Rasabha

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Ram Chandra

My humble salutation to you and all, Lord Rasabha's story from Srimad

Bhagbatam has always been very dear to me. For my own practice. I was reading

& copying in my computer from "The concise Srimad Bhagvatam" of Swami

Venkatesananda.

I am hesitant to sent it to the list, as there is nothing of mine yet, I

would be most encouraged to see if it will be posted .

Namaste .

Raju K. Chhatry

http://www.serenitywalks.com

*********

“O supreme being, how can we sing thy effable gloriesw ? It is only because

the wise ones

realised the inadequacy of language and humab inteligence that they commanded

us to

worship you with the single word ‘NAMAH’. O Lord, you are easily pleased with

any

prayer said by your devotee in a voice faltering with love, offering at the

same time just

water, basil leaves and sprouts of durva grass. You are the very goal and

embodiment of

the highest aspirations of the human being; and yet we worship you for small

selfish ends.

Surely you have appeared to us today to teach us this lesson: that you are

ever intent on

showering your redeeming grace on all, even if you have not been aproached

properly and

unselfishly. You have nothing to gain from our worship and glorification.

Yet, you appear

in our midst as if you are eager to be glorified, though in fact you confer

on us the

supreme blessing of thus contemplating your glories.

To sing your glories incessantly is our only duty. Therefore we humbly pray

that while

stumbling, sneezing, falling down and yawning, when we are in distress and so

on, and

even while suffering from fever and on our death-bed, when we are likely to

be helpless

and powerless to remember you, your sin-destroying and soul-redeeming name amy

appear on our tongue. .......Rasabha,Ch.3. Srimad Bhagbatam

 

 

Lord Rasabha was a wise statesman and an ideal householder who,

through his

own example, taught the people the long-forgotten dharma. Druing his reign

there was no

unrighteousness in his kingdom; no-one even thought of covetting

others’property. All the

people vied with one another in their love and devotion to lord Rasabha. On

one occasion,

he addressed his own sons as follows;

 

Lord Rasabha said: This humab birth should not be wasted on sensual

pleasures, but

utilised in austerities for the realisation of the absolute. The service of

the great ones is the

door to liberation, whereas the company of the sensuous is the gate to hell.

The great ones

are calm, free from anger, compassionate and pious, with their hearts totally

dedicated to

me. they have no selfish interest in the world and they maintain their bodies

for my sake

alone. Selfish and sensuous action binds the jiva, who wallows in ignorace.

In ignorance

mab regards his body as himself, and wife , house etc., as his. When this

conditioning of

the mind is removed the truth about these dawns in him . Freed from the ego

and the

consequent bondage, he reaches the supreme. By the adoration of the Lord, by

the

perception of the truth that all life is tormented by sorrow, by the

cultivation of virtues and

the firm restraint of the mind and the senses, and above all, by constant

vigilance, one

should cut the knot of the ego. Thus the storehouse of karma is destroyed.

Thenceforth

one should desist from even such endeavour.

The froemost duty of a king, a father or a guru is to communicate

this wisdom to

those in his charge, without imposing it upon them and without rebuking them

if they are

not mature enough to understand the message and to act upon it. One who does

not thus

endeavor to save the other from birth and death is neither a guru kith and

kin, father,

mother, deity nor husband.

With a pure mind look upon all animate and inanimate beings as my

abodes: this is

the best way in which you can worship me. Serve the eldest amongst

you-Bharata-who is

a great and noble soul.

Sage Suka continued: Having thus instructed his sons and, through them, all

his subjects,

Rsabha abandoned the householder’s life, and roamed the land incognito and

naked, like

one possessed by a spirit, or demented. The reactions of the people were

varied. His fine

figure attracted the attention of the women, but his uncouth appearance

repelled maby.

His peculiar behaviour throughly veiled his spiritual glory, and the people

behaved

contemptuously towards him, subjecting him to every sort of indignity. Yet,

he remained

unmoved, for he saw that all the indignity was directed towards the body

which was not

the self. Firmly established in the self, Rsabha adopted the mode of life of

a bull, a deer, a

crow and a python in succession. He exemplified the different states of an

advanced yogi.

He lived in constant oneness with lord Vasudeva and therefore did not even

take notice of

supernatural powers that sought him.

 

King pariksit asked: Rsabha was established in the self and the seeds of

karma had been

completely burnt in him. Why did he then renounce the world and wander about

as if mad

or possessed by a demon ?

Sage Suka replied: Indeed, lord Rsabha had freed himself from all bondage.

But, wise men

do not relax their vigilance lest amoment’s heedlessness should lead to a

great downfall.

The wise say that one should never trust one’s mind , which can be

deceptively quiet,

treacherously waiting for an opportune moment to lead one astray. Indeed,

even so have

the austerities of maby great ones been disrupted. Just as an unfaithful wife

does not

hesitate to allow her paramour to enter the house and murder her husband, the

wicked and

fickle mind of a non-vigilant mab allows lust, anger and other evils to enter

and destroy

spiritual knowledge and wisdom. ....... ....... .........

He who listens to or recites this story of lord Rsabhadeva develops great

devotion to the

Lord.