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बालविनष्टक (bAlavinaSTaka)

 
Monier Williams Cologne
English
बाल—विनष्ट or बाल—विनष्°टक,
m.
N.
 of a man,
Kathās.
पुराणम्
English
बालविनष्टक / BĀLAVINAṢṬAKA. The hero of a story, given in kathāsaritsāgara, Kathāmukhalambaka, Taraṅga six, to show that it is not good to make others angry. The story is as follows:--
Long ago there was a Brahmin named rudra Śarmā. He had two wives. Both gave birth to a son each. The elder wife died and her son also was brought up by the younger wife. Being jealous she fed the child with food too hard for the child and it became lean with stomach swollen and the bones projecting. It looked an uncouth figure. Seeing him like this rudra Śarmā called him bālavinaṣṭaka (one who is lost when he is a boy). He gradually grew up. When he was only five years old he showed extraordinary intelligence. One day he decided to teach his foster-mother a lesson. On that day he was sitting alone on the lap of his father. He said to his father, “Father, I have two fathers”. Thenceforward the father began to doubt his wife, that she was having a lover. He grew jealous. He would not talk to her. The fostermother thought bālavinaṣṭaka was the cause for this change in her husband's behaviour. One day she called the boy to her mildly and asked him for the reason for the change in the behaviour of his father towards her. He said that he would bring about a change in the behaviour of his father if he would be cared for properly. She agreed. Then he took a mirror and held it before his father and when the reflection of his father fell in the mirror he said, “Father, I have two fathers”. Immediately the doubt of his father was removed. It is not right to make even a boy angry.