Mahabharata 5:Small Seed, Big Fruit Poem by Aniruddha Pathak

O Brahmin sage,
An act of goodwill how so small
Fetches a fetching fruit to fall,
So is an evil act's hell-spell—
It blows up bitter fruit to fell.
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Here is the transliteration of the original verse:

svalpam eva yathā dattam dānam bahuguņam bhavet |
adharma evamvipra-ŗśhe bahu-duhkha fala-pradah || ādi.107.12 ||

A sage Brahmin called Mandavya was meditating in his ashram unaware of the goings on around him.And there came soldiers of a king looking for thieves. They searched the ashram and found the stolen goods; assuming that the Brahmin must have stolen them, they caught and took him to the king. The king also took him to be the thief and punished him summarily: hanging him on a sharp punishing device (shoola) . He survived the ordeal and latter set free, but had to live with the broken piece in his body. He lived long leading a pious life as before, but in great pain till he died.

In the court of Yama, the lord of Death and Justice (Dharma-raja) , the sage questioned the justice meted out to him. Yama quotes this law of Manu-smriti (this verse) . It so happened that as a small boy, Mandavya had pierced the wings of a butterfly as an innocent childhood prank. He had not mortally harmed the insect. To this the sage quotes another tenet saying that a sin unknowingly committed by an innocent small boy is not considered a wanton sin. And a great discussion follows, Yama admitting to his mistake, accepting due punishment: He has to take birth on Earth as an ordinary mortal. Mahabharata says that he was born as Vidur.

Well, gods of heaven are not infallible. In ancient times some Brahmins and sages had the stature to take even gods to task.