The Eight Hundred Horses

The divine sage Narada told the Pandavas the strange tale of Galava and the eight hundred horses - a story of how a disciple's stubborn insistence, however well-meant, set in motion a long train of trouble, and of the dignity of a woman used as a coin who in the end chose her own path.

Galava was a devoted disciple of the great sage Vishvamitra, and he served his teacher faithfully through all his years of study. When at last his education was complete and the time came to depart, Galava wished to give his guru a guru-dakshina, the teacher's fee that a grateful student offers at the end of his learning. But Vishvamitra, who had taught him out of affection and wanted nothing, told him he needed no fee, and bid him simply go in peace.

Galava, however, could not let it rest. Out of a stubborn pride in his own gratitude, he insisted, again and again, that he must give a dakshina - that he would not feel his learning complete, nor his honor satisfied, unless he paid his teacher something. He pressed and pressed, refusing to accept that his guru wanted nothing, until at last Vishvamitra, somewhat wearied and even annoyed by the young man's obstinate insistence, decided to give him a fee to seek that would cure his stubbornness - or at least keep him busy.