Bondage and Videha Mukti Janaka and Suka

[Guest guest]

Namaste to all.

 

There is an interesting dialogue between king Janaka and sage Suka in the Devi

Bhagavatam on the means to liberation, which I am reproducing below. (It may be

noted that in Devi Bhagavatam Suka got married and begot children, unlike in

Srimad Bhagavatam where he was a celibate throughout life. Such differences are

common in the puranas and are not considered material.)

 

Suka-- O king, kindly tell me what is the means to liberation-- austerity,

performance of yajnas, etc., or knowledge " .

 

Janaka said: " I shall tell you what an aspirant for liberation should do.

After being invested with the sacred thread, he should go to a Guru and study

the Vedas. After completing his studies and having given Gurudakshina, he should

enter the stage of the householder by getting married. He should then perform

the rites laid down in the Vedas without attachment. He should be truthful,

compassionate and free from all desires and cultivate purity of mind and body.

He should also beget progeny. He need remain with his family only till his

first-born son gets married. Thereafter he may enter the Vanaprastha Ashrama.

After conquering the six internal enemies, namely, desire, anger, greed,

delusion, pride and envy, he may take Sannyasa. It should be noted that Sannyasa

is only for those who have attained total detachment. Out of the 48 Samskaras

laid down in the scriptures, 40 are for householders and the remaining 8 are for

Sannyasis " .

 

Suka asked: " For a person who has attained Jnana, Vijnana and Vairagya, is it

compulsory to go through all the four Ashramas one after another? Can he not go

straightaway to the Sannyasa Ashrama from Brahmacharya?

 

Janaka: " O young sage! understand that the senses are very powerful. They

cannot be relied upon. Disaster may befall the immature. If a person who is not

yet fit takes Sannyasa and if thereafter desire for food, wealth, children or

other comforts arises in his mind, what is the way out for him? Since vaasanas

will not get extinguished by themselves, a wise man should first eradicate them

before taking Sannyasa. The impact of a fall is greater for a person who is at a

height. A person at the lowest level cannot fall; he can only go up. A person

who wants to climb up has to be very careful. If a Sannyasi falls, there is no

remedy for him. The senses cannot be subdued by force. To attain complete

control over the senses one should go through the Ashramas, one by one. A man of

wisdom will not be affected by the pairs of opposites such as heat and cold,

honour and dishonour, or gain and loss, even if he is a householder. Look at me.

I rule the kingdom, I perform all my duties, I eat what I want and experience

everything. At the same time, am I not liberated? You can also be like that.

Bondage and liberation are both in the mind. If the mind is impure, nothing will

be achieved by bathing in all the sacred rivers. If the mind is controlled,

there can be no talk of bondage or liberation. It is only the mind that makes

distinctions such as friend and foe, and the like " .

 

Suka: " You say that the rituals laid down in the Karma kANDa of the Vedas

should be performed meticulously. But how can the cruel deed of sacrifice of

animals be the means to liberation? Is not the drinking of soma juice in a

sacrifice clearly contrary to Dharma? Are not killing of animals and eating

their flesh unrighteous acts? Moreover, all that can be attained through these

Vedic rituals is enjoyment of the pleasures of heaven for a limited period. They

cannot confer liberation. Heaven is only a chain made of gold, which can bind a

man as effectively as an iron chain. My mind is not at all attracted by such

transient pleasures, which ultimately lead only to sorrow " .

 

The secret of Karma

Janaka: " O wise young sage! You have not yet understood these matters

correctly. You have been looking only at the external appearance of things. That

way you get only superficial knowledge. You have to go deeper to understand

subtle truths. It is not the outward appearance that decides what is righteous

and what is not. This is the secret of Karma. The same action may amount to

injury to a living creature in one situation, but not so in another.

The Vedas declare that the killing of an animal in a Vedic sacrifice is not

violence. If it is done without attachment and craving for the fruit, it is not

violence, but even that would become violence if there is attachment and desire

for the fruit. Any action done without attachment and without the sense of

doership is no action at all and it does not create any bondage.

 

Suka: " What you say may be true in the case of a person who is free from

desire. But how can one who is under the control of Maya become free from

desire? When even those who have mastered the scriptures are not free from

attachment and aversion, what to speak of the ordinary man? Mere study of the

scriptures will not destroy nescience (ignorance of the Self). Can darkness be

removed by merely shouting 'light, light'? You said, " Look at me " . I have looked

at you carefully. I do not find you to be in any way different from other

worldly men. I see you only as a king possessed of wealth, fame, power and all

objects of enjoyment. Notions of friend and foe, happiness and sorrow, likes and

dislikes-- you have all these as much as anyone else. And you call yourself

Videha (meaning Jivanmukta). This is nothing but vanity. It is like an

illiterate fool bearing the name 'Vidyadhara', a blind man being named

'Divakara' (which means sun) or a beggar having the name 'Lakshmidhara'. The

name 'Videha' given to you is as meaningless as these. It is only a title that

you have inherited from your ancestors who got it somehow, without any reason to

justify it. Whatever that may be, as far as I am concerned, I am not at all

interested in home, wife, children or wealth. I wish to remain free from all

such bondage " .

 

Janaka replied: " O sage, you think you can be free from all bondage if you go

and dwell in the forest. Remember that there are animals there also and you can

develop likes and dislikes towards them. The same five elements which are here

are present in the forest also. How can you be free from any connection with

them? As long as you have a body, you will need food. The thought about food

will be with you even in the forest. Can you become free from thoughts about

your yogadanda (staff), your deer-skin and your water pot? The thoughts I have

about my kingdom are also only of the same nature. It is not the quantity or

quality of what one has that makes for bondage, but it is the sense of

possession. A renunciate attached to his loincloth is not less in bondage than a

king attached to his kingdom. It is the thought that this body is yours that is

the fundamental bondage. Being free from all sense of possession and knowing

that I am not bound, I remain happy all the time, whatever I do. You, on the

contrary, are always sad, thinking that you are in bondage. Giving up this wrong

notion, know that you are never in bondage and that you are ever free and be at

peace with yourself. If you understand this truth, you will realize that a man

fully engaged in action can still be completely liberated " .

 

Conclusion

On hearing these words of Janaka, Suka realized that bondage does not arise

from action, that none can remain without performing any action and that it is

one's attitude towards action that creates the distinction between bondage and

liberation. He took leave of Janaka and returned to his father's hermitage. He

married Peevaree, the daughter of the manes. He begot four sons and a daughter.

Thereafter he left for Kailasa and did penance there. Finally he cast off his

body and attained Videhamukti.

 

Best wishes,

S.N.Sastri