॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
Friday, 9 December 2022 V.13 - How bad is the suffering and delusion of a materialistic person? This is explained very tellingly by Sage Bharata to King Rahugana by comparing such a person to a man hopelessly lost in a forest.
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ब्राह्मण उवाच
दुरत्ययेऽध्वन्यजया निवेशितो....भवाटवीं याति न शर्म विन्दति ॥
T: Sage Bharata (who is now referred to as a Brahmin by Vyasa) spoke:
Man is lost in the forest of worldly existence with no real happiness, driven as he is by the hard-to-conquer effects of Maya. He is completely under the sway of the three Gunas - Sattva, seeking happiness, Rajas - thinking that activity and acquisitiveness are the paths to it, and Tamas - ignorance of the real nature of existence.
This forest has six dacoits - the enemies embedded in the human mind, viz. Lust, Anger, Greed, Infatuation, Arrogance and Jealousy. They rob man of every prospect of welfare. It is like how wolves attack a herd of sheep!
Other people are constantly jealous of man, and torment him like wild mosquitoes!
Whatever man thinks is joy is a hallucination oftentimes. It is like a man lost in the forest who hallucinates that he sees a palace! In the material world, man's intelligence is robbed by attachments to home, wealth, relatives and so forth. So he runs from one place to another in search of success. He lusts for his wife. The wanderer in the forest hears insects and owls making frightful sounds in the night. He is hungry, but no tree gives him fruit. He is thirsty, and sees only a mirage, no real water body. A householder suffers from a lack of money, and whatever he has is robbed by the government as tax! Only delusions of grandeur keep such a man company. No wonder he loses his temper often.
Life throws more suffering at man, like a python swallowing the forest wanderer, snakes biting him, and his falling into a disused well with no hope of rescue! Alas!
Seeking the pleasures of sex from unscrupulous women, man gets only insulted from their associates who accuse him as a culprit when he is also a victim. This is like the man in the forest who tries to get honey from a wild beehive and instead is mercilessly attacked by the bees!
Even worse, the woman that the man went after leaves him and goes to someone else!
What about money? Losses are common in this world. Debt and ignominy accost everyone. Sometimes man is driven by money troubles even to suicide!
Man is first attached to his parents. He soon loses them and then builds his life around his children. But disappointment constantly dogs him in every relationship.
What about big heroes and political leaders? They live with such a false sense of self-importance that they cannot ever take to the path of spiritual realisation.
The man lost in the forest dreads lions. He thinks he is better off in the company of cranes and vultures, which only leads to more betrayal. These birds are like fake spiritualists and gurus.
Unable to find real Gurus or advanced souls, man slips back to the material world with its false promises, like the forest dweller cultivates monkeys! These are worldly people who goad him to enjoy sense pleasures, get drunk and womanise. He is so lost when the moment of death approaches. Or he falls victim to an incurable disease, which is like falling inside a mountain cave. He becomes afraid of death, like the elephant stranded in a deep cave, grasping desperately at twigs and creepers.
"Rahugana! This is an endless cycle. It is entirely the play of Maya! Your condition is no different."
"I now advise you to give up your kingly position and the sceptre that you wield so proudly to punish the errant. Give up attraction to sense objects and take up the sword of knowledge sharpened by Bhakti. Then you will be able to cut the hard knot of Maya and cross to the other side of life."
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Rahugana felt so grateful. He remarked that human birth is the greatest gift as only then can man meet holy men and be touched and saved. Human life is much preferable to a life in the heavens full of pleasures which offer no wisdom or a chance of enlightenment either. Rahugana feels very fortunate to have met Sage Bharata, to be purified by the dust of the Sage's feet. Now he is shown the path of discrimination and Bhakti to Bhagavan Adhokshaja Maha Vishnu.
नमो महद्भ्योऽस्तु नम: शिशुभ्यो नमो युवभ्यो नम आवटुभ्य: । ये ब्राह्मणा गामवधूतलिङ्गाश्चरन्ति तेभ्य: शिवमस्तु राज्ञाम् ॥
T: "My obeisances, oh Sage, to you and all those Avadhutas, who hide their glory, be they tender-aged, youthful or leading the life of Brahmacharis or sannyasis because they bless even bad kings (like me)!"
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The king begged Bharata for forgiveness. Sage Shuka tells Parikshit that Bharata, being a large-hearted devotee, was able to forgive Rahugana after he was insulted and forced to carry Rahugana's palanquin. Afterwards, Bharata gave Rahugana deep spiritual insights and then went away.
Rahugana was able to get over his bodily conception of this existence and the trappings of Maya. Sage Shuka concludes that whoever takes shelter in Bhagavan will be surely saved.
Parikshit says he likes the story and it seems to convey many deeper meanings. But how should he interpret the analogy that the senses of a person stuck in the bodily conception of life are like rogues and thieves in the forest? That one’s wife and children are like jackals and other ferocious animals?
अथ तदेवैतद्दुरवगमं समवेतानुकल्पेन निर्दिश्यतामिति ॥
T: "Holy sir, therefore kindly explain these abstruse allusions more simply, and help me understand the import of this!"
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