The Mission Commences

21 May 1996, Summer Course 1996, Brindavan

Published English.

1

When truth, righteousness, and love are practised, Earth greatly rejoices. These noble principles secure universal peace and happiness. Listen to this noble truth, Oh! brave son of .

2

Sage propagated the in three different ways: As the story of , as the story of , and as the story of the slaying of .

3

. The unfolds the story of . It is also the story of Divinity. Further, the is the epic that unfolds the story of ; and the story of is also the story of the individual self. The third aspect of the is the annihilation of . The destruction of signifies the destruction of ignorance. Ignorance is extinguished when we realise perfectly the relationship between the individual self and the Absolute Self.

4

There are three syllables , a, and ma in the word . signifies the principle of fire; a signifies the principle of the Sun; ma signifies the principle of the Moon. The primal sound A, which is the Sun principle, dispels the darkness of ignorance. Ma, which signifies the Moon principle, cools the inner heart. , which signifies the fire principle, destroys illusion. Hence, the name of contains the Vedic message:

5

(Lead us from falsehood to truth). (Lead us from darkness to light). (Lead us from death to immortality).

6

’s Joy When the four children were born, Emperor performed all the rituals connected with the birth of the children. On the second day, asked Sage , to bestow his blessings on the four children. At first, Sage remained speechless and could not utter the words of blessing. Recovering, said, “How can I utter them when I am spellbound? The mission for which I came to the royal house is fulfilled today.” He added: “I came here as a priest so that I may have the good fortune of associating myself with the Lord, who has chosen to be born in your lineage. I did not come to you tempted by your wealth and stature. The One who has taken birth in your lineage is verily God Himself. But swayed by illusion, you harbour the notion that He is a human child.” returned home shedding profuse tears of Bliss, for he realised that his life had attained fulfilment that day.

7

The Tutelage Prior to this, a significant thing happened as soon as was born. The servant maid of rushed to to inform him of the good news of the birth of the child. Overjoyed by the good news, wished to present the servant maid with a necklace of precious stones. The servant maid rejected the offer and instead pleaded: “Master, grant me the boon of fondling, caressing and cradling your child.” Such noble thoughts arise in people due to the meritorious lives led by them in the past.

8

Emperor brought up his children with great love and affection and performed the thread ceremony when they were five years old. The Emperor prayed to Sage to initiate the children into the discipline of learning. The children mastered the four before their tenth year. Indeed, before the age of ten, they became masters of all types of knowledge - moral, secular, and spiritual. These four children strove to secure the welfare and well being of all people.

9

The foremost knowledge obtained was that of the Spirit, for spiritual learning is supreme learning. All secular disciplines are like streams, whereas spiritual knowledge is like a mighty ocean. These four children also cultivated noble virtues and supreme qualities. The children cultivated qualities that were not tainted by selfishness. They mastered military arts like archery, swordsmanship, and equestrian skills. The four brothers were past masters in horse riding and elephant riding. They rode so fast that people could hardly see them. It was who initiated into archery, since she was an expert archer herself. She taught Him military skills with great love and rare affection.

10

When the children attained the age of fourteen, decided to get them married. It was the tradition in those days to perform the marriage early so that the boys did not go astray. For this purpose, the Emperor consulted elders and men of eminence, like Sage .

11

At this stage, Sage arrived on the scene. received him with great reverence and courtesy. Sage first blessed the Emperor and made enquiries about the welfare of the Emperor and his subjects. When asked him the reason for his visit, said that he would explain the cause only if the King promised to grant him his wish. When promised that he would honour the words of the Sage, said that the King should send his son for the protection of his (sacrifice). Hearing the words of the Sage, pleaded, “Oh Sage! My son is only fourteen years old. He is tender and has not known any hardship. So, it is not possible for me to send my son along with you for the protection of the .” became furious and said, “It is extreme folly to go back on your word, for no one in the noble lineage of has, until now, ever broken his word. The scions of the lineage have always been truthful, pure, and sacred. You are tainting their glory by breaking the promise given to me. No merit accrues to those who break their promise, even if they perform many a noble deed and . Death is preferable to the sin of uttering falsehood. It is better that one dies rather than break one’s promise.” became frightened on hearing the words of Sage . At that instant, arrived. Assessing what had happened, the Sage said to , “Oh King, it is not proper on the part of the scions of the lineage to go back on their word. You need not fear about the safety of . He is the auspicious One and the incarnation of . You should send along with for the protection of the .” agreed to send along with . wanted to follow since he was the very reflection of . He was ’s shadow. Similarly, would follow , since he was the very reflection of . The following episode illustrates how and were attached to and .

12

’s two children, and , arrived in the world crying as soon as they were born. They would not stop crying at all, while and were playing about with blissful smiles, in their cradles. The children of puzzled everybody by their incessant crying. tried, by resorting to various stratagems like toys and colourful objects to make them stop crying but it was of no avail. Emperor consulted several physicians to cure the strange malady of ’s children; but nothing worked. Mother then called Sage as the last resort to her problem. The eminent Sage meditated for some time and said, “Oh Mother, you need not administer any medicine to alleviate your children’s suffering. All you have to do is to keep by the side of , and in the cradle of . and are of one , and so are and .” did accordingly and found that and stopped crying immediately. The two children who had refused to drink milk until then, started taking food and playing in the cradle. Surprised at this sudden change of their behaviour, prayed to the Sage to explain the cause of this behaviour. The Sage explained thus, “Oh noble mother, a branch is a part of the tree. Humans are part of Divinity and cannot live without Him. Since was born of the same aspect as , he did not rest until he was united with . The same holds good for . He would not bear the separation from . The Individual cannot live apart from the Absolute Self, which is its source. A fish cannot exist away from water, even if it is placed in a golden bowl studded with precious stones. The fish can be at rest only in water and not in a golden bowl, for water is its life source. Similarly, the individual self is restless until it reaches the Absolute Self, which is its source.” Though many people have power and wealth at their command they enjoy no peace of mind, for they live apart from their source, which is God. The world may give temporary joy; but to enjoy eternal peace and bliss, we must go back to the source. This episode of and crying until they were united with and respectively, illustrates the supreme truth that the individual being too can find happiness only in the union with the Eternal. It is the first great lesson that the teaches us.

13

comforted saying that, because was the incarnation of , nothing would happen to Him. He further assured him that he should not grieve over the departure, since was Divinity Himself. He thus tried to dispel the spell of illusion that surrounded . Though he tried to free from the spell of illusion, later he himself came under the spell while going with through the forest.

14

It was evening when the Sage and the two brothers reached the banks of the river . He then said, “Oh and , you are young and have never set eyes on the terrible forms of demons until now. I will teach you the , to protect yourselves from the Demons.” After teaching the to the children, he regretted his audacity to teach to the very embodiments of Divinity!

15

The mission starts On the second day, , accompanied by and , proceeded to , which had earlier been sanctified by Lord , who was none other than born in the lineage of . After reaching the , said to , “Oh ! This is harassed by the demoness , who possesses the strength of a hundred elephants. You will have to kill her.” To this replied, “, I don’t wish to kill a female, since the scriptures forbid it.” replied, “Females should be killed if they commit atrocities. It is not sinful to kill a female who is a curse to the world.” then quoted the scriptures as saying, “It is not righteous on the part of anyone to kill the one who is frightened, one who is asleep, one who is intoxicated, one who has sought protection, and one who is a female.” answered this by saying, “Though the scriptures forbid the slaying of a woman, it is not sinful to kill a woman who has perpetrated crimes on mankind.” Still unconvinced, asked, “Was there anyone in the past who has killed women?” then replied, “ himself killed , the daughter of for she had inflicted great suffering on mankind. justified his act by asserting that deserved to die. killed the wife of sage , since she indulged in violence.” Hearing these accounts, decided to slay . realised that the noble and righteous women should not be touched but evil demons who committed atrocities must be killed. While they were deliberating thus, they heard deafening sounds emanating from . She rained stones on them. By discharging his arrows, stopped the volley of stones. She then began to rain blood and fire. encountered her bravely and repulsed her attack. Thereupon, assumed an ugly form and made deafening and frightening sounds. employed the technique of by which the discharged arrows reach the very source of sound and attack it. The demoness was thrown on the ground immediately. After some time and , the sons of launched an attack. Like , they also rained fire, blood and stones on . then used , which hurled to a distance of a hundred miles. then released the on , who collapsed on the ground then and there. followed this up by launching the on the followers of , who melted into thin air instantaneously. Eventually regained its original serenity and peace, and the inmates of the hermitage - sages, students, women, and children - were filled with unspeakable joy. The sages gathered in front of and extolled Him, “Oh ! You are verily the incarnation of Lord . You are the Omniscient, the Omnipotent, and the all-pervasive One. In Your youth itself, You have achieved what no one could achieve before."

16

then started the performance of the , which lasted over five days. In accordance with the promise they had given to , and guarded the continuously, moving around the sacrificial altar, forsaking food and sleep. Upon the conclusion of the , asked and to relax, for they had had no rest during the previous five days.

17

At this stage news arrived from , the King of , that a meeting was being arranged to which the bravest heroes of were being invited. It was to see if anyone could break the bow of . The victor could win the hand of ’s daughter, . told and that they should go to to break the bow of . At first was not keen to go to since He had not obtained the permission of His father. convinced them thus, “, your father ordered You to obey my command and asked You to conduct Yourself in consonance with my wishes. Since I ask You to go to , along with me, You have to obey my word.” had no option but to obey the command of .

18

It was during the journey to that Sage gave to powerful arrows like , etc., for he was a master of archery. The hermits and others who lived in the chose to accompany as far as , for they knew that would never return to . The animals that lived around shed profuse tears when chose to go to . had great compassion for animals and treated them with unbounded love and affection. The birds and beasts also followed and , since they were fascinated by these two princes of .

19

During the journey, narrated to them the past history of the that they came across on the way. At last, they reached the hermitage of where ’s wife, , lay in one place like a stone, having been earlier cursed by her husband. , the incarnation of Lord , knew everything, but pretended as though He did not know anything. As He moved toward , the vibrations that emanated from His feet brought a new surge of life into her petrified form. She immediately clung to the feet of , and prayed to Him to forgive her and shower grace on her. At that very instant, Sage arrived on the scene and accepted the purified . knew that Lord would come and sanctify his . After redeeming , and , accompanied by , , and a host of other sages, proceeded towards .

20

The arrival of and , who moved like lion cubs in the streets of , created a sensation. People admired them and began talking about these two handsome princes. Emperor received them with due courtesy and extended to them warm hospitality. had made all arrangements for them in a spacious mansion. pretended as though He was tired and lay down. Keeping one leg on the other, He started massaging His own feet. Sage arrived there to see Lord in human form. Observing the Lord massaging His feet, said, “Lord are You tired because You have walked a long distance?” To this replied, “, do I ever get tired? Never. This body of Mine has come for your sake and not for Mine. With this human body of Mine, I have to bring succour to the ailments of man.” The power of God descends to the earth in human form for the sustenance of . Of all the living beings that exist in the world, it is man alone who has strayed from the path of . When Divinity dons the garb of a human body, people are thickly blanketed by illusion. They become blind to the Divinity of God. Illusion covers the eyes of men like a thick curtain and prevents them from seeing the Reality. Even and were no exception to this, though they came into intimate contact with Divinity.

21

Once complained to mother that his brother was eating mud. Challenged by to tell the truth, little made a startling statement, “Oh mother dear! Am I an infant, or a foolish one, or a mad one, to eat mud?” These very words speak eloquently about the Divinity of , but poor failed to fathom the depth of the revelation contained in ’s words. On the other hand, she demanded that should open His mouth, so that she could check for herself whether had eaten mud. Little opened His mouth wide. To her utter shock and amazement, saw heavenly spheres rolling in the mouth of . She exclaimed:

22

Is this a dream or magic spell cast by a magician? Is all this true or false? Am I awake? Am I ?

23

At that instant, she realised that was verily God Himself. However, this realisation did not last long. As soon as closed His mouth and stood in front of her with an innocent look, she hugged Him to herself, and treated him as an ordinary child. It was the same with great Sages like and as well.

24

Though Sage had firmly declared to that his son was the very Embodiment of Divinity, he chose to teach the as though was an ordinary prince. Even an eminent Sage like could not escape the magic spell cast by (illusion).

25

’s Bow is broken Thousands of strong men wheeled the great bow of into the open court. Many a Prince from far-off parts of had assembled there, to win the hand of . They were more interested in winning the hand of than in facing the trial of strength. But and came there in simple obedience to the command of and without any expectation. One after another, the Princes tried to lift the bow of ; but they returned to their seats humiliated. Even came there to lift the bow and break it, but he fell under the bow, much to his humiliation. The one who is swayed by ego is sure to suffer in life. When people laughed loudly at his plight, felt deeply wounded, as though he had lost all his ten heads.

26

At that instant, walked quietly towardsthe bow, much to the chagrin and amazement of the princes gathered. Commotion arose in the court when , a tender boy of fourteen, was walking towards the bow of , for it was an audacious act on the part of a young boy to dare to lift the matchless bow of . But the instant reached the bow and raised it with His left hand, there was thunderous applause. When bent the bow to tie the string, the bow snapped with a deafening sound. The people clapped loud and long, rejoicing that a worthy one had at last arrived to win the hand of . asked whether he was ready to marry . politely observed that He would not think of marriage without obtaining consent of His parents. went so far as to say that He would not even look at without obtaining the permission of His parents. Thereupon, Emperor sent speedy messengers on chariots to bring and his entourage to . The men and women were filled with joy and jubilation at the prospect of the marriage between and . They sang many a song expressing their desire to see the marriage.

27

In the meantime, accompanied by his Queens, Ministers and a host of others, arrived at . Emperor received them with great courtesy and extended full hospitality. All preparations were ready for the grand event, and , adorned with most beautiful ornaments, was brought to the marriage .

28

It is an Indian custom that the bride and the bridegroom should pour on each others’ head a handful of sacred grain. Since and were of royal lineage, arrangements were made for and to pour precious pearls on each others’ head. The white pearls shone with orange splendour when they were in the hands of , for had painted her hands in red. When these pearls were placed on the white turban of , they shone white. When these pearls fell on the blue complexioned body of , they shone like sapphires.

29

The marriage of and was verily the marriage of and . Since was born of the Earth, she was endowed with the magnetic power of the Earth. That is why she could easily lift the bow which was also a part of . With the aid of magnetic power, the bow slowly raised itself, as once tried to lift it. The same principle operated when tried to lift the bow of . Since was a magnet Himself, it was not that difficult for Him to raise the bow. It was all a part of Divine drama enacted for the benefit of mankind. The marriage of and was performed on a most magnificent scale, and people vied with each other to sing the glory and grandeur of the Divine wedding.