ON REAL KNOWLEDGE

There are eminent public speakers, erudite scholars, and speakers on religion, spirituality and philosophy who are capable of carrying the audience off their feet! The audience are mad after them and attend their lectures and discourses time and again. A few of these who attend their lectures may even get reformed and quit their evil ways and turn spiritual! They may feel sorry for the manner in which they had led their earlier life. But it is doubtful if the speakers themselves have led pure, ideal and exemplary lives they recommend to others! One who speaks of detachment is totally attached to mundane things! The other who is against hoarding money is himself a rich man and miser! One who advocates love for all in his speeches is a communalist and hates others! One who speaks of a religion doesn't like another religion! In the same way a lover of a particular language hates other languages like Sanskrit and Hindi! In other words there is fanaticism over religion, language and various other things in life! There is a distinct variance between what you speak or preach and how you act! Ego, pride, and arrogance dictate the lives of eminent scholars, speakers and even spiritual teachers! Their personal lives are far removed from what they teach and propagate! They are puffed up with the pride of their knowledge which cannot help them at the end! Sankara had warned already in his Bhajagovindam “viddhi vyadyabhimana grastham lokam soka hatamcha samastam”

There lived a brahmin scholar well versed in the Itihasas and Puranas. He was an authority in the Bhagavata Purana, and wanted to show off his erudition! His ambition was such that he wanted to teach the king of the land. He went to the king and openly offered to teach him the scriptures! The king, for a while, was taken aback by the offer of the brahmin. The king knew immediately the pride and vanity of the brahmin. One who is the master of scriptures wouldn't boast himself especially before the king. All scriptures recommend Self realization and the Bhagavata Purana is no exception to this ideal! The study of the Bhagavata Purana can never drive a person to the king for money and honor!  The king told the brahmin that the he had not read  the Purana properly! He would become his student after he understands the Bhagavata Purana properly! The king sent away the scholarly brahmin to the utter disgrace and disappointment of the scholar!

The brahmin was shocked and angry at the discomfiture at the king’s place. “How dare he underestimate the brahmin and his erudition after a long period of the study of the scriptures?”, he thought. But he once again did a thorough reading of the scripture keeping in mind what the king had said. After satisfying himself that he has prepared well, the brahmin went to the king once again with high expectations! The king listened to him but wasn't satisfied. Still the brahmin fell short of  the King’s assessment! It was a very great humiliation for the brahmin to be sent back by the king for the second time! He didn't know what to do! Is the king playing a game or is there any plan behind the action of the king, he thought. There must be some meaning or message behind the action of the king he felt! The king is not a fool to rebut and send away a scholar casually! The brahmin couldn't believe what had happened to him!

He sat up and went through the Bhagavata Purana once again and several times mainly to spot out the reason for his rejection by the king. Not to be disturbed in his studies, he shut himself in  a room! The more he studied the better he understood the hidden meaning in the words of the scripture! He now realized that wealth and money are as transient and unstable as the bubble in the wave! He understood that life is as short lived as the brilliant flash of lightning ending in total darkness! He clearly saw in his mind the futility of running after money and material, wealth and honor! That was the turning point in the life of the brahmin! He turned his eye on perfection and  worship of God to achieve his ideal! He totally forgot the king in his devotion to God and the attempt for purity and perfection! Days rolled on and a few years went by. While the brahmin scholar was immersed in his deep devotion to God and realizing his Self, the king, engrossed in his regal duties, suddenly remembered the scholar! He wondered why the brahmin had not returned. He wanted to know what had happened to him.  He took pains to visit the brahmin at his home and went there personally. The sight that he saw there amazed him and it was incredible! He perceived the brahmin” now radiant with Divine light and love!” There he saw the brahmin totally transformed into a real spiritual entity capable of educating a multitude of aspirants in true knowledge and non attachment!

The king lost all his ego and pride! He saw before him the epitome of love and radiance, the brahmin, who has achieved Self realization! There was nothing greater than that! That is the  summum bonum’ of life! It is that which he wanted to see in the brahmin when he came twice! The king fell upon his knees and said, “ I see that you have now realized the true meaning of the scriptures. I am ready to be your disciple if you will duly condescend to make me one.” Through this parable, Sri Ramakrishna Illustrates how meaningless and vain are your wealth, scholarship and all other mundane things! The purpose of man on the surface or earth is to know the Self or  spirit that has enshrined itself in his heart! The Self is indestructible “ ajayamano bahudha vijayate”- never born but manifests in many! All education, scholarship, wealth, fame and name are worthless if you do not know who you are! You are the Atma, the Eternal Soul!