VML-2/1,2,3/02

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Then the fire said that a certain bird would also teach him

something. Satyakama continued his journey and on the next day when

he had performed his evening sacrifice a swan came to him and said,

" I will teach you something about Brahman. This fire which you

worship, O Satyakama, is a part of that Brahman. The sun is a part,

the moon is a part, the lightning is a part of that Brahman A bird

called Madgu will tell you more about it. " The next evening that bird

came, and a similar voice was heard by Satyakama, " I will tell you

something about Brahman. Breath is a part of Brahman, sight is a

part, hearing is a part, the mind is a part. "

 

 

Then the boy arrived at his teacher's place and presented himself

before him with due reverence. No sooner had the teacher seen this

disciple than he remarked: " Satyakama, thy face shines like that of a

knower of Brahman! Who then has taught thee? " " Beings other than

men, " replied Satyakama. " But I wish that you should teach me, sir.

For I have heard from men like you that knowledge which is learnt

from a Guru alone leads to the supreme good' " Then the sage taught

him the same knowledge which he had received from the gods. " And

nothing was left out, yea, nothing was left out. "

 

Now, apart from the allegories of what the bull, the fire, and the

birds taught, we see the tendency of the thought and the direction in

which it was going in those days. The great idea of which we here see

the germ is that all these voices are inside ourselves. As we

understand these truths better, we find that the voice is in our own

heart, and the student understood that all the time he was hearing

the truth; but his explanation was not correct. He was interpreting

the voice as coming from the external world, while all the time, it

was within him.