Ubhaya Bharati and the Sanyasin- Attachment and Ahamkaram !

[Guest guest]

Do you all remember the wife of Mandana Mishra, Ubhaya bharati?

 

Adi Shankara Bhagvadapada and Mandana Mishra had entered into a

scholarly debate and the modertator or mediator in that debate was

none other than Ubhaya Bharati , wife of Sri Mandana Mishra. After a

prolonged debate , Adi shankara was declared the winner by Ubhaya

Bharati .

 

Ubhaya bharati was living in a hermitage on the banks of the river

Ganga, imparting spiritual teachings to women. Many women had become

her disciples. Every day in the morning, they used to go the Ganga

to have a bath. On the way, there lived a Sannyasi whom people

called Brahma Jnani. Truly, he was a renunciant and one of wisdom.

 

However, the sanyasi was very much attached to a small earthen pot

in which he used to preserve water. One day, he was lying down using

the pot as a pillow, lest somebody might steal it. Ubhaya Bharati

who was on her way to Ganga with her disciples observed this and

remarked, " Though he is one of wisdom, there is a small defect in

him. He has renounced the world, but is attached to his earthen pot

which he is using as his pillow. " The Sanyasi overheard their

conversation and became angry.

 

When Ubhaya Bharati and her disciples were coming back from Ganges,

he threw away the pot on the road, just to show that he was not

attached to it. Seeing this, Ubhaya Bharati said, " I thought there

was only one defect in him - Abhimana (attachment). Now I realise

that he has another defect also - Ahamkara (ego). How can one with

Ahamkara and Abhimana be a Jnani (one of wisdom)? " It was an eye-

opener for the Sannyasi.

 

(Courtesy- Sai Baba's divine discourses)

 

Yes! ATTACHMENT and AHAMKARAM are twin evils in any Saadhnaa.

 

HERE ARE TWO VERSES FROM VIVEKA CHUDAMANI TO PONDER

 

Internal renunciation and external renunciation - it is the

dispassionate man who is capable of these. The dispassionate man

abandons fetters internal and external because of his yearning for

liberation. 372

 

The dispassionate man, established in God, is indeed capable of

abandoning the external bond of the senses and the internal one of

selfishness and so on. 373

 

ENJOY !