Am I a King or Am I a beggar ? which is true ? Dream versus Waking states!

[Guest guest]

This is the story of King Janaka ( not of Mithila but Vidarbha) who

became a disciple of Sage Ashtavakra and became a great Karma yogi

after hearing the great composition called 'Ashtavakra Gita '

 

One day , the King just could not sleep and was tossing and turning

in his bed as he was weighed down by all the problems he was facing

in his kingdom . Finally he fell asleep.

 

King Janaka had a dream. It was really a bad dream. He dreamt that

his enemies had conquered his kingdom , took over all his possessions

including his wife and children and he was driven out from the city.

 

The king wandered in the jungle until he came to a hermit's hut. The

hermit's wife took pity on the king and offered the king some 'rice

and dal' ( lentils) and asked the king to cook his own food.

 

All this was totally new to the king. He was used to being waited on

and was not accustomed to do all this. But finally , he managed to

cook the 'rice and dal' somehow and when he was just getting roady to

eat , two dogs came and grabbed the leaf on which the food was

served and ate the food up. The king , weary and tired and totally

shook up by all these bad experiences started 'weeping'!

 

Suddenly, the king realized "what is happening? where am i ? " and he

woke up from this bad dream.

 

The king started wondering :

 

Which of the states of mind was true ? Was he a king or beggar? While

being a king is he dreaming, or is his state of being a beggar an

illusion ?

 

The king wanted answers to these questions , so he made an

announcement in the kingdom 'whoever could answer these questions

satisfactorily would be rewarded with his entire kingdom' !

 

The king's question was, "Is this true, or is that true ?" The dream

state or the waking state ?

 

There lived a young boy in the kingdom - his name was Ashtavakra , so

called because he was 'bent in eight places'- The boy's outward

appearance was no doubt ghastly but he was wise and knowledgeble

beyond his years . ( ashtavakra's story is fascinating - some other

time - i will relate it)

 

Ashtavakra replied to the king , "Neither this is true nor that is

true."

 

and then Ashtavakra asked the king to surrender to him completely and

imparted spiritual instructions to his disciple king .

 

Sage Astavakra asked the king to perform his actions with detatchment

and without desires for the fruits of his actions and fix his mind on

the inner self-efflugent Light !

 

"If one thinks of oneself as free, one is free, and if one thinks of

oneself as bound, one is bound. Here this saying is true, "Thinking

makes it so." 1.11

 

"Your real nature is as the one perfect, free, and actionless

consciousness, the all-pervading witness -- unattached to anything,

desireless and at peace. It is from illusion that you seem to be

involved in samsara." 1.12

 

Ashtavakra Gita is a great scriptural text on NON-DUALITY , verses

from which was often quoted by Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa , Swami

Vivekananda and Sri Ramana maharishi .

 

Hari Aum!

[Guest guest]

Namaste Adi Shaktiji,

 

Thanks for sharing this story and about the Ashtavakra Gita. It may

not be accurate to say that King Janaka became a Karma Yogi or even a

Jnani after hearing the Gita. A closer study of the Gita will show

that King Janaka was already a Jnani and it would seem as though

Astavakra was testing Janaka's understanding. Sometimes you would have

re-trace the verses to see who was saying them because both of them

will display their error free Advaita vision. Cheers!

 

Om Shanti

Kathirasan

 

On 11/6/05, adi_shakthi16 <adi_shakthi16 wrote:

> This is the story of King Janaka ( not of Mithila but Vidarbha) who

> became a disciple of Sage Ashtavakra and became a great Karma yogi

> after hearing the great composition called 'Ashtavakra Gita '

>

> One day , the King just could not sleep and was tossing and turning

> in his bed as he was weighed down by all the problems he was facing

> in his kingdom . Finally he fell asleep.

>

> King Janaka had a dream. It was really a bad dream. He dreamt that

> his enemies had conquered his kingdom , took over all his possessions

> including his wife and children and he was driven out from the city.

>

> The king wandered in the jungle until he came to a hermit's hut. The

> hermit's wife took pity on the king and offered the king some 'rice

> and dal' ( lentils) and asked the king to cook his own food.

>

> All this was totally new to the king. He was used to being waited on

> and was not accustomed to do all this. But finally , he managed to

> cook the 'rice and dal' somehow and when he was just getting roady to

> eat , two dogs came and grabbed the leaf on which the food was

> served and ate the food up. The king , weary and tired and totally

> shook up by all these bad experiences started 'weeping'!

>

> Suddenly, the king realized "what is happening? where am i ? " and he

> woke up from this bad dream.

>

> The king started wondering :

>

> Which of the states of mind was true ? Was he a king or beggar? While

> being a king is he dreaming, or is his state of being a beggar an

> illusion ?

>

> The king wanted answers to these questions , so he made an

> announcement in the kingdom 'whoever could answer these questions

> satisfactorily would be rewarded with his entire kingdom' !

>

> The king's question was, "Is this true, or is that true ?" The dream

> state or the waking state ?

>

> There lived a young boy in the kingdom - his name was Ashtavakra , so

> called because he was 'bent in eight places'- The boy's outward

> appearance was no doubt ghastly but he was wise and knowledgeble

> beyond his years . ( ashtavakra's story is fascinating - some other

> time - i will relate it)

>

> Ashtavakra replied to the king , "Neither this is true nor that is

> true."

>

> and then Ashtavakra asked the king to surrender to him completely and

> imparted spiritual instructions to his disciple king .

>

> Sage Astavakra asked the king to perform his actions with detatchment

> and without desires for the fruits of his actions and fix his mind on

> the inner self-efflugent Light !

>

> "If one thinks of oneself as free, one is free, and if one thinks of

> oneself as bound, one is bound. Here this saying is true, "Thinking

> makes it so." 1.11

>

> "Your real nature is as the one perfect, free, and actionless

> consciousness, the all-pervading witness -- unattached to anything,

> desireless and at peace. It is from illusion that you seem to be

> involved in samsara." 1.12

>

> Ashtavakra Gita is a great scriptural text on NON-DUALITY , verses

> from which was often quoted by Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa , Swami

> Vivekananda and Sri Ramana maharishi .

>

> Hari Aum!

>

>

>

>

>

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and Brahman.

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