fear was gone. Now he was curious.
"Tell me," he said gently. "What did you do, to end up like this?"
The Three Demons Confess Their Past
And one by one, they told him.
The first demon said, "I was a brahmin, the head of a village called Mandara, in the south. I had power over others. And I used it to cheat. I took land and wealth from good people and gave it to my own family. I never fed a hungry relative. I never helped anyone. The wealth I stole did not save me. After death, I suffered terribly. And then I became this."
The second demon said, "My sin was at home. I quarrelled with my own parents every day. I spoke to them with contempt. My wife, my children and I ate the finest food, six flavours on every plate. And my old mother and father got a little plain rice, and nothing more. I piled up money, and gave to no one. That is why I am here."
Then the third demon spoke. And his story was the strangest of all.
"I was a priest in a temple of Lord Vishnu," he said. "I was supposed to serve the Lord. But I skipped my prayers. I neglected the worship. And every evening, devotees came to the temple and lit lamps for the Lord, with ghee and oil they had brought from their own homes."
He lowered his head.
"I stole that ghee. I stole the oil from the Lord's lamps. And I used it to light lamps in the house of a woman I visited. I even stole the food that was offered to the Lord."
Think about that. The lamps that devotees lit in love… he put them out, so that he could have light for his own pleasure.
"After many births of suffering," he said, "I ended up in this tree."
Freed by One Morning Bath
Tattvanishtha was quiet for a while. Then he said, "Do not be afraid. I am on my way to take my Karthika bath. Come with me."
He led them down to the sacred Godavari. Before sunrise, he stepped into the water. And he made a solemn resolve: "I take this morning bath in the Godavari so that these three may be freed from being brahmarakshasas." He bathed. And then he gave the merit of that bath to them.
That was all.
In that very moment, all three were freed. Their terrible forms fell away. They became shining beings. And they rose to Vaikuntha, the home of Lord Vishnu.
What This Chapter Asks of Us
Vasishtha said to the king, "Janaka, whoever bathes in a sacred river before sunrise in Karthika, knowingly or unknowingly, receives the grace of Hari and Hara. The Karthika bath of one devotee freed three souls from the forms of brahmarakshasas. So in this month, men and women alike should never miss the early morning bath."
And notice one more thing in this story. When did the demons' minds clear? When they saw a man who kept the Karthika vow, and heard him call the name of Narayana. That is the power of good company.
So tomorrow, wake before sunrise, and bathe remembering the Lord. That is what this chapter asks of us.