In a spirit of reverence, let us follow the unfolding tale as told by the scripture verses. Once, a devoted son performed the sacred śrāddha ritual, appointing a guest and reciting mantras with heartfelt remembrance of his father. Lacking a cow for the offering, he gave a calf to his teacher, for the cow had been slain by a tiger. The teacher accepted the calf in place of the cow, and so it was offered. The cow, thus lost, was eaten; yet the seven ascetics present, grounded in the power of the Vedas, remained fearless even in the face of this cruel act. As time passed, those hunters were reborn in Daśapura, carrying with them the memory of their past lives and a mind shaped by devotion to their fathers. Because of the cruel act performed during the śrāddha, they found themselves born in the homes of hunters, destined to perform harsh deeds. Yet, owing to the greatness of their fathers, they retained memory of their previous births. Through dispassion and yoga, they undertook fasting once more. These seven, born with remembrance, became deer on Mount Kālanjara, near Nīlakaṇṭha, their devotion to their fathers guiding their destiny. There, too, through knowledge and renunciation, they gave up their lives righteously, observed by the people, at the conclusion of a pilgrimage, through fasting. Next, in the Mānasa lake, the seven were reborn as cakravāka birds, yogis both in name and deed. Their names were Sumanā, Kumuda, Śuddha, Chidradarśī, Sunetraka, Sunetra, and Aṃśumān—all excelling in the practice of yoga. Of these seven, three fell from their yogic path and wandered with little awareness, captivated by one shining forth in a garden, surrounded by women. This one, playing in many ways, possessed great strength and valor, born in the lineage of the Pāñcālas, endowed with abundant power and vehicles. Among those aquatic beings, one aspired to kingship, while the brāhmaṇa, devoted to his father and performer of the śrāddha, was loving like a son. The other two, seeing the one with great power and vehicles, wished to become ministers among mortals. Among them, those who were free from desire became the best of brāhmaṇas. But one, the son of Vibhrāja, became known as Brahmadatta. The two sons of the ministers were Kaṇḍarīka and Subālaka. Brahmadatta was anointed king, with a learned priest as his advisor. The king of Panchala was valiant, expert in all scriptures, knowledgeable in yoga among all beings, and skilled in understanding their sounds. His wife was the auspicious daughter of Devala, renowned as Samnati, once called Kapila. Because she was engaged in ancestral rites, she became a speaker of Brahman; together with her, the king’s son ruled the kingdom. One day, while the king was in the garden with his wife, he observed a pair of insects, agitated by the quarrel of love. The male insect, following the ant everywhere, his body scorched by the arrows of desire, spoke faltering words to her: “Nowhere in the world is there a lover like you; slender in the middle, with ample hips, broad-chested, and approaching. Golden-hued, beautiful-hipped, adorned with lovely garlands, charmingly smiling, with well-marked eyes and tongue, fond of sweet things like sugar and molasses. You eat when I eat, you bathe when I bathe; when I am away, you are sorrowful, and even when I am angry, you are fearful and restless. Tell me, O beautiful one, why do you stand with an angry face?” She replied, wrathful: “Why do you speak to me, O deceitful one? You gave me modaka powder, then abandoned me, and spent the day with another, inflamed by passion.” The male pleaded: “Because she resembled you, O beautiful one, I gave it to another; forgive me this one offense, O radiant lady. I will not do this again anywhere, O virtuous one; I touch your feet in truth—be gracious to me as I bow before you.” Hearing these words, she was pleased, and the ant offered herself for enchantment. Brahmadatta, understanding all this, was amazed, for he possessed the knowledge of the sounds of all beings, a gift granted to him by the grace of the wielder of the discus. How did Brahmadatta gain this wondrous ability to comprehend the sounds of creatures on earth? And in whose lineage did the four chakravāka birds arise? In that very city, they were born, called by the name ‘chakra’; heirs of an aged twice-born, they were ancient brāhmins who remembered their past lives. Steadfast, perceivers of truth, learned in the Vedas, eager for austerity, they were sons of a very poor man, known by name and by deed. Among these twice-born, the thought arose: “Let us undertake austerity and attain the highest perfection,” so spoke these excellent brāhmins. Hearing their resolve, Sudaridra, their aged father and a great ascetic, spoke in a pitiable voice: “What is this, my children? This is unrighteousness,” he said, forbidding them. But abandoning their aged father, the poor ones went to dwell in the forest. They asked him: “What indeed is righteousness here? Is there any path from abandoning the living? Tell us, father, what livelihood you have devised.” He replied: “This wealth before you belongs to the king; he will grant you abundant riches, thousands of villages, when you recite in the morning.” Those foremost brāhmins in Kurujāṅgala, the servants in Dāśapura, the deer in Kālañjara, and the seven chakravāka birds in Mānasā—all were accomplished thus. Having spoken these words to their father, they returned to the forest for austerity, while the old man went to the royal palace to pursue his own purpose. Thus, the cycle of deeds, devotion, and memory unfolded, linking the lives of ascetics, hunters, deer, birds, ministers, and kings, all shaped by the power of devotion, austerity, and the grace of the Divine.