ಓಶೋ ಹೇಳಿದ ಒಂದು ಕಥೆ - ಕತ್ತೆಯನ್ನು ನೇತಾರನೆಂದು ಕರೆಯಬಹುದೇ?

[ಕೃಪೆ: ಓಶೋರವರ ’Vedanta: The Ultimate Truth’ ಸದ್ಗ್ರಂಥ]

ಒಮ್ಮೆ ಹೀಗಾಯಿತು ಅಂತ ನಾನು ಕೇಳಿದ್ದೆ. ದೆಹಲಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಒಬ್ಬರು ಮಹಾನ್ (!) ನೇತಾರರಿದ್ದರು. ಅವರು ಮುಲ್ಲಾ ನಸರುದ್ದೀನ್ ಮೇಲೆ ಒಂದು ದಾವೆ ಹೂಡಿದ್ದರು. ಅವರು ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಹೀಗೆ ಹೇಳಿದರು: “ಈ ಮುಲ್ಲಾ ನಸರುದ್ದೀನ್‌ನು ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕವಾಗಿ ಅಪಮಾನಿಸಿದ್ದಾನೆ. ಇವನು ಎಲ್ಲರೆದುರಿಗೆ ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಕತ್ತೆಯೆಂದು ಕರೆದಿದ್ದಾನೆ.” ಆ ನೇತಾರನು ಪ್ರಬಲನಾಗಿದ್ದವನು. ಹಾಗಾಗಿ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಧೀಶರು ಮುಲ್ಲಾ ನಸರುದ್ದೀನ್‌ನನ್ನು ಕೂಡಲೇ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯಕ್ಕೆ ಕರೆಸಿ ಹೀಗೆ ಹೇಳಿದರು: “ಇದು ಒಳ್ಳೆಯ ಲಕ್ಷಣವಲ್ಲ. ನೀನು ಇದಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಶಿಕ್ಷೆಯನ್ನನುಭವಿಸಬೇಕಾಗುತ್ತದೆ.”

ಆಗ ನಸರುದ್ದೀನ್ ಹೀಗೆ ಉತ್ತರಿಸಿದನು: “ನನಗೆ ನೇತಾರರನ್ನು ಕತ್ತೆಯೆಂದು ಕರೆಯುವುದು ಅಪರಾಧವೆಂದು ತಿಳಿದಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಹಾಗಾಗಿ ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಈ ಬಾರಿ ಕ್ಷಮಿಸಿಬಿಡಿ. ಈ ತಪ್ಪನ್ನು ನಾನು ಇನ್ನೆಂದೂ ಮಾಡುವುದಿಲ್ಲ.” ಅವನನ್ನು ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯವು ಕ್ಷಮಿಸಿತು. ಹಾಗೂ ಅವನ ತಪ್ಪೊಪ್ಪುಗೆಯಿಂದ ನೇತಾರರೂ ಸಮಾಧಾನ ಹೊಂದಿದರು.

ನಂತರ ನಸ್ರುದ್ದೀನ್‍ನು ನ್ಯಾಯಾಧೀಶರನ್ನು ಹೀಗೆ ಕೇಳಿದನು: “ಆದರೆ ಮಹಾಸ್ವಾಮಿ! ನಾನೊಂದು ಕತ್ತೆಯನ್ನು ನೇತಾರರೆಂದು ಕರೆದರೆ ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಆಕ್ಷೇಪಣೆಯೇನಾದರೂ ಇದೆಯೇ?”

ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ನಕ್ಕು ನ್ಯಾಯಾಧೀಶರು ಹೀಗೆ ಉತ್ತರಿಸಿದರು: “ಇಲ್ಲಾ. ತೊಂದರೆಯೇನೂ ಇಲ್ಲ. ಆದರೆ ಆ ಕತ್ತೆ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯಕ್ಕೆ ಬಂದು ಫಿರ್ಯಾದು ಸಲ್ಲಿಸಬಾರದು ಅಷ್ಟೇ! ಯಾವ ಕತ್ತೆಯೂ ಇದಕ್ಕೆ ಆಕ್ಷೇಪಣೆ ಸಲ್ಲಿಸಲಾರದು. ಹಾಗಾಗಿ ನಿನಗೆ ಇಷ್ಟವಾಗುವಂತಿದ್ದರೆ ಯಾವ ಕತ್ತೆಗೆ ಬೇಕಾದರೂ ನೇತಾರನೆಂದು ಕರೆ. ಅದರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ನಮದೇನೂ ತಕರಾರಿಲ್ಲ.”

ಇದನ್ನು ಕೇಳಿದ ತಕ್ಷಣ ಮುಲ್ಲಾ ನಸ್ರುದ್ದೀನ್, ಆ ನೇತಾರರ ಕಡೆ ತಿರುಗಿ, ಅಲ್ಲಿ ನೆರೆದವರಿಗೆಲ್ಲಾ ಕೇಳಿಸುವಂತೆ “ನೇತಾರರೇ, ನೀವು ಹೇಗಿದ್ದೀರಿ” ಎಂದು ಕೇಳಿದನು.

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Contemplation on Death in the Light of Geeta

Death is an unavoidable event for all who has born in this earth. We feel like our entire struggle for life, ego, strive for material wealth would be ended by this phenomenon. In the spiritual context, we all are from the Paramatma and the soul inside us never born or it never dies. It only continues its journey towards perfection through various bodies in various space and time. The same is described in Srimad Bhagavadgeeta as:

वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय नवानि ग्रुह्णाति नरॊपराणि ।

तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णान्यन्यानि संयाति नवानि दॆही ॥
                                                           [2-22]

Means, as the person abandons an old faded cloth and wears a new cloth, the soul within the body leaves rotten body and enters a new one. This metaphor clearly describes about the death phenomenon. When the Atman inside us thinks like he has no other useful accomplishments can be achieved through the current physical body or the goal of learning is achieved and it is unable to sustain in the same body, he will leave this and enters a new one in different or same space and time. Many times I had a question: though some people are healthy enough and have the energy to continue in the same body, how they will depart from their dearer ones with a nimitta [cause] like an accident or a disease or even a massive heart attack? One of my elder gentlemen answered me this question: whatever we see or feel is only like an iceberg which appears to be float above the ocean. But the real iceberg is much more in size than we could visualize and is submerged in the water. Likewise, whatever we see a life of a person is a small portion in the entire journey of that soul. We don’t know the past and future of that journey. If the current situation of the soul is not hygienic to accomplish a noble task, it will leave the body and take a rebirth in a more convenient environment to achieve its goal. Or due its sanchita karma [which is caused by our actions in the past incarnation], it will be released from the body. By this explanation, I found a convincing answer for my long awaiting quest on death. Also it is said that for all those who born, death is awaiting and for the dead ones, a rebirth is awaiting. So we should not regret for this inevitable fact [Please refer Geeta – 2-27].

Also, in spiritual terms, death is not the final destiny. All our good and bad deeds will be recorded and they will serve as a baseline for our future lives. So we need not worry if we failed to achieve a goal in a single birth. We have infinite time ahead of us to get the ultimate truth, which is the motive behind this leela of Janma-Mrutyu chakra. We should devote ourselves to come out of this cycle. That particular state is referred to as Brahmi stiti or Moksha. Let the words of the God 'न हि कल्याणकृत् कश्चित् दुर्गतिं तात गच्छति'  [O Dear! those who performs good deeds will never fail.] be affixed in our mind while we are developing in the path of spirituality. We all are human beings prone to create mistakes. That is OK, but we have to keep on correcting ourselves and should proceed in the path of light. Also, it is stated that we will attain our rebirth based on the thought while we are leaving our body. Definitely good thought would enter into our mind if we would have leaded a truthful, prompt life which is in accordance with our Atman [Anthahsakshi]. This is clearly indicated in Geeta as:

यं यं वापि स्मरन् भावं त्यजत्यन्ते कलॆवरम् । 

 तं तमॆवैति कौन्तॆय सदा तद्भावभावितः ॥ 

                   [6-11]
 

Means, O son of Kunti! Person will definitely attain the status in his next incarnation based on the thoughts in which he leaves the body. We heard the story of a great saadhaka, Bharath maharaja. Though he has achieved a good spiritual state of mind through his Tapas in that lifetime, he took birth as deer in the next incarnation, because he was thinking of his lovely deer in his Ashrama, while he was about to take his last breaths.

These are the few insights about death from the holy Geeta. I know that this is not a full picture on death because of my limited knowledge on the Geeta, life and death as well! However, if it arises a little thought on our mind about sarthaka jeevana [contented life] and the nature of death, then I feel the motive behind this write-up is achieved. Let us all pray the Paramatma to  ‘अनायासॆन मरणं विना दैन्यॆन जीवनम्’  [Dying without difficulties and living without begging for others mercy!]

“What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.” -> Albert Pike

Author would like to thank Sri K.T. Nagendra Rao, Golgar who has provoked a thought on this subject and was inspiration for writing this article.

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Published in Sadguru's Blessings....

Satyakama – The Honest Quester

From the time immemorial our India is known for its Rishis, Gurus and scholars. Here values were more respected than the material wealth. People were ready to sacrifice anything for the sake of truth. There is one famous story in the ‘Chandogya Upanishath’ about a young seeker of Brahman named ‘Satyakama’. His story was inspirational to many people in various state and time including noble laureate Rabindranath Tagore.

            Satyakama was the only son of a widow Jabala. They were leading a very poor life. At that time poverty was not a hindrance to seek the Vidya [Knowledge]. There were Gurukulas where students were serving in the Ashramas [hermitages] of Guru and learning in parallel. He wanted to seek the absolute truth, the Brahman. So he asked the permission from his mother and asked her which Gotra [lineage] he belongs, as that was a question which would be asked in the Gurukulas for the new joiners. She thought for a while and decided to reveal him the truth, irrespective of its consequences. She told “In my young age I was serving several guests in various places. I don’t know about your father. If Guru asks about it, tell him that I am the son of Jabala and called by the name Satyakama Jabala.”

Then he left the home entered sage Gautama’s [he was the son of Rishi Haridrumata] Tapovana and asked him to provide guidance to attain Brahmajnana. Pleased by his behavior and appearance, Gautama asked him about his whereabouts and Gotra. Satyakama repeated the words of his mother without any manipulation. The sage was stunned by this answer! He told “None other than a true Brahmin [this term should not be confused with the cast] speak out such a truth. I shall initiate to the path of Brahman. You need not be deprived from truth.”

After sometime being in Ashram, Gautama chosen four hundred weak and lean cows and told him to graze them in the forest and return only after they become thousand in number. He was living happily performing his daily duties in the forest with herd of cows and was in bliss being with the nature. After some years, one bull from that herd came to him and told him that they are thousand in numbers and he could take them back to the ashram. Also, it told him that Brahman shines [Prakashavan] from the east and the west, and from the north and south. This happens because Brahman is omnipresent. This is one quarter [or foot] of Brahman. And it continued saying him that next Agni would teach more about Brahman. After that he headed towards hermitage along with the cows. On the way, when he was performing his daily duties, Agni explained the next quarter of Brahman. He told that the earth, sky, heaven and ocean are each quarter and they form one foot of the Brahman called as Anantavan [endless]. Also Agni told that next he would get the teachings from a hamsa [Swan].

He continued his journey and when he was in Dhyana on the bank of a river a swan flew to him and it explained the next quarter of the Brahman. It told that each in quarter proportion, the fire, the sun, the moon and the lightning is one more foot of Brahman and this is called as Jyotishman [luminous]. Also it told that he would know more about this by a madgu [water fowl]. After this water fowl explained him the other and the last part of the Brahman. It said that the Prana is one quarter, the eye is one quarter, the ear is another quarter and the mind is one more quarter whose combination makes the other foot of Brhman called as Ayatanavan [support]. Also it told that Satyakama had knew all about of Brahman with its final teaching.

He thanked this bird and next day he reached sage Gautama’s ashram. Gautama recognized that he already attained the knowledge of Brahman and appreciated him. Also he told to Satyakama that he has learned about all and nothing left to learn. But Satyakama humbly replied him that he has gained this knowledge by nature. And only the knowledge gained from one’s Guru is considered to be true knowledge and requested him to teach him about Brahman. Then Gautama taught him the same knowledge.

This story teaches us about the importance of Satya [truth] in our lives, how gurubhakti is important to succeed in life and sincere performance of our duties lead to the ultimate, the Brahaman.

[Sources]

[Published in Sadguru's Blessings]

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Compassion

[Published in Sadguru's Blessings - March 2012 Issue]

       Compassion is the basic quality of the mankind. It is appreciated and adopted by many great souls from the early days of the cognizance evolution. When we meditate on the fact that we are the inseparable part of the universe and each of us are connected, the feeling of compassion will sprouts within us naturally. When we find somebody in a need, our heart will tend to help them; but, our past bitter experiences may inhibit us from helping them. If few people are corrupted, that doesn't mean that the entire mankind is morally deviated from the good. So we need not lose our hope on compassion and other basic human qualities just on the basis that we got betrayed a couple of times.

            Nobody can live without the help, support and cooperation from their fellow beings or what we call it as the society. So we are owed to our society for many things like the education, security, love, religion and many more. But there are lots of human beings who are not fortunate enough to get the basic things to lead at least a normal life. If all of us could put our very minimum efforts promptly to leverage their living standards, then probably the whole earth will be prosperous and joyful. Compassion is a universal feeling; one should not be biased towards their kith and kin to show compassion. Here is subhaashita, which describes how the person with great compassion treats all the creatures in the world:

                               अयं निजः परोवेति गणना लघुचेतसाम |
                               उदारचरितानान्तु वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम || 

[Panchatantra, 5-38]

Means mean minded people will always count if that person is my men or not. However, generous people treat the entire earth as their family.

Here is a well known story from Mahabharatha about a great personality Shibi. Shibi chakravarthy was the King of Ushinara kingdom. He was famous for his compassionate nature. His glory spread even to the heavens. The Gods wanted to test the compassionate nature of him. So, Yama took the form of a hawk and Indra, a pigeon. Then, that pigeon was chased by the hawk and they both entered his court. Pigeon begged his protection and he granted. Hawk asked the king to give the pigeon to it, arguing that it was the food for the hawk. However, King didn’t handover the Pigeon to it as it was in his protection. Instead he told he will give his own flesh. He arranged a balance, in which one side he kept the pigeon and in the other side he cut his flesh and weighed. It was still imbalanced though he was adding more and more flesh of his. Finally he sat on the other end and it was balanced. And he told the hawk to eat his whole body. By seeing his compassionate nature, even the Gods were stunned, revealed their original form and blessed him. Even today Shibi has a reverent place in the heart of Hidus.

            All the great souls like Krishna, Buddha, Mahavira, Jagdguru Adi Shankara, Madhvaacharya, Ramanuja Achaarya, Guru Nanak, Narayana Guru, Swamy Vivekananda and so many others were selflessly strove for the upliftment of the downtrodden and deprived people in different timeframes. It is very hard to imagine the situation of the world without their compassion and contributions. If they were indulged in their own personal things, then we would have missed such divine messages from them, which are helpful to lead a blissful life. They were passionate about God or the ultimate truth, and the well-being of each and every soul. So the great tasks were accomplished by them.

            If we help somebody in need, we will be in ecstasy. There is no joy more than what we get after we show compassion towards a needy. So in one way, we are helping ourselves to become much purer and divine by serving others. We heard the famous proverb “As you sow, so shall you reap". That means, if we give the world our best, then the best things will come back to us. This is a cosmic law. So whatever the little good deeds performed by us will never be in vain. Instead they will return to us in thousand fold.

            To be compassionate, we need not be rich in wealth. Only the richness in heart is sufficient. If we can provide a ray of hope to a person who is despaired, that is really great! If we can able to share a part our meal with a hungry man, that is good. If we can spend a little part of earning for the one who are really in need, then something is achieved. The compassionate mind can help in achieving the brotherhood globally. If we observe, the more we give, the more we get. Happiness is not in gathering but in sharing.

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Article By:

Prabhuprasad Naduthota, Sringeri

Education in Ancient India – An overview

[Published in Sadguru's Blessings - Jan2012 Issue. Available online@ http://66.147.244.106/~harihara/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/January-2012.pdf]

Knowledge is the stimuli to the soul as the food to the body. It is said that man is born as a potential whereas all the other animals born in their original form; means, a dog will be dog and it has no improvements. But the man can challenge his limits of consciousness and can expand it to the infinite heights. He should be equipped with the right knowledge and come out of his mediocre mind to traverse in the path of light. Hence a divine status is give to knowledge in our culture. Education is the right key to attain the knowledge.

            From the time unknown, India was famous for its scholars, philosophers and saints. Maharshi Valmiki, Veda Vyasa, Upanishad time scholars like Ashtaavakra, Maitreyee, Gaargi, and in the later period like  Paanini, Ubhaya Bharathi, Govinda Bhagavatpada, Adi Guru Shankara are just a few to mention. It is said that Jadadguru Adi Shankara was mastered in all the four vedas at his eighth age.  A shloka describes his scholarship in hindu scriptures:

Meaning, Adi shankara was was mastered in four vedas at the age of eight and at his twelfth age he was well versed in all Shastras. He wrote Bhaashyas to Vedas at his sixteenth age and he left his body at the age of thirty two.

In ancient India, we had several educational hubs like Vaarnaasi, Kashmira, Nalanda, Takshashila and so on. It is said that, at Nalanda University’s peak time, it attracted scholars and students from as far away as Persia, Greece and China, as well. Nalanda was one of the world's first residential universities, i.e., it had dormitories for students. It is also one of the most famous universities. In its heyday, it accommodated over 10,000 students and 2,000 teachers. Courses were drawn from every field of learning, Buddhist and Hindu, sacred and secular, foreign and native. Students studied science, astronomy, medicine, and logic as diligently as they applied themselves to metaphysics, philosophy, Samkhya, Yoga-shastra, the Veda, and the scriptures of Buddhism. [Source - Wikipedia]

Varanasi, popularly known as Kaashi, has been a sacred place since very ancient times. It is mentioned in the Vedas, puranas and also many Jain and Buddhist texts. It was a great hub of education for the Hindus as well as for other religions Buddhism and Jainism. There students were taught the Vedas, Upanishads and other schools of philosophy and religious thought in theashrams or study centers that existed in the nearby forests. All the major Accharyas of our religion were associated with Kaashi and it is believed that their work, including Shaivism, Advaitha, Vaishanvism, Dvaitha were having significant influence from Kaashi.  Scholars studied in Kaashi were treated with great respect throughout the country.

Kashmir was another centre of learning from ancient times. Even we pray our Godess Sharada as ‘Kaashmeera Puravaasini’. It was famous for scholarly works on Sanskrith. It had major influence on ‘Kashmir Shaivism’, Budhism and other schools of philosophies.

There were thousands of different educational institutes/Gurukuls in ancient India during different timeframes. School at the Nataraja temple situated at Chidambaram, Vikramshila , Odantapuri in Bihar, Somapura now in Bangladesh, Nagarjunakonda in Andhra Pradesh, Valabhi in Gujarat, Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu, Puspagiri and Ratnagiri in Orissa are few to mention. This list is non-exhaustive, but a symbolic only.

            As per a classical Indian tradition “Saa vidya yaa vimuktaye”, (that which liberates us is education). The education system at ancient time was aimed at moulding a person’s mind with moral, knowledgeable qualities.

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Author:

                                                                      Prabhuprasad Naduthota, Sringeri