King Nṛga — The Cow That Was Given Twice
One cow, given away twice by mistake — and a righteous king spends ages as a lizard in a well.
Shukadeva tells this story to King Parikshit; Bhishma tells it too, to Yudhishthira.
देवदेव जगन्नाथ गोविन्द पुरुषोत्तम ।
नारायण हृषीकेश पुण्यश्लोकाच्युताव्यय ॥
अनुजानीहि मां कृष्ण यान्तं देवगतिं प्रभो ।
यत्र क्वापि सतश्चेतो भूयान्मे त्वत्पदास्पदम् ॥
Śrīmad Bhāgavata · 10.64.27–28
“O God of gods, Jagannātha, Govinda, Purushottama, Nārāyana, Hrishikesha, ever-glorious, unfallen, imperishable! O Krishna, O Lord, grant me leave to go to the world of the gods. Wherever I may be, let my mind rest always at your feet.”
In Dvārakā one day the boys of the Yadu clan — Sāmba, Pradyumna, Chāru, Bhānu and others — grew thirsty at play. Searching for water, they found a well overgrown with grass and creepers. Clearing it, they saw within it an enormous lizard, huge as a hill! For all their ropes and every means they tried, the boys could not draw it out. Frightened, they ran to Krishna and told him everything.
Krishna himself came to the well and, with his left hand, lifted the vast lizard out with ease. And the moment Krishna’s touch fell upon it, the lizard was transformed into a radiant, godlike man — clothed in heavenly garments and divine ornaments!
Krishna asked — “Who are you?” Humbly the man told his tale: “I am Nṛga, a king of the Ikshvāku line. All my life I gave countless cows to brahmins in charity. But once, unknowingly, I gave a single cow to two different brahmins! When both came to claim their right, I offered each a hundred cows in exchange, but the cow’s first owner was not satisfied, and left in anger.”
After death, Yama said to Nṛga — “You have merit, and also this one small sin. Choose — will you first taste the fruit of your merit, or of your sin?” Nṛga said — “Let me suffer the sin first, so that afterwards I may enjoy my merit with an easy mind.” And in that very moment he became a lizard and fell into the well — for thousands of years, until the touch of Krishna himself should reach him.
Nṛga bowed to Krishna, took his leave, and departed for heaven in his divine chariot. But as he went, Krishna warned his Yadava kinsmen — “See how subtle dharma is! One small, unknowing mistake can cover over years of penance and merit. So never take the wealth of brahmins, and above all the gift of cows, lightly.”