Mystery of Why Tears Came Only From the Left Eye of King Mayuradhwaja

Listen to the audio above

Discover the legend that left tears coming out of only the left eye of King Mayuradhwaja.

King Mayuradhwaja was a contemporary of the Pandavas.

After the Kurukshetra war, the Pandavas had become the rulers of Hastinapur.

At that time, Mayuradhwaja performed AshwamedhaYaga.

You must know this, in AshwamedhaYaga, a horse is set loose by a king who is aspiring to expand his kingdom.

It is protected by an army.

If the horse enters another kingdom, they have to fight the army accompanying the horse and defeat them.

Or they have to become subordinate to the king who is performing the Yaga.

The Pandavas came to know that Mayuradhwaja’s horse was heading towards their border.

Arjuna went to stop it.

Krishna also accompanied his dear friend.

They waited for the horse at the border.

But they dozed off.

When the horse came, they didn’t even realize it.

The horse went past them.

When they woke up, Krishna said it was very unusual.

It was as if some supernatural power had pushed them into sleep.

So this Mayuradhwaja should either have either some divine providence or some magical power like the Rakshasas.

They enquired with people.

Everyone had a great opinion about Mayuradhwaja,

He was a great king and would do anything to protect his people.

Krishna and Arjuna decided to test him.

They went to Mayuradhwaja’s court disguised as two travelers.

Krishna told Mayuradhwaja, ‘Lord!, we both are passing through your kingdom along with my son, a young child.’

‘A lion has caught hold of my son and kept him in his den.’

‘I pleaded with him to release my son.’

‘The lion said that he would release the child only in exchange for half the body of the noblest person around.’

‘When we enquired, we were told that you are the noblest person in this kingdom.’

‘That’s why we have come to you begging for the life of my son.’

Hearing this, the queen said -

‘As per shastras, the wife is one-half of the husband.’

‘I will come with you.’

‘Let the lion have me in exchange for your son.’

Krishna said -

‘But shastras also say that the wife is the left half of the husband.’

‘Haven’t you seen? Devi Parvathy is the left side of Shiva.’

‘The lion has insisted that I should bring the right side of the person only.’

Mayuradhwaja got up and said -

‘Cut me into two halves and take  the right half.’

‘It is my duty as a king to protect every single person in my kingdom.’

‘Even if you are travelers, now that you are in my kingdom, it is my duty to protect you.’

Mayuradhwaja sat down on the floor and closed his eyes.

Krishna called for a sword.

As he lifted the sword above his head, tears started flowing out of the left eye of Mayuradhwaja.

Krishna said -

‘Are you crying?’

‘I can see tears flowing out of your eyes.’

‘Are you doing this half-heartedly?’

‘Then I don’t want to do this.’

‘I will incur sin if I am forcing you to do this.’

‘You also will not gain any punya from this sacrifice if you are doing it under the compulsion of your duty.’

Mayuradhwaja said -

‘No, no, the tears are coming only from my left eye.’

‘The left side of my body is feeling sad that it did not get an opportunity for a great sacrifice like what the right side has got.’

Krishna and Arjuna assumed their original forms and told Mayuradhwaja to get up.

Bhagawan blessed him with success.

Krishna and Arjuna took part in Mayuradhwaja’s AshwamedhaYaga.

The Pandavas and Mayuradhwaja became friends and allies.

Our Puranas are filled with stories of such great sacrifices. 

The greatness of a man was measured in those days not by what he possessed but by what he was willing to sacrifice.

Other languages: Hindi