[7]
Chudaalaa
at last gave up the hope of convincing her husband about the knowledge level
she was in!
It
has been weeks since she had seen him last!
He
avoided her, as if her very sight may lead him astray.
Not
that he lost his love for her; but her being a female was her fault.
Women
lead towards sins! They have to be avoided by a man who desires the Supreme
state!
May
be some idiot scholar would have brainwashed the king about the harmful effects
of female company!
Even
the ministers could not meet him. He was busy always with some rites or other;
doing charities; visiting temples; and so on!
They
all now came to the queen to get guidance from her about the matters of the
kingdom.
Chudaalaa
tried to visit the king herself and talk things out. But when he had taken the
vow of not seeing any female, thinking that they blocked the path of
liberation, how could she even communicate with him?
She
took care of the duties of the kingdom and left the king to his own methods of
liberation.
With
lot of time at hand, she decided to achieve some Siddhis for a change. Somehow
she felt that those Siddhis may help her in the future for some good purpose.
She
mastered the art of Praanaayaama and through following strictly the required
practices, under proper ‘Gurus’, she attained all the eight Siddhis.
The
king was unaware of all this.
As
he kept scraping at the lowest ladder of spirituality, Chudaalaa had flown high
in the Siddha-path and had become a great Yoginee with all powers and
knowledge. Even Indra’s heaven was just a play-ground for her!
But
all these achievements did not erase her love and devotion for her husband. She
loved him dearly and missed no opportunity to serve him in some manner or
other. She never felt proud of her achievements, for she had the equal vision
of the Self and never was bound by the limited identity of her form.
When
there was only the single Self appearing as all, what is there to be proud of?
Where was a second person to look down upon?
Her
husband was also another projection of Chit, like her own form labeled
Chudaalaa, was a projection of Chit.
Both
were illusory shapes!
The
differences were created by the minds.
Even
these differences had their own charm!
Chit
as the husband! Chit as the wife!
Chit
as the love between them both!
Chudaalaa
enjoyed both her formless state of Chit and her limited form of a wife. And she
loved loving her husband, like her very life.
She
had the best of both worlds.
She
as Chudaalaa was drowned in the nectar of love for her husband and yet was
always in the knowledge of her true nature of Self!
But
her husband?
He
never even understood the meaning of the word ‘Self’!
He
searched for the ‘Self ‘outside himself, through actions and accessories, not
understanding that he himself was the Self peeled of all limitations which were
conceived by the mind. He had to just ‘un-conceive’ them; that is all!
But
instead he conceived more actions, more complications, and more hardships; and
looked away from the Self!
With
a great Yoginee waiting in the harem at his service, ready to offer all her
knowledge at his feet with devotion, he decided to search for the Self in a
forest!
[8]
Sage Vasishta stopped his
story-telling and looked at Rama. He knew there were so many questions
disturbing his dear student and nodded his head slightly, allowing Rama to word
out his doubts.
Rama
asked-
“Master!
How is it that ShikhiDhvaja failed to grasp the instructions about
Self-knowledge, though it was taught by a great Yoginee like Chudaalaa?
If
one cannot attain knowledge even from such a great Guru, then what about people
who seek ordinary Gurus?”
Sage
Vasishta smiled and said-
“Rama!
Be it the study of the Scriptures or the instruction of a Guru, they are just
the methods to be followed as a rule; that is all.
Actual
success depends on the effort of the disciple himself.
Just
by studying scriptures or attending to discourses, one cannot attain
Self-knowledge. Even meritorious acts and the practice of penance do not lead
to that highest state.
Only
the sincere effort of the student will lead him to his goal.
Guru
is just a guiding light in the path of realization. He cannot magically bestow
realization on anyone.
Listen
to this story of a merchant.”
[9]
THE MISERLY MERCHANT
Once there lived a merchant.
Though he was very rich and prosperous, he was very miserly and stingy. He always worried about his money, day and
night.
One day, he had to go to
another city for some work and had to journey through a forest-path. He carried
his money-bag with him, well-hidden inside his garment.
After walking every few
steps, he would feel anxious about his money and count the coins again and
again.
In one of his counting sessions
on the road, one little cowrie (a shell used as money) fell out of his hand and
disappeared inside the grassy bushes.
One cowrie! If he had, had it
with him and invested it in his business, it would have become two in no time,
then four, then eight, then hundred, then even thousand!
One cowrie for him was equal
to thousand cowries.
Anxious and worried, he
searched inside the bushes for his precious cowrie. It was nowhere to be seen.
The merchant did not give up.
He searched madly all over
that area again and again.
Three days passed in his
futile search.
Still the merchant would not
give up. He did not bother about the ridicules and comments of the passersby.
As he probed here and there
with a stick unrelentingly, he found something shining inside a grassy weed. He
took it out and examined.
It was a gem; not an ordinary
gem, but a wish-fulfilling magical gem!
The most wonderful
ChintaaMani gem!
The merchant was overjoyed.
He returned home happily.
He could instantly get any
object he wished for, by the power of the gem.
From then onwards, he had no
need to worry about each and every single cowrie. His wealth had no limits.
Slowly he lost his
miserliness.
He shared his wealth with
all.
There was so much wealth that
he soon lost interest in it.
He developed dispassion.
He reached higher states by
serving the noble and pious.
[10]
Sage Vasishta continued his
speech-
“Rama!
The merchant got the magical
gem by searching for a worthless cowrie.
Suppose he had not searched
for that cowrie and gone off home, he would have never found that gem.
He searched for something
with utmost effort and got something else.
So also, a person who listens
to the instruction from the Guru attains
Self-knowledge, when he tries
hard to think it out himself.
If the student does not
analyze in his mind what his Guru had said, then he can never attain
Self-knowledge.
Just by listening to
discourses and studying spiritual books, one cannot attain the knowledge of the
Self.
A student has to rigorously
search for the Self, like the merchant searching for his cowrie, without giving
up the effort for fear of failure.
Chudaalaa attained
Self-knowledge by such analytical reasoning alone.
Whereas, her husband
ShikhiDhvaja was of the opinion that Self-knowledge was not an easily attainable
state. He never bothered to analyze in his mind what the scriptures stated as
truths. He never bothered to search for the cowrie and never got the gem also.
What can a Guru do, if the
student has no inclination to think!
Moreover, a sincere seeker of
the Self does not even need a Guru.
He can attain Self-knowledge
by the Vichaara-method like Shuka, or Janaka or Chudaalaa!”
Sage Vasishta again continued the story of the
realized Chudaalaa and ignorant ShikhiDhvaja.
No comments:
Post a Comment