by Bibek Debroy
‘The brahmana had realized the brahman and was friendly towards all beings. Free of all pride, he smiled a little and spoke. The brahmana said, “What you have said is evident and is devoid of sarcasm. O brave one! Had I borne it, it would have been a burden. Had I moved towards the destination, I would have progressed along the path. Only the ignorant speak of this body as stout. 145 Stoutness, weakness, physical disease, mental pain, hunger, thirst, fear, dissension, desires, old age, sleep, gratification of the senses, anger, ego, intoxication and lamentation are meant for those born with bodies. But these do not exist in me. O king! The attribute of being dead while alive is a rule of nature. Every material object, subject to transformation, has a beginning and an end. O respected one! The relationship between you and me is not permanent. 146 These are temporary, created by destiny. We do not see the slightest bit of distinction between the two, except that created by convention. Who is the master and who is the one to be mastered? O king! However, if you still think that, tell us what we can do for you. O brave one! Despite being crazy, distracted and foolish, I have obtained and realized my real nature. That being the case, whom will you instruct? Punishing a crazy and distracted person is like grinding flour.” 147 Thus, the great sage replied to everything that had been said to him. He was tranquil in conduct and did not identify with anything that was not the atman. He accepted that everything that happened to him was because of the bondage of karma. He stopped and continued to bear the king’s burden. O Pandaveya! Because of his complete faith, the lord of Sindhu and Souvira had obtained the right to inquire about the truth. He listened to the words the brahmana had spoken, respected by many texts on yoga and meant to sever the bonds of the heart. He swiftly got down, prostrated himself and bowed his head down at his feet. Having sought his pardon, he abandoned all pride about being a lord of men and spoke.
‘“Who are you? You wear a sacred thread. Are you one of the brahmanas who wander around in disguise? Which avadhuta are you? Whom do you belong to? 148 Where have you come from? Why have you come here? Do you intend our benefit? Are you the pure one? 149 I am not scared of the vajra of the king of the gods, or the trident of the three-eyed one, or Yama’s staff, or the weapons of the fire god, the sun god, the moon god, the wind god or the lord of riches. But I am extremely scared of showing disrespect to the lineage of the brahmanas. Therefore, please tell me. You are detached and are disguised in the form of a foolish person. You possess the supreme valour of vijnana, but are roaming around in this way. O virtuous one! Your words have yoga woven into them and we are unable to understand them, even in our minds. I am going to the lord of yoga, who knows the truth about the atman and is the supreme preceptor of all learned sages. 150 I was going to ask the refuge who is Hari himself, descended from his portion as learning. Perhaps you are he. Perhaps you have hidden your signs and are wandering around with a view to scrutinizing people. A person who is bound to the householder stage is blind in his knowledge. How can he possibly know about the movements of lords of yoga? I have myself suffered exhaustion from action. That is the reason I thought you suffered from walking. You have said that the relationship between a master and a servant is unreal. But there must be a foundation to what is witnessed in usual conduct. Water may be unreal. However, when it is placed in a vessel, it is heated by the fire and so is the milk that is placed there. Because of the heat, the grains of rice are softened from the inside. Because the being is associated with the body and the senses, the experiencing of samsara must follow. The king is the chastiser and protector of the subjects. A servant does not grind flour that has already been ground. Following his own dharma and worshipping Achyuta, he can cleanse all his sins. 151 I am proud of being a lord of men. You are supreme among the virtuous and, thanks to my insolence, I have insulted you. O friend of those who are afflicted! Please show me that kind of friendship, so that I can overcome the sin of having slighted a virtuous person like you. You are a friend of the well-wisher of the universe, who does not undergo any transformations. Because of your tranquility, you have overcome all sense of the body. Through my own deeds, a person like me has certainly insulted a great person. Even if I am like the wielder of the trident, it is certain that I will soon be destroyed.”’
Chapter 5(11)
‘The brahmana said, “Though you are not wise, you are using the words of a wise person. Just because you have spoken in that way, you do not become the best among those who are extremely learned. O king! Sages who have examined the nature of the truth, do not discuss such relationships 152 or the attachment to the householder stage. They are interested in the knowledge that leads to an expansion. Those who speak about the Vedas have generally not purified themselves by speaking about the truth. They only appear to be virtuous. Even if those words 153 are excellent, they do not directly enable one to accept the truth. For example, a person who is in a householder stage behaves as if in a dream. However, a learned person considers these to be inferior. As long as a person is polluted by sattva, rajas and tamas, his senses of perception and action expand the ambit of superior and inferior deeds, because these are not controlled. The mind is attached to material objects and has many desires. The flow of gunas affects the chief among the sixteen. 154 It wanders around, accepting different names and different forms and superior and inferior physical bodies. 155 There is the severe illusion of happiness and unhappiness. At the appropriate time, the fruits of action manifest themselves. The mind embraces the maya that has been created and the living being is whirled around in the wheel of samsara. The kshetrajna 156 is always a witness. But as long as this goes on, there is the manifestation of stout and thin. Therefore, it is said that the mind is the cause of this, inferior gunas and the supreme, devoid of gunas. If the mind is attached to the gunas, the being suffers hardships. When it is no longer attached to the gunas, there is welfare. When the wick of a lamp is smeared with clarified butter, the flame is mixed with smoke. Otherwise, it regains its natural state. In a state where the mind is attached to gunas and karma, it resorts to different kinds of actitivies. Otherwise, it regains its natural state. There are eleven courses followed by the mind—five senses of action, five of perception and the ego. O brave one! It is said that the city 157 is the field for karma to have these eleven kinds of courses. Besides smell, form, touch, taste, sound, evacuation and sexual intercourse, there is another kind of perception that is accepted and this is the sense of ‘mine’. Some have said that this is the twelfth action in this field. 158 Material objects, nature, intention, karma and time cause transformations in those eleven courses of the mind and lead to crores and hundreds of crores of modifications. They are unreal and do not result from the kshetrajna, or from themselves. For a living creature, the powers of the kshetrajna always fashion maya. This manifests itself sometimes and sometimes vanishes. Though it is pure, it is sometimes perceived of as an impure doer. 159 The kshetrajna is the ancient Purusha, present in all atmans. It is the supreme and unborn lord and can be perceived because of its own self-luminosity. It is the illustrious Narayana Vasudeva. He controls all atmans through his own maya. It is his own atman that enters and controls all mobile and immobile objects in the form of the wind. He is thus the supremely illustrious Vasudeva. He is the kshetrajna who enters all atmans. O Indra among men! As long as you have a body, as long as your body has maya that has not been dispelled, as long as knowledge has not awakened in you and as long as you are attached, you will not be able to defeat the six enemies 160 and will not be able to know the truth about the atman. Till then, you will wander around. As long as the mind is taken to be an attribute of the atman, a person will be tormented in samsara, which is full of grief, confusion, disease, attachment, avarice, enmity and the sense of ‘mine’. It 161 is an adversary that is powerful in its valour. If one neglects it and is distracted, its power increases. Use the weapon of worshipping at the feet of Hari, the preceptor. Defeat what is false and find contentment in your own atman.”’
Chapter 5(12)
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��Rahugana said, “I bow down to you. You are the prime cause who has assumed this form. Through the assumption of this form, you have removed the contradictions of your own body. O avadhuta! I bow down before you, you who have assumed all the signs of a brahma-bandhu. I bow down before the one who has hidden his eternal self-realization. I am like a person afflicted by fever, cured by medicine. I am like a person scorched by the summer, revived by cool water. In this wicked body, I have been bitten by the snake that is ego and have lost my vision. O brahmana! Your words have been like the amrita of medication to me. I will submit my doubts to you later, so that my understanding can be excellent. What you have spoken is woven in the yoga of adhyatma. Right now, tell me about this. There is inquisitiveness in my mind. O lord of yoga! You have said that deeds and their consequences, though they are visible and seem to exist, only have a basis in custom. 162 If one examines the truth, they have no substance. My mind is in a whirl. Please explain this.”’
‘The brahmana replied, “The one known as ‘this person’ roams around the earth. O king! He is a modification of the earth. What is the cause behind this? Above the feet, he possesses ankles, calves, knees, thighs, a waist, a neck and two shoulders. He bears a palanquin made of wood on the shoulders. The person known as ‘the king of Souvira’ is seated on that. You are astride it, full of your own arrogance. Blind with evil insolence, you think that you are the king of Sindhu. You have no compassion. One should grieve over these people. 163 They were miserable. But you have seized them by force and made them suffer a greater misery. Their lot is lamentable. You praise yourself, ‘I am a protector of the people.’ This is rash and does not deserve to be stated in an assembly of the wise. We know that the appearance of anything on earth, mobile or immobile, is always subject to destruction. Therefore, inferred from the way everything functions, let it be determined if there is anything other than customary usage. The word ‘earth’ is wrongly used, since its existence is unreal. It will be disintegrated into paramanus. 164 It is through the ignorance of the mind that one has thought of something special that characterizes the aggregate entity. Similarly, skinny, fat, small, large, temporary, permanent, sentient, non-sentient and other things are brought about by material substances, inherent nature, inclination, time and karma. You should understand that such names result from material objects, past deeds and perceptions of duality. Unadulterated knowledge is alone the supreme objective. The brahman is the truth and has neither an interior nor an exterior. The tranquil one manifests himself and is known by the name of Bhagavat. Wise ones speak of him as Vasudeva. O Rahuguna! He cannot be reached through austerities, sacrifices, refraining from tasks, performing the tasks of a householder, hymns or water, fire and the sun. 165 The only way is to sprinkle oneself with the dust from the great one’s feet. When the qualities of Uttamashloka are spoken about, there is no scope of obstruction from vulgar conversation. Those who desire liberation attentively hear this, every day. Pure intelligence then proceeds to where Vasudeva is. Earlier, I was a king named Bharata. I detached myself from everything seen or heard. I freed myself from all association. I always worshipped the illustrious one. However, because of my attachment for a deer, I deviated from my objective and was born as a deer. O brave one! Because of the power of my having worshipped Krishna, even in that body of a deer, my memory did not desert me. Therefore, I detached myself from all association and fearlessly wandered around, undetected. A man must associate with excellent ones who have freed themselves from attachment. Delusion will then be severed with the sword of knowledge. One must hear and recite Hari’s account. Thereby one regains one’s memory and reaches the ultimate end of this long journey.”’
Chapter 5(13)
‘The brahmana said, “If a person is submerged in the divisions of rajas, tamas and sattva and the consequent activities, this long journey is extremely difficult to traverse. Such a person only seeks that as an objective and is whirled around in the pursuit of artha. 166 In this forest of birth and death, he does not find any happiness. O lord of men! There are six bandits, led by a wicked leader, who forcibly rob all the wealth. 167 They are like jackals and wolves who enter when one is distracted and carry away lambs. It 168 is dense with a copious mass of creepers, grass, clumps and hollows, where one is attacked with the stings of gnats and mosquitoes. Sometimes, a city of the gandharvas is seen. 169 Here and there, evil spirits fleetingly appear, like meteors. The intelligence strives to find a resting place, water and wealth. Here and there, they rush around in the forest. 170 Sometimes, smoke-coloured dust is raised by a whirlwind. Because of the dust, one is unable to discern the directions. 171 There is the sound of crickets that cannot be seen and this pains the ears. The mind is aggrieved by the hooting of owls. Suffering from hunger, one seeks refuge with unholy trees. Sometimes, he follows a mirage and runs around. Sometimes, he rushes towards a river that has no water. With no food left, they fall on each other. Sometimes, one approaches a conflagration and is scorched by the fire. Sometimes, while despondent, lives are plundered by yakshas. 172 For some, while the mind is despondent, one’s possessions are robbed by those who are braver. Grieving and confused, one loses one’s senses. Some enter a city of the gandharvas and are delighted for a while, like someone who has attained success. Sometimes, one has to walk when one’s feet are pierced by thorns and sharp stones. Distressed, one tries to climb a mountain. At every step, the person is afflicted from the inside and the outside. He becomes angry with the members of the family. Sometimes, a person is swallowed by a python. In that desolate spot, he is pierced and cannot understand anything. Sometimes, he lies down as one bitten by a poisonous snake. Blind, the person falls down into a dark pit. Sometimes, he searches for insignificant juices 173 and is dishonoured and aggrieved, set upon by bees. Even if he obtains something with a great deal of difficulty, it is forcibly robbed by someone else. Sometimes, he is unable to do anything against the cold, the heat, the wind and the rain. Sometimes, they sell whatever they possess. Because they act deceitfully for the sake of wealth, they cause enmity amongst each other. Sometimes, they are bereft of all riches and cannot find a place to lie down, sit or stay. They seek it from others and unable to find success, cast their eyes on the possessions of others, thereby earning dishonour. Monetary transactions with each other increase the ties of enmity with each other. Sometimes, they enter into matrimonial alliances with each other. They travel along that long road, suffering hardships because of lack of money. They wander around, suffering from many kinds of disease. Here and there, there are types of distress. He has to abandon a newborn and take with him the ones who are alive. O brave one! Everyone is wandering around on this long road, because no one resorts to the yoga that enables one to cross over. The spirited ones vanquish the Indras among diggajas. 174 All of them think that the earth is theirs and are tied to enmity. They lie down, dead in the battle. But they do not reach the spot reached by the person who has cast aside his staff and is bereft of enmity. Some resort to the arms of creepers. 175 Resorting to these, one desires to hear the indistinct calling of birds. Here and there, one is terrified by the roars of lions. A person contracts friendship with cranes, herons and vultures. Deceived by them, he enters a flock of swans. But since their conduct doesn’t appeal to him, he approaches monkeys. These species are attached to gratification of the senses and satisfy their senses exceedingly well. They look at each others’ faces and forget that life has a limited span. He finds pleasure in the trees and is attached to a wife and sons. Distressed in heart, he is disabled by a bond he himself creates. Sometimes, because he is distracted, he falls into a cave in the mountain. Scared of the elephant, 176 he hangs on, clinging to a creeper. O destroyer of enemies! Even if he somehow manages to free himself from this hardship, he again pursues artha. Submerged in illusion, he travels along that path of material pursuits. Such a wandering person never knows. O Rahugana! You are also proceeding along that path. Cast aside your rod and have friendship with all creatures. Conquer the false in your own sel
f and heighten service towards Hari. Seizing the sword of knowledge, cross over to the other side.”’
‘The king replied, “Wonderful! Birth as a human is better than all other kinds of births. In the next life, other kinds of birth are inferior, unless there is abundant association with great-souled ones who have realized their atmans in the glory of Hrishikesha. It is not extraordinary that the dust of your lotus feet should generate unadulterated devotion towards Adhokshaja and destroy impurities. I suffered from vain arguments and lack of discrimination and even a momentary association with you now has severed their foundation. I bow down to the great ones. I bow down to infants, the young and the aged, to those brahmanas who bear the marks of avadhutas and roam around the earth. May all the kings be fortunate.”’
Shri-Shuka continued, ‘O Uttara’s son! The son of the brahmana rishi 177 was supreme in his comprehension. Although Rahuguna had shown him disrespect, out of his great compassion, he instructed the lord of Sindhu the truth about the atman. He was like a full ocean where the waves of the senses had been quietened. After his feet had been worshipped by the pitiable one, 178 he continued to wander around the earth. The lord of Souvira understood the truth about the paramatman from an excellent person and abandoned the ignorance in his intelligence of identifying his atman with his body. O king! This is the great realization of someone who seeks refuge with the illustrious one.’