The Wicked Lion & the Cow 

 

The Lion meets its death chasing a cow

When we returned to our home village a year later in the winter break, there was huge excitement amongst us children that we would have another opportunity to hear Naani's tales.

 

Naani probably was also looking forward to our return also. She was a year older, a bit heavier and was having difficulty walking around than last year. We kids had grown up too and were an inch taller and supported a bigger frame. But we all loved her stories. When we were in schools in Shimla, the teacher would often ask, how did we spend our winter break? Only one thing came to our mind to tell the teacher that we heard lots and lots of stories from our old Naani. In my school all my classmates wished to hear these and I was delighted to relate a few. For a ten-year-old kid, the story of a lion meeting his death while chasing the cow was the most amusing. That is the one I related to my classmates.

 

The way the old Naani related goes as follows:

 

"Children, do you know why that big crack in the stone face cliff on way to Rakkar from Handal is called? It is called "Shee-Tapaka?"

 

We all replied in unison, "No Naani we did not know".

 

"Then I am going to tell you that story today", said Naani

We all sat down in a huge anticipation to hear from Naani this tale.

 Naani continued, "In the village of Handal, many centuries ago there lived a pious Brahmin named Thakur Dass, who made his living by tilling a small plot of land and being an astrologer and a priest for many villages in the neighbourhood. He was an honest man.

 

The Rajputs and the Brahmins in this area have been living here for a very long time. Pundit Thakur Dass owned a small house at Handal and next to the house; he had an enclosure for his two cows and one buffalo. He sent his one son on daily errands of watering these animals at the nearby stream and bringing feed to them. He also milked the cows etc. and did other cleanup chores. His other son tilled that small piece of land and lent his father a helping hand in priestly chores. His two daughters and wife took care of the household and also fetched potable water for household needs from the nearby well. All other water needs for cleaning & washing etc. was fetched from a nearby stream.

This stream had been flowing along this course for ages. Near the village about a mile ahead, the stream made a big bend to the right as a big rock as high as three hundred feet blocked the way. The stream after making its turn joined the river Beas about six or seven miles further. This natural rock was a part of a transverse mountain range running up to the River. On the other side of this barrier range, there was the thickly forested area, which extended for many miles where wild animals roamed freely.  The rock was part of the mountain crest, which acted as a barrier between wild side and the human inhabited side.  The settlers had not made an effort to cross this crest and clear the land on the other side, first they did not need it and second the wild animals would make living there difficult.

The Brahmin family, his two sons and two daughter and his wife lived happily on this side of the rock and the mountain crest, never worrying about what is on the other side. If they had to go to the other side, they would follow the stream to the River Beas and then turn around and go to their destination bypassing the wilds.

On a daily basis, the Brahmin's younger son would take the cows and the buffalo to the green pastures on the mountain crest. It was a chore, which had to be done and with it the cow's milk yield improved. The animals had to be watched all the times as wild animals from the other side of the crest sometimes climbed to the top and preyed on domestic animals. The forgoing had not happened to Pundit Thakur Dass's animals but had happened to the others, but not often.

Mindful of this, everybody in the neighbourhood brought their animals back home before the evening hours.

On the other side of the crest lived a lion with his bunch of lionesses. They hunted on that side, only seldom came to the crest. Whenever the lion or the lionesses came to the crest, the birds, the monkeys, the jackals all got nervous and gave calls to the lion's presence. All animals would immediately hide or get on the trees to the highest points so that the lions could not get to them. The forgoing did not happen often. Also, the humans avoided being out in the evening or during the light drizzle time, which was the perfect hunting time for the wild animals.

Lion family comes to the crest

 

In the wilds on the other side of the crest, wild animals roamed free occasionally crossing the multiple little streams, which flowed and joined the bigger stream like Kunaha, which later joined the River Beas.  A major mountain chain yonder had isolated this glen from the surrounding areas. At times you could spot wild boars, hyenas, monkeys, jackals and a pack of lions here. The tall grass and the free flowing water streams made it an ideal place for animals to hunt and make home. No other big hunting cats were known to live in this area, as the big lion would chase them away. The lion's cave was well occupied with his four lionesses and a litter of cubs every now and then. As the male cubs grew older, the lion would chase them away from his territory. They would leave and establish their own territories elsewhere.

 

Human seldom ventured in this area. At times the lions were seen on either side of the crests but it was not often as there was plenty of game in their area itself.

 

This fall, the lion together with his lionesses was noticed on the crest, which was on the Handal village side. The tree residing wild animals had raised an alarm to their presence. Hence, it had become a forbidden area for residents of Handal and vicinity to graze their cattle near the crest.

One day Pundit Thakur Dass's cow "Gauri" got separated from the herd. Thakur Dass's son looked for it everywhere. It could not be found. He came home and told his family and they all went looking for it. They called it by its name Gauri but of no avail. Now they were scared that a wild animal may have got to their cow hence the family's sorrow knew no bound. But they kept looking. It was evening and sun had begun to set. The red colour in the sky was indicative of possible rain in a day or two.

 Then by chance, Thakur Dass's daughter saw a silhouette of a cow on the crest in the fading light. She called for her family to look up there where the cow seemed to be running towards that little big rock in the middle of the crest.

 Earlier after the cow had separated from the rest of the herd, it had begun to wander around. With no one in sight to follow the lead, it had begun to climb in the wrong direction. It was heading towards the crest instead of home. When the Pundit's daughter noticed her up on the crest, it had reached the worst place to be.

 Now bad thoughts began to come into the family's mind. What if the big cats were in the area? They would pounce upon it for their evening meal. Realising the danger, Pundit Thakur Dass and his son together with their neighbours began to run towards the crest to rescue the cow. Simultaneously they began to pray for the welfare of the cow.

In fact the lion and his lionesses were also in the vicinity. As they found the cow unattended, they began to move towards it in a hunting mode. As the cow noticed the danger, it began to shake its head and began to run.  The cow in its slow pace was heading towards the big rock. It had no chance as the lions were moving in for the kill.

 The cow realizing that it had few moments to live began to pray.

Hardly had the cow and the Pundit's family made their prayers that they heard a great big rumbling and noticed earth shaking under their feet. They all fell to the ground. As they lay there, they noticed that the ground was shifting underneath them and they were being shaken like a doll in the forest. They forgot about the cow and began to worry about their own welfare. This continued for another few moments and then it stopped. Then it violently shook again with an earth shattering sound, rendered them momentarily deaf. They were again tossed around violently. Then the shaking stopped. Pundit's family and few other villagers who were looking for the cow were scattered and under debris which had fallen on them. A few trees had been uprooted and falling rocks and stones had hit them badly.

 The Pundit himself was lying under a mound of debris and bleeding. His wife and his one daughter were stuck under a tree. Although, they were bleeding from their head & leg and had suffered a major trauma yet had avoided a major injury. His son and two of his neighbours had saved themselves from a major injury by hiding under a rock.

The amount of dust, which had risen, completely obscured the view around them. Right now the family was not worried about the cow but about themselves and their homes.

 

As they slowly with each other's help made their way back to their homes, they found everything in ruins. The walls of their homes had collapsed. The roof had caved in. Their belongings lying scattered all over the place. The animals in the pen, although shaken were uninjured, because they had no walls or roof above them which kept them a bit safe. 

 It was not difficult to conclude that the earthquake had shaken the whole area. Most of the houses in the area had collapsed. People were homeless. The earthquake had exacted a huge toll from the residents of this area. 

There is a saying in this area that the God saved the cow. It split that big rock in the middle into two, right after the cow had crossed it. It is said that the lion's bone fragments were discovered at the bottom of the split after many years. The villagers concluded that the lion fell thru the crack, killing it. Other lions in the hunt party got scared and probably retreated back. They were unable to jump across the split as there was about 30 to 40 feet distance. The cow on the other side was safe and went around looking for its home and the owner. A day or two later the lost cow showed up at its owner's yard. The family, although homeless was pleased to see it back."

 

The Naani, concluded today's story by saying that God's ways are mysterious. It saved the cow; it killed the lion but in the process inflicted a huge damage on Pundit Thakur Dass for not taking better care of his animal wealth. All children present folded their hands and began to pray as Naani lead them to recite the Vedic Mantras.

 

Epilogue

 

That big rock which split in two is popularly called "Shee-Tapaka", meaning the Shee i.e. lion, Tapaka i.e fell below. It is about a mile from Handal and about two to three miles from Pirsaluhi. The water stream, which had made a right turn to join the river a few miles yonder because of the big rock, passes thru it now.  Humans, who had found it difficult to negotiate the crest and the big rock, have built a pathway thru it to reach Rakkar and other habitats on the other side of crest. With so many changes, the wild animals on the other side of the crest have slowly moved away.

Science can unravel the mystery of splitting of the rock and its time frame. Earthquakes in this region had happened many times in last two millenniums. The last big one took place in 1905, which killed thousands of people in the city of Kangra and its vicinity.

The above is an amusing story tailored to make a catastrophic incident a bit interesting. Wayward cows do fall prey to the wild animals. Whether lions lived in this area is anybody's guess.

 

 

 

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