Swami Atmanandaji's story about a shepherd and his flock of sheeps

[Guest guest]

Swami Atmanandaji, the head of Vedanta Mission, Indore narrates the

following story followed by several questions. He has posted this story

in the list organized by the Vedanta Mission. The archives are

available at:

/viewarchive.cgi?listname=vedantamission

This story is taken from that archive. I hope that the questions raised

by Swamiji will kindle more discussions specifically related to Bondage

and Liberation. I want to thank Swamiji for the beautiful story with

the subtle message.

 

Ram Chandran

 

 

Swami Atmanandaji's story about a shepherd and his flock of sheeps

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Once upon a time there was a shepherd, who occasionally took his flock

of sheeps & goats to the higher reaches of mountains for grazing. Once

when he was in the higher reaches, the weather suddenly became bad, and

he had to literally run for shelter. There was a hut of a Mahatma

nearby, he ran for it and reached the place before nightfall. He

requested the Swamiji for shelter for himself & his herd for the night,

which was immediately granted. The herd were shown the shed outside and

the man was given accommodation in the adjoining hut. The man was very

happy, and went to the shed to tie the sheeps & goats. The ropes with

which the animals were tied in the nights were conveniently kept winded

around their necks. The shepherd just had to unwind it in the night and

tie them somewhere. He tied all of them, except one whose rope had

fallen down somewhere. This fellow tried to make the sheep sit down

without tying it, but surprisingly it just wont sit down, it kept on

standing. He was surprised and slightly worried too. Just then the Swami

walked in and asked him the reason of his worry. The shepherd narrated

the problem, and Swamiji asked him not to worry and just follow his

instructions. The shepherd was asked to go to the sheep and do the

"whole act" of tying the sheep, even though there was no rope. Feeling

slightly foolish the shepherd followed what the Swamiji said and then

instructed the sheep to sit down. Strangely the sheep immediately sat

down. Swamiji told him that in the morning also he should go through the

"act of untying" the sheep even though there is no rope, otherwise the

sheep will not move. The shepherd was surprised but had no words to

thank the saint. His mind was filled with reverence & also some

inquisitiveness. He thought that maybe the Swami used some mantra or

magic, and finally he decided to get enlightened on the matter by the

Swami himself.

 

He humbly went to the Swami and put forward his question. On hearing

this Swamiji smiled and told him "My dear son ! I am pretty familiar

with the tying & untying of unseen ropes, because this is what the

Bondage & Liberation of man is all about." Thereafter he very lovingly &

compassionately went about explaining to the shepherd what did he

exactly mean.

 

May I request our esteemed readers to please send their views &

analysis on the following two things :

1. What was the necessity of apparently foolish 'act of tying & untying'

even without the rope ?

2. What could the Swamiji mean when he said that Bondage & Liberation of

man are comparable to tying & untying the unseen rope ?

 

 

With love & om,

Swami Atmananda

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[Guest guest]

> Ram Chandran <chandran

>snipped the nice story<

> May I request our esteemed readers to please send their views &

> analysis on the following two things :

> 1. What was the necessity of apparently foolish 'act of tying & untying'

> even without the rope ?

 

The sheep is conditioned to think in terms of being tied and untied; it will

behave accordingly, irrespective of the presence of a rope.

> 2. What could the Swamiji mean when he said that Bondage & Liberation of

> man are comparable to tying & untying the unseen rope ?

 

With man it is the very same as with the sheep; conditioning causes one to

act as if the world of sense-appearances is the 'only' real. Then, after

knowing about Sat-Chit-Ananda, the idea of both bondage and liberation

arises. After that, it becomes clear that anything expressed as a pair of

opposites can't be Real (so one remains Silent).

>

> With love & om,

> Swami Atmananda

> =======================================================