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Harischandra was cursed by Vishwamitra. And Harischandra promised to deliver his son to Varuna, and he didn’t do it. And he was cursed, and he became so pained by the curse that he called all the Gurus and said, “Show me a way out. What shall I do?”

And the Gurus said, “There are five types of children. There is one begotten by the mother and father. There’s an adopted son. There’s one who is won as the spoils of war. There’s one who is attained through initiation, who becomes a child of the Guru, a member of the Guru’s family. And there is one who is bought and paid for, and sold by his parents. There are five kinds of children. So therefore king, you’ve got to sacrifice your son, go out in the kingdom and buy a son.”

The king said, “Excellent idea. Captain of the guard, go out in the kingdom and announce to anyone who is in dire straits if they want to sell their child, the king is purchasing. Name your price, I just can’t stand this pain any longer.” Now there was a poor brahmin named Ajigartha. And Ajigartha had three sons. And he said, “This poverty is so debilitating. I can’t feed my children. Better for me to sell one of the sons so that I can feed the other two. I take your offer.”

And then Ajigartha thought. He thought, “My oldest son is responsible to perform my funeral ceremony when I leave this earthly plane. So I can’t sell him. My youngest son is so innocent, I can’t sell him. So, I’m selling the middle son (whose name was Sunahshepa).”

Now the time for the sacrifice came. All the brahmins, all the Rishis, all the Gurus were sitting in the assembly and they bound Sunahshepa to the sacrificial pillar. And the executioner raised his sword above, and the child was calling so piteously. He said, “Please don’t slay me. I’m innocent, I didn’t do anything wrong. It’s the king’s duty to protect his citizens, I’m a citizen. Why would you slay an innocent citizen to protect your own self, for your own comfort? Is this the dharma of a king?”

The executioner said, “King, I’m putting down my sword, I can’t execute this child. It’s against my dharma as an executioner.” The brahmin father Ajigartha said, “King, double your payment and I’ll do it myself.” And all the Rishis, and all the brahmins, and all the Muni’s they said, “Booooooo!!!” And Ajigartha said, “It’s easy for you to condemn me, but nobody knows what the pains of poverty are really like.”

The father picked up the sword, the king agreed. The father raised the sword over the child and Vishwamitra stood up. Vishwamitra went over to Sunahshepa and he said, “I’m giving you initiation in the Bandhan Mukta Shukta, It’s in the first adhyaya of Rigveda. And this will free you from the bonds, it will liberate you from all bondage.”

Sunahshepa began to repeat after Vishwamitra, “Namo Mahabyo Namo Arbakebyyo . . .” I bow to the Seers of past, I bow to the Seers of the present, I bow to the Seers of the future, I bow to all the unknown Seers, I bow to all the Divine beings everywhere, release me from bondage. And with that Varuna appeared and said, “The debt is paid, release the child.”

And so Shunahshepa was freed. And Sunahshepa said to the assembly of Rishis, “Now that I am free, who is my father?” And some said, “Go home with Ajigartha, he bought you.” And some said, “No, the king paid for you, so go home with the king.” Then Vasishta stood up and said, “Go home with Vishwamitra, he is your true father, he gave you initiation in the mantra that freed you from all bondage.”

And that was the story of the Muktan Bandhan Shukta.