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When Shankara with his disciples was going to bath in the holy Ganga,

he saw a loathsome sight near the Manikarnika Ghat.

 

A Chandala (an untouchable and worker at the cremation

ground, at the very bottom of the social scale and devoid of any

culture) with four dogs held in leash, was approaching in a

disorderly manner from the opposite direction.

 

Finding no other way of avoiding a confrontation with him,

Shankara addressed him and said, " Oh, you Chandala, step aside one

side with your canine company, and let us pass " . The Chandala did not

appear to have listened to his words at all, and did not tarry of

deflect, but continued to advance. Shankara in a somewhat excited

voice cried out again, " Stop, fellow, stop. Restrain and pacify your

curs. Leave a passage free for us " .

 

The terrible looking Chandala burst out into hideous guffaw

and turning to Shankara, spoke out in Sanskrit verses, " Whom are you

asking to move aside , Sir? Are you demanding the self to do so or

the body to do so? The Self is omnipresent, non-active, ever pure by

nature. If instead you ask the physical body to move aside, you know

that the body is inert matter, how can it move aside at all? And

moreover, in what respect is your body distinct and different from

any other body? You say that you are firmly established and rooted in

the Supreme Truth and there is but One non-dual entity, `One without

a Second'. I see that your claim is all false, you are indulging in

vain pride. Is there any difference between the Chandala and the

Brahmin from the viewpoint of the knower of the Truth? Are the sun

reflected in the water of Ganga and the sun reflected in the wine

different and separate from each other? Is this your knowledge of the

All-ness the Absolute Reality, so circumscribed? "

 

Hearing these words of the Chandala, surcharged with

wisdom, Shankara was both amazed and ashamed. That this was without a

doubt the play of the Divine, he clearly perceived. Then and there he

folded his palms in adoration and spoke prayerfully, " He who

perceives all beings with an awareness of Same-sightedness, acts in

consonance with that perception of sameness in all, he indeed is my

Guru. You Chandala are my Guru. I bow down at his holy feet a million

times " .

 

All of a sudden the Chandala and his canine company

disappeared. But Shankara beheld another sight. The Divine form of

the eternal Lord and Father of the Universe, Sri Mahadeva, radiant

and shining with the light of thousands of crores of suns and fire,

stood before him in all glory holding in His hands the four Vedas.

These eternal scriptures were what Shankara had seen as dogs before.

The skull in which the Chandala had held wine before now appeared as

a Kumbha of nectar. Shankara's mind was filled with intense devotion.

He bowed down at the feet of the Great

Guru of the Universe and burst into a hymn of praise.

 

 

source: http://harsha16.topcities.com/Adi%20Shankara7.htm