[11]
ShikhiDhvaja had at last found
a solution to all his problems!
He knew now, how he could
attain the state of Brahman in this life itself!
And it was through
‘SarvaTyaaga’ –‘Renunciation of all that he possessed’!
‘What did he possess?
Wealth…?
Yes! That he will renounce
and become a recluse!
Kingdom and the position of
emperorship…?
Yes! That he will renounce!
Some one else can take over his place of the ruler!
His people..? Ministers..?
Relatives…? Friends…?
Yes! All that he will
renounce and forget all of them!
Palace…?
Yes! That he will renounce
and go away!
Wife…? Chudaalaa…?
The king felt as if his heart
was getting squeezed!
Can he ever bear to live
without her?
Can she also even breathe a
second more, after he left?
But there was no other way!
If he desired liberation, he had to renounce her too! He cannot take her with
him to the forest! Poor thing! She can’t bear the hardships of a forest-life!
Let her stay in the palace and enjoy her youthful pleasures. The kingdom will
be taken care of by the ministers. She won’t be troubled in any way!
To separate from her was the
hardest thing! But he had to do it!
Anyhow, all the mortals get
separated from their kith and kin at the time of death. It is better that he
moves away from her when he is still alive and try to achieve the state of
immortality. Later, maybe, he can guide her also in the spiritual path!’
The king had made a firm
decision!
He will renounce everything!
He will do ‘SarvaTyaaga’, the surest way of attaining liberation! That is what
the Scriptures state and they could never be wrong!
He will renounce everything,
even his wife; and go away far from all!
[12]
ShikhiDhvaja
decided to take leave of his wife before leaving for the forest. He went to the
harem that night and confided in Chudaalaa, his great decision of wanting to
live in the forest till death and try for the state of liberation.
He
requested her not to prove an obstacle in his spiritual path.
Chudaalaa
tried her best to dissuade him from his decision. She argued that they both
were young and could wait till they both became old; then they both could leave
for the forest together, and live a life of renunciation!
The
king had no ears for her pleadings. He remained silent and did not say anything
back.
Morning
came. The king left for attending to his day duties.
He
attended to all the affairs of the kingdom, as usual.
At
the end of the day, he performed the evening worship of Sandhyaa.
He
went back to Chudaalaa’s private chambers and slept along with her.
At
night, when every one was fast asleep and silence reigned, he slowly removed
Chudaalaa’s arms entwined around his neck and stood up.
His
wife was fast asleep; or so he thought!
He
gently kissed her on the forehead; a tear drop fell from his eyes on her cheek.
Chudaalaa did not move.
The
king went away.
[13]
ShikhiDhvaja was now attired
in the simplest of clothes. He wore no ornaments. He told the guards at the
gates that he was going out for patrolling the city.
Appearing like an ordinary
poor man of the world, with just a sword in hand, he walked out of the gates of
his city. He turned back and saluted the Goddess of the kingdom and started
walking.
The king crossed many
countries, many hills, many rivers, and many oceans; and at last reached the Mandara Mountain
He searched for a good place
to perform penance and selected a grassy land next to a small stream. The bank
was filled with many fruit yielding trees.
He built a small hut there,
out of leaves and creepers to serve as his dwelling-place.
Within a few days he
collected many hardened gourds and converted them into bowls for eating fruits,
drinking water etc.
He found an old Kamandalu
fallen near the stream and took it with reverence. May be some other Sage had
lived here and had left his water-pot here!
Soon the king had a seat made
of Dharbaa-grass for meditation purposes, a grass-bed for sleeping, an umbrella
made of leaves to block the Sun and rain, a foot-wear made of leaves, a basket
made of bamboo to collect flowers, a basket to collect fruits and so on.
When everything was ready, he
began his forest life of penance for attaining ‘Moksha’!
He daily got up before
sun-rise; performed his recitation of Mantras; then collected flowers for
worship; took bath; worshipped the deities; collected some fruits and roots and
made a light meal out of them; recited ‘Mantras’ for some time; and finally
slept off at night on a bed made of leaves.
This was the routine he
followed regularly, day in and day out.
The forest was completely
deserted. There were no wild animals that could do any harm. Just some deer and
rabbits wandered in that grass-land.
The king was all alone;
completely alone!
In that huge forest, he
stayed all alone and performed his so-called penance, without a break in the
routine, for eighteen years and waited for liberation!
[14]
What happened on the day when
the king left for the forest?
Chudaalaa woke up from sleep
suddenly and saw that the bed next to her was empty. Anxious about his welfare,
she rose up in the sky with her subtle body and looked out for him.
She saw him in that dark
night walking alone, away from the city holding a sword in the hand. She
returned home and pondered for some time, as to what should be done by her. She
understood through her Yogic power that her husband was not ready for the path
of knowledge yet, and would not grasp whatever was told to him.
He had to purify his mind of
all Vaasanaas through the one single Vaasanaa of his- ‘to live in a forest as
an ascetic’.
She had to wait, till the
time was ripe for him to receive instructions about knowledge! Some day in the
future she will visit him; but not at present!
Next morning, she announced
in the court-room that the king had left on some urgent work and she would be
ruling the kingdom on his behalf.
Eighteen years passed for her
too, as she waited for the right time to visit her husband!
[15]
Chudaalaa rose in the sky and
floated along the clouds. She journeyed through the path of Siddhas; and within
minutes was above the forest where her husband was living as a recluse.
She made herself invisible
and like a wind she entered the hermitage area of her husband!
Her heart throbbing with the
thrill of seeing her handsome lover, she passed her eyes all over the place.
Where was her noble king who
ruled the earth like another Indra?
Slowly her eyes fell on a
skeleton-like structure, plucking flowers from the creepers.
She was shocked to see her
Lord in that horrible condition!
ShikhiDhvaja had completely
changed. He was very thin and emaciated.
His body had turned black in
color. His matted locks were brown and dusty.
Chudaalaa wanted to rush
towards him and embrace him with all the love she had kept suppressed for
eighteen long years.
But she stopped midway!
How would the king react to
meeting his wife after all these years? He may not welcome her with open arms!
May be he will get annoyed and try to go away from this forest too!
Chudaalaa pondered silently
for some time thinking how to deal with her ignorant husband. He will not ever
trust his wife’s words if she tried to correct his ways. He will need some
authoritative person, whom he would trust, for acting as his teacher!
She decided to take on the
form of some God and appear before him. But he may immediately offer salutations
at the feet; and that would be highly improper!
May be a Sage! No!
May be a Sage’s Son!
Which Sage? Better not meddle
with other great Sages and offend them!
Why not act as Naarada’s son?
Naarada had no son of course!
But she could take the form of
a young boy and pretend to be his son!
She will mentally take
permission from that great devotee of Naaraayana and appear as his son, in
front of the king!
But could she lie like this?
Won’t it be termed as deceit?
What else to do?
The king would never treat
her female-form with respect!
If she met him as his wife,
he will run away from her also and enter into more horrible ascetic practices
in some other terrifying jungle!
She will be using just a
harmless trick to bring him to his senses.
If he realizes the Self, he
will surely forgive her for this ‘act of deceit’ done by her, for the love of
her dear husband!
Chudaalaa immediately changed
her form to that of a young Brahmin boy; and shining with divine luster and
appeared suddenly in front of her husband!
[16]
ShikhiDhvaja could not
believe his eyes.
He saw a shining divine form
standing in front of him.
The divinity looked like a
young Brahmin Sage.
He wore a pair of soft white
clothes.
He held a Kamandalu in his
hand.
A Tilak adorned his forehead.
Two ear-ornaments hung from
his ears.
The hair was tied up above
his head. A Mandara garland adorned his head.
A beautiful garland woven
with white flowers hung from his neck.
His shining luster filled the
whole area; and his feet were not in contact with the ground at all.
ShikhiDhvaja poured the
flowers in his basket into his hands; not on the feet, for the boy was very
young.
After welcoming him with
Arghya and Paadya, the king questioned politely about, who that boy was and why
he was here.
Chudaalaa told him the story
of the Brahmin boy in detail.
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