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Story Note: In the mountainous areas of Nepal, it is difficult to find shelter for the night. This story emphasizes the importance of keeping one's door open to the traveler.

Deep in the Pokhara Valley lay a village filled with hardhearted people. One evening a wandering sadliuu came to this village as darkness was settling on the land. Since he could go no farther, he went up to the house of a villager and asked if he could stay the night. The villager slammed the door in his face, crying, "Go away from my door."

It is the custom in Nepal to always open the door to a visitor. As the ancient saying goes, "Atithi devo bhava."("The guest is like a visiting god.")But the people of the village were hardhearted and did not respect this tradition of hospitality.

The wandering sadhu then went to every house in the village, asking, "Bas paincha? ("May I have shelter for the night?") But in every house, the answer was the same. "Go away from my door!" Now the sadhu realized that, though it was completely dark, he must continue on his journey. He came to the edge of the village and spied a small old hut with crumbling walls. "Why should anyone offer me shelter here, when others in much grander houses have turned me away?" said the sadhu. He went by the house without stopping.

Suddenly he heard a voice calling, "Who is that walking by in the darkness?" The sadhu turned and saw in the dimness an old woman standing in the doorway.

"Oh, mother,"replied the sadhu. "I am a wandering sadhu." "Why are you not settled in for the night?"asked the old woman. "Because no one in your village would give me shelter,"the sadhu replied, "so I must walk on."

"You cannot do that, said the old woman. "Please, come into my hut and share my food with me."

"Why, thank you, mother," said the sadhu, as he entered the old hut. "How is it that a kind person like yourself lives in such a village of hardhearted people?"

"Oh, great soul," said the woman, "you know that it is the Kaliyug, the Time of Evil. So I cannot blame the people." The old woman then set about preparing the little food she had, not even enough for one person. When she had finished, she turned to the sadhu and said, "You may wash your hands, oh, great soul. Your food is ready."

The sadhu washed his hands and sat down to his meal. He soon saw, however, that the old woman was crying. "What is wrong, oh, mother?" asked the sadhu.

"Nothing, great soul. It is just that I wish I could serve you better with more plentiful food."

"Come now,"said the sadhu. "I am a wanderer and sometimes go to sleep with no food at all. Why, this is a feast!" The old woman served the sadhu, waiting to eat herself, as was the custom. But when the sadhu had finished, he realized the old woman had saved noth- ing for herself. "Oh, mother,"said the sadhu, "you should not have served me all of your food."

"But great soul," said the woman, "it is my dharma to feed my guest." The old woman then gave the sadhu a mat to sleep on. He took it to the porch and went to sleep. During the night, it began to rain. It rained so hard, the old roof leaked. By morning, the old woman and the sadhu were soaked.

Now the sadhu had to be on his way. He thanked the old woman for her kindness, whereupon she clasped his hands, saying, "Please come and visit me whenever you are in this village."The sadhu smiled, but his eyes were sad.

"No one will ever walk this land again," he said. "Today the lake above the village will break through and the entire valley will be flooded. The narrow gorge at the end of the valley will be blocked by earth and boulders, and the village will become a lake. You must leave this valley today, oh, mother." The sadhu then bade farewell to the old woman and went on his way.

Quickly the old woman left her hut and went to tell the villagers what the sadhu had predicted. "You must leave this place at once," said the old woman, "for the waters of the lake will soon spill over into the valley and all will be washed away. No one listened to her. Instead they mocked her, saying, "Too long she sits in that broken-down hut to know what she is talking about!"They laughed. "What does an old woman know anyway?"

The old woman felt sorry for the people, because she knew she could not help them. Alone, she started to leave the valley, climbing up the steep mountain slopes. Suddenly she heard a roar and turned to see the natural dam of the lake above crumbling, the water from the lake flowing over the sides of the cliff into the valley. "Oh, Ram!" cried the old woman. "Please help these poor people!"

The woman looked again and saw that the dam had all but disappeared. The water was now pouring down the cliff into the valley with a great roar. Above the noise of the falling water, the old woman heard the villagers calling to their gods. To her dismay, she saw their huts, their cattle, and their farms all being swept away in the rushing water. In no time, the narrow gorge at the end of the valley was blocked with earth and boulders. Just as the sadhu had said, the water was beginning to rise. The people of the village were trying to escape the valley, but they were caught in the rising waters and drowned.

"Oh, Rama, Rama!" the old woman cried out in despair. Sud- denly she saw that she too might be caught in the rising flood. She hurriedly scrambled up the cliff, the water lapping at her feet. Higher and higher she climbed, and when she felt she could climb no more, she saw a rock in the shape of a boar's head and clasped it tightly. Then, as suddenly as the waters had risen, they stopped, and the woman saw that the flood was calm. Thanking her god, she worshipped the boar's head rock, knowing it was Lord Baraha the boar, third incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

To this day, deep in the Pokhara Valley in western Nepal, you can see the stone boar's head rising out of Lake Phewa. The people of the area worship this stone and tell the story, as they have for generations, of the rising waters of the lake and the old saying, "The guest is like a visiting god."

[1]sadhu-holy man
[2]bas paincha? Is there shelter for the night?
[3]Kaliyug-The Iron Age, a time of man's inhumanity to man. In this age, man eats meat and dairy products in great quantity and may even eat human flesh. Some believe that after all the human meat is eaten and there are no people left, the Satyayuga, the Age of Truth, will begin (Coburn, p. 41).
[4]dharma-holy deed
[5]Ram-Lord Rama, hero of the Ramayana and the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu
[6]Lake Phewa or Phewatal-the biggest and most beautiful of the five lakes in the Pokhara Valley