One late afternoon, Mara came out of his hut looking for his son. As he did not see Ganga anywhere nearby, he called out to him. When Ganga came back running, Mara asked him where he had gone. Ganga told him that he was watching a man fishing in the lake. Mara immediately ran to the spot where the man was fishing and asked him what he was doing there. The man told him that he was doing nothing. Mara then asked him why he was carrying a fishing rod in his hand and how did all the fish in his basket come to him. Mara then ordered him to put all the fish back into the lake and threatened to push him into the lake if ever he saw him there again with the hook and the rod.
It was at this moment that Mara told his son that, after his death, he would be the watchman of the lake. Mara informed his son about the sanctity of the lake. He told his son Ganga that the lake
was sacred and it belonged to the Goddess. She had commanded him that nothing that flew or swam or walked in those parts should ever be killed. Even if it was a tiger that came at the dead of night to slake its thirst at a distant corner of the lake, it should go untouched. The king had also given similar instructions to Mara.
Later, when the man who was fishing at the lake tried to treat Mara’s words as trivial and insignificant, Mara told him how the king had got the tank built for the river Veda and had given him the responsibility of taking care of the lake. Then he told him and his son how the river water nourished the cornfields of thousands of the king’s subjects. He also told him how he controlled the flow of water from the lake wisely and watched over the lake day and night vigilantly so that the water remained pure and unpolluted by man or beast. Then he told him that he had complete authority over the lake and no one could touch the water without his permission.
Mara next taught his son how to treat villagers who came to the lake for using the water for their needs. When Mara saw a man taking his cow to the water’s edge, Mara asked his son to warn that man that it was very deep at that spot and hence to move a little further off to a safer spot.
Later, when a villager came to see Mara asking for water for his fields at the farthest part of the king’s domain, Mara treated him hospitably and assured to guide him where to lay the channels. He also promised to let water into the channels as per the laws laid down by the king. Thus, Mara taught his son how he should take care of the lake after his death.
