Man Should Not, At Any Time, Behave Like An Animal

May 1976, Summer Course 1976 - Indian Culture and Spirituality, Ooty

Published English.

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It is for us to recognise that the compassion that all the living beings deserve from us forms the essence of our being able to get a vision of the . The greatest is the bringing together of the compassion that is present in all beings. The sacredness of life that has been given to a human being is at a very high level.

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So also, as in that analogy, in the heart of man there are good and sathwic qualities comparable to the qualities of a cow. If into that group of good qualities, we send in food represented by the rajasic qualities of the tiger, it is impossible for the good to survive any longer. If you put seeds in a land which is not fertile, the seeds are not going to sprout. So also in a man who has rajasic qualities in his heart, the kind of sathwic qualities like or compassion cannot thrive. It, therefore, becomes necessary for man to do such things by which the field of his heart can be purified and cleansed. Therefore, man in this life must take courage and move forward in his journey of life.

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has taught in the that the purity of is extremely important. The kind of work we engage in will determine the kind of fruits that we get. The kind of food that we eat will determine the smell of the belch that follows. The quality of bread that we will be able to prepare depends on the kind of flour we use. God never does things which do not have a good reason behind them. God never utters words which have no meaning. Whatever He does, sees, and says carries with it an inner deeper spiritual meaning.

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There is a small example for this. The two armies of the and of the were standing on either side. On the side of the , there were seven units of armies. On the side of the , there were eleven units of armies. It is not as if was ignorant of the number of units on the side and the number of units on the Pandava side. Knowing this fully well, requested to take his chariot and put it right in the middle of the two armies. When asked him for the reason for his behaviour, he replied that he wanted to determine with whom he should really fight, if he should fight at all.

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When we examine this in the context in which he made this statement, we realise that he made this statement after he had gone with the intention of fighting. prepared the chariot and prepared all his weapons including the , and they were all set for the battle. After reaching the battlefield, why did he change his mind? Was it his weakness or did he become despondent? He began asking the question as to who will benefit from the battle and who will get prosperity from the battle. He realised that the very people for whose sake he was fighting the battle will probably be killed, and so he felt that the battle had no purpose. The kings want to rule over people and build up the prosperity of the people and the kingdom. If the people are going to be killed in a battle, where is the question of prosperity and a kingdom? After the entire family and group of people are wiped out, for whose sake was he going to establish a kingdom and rule over it? Some people have described this as or attachment to his kith and kin, and they named the chapter .

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This cannot be described as a period of internal controversy or discussion within himself. He has entered this argument within himself to decide between truth and untruth, between propriety and impropriety. He discussed within himself the aspect that the have been ruling unjustly, and the fact that they have been having untruth and impropriety on their side, and did not, himself, want to undertake the same impropriety and untruth. There were certain distinctive features and distinctive qualities on the side of the , therefore, God was also on their side.

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Here it becomes clear to us that was on the side of the because of their good qualities. If we look at this situation in a somewhat superficial manner, then we will see that because was thrown into this despondent and confusing situation, an opportunity had risen for to preach the sacred text of the . If did not fall into an introspective and despondent situation like that, would not have had an opportunity to preach the sacred .

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Just as we know that pleasure is an interval between two pains, so also in the interval between two situations, sometimes good comes about. here plays the part of a typical human being, and by making behave as a typical human being, created a situation whereby the could be expounded. Man’s life is transient. It is momentary, and in this context had a chance to recognise the permanent truth. The were held up as an example by which the sacredness of the heart of a devotee could be understood. Sometimes, as a result of difficulties, the devotees have their hearts merged in sorrow. This results in their ego and other bad qualities in their hearts, coming to the surface and troubling them. To get such ego, jealousy, and bad qualities out of the heart of devotees, God sometimes undertakes certain programmes.

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On one occasion, performed the and let loose the horse. According to the rules of that , if a horse was let out and someone else captured that horse, then the owner had to fight with the person who had captured the horse; and if he lost the fight, he had to forfeit his kingdom to the victor. The caught the horse, and he was fully aware of the then code of conduct regarding the horse. and went in search of the horse, and they found that the horse was captured by the . and were contemplating whether to undertake a fight with . told that was no ordinary man and that he was a great devotee of his, and it is not easy for to fight with him. stated that according to the code of conduct he had to fight with the person who captured the horse.

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Then commanded to fight the battle. fought with in many ways; but it was not possible for him to defeat his opponent and even his principal weapon, the , was damaged in the process. As was asking for help, he too was preparing for the fight. was no doubt aware of ’s greatness, but the code of conduct required that engage in battle, and so took out each one of his weapons and sent them at after uttering the sacred name of . The arrows were so hard and so powerful that started running hither and thither. started shouting to that he should use his sacred ; but replied that against , neither ’s nor ’s will have any effect.

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did not take this matter seriously. He thought that was only joking and that was really not intent on fighting. thought that if was really a devotee of , would he undertake to fight against ? He thought that was not a true devotee.

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wanted to demonstrate to that was indeed a very ardent devotee. So and disguised themselves as two and came to ’s house. According to the tradition, it was the duty of the householder to receive the guests and honour them, and in this aspect there was none better than . As soon as saw the two coming, he himself threw away the King’s garb and wore clothes typical of the . He brought water and washed the feet of his guests and honoured them suitably. requested them to be his guests. With a view to making realise the depth of the devotion of , had been planning this meeting for quite some time. When asked and to accept his hospitality and be his guests for food, replied, “We do not have the time to accept your hospitality. We have come here with a specific problem and require your help. While coming to your house, my son has been swallowed by a tiger and, at this time, only half the body of my son has been swallowed and the other half is outside. A formless voice said that if the body of my son was to be freed, I will have to get half the body of King as a meal for the tiger and then, I was told, my son would be set free.” As soon as heard of this, he saw an opportunity to be of some service to his guest. He knew very well that immortality comes out of sacrifice, and he was prepared to sacrifice his body. He knew very well that the human body was given to him so that he might be able to help others. He knew that the human body would drop off some day or the other, and so he was prepared to sacrifice his body to satisfy others. He called his wife and son and asked them to cut his body into two halves with a sword. His wife and son thought that was preparing to fulfil a sacred task and so they also prepared to cut the body into two halves. and were watching this situation without even batting their eyelids once.

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As they were watching intently, they found that the left eye of was shedding a tear. Finding that the situation was developing, wanted to test him even further and said, “What is the value of the gift which is given with sorrow and tears in one’s eyes? I do not want such a gift. A gift must be given freely and willingly.” , who was undisturbed and sitting peacefully with closed eyes, opened his eyes and said that he had no sorrow in giving his body. If, at all, he had any sorrow, both eyes should shed tears. Why is it that only one eye is shedding tears? You must consider and understand why tears are coming from only one eye. It is not as if did not know the truth behind this. He only wanted to show the depth of the devotion of . replied and said, “Oh, Lord, this body is going to be cut into two parts and the right part is going to be gifted to you for a sacred purpose. The left part is crying and shedding tears because it will then be thrown away and simply become food for the crows. It is crying because it is going to be thrown away in such an unsacred manner.” As soon as listened to these words, he started to repent and realised that this was a lesson taught to him and that there were more ardent devotees of than himself.

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The world is full of devotees of varying types. If it was in the aspect of devotion, would place at the feet of the Lord everything that he possessed. If we look at it from the angle of a householder, we have seen that he will honour any guest that came to his house by giving him anything. If we look at it from the point of view of the proper code of conduct of a ruler, was one who would observe this fully. He was fully prepared to fight and establish the code of conduct. was thus one who was always prepared in any sphere of activity whether it was worldly, material, or spiritual, and was ever ready to sacrifice and do anything. In order to proclaim this aspect of performing one’s duty in different spheres, brought this example to the world and to .

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Having passed through a period of slavery for several centuries and having attained our independence by our own struggle, if we become unmindful of our traditions which are 5000 years old, and if we are not able to understand the sanctity of the ideals that were established by the examples shown by , there is no wonder that we are in such an unfortunate situation as we are in today. was one who taught that one should be prepared to sacrifice everything for the sake of justice. taught this in the form of . ’s teachings and ideals were not such that while teaching that if you get a slap on one of your cheeks, you should be so considerate as to show the other cheek, yet you go ahead and produce an atom bomb in practice for the destruction of the world. This irreconcilable situation between preaching and practice did not belong to . Holding an atom bomb in one’s hand, people keep on shouting for peace. The kind of peace which they want cannot be attained, even if they go to the moon. All the time preparing for war and heading for agitation and revolution, we just talk of peace in the world. This is not the kind of philosophy which stood for or taught.

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was one who undertook to bring under one rule, the eighteen different kings and kingdoms that were existing at that time. That was the ideal which stood for. Who was the king under whom brought all the different kingdoms? It was . did not want to become the king himself. If we really pay heed to the ideals of or what did, we will not be in the unfortunate situation today when the country is divided into many parts.

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Recognise the ideals of this country and that it stands for. Use all your physical and mental strength to get back this sacred . I hope and bless you that this should be possible.