Ramana The heart is the Self #7

[Guest guest]

Maharshi: There is an interesting story about Kamal, the son of Sant

Kabir, which serves as an illustration to show that the head (and a

fortiori the place between he eyebrows) cannot be considered the

seat of the Self.

 

Kabir was intensely devoted to Sri Rama, and he never failed to feed

those who sang the praise of the Lord of his devotion. On one

occasion, however, it so happened that he had not the wherewithal to

provide food for such a gathering of devotees. For him, however,

there could be no alternative except that he must somehow make every

necessary arrangement before the next morning. So he and his son set

out at night to secure the required provisions.

 

The story goes that after the father and son had removed the

provisions from a merchant's house through a hole they made in the

wall, the son went in again just to wake up the household and tell

them, as a matter of principle, that their house had been burgled.

When having roused the household, the boy tried to make good his

escape through the hole and join his father on the other side, his

body stuck up in the aperture. To avoid being identified by the

pursuing household (because, if detected, there would be no feeding

at all of the devotees the next day), he called out to his father

and told him to sever his head and take it away with him. That done,

Kabir made good his escape with the stolen provisions and the son's

head, which on reaching home, was hidden away from possible

detection. The next day Kabir gave a feast to the bhaktas, quite

unmindful of what had happened the previous night. " If it is Rama's

will, " said Kabir to himself, " that my son should die, may it

prevail! " In the evening Kabir with the party set out as usual in

procession into the town with bhajana, etc.

 

Meanwhile, the burgled householder made report to the king,

producing the truncated body of kamal, which gave then no clue. In

order to secure its identification, the king had the body ties up

prominently on the highway so that whoever claimed it or took it

away (for no dead body is forsaken without the last rites being

given to it by the kith and kin) might be interrogated or arrested

by the police, who were posted secretly for the purpose.

 

Labir and his party with the bhajana is full swing came by the

highway, when, to the astonishment of all, Kamal's truncated body

(which was considered dead as a doornail) began to clap its hands,

marking time to the tune sung by bhajana party.

 

 

This story disproves the suggestion that the head or the place

between the eyebrows is the seat of the

Self. It may also be noted that when in the battlefield the head of

a soldier in action is severed from the body by a sudden and

powerful stroke of the sword, the body continues to run or move its

limbs as in a most fight, just for a while, before it finally falls

down dead.

 

More of the story soon.

 

to be continued

 

The Teachings of Ramana Maharshi