The Vedantic doctrines are very profound but appear very simple! Everyone refers to them easily to show off their knowledge. But it is very difficult to realize the profundity and significance of the ‘ Maha Vakyas’ of the Vedas. “ Aham Brahmasmi'” I myself am Brahman. The common man, if he says that, we cannot consider it seriously since he is merely repeating the Vedic statement! He has not realized and reached the stage when he can authoritatively state that he is Brahman! In the same way the other Vakyas like ’Ayam Atma Brahma’, ‘ Ekam evadvitiyam Brahma’. It is meaningless if you do something and say that everything is Brahman. A few Vedantic statements are controversial and contradictory! We should be very careful in understanding them! We should not take them literally but try to catch the spirit behind them! There is also ways the danger of misunderstanding the statements of philosophy!
A king was an admirer of Vedanta and wanted to know more about it. He engaged a a great Vedantin as his Guru and began studying. He was very much impressed by the Vedantic doctrine which states that the whole universe is Brahman or the Absolute. The King loved this statement and immediately thought that every object, man, woman, and all animate and inanimate objects are Brahman. He failed to realize the spirit behind the Vedantic statement. In privacy, when he met the queen, he wanted to tell her about what he had learnt from his Guru. He told the queen that there was no distinction between the queen and the queen’s maid servant and that the maid servant shall be his queen henceforth! The statement of the king fell on her like a bolt from the blue! She was shocked and puzzled at the sudden behavior of the king. She knew that there was something wrong with the king!
She had to save herself lest the king in his blindness may take the maid servant as his queen! She sent for the Guru and complained against the disastrous consequence of his Advaitic teaching! The Guru listened to her calmly and consoled her. He assured her that he would he would cure the madness and misunderstanding of the king. He asked the queen to arrange for dinner and keep ready a pot of cowdung for serving along with rice! At dinner time the Guru and the king sat together for eating.The king was shocked to see the dish of cow dung kept along with the other dishes for dinner! He grew furious and questioned the queen for the grievous mistake she had done. The Guru sat calmly and smiling.
He questioned the king and pointed out that he was well versed in the knowledge of Vedanta! Why should he see any distinction between the cow dung and rice! The whole universe is Brahman! Everything is one and the same. There is no difference between rice and cow dung. In his exasperation the king grew wild with anger and shouted at the Guru. He as a great follower of Advaitic principles should set an example by eating the cow dung! The king thought that it would be impossible for the Guru to eat the cow dung as he is an ordinary mortal! He failed to recognize the spiritual power of his own Guru. To his amazement, the Guru transformed himself into a swine and ate away the cow dung in the dish! The king was petrified and could not believe his own eyes!
Soon the Guru regained his original form. The king realized the greatness of his Guru and felt sorry for underestimating him. He realized his gross mistake in thinking that the universe is Brahman.The Brahma or the Atma manifests in every object, living and nonliving, of the universe! It is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient! It is this aspect of the Brahman that one has to understand and realize! The king had misunderstood the famous teaching of Advaita! The maid servant cannot become the queen. The same Atma or Brahma in the queen is manifest in the servant maid also. This recognition is the ultimate end of all Vedanta! Hence we should not take the Vedantic Vakyas literally. The king was ashamed of his foolishness and refrained from any such action henceforth!
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