Knowledge of Atma
Once upon a time, king Janaka sent a message to the people in his
kingdom: "If there be amongst you a great scholar, a Pundit, a
Mahatma, a Yogi, a Maharishi, a Sage, whoever he may be, let him come
and teach me the knowledge of Atma." In his message he said that he
expected to attain Atma Jnana, Self-knowledge, within a matter of a
few moments of being properly instructed. Even while climbing onto his
horse, before he was completely settled on to it, he should have
attained Atma Jnana. He said: "If the person offering to teach me Atma
Jnana is not able to accomplish this task of providing me an
experience of instant illumination, then I don't want to see him, even
if he is the greatest scholar, or the most learned person, or the
highly educated person in the land." Well, all the Pundits and Rishis
were a little frightened by this requirement. They saw that this would
be a severe test on their scholarship and learning, and so none dared
to come forth and offer himself to instruct the king and meet the
conditions that had been posed.
It was at this point that the boy Astavakra entered the kingdom. While
he was going on the road towards the capital city of Mithilapuram, he
met a number of people coming from there, including scholars and
Pundits; all of them had long faces, looking worried and grief-ridden.
Astavakra asked them what was the cause for their worry and grief.
They explained to him all the things that had happened. But Astavakra
couldn't understand why they should get frightened over such a small
thing. He added: "I will gladly solve this problem for the king." So
saying he directly entered the court of Janaka. He addressed the king:
"My dear King, I am ready to enable you to experience the knowledge of
Atma as you desire. But this sacred knowledge cannot be taught so
easily. This palace is full of Rajo Guna and Tamo Guna. We must leave
this place and enter an area of pure Satva." So, they left the palace
and went along the road leading out of the city towards the forest. As
was the custom whenever the emperor went outside his palace walls, the
army followed behind; but Janaka had them remain outside the forest.
Astavakra and Janaka entered the forest. Astavakra told King Janaka:
"I am not going to fulfil your wish unless you accept my conditions. I
may be only a boy, but I am in the position of a preceptor; and you
may be an all-powerful emperor, you are in the position of a disciple.
Are you prepared to accept this relationship? If you agree then you
will have to offer the traditional gift to the Guru, the Gurudakshina
that is given by the Sishya to the Guru. Only after you give your
offering to me will I start my instruction to you." King Janaka told
Astavakra: "The attainment of God is the most important thing to me,
so I am prepared to give you absolutely anything you want." But
Astavakra replied: "I don't want any material things from you, all I
want is your mind. You must give me your mind." The king answered: "Alright,
I offer my mind to you. Up to now I thought that this was my mind, but
from now onwards it will be yours."
Astavakra told Janaka to dismount from his horse and made the horse
stand in front of the king and then he told the king to sit down in
the middle of the road. Astavakra walked into the forest and sat
quietly under a tree. The soldiers waited for a long time. Neither the
king nor Astavakra returned from the forest. The soldiers wanted to
find out what had happened to them, so one by one, they proceeded to
look for them. When they went along the road leading into the forest,
they found the king seated there, in the middle of the road. The horse
was standing in front of the king. The king had his eyes closed and
sat still almost immobile. Astavakra was not to be seen. The officers
were afraid that Astavakra might have exercised some magic spell over
the king and had made him lose consciousness. The went to look for the
Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister came and addressed Janaka: "O King! O King! O King!"
But King Janaka did not open his eyes; he did not move at all. The
Prime Minister became frightened. Not only the Prime Minister but all
the officials were now getting frightened, because the time when the
King usually took his food and drink had passed and the king still had
not stirred. In this way the day went on and evening came, but the
king did not move from his position, sitting there immobile on the
road. Left with no alternative, the Prime Minister sent the chariot
back to the city to bring the queen thinking that if the queen spoke
to the king, he would surely respond. The queen came and addressed the
king: "Rajah, Rajah, Rajah!" The king did not stir; there was
absolutely no response from the king. Meanwhile the soldiers searched
throughout the whole forest for Astavakra. There, under a tree,
Astavakra was seated peacefully, in absolute calm and serenity.
The soldiers caught hold of him and brought him towards the place
where the king was. Astavakra told them: "Why are you all so worried?
The king is safe and everything is alright." But still they insisted
and brought him before the King seated on the road with his eyes
closed, his body completely still. The soldier said: "Here, look for
yourself! See what has happened to the king!". Until that time,
whether the Prime Minister, or the ministers, or the queen or any of
the other court officials or common people, had called out and
addressed the king, he neither opened his mouth in answer nor opened
his eyes in acknowledgment. But now Astavakra came and spoke to the
king. King Janaka immediately opened his eyes and replied, "Swami!"
Astavakra questioned the king: "Well, the ministers have come, and the
soldiers have come, and also many others have come, why did you not
reply to their entreaties?" Janaka answered: "Thoughts, words and
deeds are associated with the mind, and I offered my mind entirely to
you. Therefore before I can use the mind for anything, I need your
permission. What authority do I have to speak to anyone or use this
mind in any way without your permission and command." Then Astavakra
said: "You have attained the state of God-realization."
Astavakra told Janaka to put one foot in the stirrup and get up on the
horse. By the time he had climbed up and seated himself on the horse
and put his other foot in the stirrup, he had attained the experience
of Atma. Once a person has offered his mind, and with it all his words,
deeds and thoughts, then he will not have the authority or the power
to perform any actions without the permission of the one to whom he
has surrendered his mind.
Category: Chinna Katha
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