Prakruthi Marries Paramatma

22 May 1996, Summer Course 1996, Brindavan

Published English.

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The paths in the world are twofold: The path of (worldly way), and the path of (inward way). People think that the materialistic phenomena perceived and enjoyed by man belongs to the realm of , and everything that transcends it, embracing the blissful and the immortal, is the realm of . Actually, both are one and the same, for they arise from the same source. The outward tendencies are nothing but the resounds and the reflections of the feelings within.

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How is it that man is not able to free himself from the shackles of and follow the path of ? The tendencies of the past accumulated over many lives is the cause for this. It is not possible for anyone to plunge headlong into path of all of a sudden. The changeover from the path of to should be gradual and steady.

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The marriage celebrations at lasted four days. Though to us our marriage rituals appear to be merely materialistic, they are laden with deep, spiritual significance. On the first day of the marriage, the bridegroom’s party proceeded to the house of the bride, accompanied by and priests, to hand over the wedding invitation. On the same day, the bride’s party, accompanied by (women whose husbands are alive), proceeded to hand over the wedding invitation to the bridegroom’s house. On the second day, the history of the dynasties to which the bride and the bridegroom belonged was read out aloud, and due gratitude was expressed to their respective ancestors. The names of the great Kings who brought glory to and were read out and their virtues extolled. The great Emperors who adored the dynasty were remembered, and their virtues were praised. Similarly, the names of the great ones who reigned over the Kingdom of were read out, beginning with Emperor who founded the great city of . These rituals bring out the truth that gratitude is an important aspect of life, and should be expressed towards all those who had contributed to the glory of one’s lineage and country.

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On the third day, great acts of charity were performed. Cattle and cows, beautifully decorated with ornaments and golden linen, were given away in charity to the deserving ones. Giving away cows in charity is significant, for the cow is one of the four mothers of man ( , , and ).

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On the fourth day, the ritual of took place. brought his daughter , followed by , , and . These three were the daughters of ’s brothers and . was the daughter of , while and were the daughters of . In the meanwhile, brought his four sons. The curtain between the brides and bridegrooms was raised.

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was looking elsewhere and refused to look at . noticed this and said to , “” (this is my daughter ). To this replied, “I have not yet tied the (wedlock thread). It is sinful to see the lady before marriage to her, I do not wish to bring disrepute to the great lineage by my misconduct.” This statement of testifies to the fact that He was the Embodiment of . observed the principle of one wife, one word, and one arrow. While the priests were chanting and the musicians were playing on the musical instruments, tied the around the neck of .

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It was then the time for the bride and the groom to garland each other. stood much taller than , and it was difficult for to reach ’s height and garland Him; so she stood silently, holding the garland in her hand. then made a sign to . alone knew the meaning of this sign, as he was extremely intelligent. Understanding the sign made by , replied via another sign signifying that what wanted was not possible. had conveyed through His sign that since was (the serpent upon whose coils Lord reclined) he should raise the ground where was standing. , by his sign, indicated that if he were to raise the ground on which stood, the entire ground around them would be raised. was unwilling to bend down His head, for He had vowed that He would not bend His head to a lady, though He was ready to bend down His head for His devotees. who was very resourceful, immediately fell at the feet of . now had to bend down to raise to his feet. immediately took advantage of the situation and garlanded ! The four bridegrooms, accompanied by the four brides, then circumambulated the sacred fire.

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Revelations of Divinity A servant maid then brought a vessel filled with the water of the river for to wash the feet of . was hesitant to do so, for she thought that the golden wristlets that she wore might turn into women, as did the petrified rise as a fullblooded woman, on contacting the feet of ! who read the thoughts of , wiped the feet of with a towel. He then asked to wash the feet of with the waters of the river. did so and sprinkled the water on her head.

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At the time of (giving away the daughter as charity) , in accordance with the injunctions of the Scriptures said, “I am giving my daughter as charity to You.” The groom was then expected to say, “I accept your daughter”, but remained silent without uttering a single word. The priest who was officiating at the marriage said to , “Oh ! The auspicious moment is getting over; hurry up and say, ‘I accept your daughter.’” then replied, “Those in the lineage never accept charity. Since you have used the word after the word , I cannot accept her. Those in the dynasty only give charity and never accept it. If you remove the word after , I am prepared to accept her.” who understood the mind of , withdrew the word after the word . Thn, said, “I accept your daughter.” According to the Indian tradition, the bridegroom should make the promise (I will please her with regard to wealth, desire, and righteousness). refused to give such a promise for He felt that one should be ready to renounce one’s partner in life if she came between Him and His people. So, He vowed, “The welfare of my subjects is of Supreme importance to Me. If I find that she displeases My subjects, I will renounce her.” That is how set high standards of conduct as a ruler. The rulers of those days were particular about every word they uttered, for they would never go back on their word.

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Departs While they were busily engaged thus, came close and said, “Oh, and ! I am bestowing on you my last blessing, for I am going to the Himalayas right now. The mission on which I came to the world is already fulfilled. I was waiting to see marriage between and . I have been instrumental in bringing about the marriage of Lord and . It is high time I shed the body. That is why I am going to the Himalayas.” On hearing these words of , everyone felt sad and stunned. thus played a pivotal role in the early part of the . Before departure, gave away all his powerful weapons to and said, “You are the original source of all weapons. I am returning them to You. The welfare and well-being of the world rests with You. That is why I am delivering these weapons into Your hands.” Shedding profuse tears, said, “Sage , I cannot forget the good that you have done to my Son. I shall be ever grateful to you.” received the salutations of all the people there, consoled the crying ones, and went to the Himalayas. After this incident, there is no mention of anywhere in the .

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All arrangements were made for the return journey to , but and hesitated to start on that day. , who was an expert in the science of reading the omens, felt that it was not an auspicious day for the journey. But they could not tell it openly to everybody, so they said that they would join the group later. However, refused to agree to the suggestion and wanted them to get ready for the journey. who heard from the cause for hesitation, said to that the day was not auspicious for starting the journey. replied to her, “Why should you worry when the Lord Himself is coming with us? Lord is an Embodiment of Time. When the Lord Himself is coming with us, we should not wait for any such auspicious time. will look after us if anything untoward happens on the way.” The return trip to commenced, and the people of felt intensely sad. Even Emperor who was a great , himself shed tears. The people of were stunned when they saw that , who had no attachment, was crying. Explaining himself, said, “These tears of mine are not tears of sorrow, they are indeed tears of bliss.” sent a large retinue of chariots, horses, and elephants along with the four brides. While they were traveling, they heard a loud voice saying, “Stop!” appeared on the scene, much to the shock and surprise of everyone. said to , “Oh ! I have heard that You have broken the bow of . The bow of is of no consequence, and it is not at all hard to lift it. If You really have strength, You should break this weapon of mine.” So saying hurled his weapon at the feet of . calmly picked it up and broke the weapon. at once fell at the feet of .

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People have a distorted opinion about , describing him as a very egoistic sage who itched to fight with . actually came there for the divine purpose of handing over to one of the sixteen splendours () he had with him. A has sixteen splendours. Lord possessed twelve and his brothers had three . The remaining one kala was with . While bowing to the feet of , he passed on the sixteenth kala to Him. The caravan then continued toward , where a magnificent reception awaited them. Men and women sang and danced, and offered to the princes and their wives. There was joy and jubilation everywhere. The celebration lasted for ten full days.

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For twelve years, and assisted their father in the administration of the kingdom. They conducted themselves in a most exemplary manner, much to the delight of everyone in the kingdom.

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The Emperor’s Decision One night, felt thirsty and wanted to drink water. When he picked up the jug containing water, he found that his hand was trembling. He realised that he was no longer as strong as he once was, and it dawned upon him that having become weak, he was unworthy of ruling the kingdom any longer. This thought deeply disturbed him, and he could not sleep the rest of the night. felt he had become weak and his conscience told him that he was no longer fit to rule. He then and there decided to hand over the kingdom to a worthy successor. The next morning he summoned his Ministers to hold deliberations about the prospective ruler of . How magnanimous and noble was the conduct of ! The conduct of is in sharp contrast with the conduct of modern politicians who wish to cling on to power despite their many disabilities.

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It was decided in the meeting that , the eldest son, was the worthy successor to the throne of . He was able, efficient, ideal and Omniscient. The citizens greatly rejoiced at the prospect of becoming their ruler. was very dear to them. They called Him . The citizens were yearning to have as their ruler, for He was the very Embodiment of Love. Grand arrange-ents were then made to celebrate the great event with all magnificence.

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’s Mischief , the servant-maid of Queen , was smitten to the quick when she heard that was to be crowned as the Emperor of . She bore a grudge against from the day she had been hurt by a ball hit by , which struck her on her back. It so happened that happened to be at a place where the four brothers were playing with a ball. When kicked the ball, it went straight to and hit her on the back. jumped up as soon as the ball struck her. All the brothers, except , laughed aloud at the action of . She felt deeply insulted, and from that day harboured ill-feeling toward . When she heard about ’s impending coronation, her anger increased by leaps and bounds, and she desperately sought an outlet. The (anger) of and (desire) of are the cause for the entire . The anger of sent to the forest and the desire of sent to .

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The hard-hearted then went to and gave her the news. felt overjoyed when she first heard from that , who was dearest to her heart, was going to be crowned as the Emperor next morning.

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became furious when Queen gifted a pearl necklace on receiving the good news of ’s coronation. She immediately flung it away, for she could not brook the idea that , who had once insulted her, was going to be crowned as the Emperor of . Inflamed with anger, she began poisoning the mind of , though the queen had nurtured deep love for . Indescribable is the damage done by anger.

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ultimately succeeded in changing the mind of and caused the departure of , and from . The hour at which was to be crowned became instead the hour of His departure from .

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Some people say that the time set for the coronation was not an auspicious one, and it was that which caused the departure of from . Such a contention is wrong. The time for the coronation was set by no less a person than the enlightened Sage . All said and done, it was the will of that ultimately caused His departure from . had long ago prepared the mind of in this regard, for He had been very close to her. One day during the course of His conversation with he said to her, “Mother, be prepared for My departure to the dense forests. I have to go there to bring about the destruction of the demons. You may earn an evil reputation due to this, but be strong in mind. Ask father the boon that should be crowned as King and that I should be sent to the forest.” That was the intimacy and understanding which existed between Queen and . She was an embodiment of virtue. She loved more than her son .

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At last, the hour for the departure of from arrived. was all smiles, though the hour of coronation turned out to be the hour of His departure to the forest. could behave like this because He was no ordinary human but the Embodiment of Divinity. could not take the sad news with equanimity like . She said, “Oh ! I had never dreamt even in my wildest dreams that You would go to the forest. What is destined to happen will happen. For You, the forest will be , and for me, this will be a forest. Succeed in Your mission and come back home.” Journey to the Forest As was leaving for the forest joined Him, for it was impossible for him to live without . Separation between and is unthinkable, because was the incarnation of , on whom Lord reclines. accompanied without speaking a word to anybody. He simply told , “Oh , I came to this world to serve You. I cannot live without You even for a moment.” Since knew the heart of , He allowed him to accompany Him. Meanwhile, the people came to know of the departure of . They were plunged into inexpressible grief and cried out heartrendingly, “We cannot live without . It is better to be dead than alive, for we cannot endure the agony of separation from .” consoled them and made His way to the forest. Back in , died of the grief of separation from .

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At the time went into exile, and were away in the Kingdom of , having been taken there by their uncle. Sage , the high priest, sent word to the King of that and should be sent back to immediately. He did not inform them that had died. It took fifteen days for and to reach , though they sped fast in chariots. The two brothers were shocked to see the lustreless face of . Birds and beasts hung their heads in sorrow, and were crying disconsolately. Dogs were roaming on the roads, whining loudly. stopped the chariot in front of the mansion of and rushed to see his mother but was shocked to see her condition. She told that had passed away and that he should perform the obituary rites. felt sad that he did not have the good fortune of seeing his father when he was on his deathbed. He consoled himself that at least and merited the good fortune of being with their father at the last moment.

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, the ideal brother then rushed to the mansion of mother . There, related to him the chain of events that led to the departure of , , and from . ’s sorrow at the death of his father receded into the background when he heard the more sorrowful news of the departure of from . His grief at the death of his father turned into fury when he heard that it was his father who had commanded to leave . Flushed with anger and fury, he refused to perform the obituary rites to his father and decided to go to the forest to bring back to . But Sage pacified him and convinced him that it was his duty to perform the last rites of his father. Eventually performed the last rites to the body, which had been preserved in oil for fifteen days.

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now resolved to bring back to . Accompanied by his mothers, ministers, and the royal entourage, he proceeded to the forest. Even accompanied him. Saint has paid tribute to by describing him as an “intelligent” one. The Saint sang,

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Would the monkey cross the bridge? Would goddess adore You and worship You? Would the Intelligent salute You If You are not really Divine?

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followed the trail left by ’s chariot. Deep in the forest, he found flocks of birds moving about. Looking at them, concluded there must be water in the neighbourhood because birds usually flock in large numbers near water sources. He also concluded that would not be far away from the source of water, for He too would require water. The huge procession of men, soldiers, horses ,and elephants that followed created a commotion and kicked up clouds of dust high into the sky. was curious to find out the source of all this commotion. Climbing to the top of a tree, he found that was coming with an army and the people of . Since he was the incarnation of (the thousand-hooded serpent), he was immediately smitten by anger and burst out, “Oh ! is coming here to drive us deeper into the forest. He has come with his army to fight us.” smiled at and said, “! Though you have moved with you have not understood him. He is the embodiment of peace, and he loves Me deeply. Do not harbour any ill-feeling toward him. Wait and see.” came running to and fell at His feet. He wailed and wept, and sought His forgiveness for all that had happened. caressed His brother and said, “Oh ! Are mother and father doing well? Is everyone safe at home?” Doubting Thomases may wonder, “If was really God, why did He ask about His father’s welfare when had already died?” We should realise that the who comes in a human form behaves in a human way. At the same time, He conducts himself with exemplary excellence, so that mankind may learn from Him.

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gave Him the news of the death of . , who heard the sad news of His father’s death, went to the river accompanied by His three brothers to offer oblations. After this, pleaded with to come back to and rule the kingdom. But refused for He would never break the word He had given to His father. told that he would not live in without Him, because sans was a forest. He would install the sandals of on the throne, and he himself would live in outside . He would carry out the affairs of the state from there. He would await ’s arrival for fourteen years at . If did not arrive in at the end of the term, he would immolate himself. told to rule over the kingdom justly, and assured that He would surely return to at the end of fourteen years. Counseled thus by , left for with a heavy heart. All the brothers of were most obedient to Him. For them, His word was a commandment.

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One day, asked to build a hut on the mountain. asked Him to select the spot for the hut. said, “! Build the hut wherever you like.” Hearing these words was struck speechless and felt deeply pained. When asked him the cause for his grief, said, “I don’t have a will of my own. The liking of is my liking. What sin have I committed to merit such words from ?” , who understood the heart of , caressed and said, “forgive Me for having hurt you. Build a hut here, on this spot.” The demonstrates to us how one should live in the world, in the society, and in the family. provides the example of an ideal brother, ideal son, ideal husband and ideal ruler. The ideal of is most relevant to the world, at a time when it is fraught with chaos and confusion. We live today in a world where misunderstanding is driving a wedge between husband and wife, father and son, teacher and student, rulers and citizens. The remedy for all this lies in following the ideal set by .