Am I a King or Am I a beggar ? which is true ?

[Guest guest]

Thank you Kathiresan-ji ! You Are right ! It is obvious from the

questions and comments made , King Janaka WAS an advanced seeker -

already well sitauted in the path of Jnana and Karma ! However , in

the ancient days this technique ( Dialogue between Guru and

shishya ) was effectively employed to teach great scriptural truths !

Thus we have dialogue between Hayagriva and Agastya in sri

Lalithoupakanyam , Between Sage Vasishta and Sri Rama in 'Yoga

Vasishta ' etc- Here , chitta mentioned about 'adhikaratwam' - Yes!

Preliminary qualifications ! sometimes, monologues are boring - hence

those interjections by King Janaka ! in any case, at one point , Sage

Ashtavakra says " My son, you may recite or listen to countless

scriptures, but you will not be established within until you can

forget everything." 16.1- Smile! This what sri Ramana bhagvan used

to say to his disciples too !

 

"anyway, here is another story ! Enjoy !

 

Once King Janaka was sitting on the bank of a river ,

REpeating 'SOHAM' mantra at the top of his

voice.

 

Sage ASHTAVAKRA was passing by. the sage was a knower of truth and an

enlightened being. He was surprised why king Janaka was chanting the

mantra in this loud fashion.

 

ASHTAVAKRA wanted to instruct King Janaka the proper way of

chanting a mantra. SO, he sat down near King Janaka and chanting

loudly, :

'

"This is my Alms Bowl and this is my Yoga Stick " so much

so that ASTHAVAKRA'S MANTRA DROWNED KING JANAKA'S MANTRA !

 

 

Now, King Janaka , not to be left behind starting chanting

his 'SOHAM ' mantra even louder --- this went on for some time -both

vyeing witH each other in this 'mantra recitation'....

 

now, King Janaka got really annoyed and asked asthavakra what the sage

waS doing- the sage replied " i am repeating - this is my Alms bowl,

this is my yoga stick. "

 

King Janaka replied, " Have you lost your MIND? Who told you that the

Alms bowl and the stick do not belong to you ? Why do you have to

keep shouting about it.?"

 

Sage ASHTAVAKRA replied , " O Mighty King ! It seems to me you are

the one who lacks understanding. who told you that you are

not 'THAT '? Why do you to go on shouting THAT 'i AM tHAT' ? 'SO

HAM' ?

 

When king Janaka heard this, he suddenly realized the truth- he

understood that he need not go on repeating 'SO Ham' mantra , he only

needed to understand it and practice 'living' it!!!!!!!!

 

'You are really unbound and actionless, self-illuminating and

spotless already. The cause of your bondage is that you are still

resorting to stilling the mind.'

 

Ashtavakra Gita 1.15

 

after reading your post, i am reminded of what my grandma used to

say ' Sivanasne Summa iru' ( tamil - if you do not know something

just be quiet - may be applies to all who are still ignorant of the

real meaning of 'Summa Iru' - 'be still' ! SMILE ! Life is short!

 

love and blessings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

advaitin, K Kathirasan <brahmasatyam@g...>

wrote:

>

> 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