The Sage and the Birds in the Fire

The sages told the Pandavas a tender tale set within the great burning of the Khandava forest - the tale of the sage Mandapala and his little birds, and of the parental love and the divine mercy that saved four tiny chicks in the heart of a world on fire.

There was a sage named Mandapala, who had practiced great austerities and lived all his life in celibacy and penance, devoting himself wholly to the spiritual path. But when at last he died and sought to enter the highest heavenly worlds, he found them closed to him. He learned that despite all his penance, he could not attain the highest regions, because he had left one great debt unpaid: he had no children. For a man owes a debt to his ancestors to continue the line and to perform the rites for them, and this debt of offspring Mandapala had never paid. Without children, even his great penance could not open to him the highest heaven.