INDIAN MYTHOLOGY
Sage
Suta was telling his listeners how sage Vyasa’s son Sukadev was resisting his
advice to get married. “Take the case of King Janaka, who gathered vast
knowledge, while looking after his kingdom. Well, you may pay a visit to Janaka
if you promise to return soon," said Vyasa.
"Let
it be so," said Sukadev, and he set out on a journey to Mithila. For days
together he travelled, taking rest in the ashrams of various rishis. At last,
one morning, he stood outside the great wall encircling the city of Mithila. He
was tired. He kept sitting leaning against the wall. After some time a royal
guard found him out and demanded to know what his mission was. Sukadev kept
quiet. The guard told him rather rudely, "Speak out, unless you are really
dumb. Do you wish to enter the city? If so, what is your aim? What do you
want?"
"I've
travelled a long way to come here. Our ashram is situated beyond the first
range of the Himalayan hills. People undertake travel either for profit or for
pleasure or for fame. I've no inclination to gain any of these. All I want is
to meet King Janaka. If you ask me to go back, I shall do so, taking my trouble
to be the consequence of my Karma," said Sukadev.
The
guard realised that the visitor was a sage. "Pardon my audacity, O sage, I
welcome you into our city."
"You
haven't been audacious at all. You've only done your duty," said Sukadev,
as he followed the guard.
Before
long he was identified by one of the ministers of the king. He was a man of
insight. He talked to Sukadev and was deeply impressed by the young sage. He
arranged for him to stay in one of the guest-houses attached to the palace. He
put a number of maids to look after the sage.
Sukadev
was provided with all sorts of comforts. The maids sang for him and danced
before him. But he was silent most of the time–engrossed in meditation.
In
due course King Janaka, accompanied by the royal priest, came to meet Sukadev.
He bestowed on the sage several gifts, including a handsome cow. Then he asked
him what the purpose of his visit was.
"O
King, I’ve heard from my father that you're a highly enlightened soul. I'm a
bit intrigued. How can any one achieve enlightenment while remaining attached
to the world? Moreover, you being a king, where's your opportunity for pursuing
deep knowledge? Will you please clear my doubt?"
Said
Janaka: "O young sage, there is nothing intriguing in the situation.
Enlightenment is a state of consciousness.
Whatever
be the outward situation, one can dwell within oneself in peace and poise. It
is not easy, but it is possible."
"Do
you mean to say that the world gives a greater opportunity for
enlightenment?" asked Sukadev.
"In
a sense, yes. Even if a seeker wants the Truth, he cannot get rid of his
emotions and passions. That is why it is better to satisfy them before taking
to the path of asceticism. Of course, while remaining in the world, one must
exercise his emotions and passions with restraint and prudence. Only then, when
one embraces asceticism, can one win a victory over them without much
difficulty. The truth is, any situation can help one towards true liberation or
enlightenment. Everything depends on one's goal in life and sincerity in
pursuing the goal. I'm a king. But I've no attachment to my power or wealth.
Even if everything is lost, I shall remain as calm as ever," explained
King Janaka.
In
the course of his discussion with Janaka, Sukadev said, “O King, I’ve listened
to you with attention. You have said many valuable things. But I’m not yet free
from doubts. One who marries and raises a family will naturally become bound to
it. He would always be after worldly pleasures. When he gets them, he remains
happy. When he does not get them, he is disappointed. This is how his time
passes. How then can he achieve salvation?”
“One
who is bound to his family is not destined to achieve salvation. True, but one
who is wise is not required to be bound by it. One can remain in the world, but
with perfect detachment. One need not necessarily run after the false pleasures
offered by life in the world,” said Janaka.
“I
don’t understand how one can remain in the world and in a family, and yet be
detached from both. One can claim himself free, but that does not truly make
him free. Just as by remembering a lamp, one is not able to remove darkness; so
also by simply reading scriptures one does not get salvation. What is needed is
Tapasya. You’re a king. It is quite natural that you would be
thinking of your kingdom, its prosperity, your successors, so on and so forth.
How then can you become detached? How can you get salvation with such
attachments? It is different with me. I don’t seek pleasure, I may not be
touched by sorrow; I’ve no friend, no enemy, no desire for prestige, no
humiliation can affect me. I can pursue the path I like,” said Sukadev.
King
Janaka smiled and asked in a firm voice, “Do you think that one who has no
responsibility of any kind, one who gets himself free from all duties, is
eligible for salvation? Is it not difficult to remain amidst the objects of
attraction and yet be detached to them than to hide oneself from the objects of
attraction? Who is stronger, the one who does not care for charming things
though they surround him or one who avoids them because one is afraid of them?”
Sukadev
kept quiet. For a long time he meditated on Janaka’s question. Then he met the
king again and thanked him and went back to Vyasa.
“Father!
Let your will be done,” he said.
Vyasa
was pleased. He got Sukadev married to a girl named Peevari. They were blessed
with four sons: Gouradev, Devabrata, Vari and Krishna. Their fifth child was a
daughter named Keerti.
Keerti
married Bivraj. The couple had a son called Brahmadutta.
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