Dear Friends,
Namaste!
Let’s continue our story of the King and his six sons.
The King’s curiosity was fully aroused by now. He kept gaping as the Guru went about the business of arranging the articles he had brought with him from the palace.
Initially, the Guru returned to the cave with a stack-full of holy literature. It consisted of the Bhagvad Geeta and several volumes of Vedas and the Vedanta. The Guru placed these in a neat pile in one of the corners in his cave.
Then the Guru returned with several valuable items such as gold coins and ornaments, jewels, silk clothing, silver pots, fine perfumes and so on. Carefully, he arranged all these items in another corner of the cave.
Then he came back with a deer skin, rosary (a string of beads used to count the prayers), an armrest (“Kubadi”) and a small water container (“Kamandalu”). He placed all of these together in yet another corner of the cave.
The King kept watching as the Guru brought back next an idol of a deity, a bell, flowers and such material used for worship. The Guru proceeded to keep these articles in the fourth corner of the cave.
Finally, the Guru returned with a set of vocational equipment and tools. This consisted of a plough, a sword, a bow and arrow, a potter’s wheel, a spade and an axe. He went on to place these in the middle of the cave.
Satisfied with the arrangement, he turned to the King and told him that it was now time to bring in the waiting princes, one by one. The King immediately obliged and the first prince entered the cave. The Guru went on to explain the rules of the game and urged the prince to put his finger on the one (and only one) thing that he related to most.
“I will go for the ornaments, jewels, perfumes etc.” said the prince after carefully observing the articles around. “Pray why?” inquired the Guru.
“Well, it’s like this,” the prince went on, “I believe that this life of ours is a great opportunity for enjoying ourselves to the fullest. In order to do that, you need wealth. You can buy anything with money. You can then use what you have bought, for your comfort and enjoyment. Practically speaking, wealthier I am, the happier I will be. I can make others also happy by sharing some of my wealth with them if need be.
“Further, I will also gain status and recognition through this wealth. If one is poor, he fails to earn the respect of even his near and dear ones! On the other hand, a rich person is sought after by one and all and acquires great fame.”
“Therefore, I would like to acquire a lot of wealth and use the same to make the most of my life.”
“Fair enough,” commented the Guru, “You may now please go back to your shelter and send one of your brothers next.”
The prince stepped out. The Guru then turned to the King whose face bore a huge question-mark.
The Guru smiled, “O King, this prince of yours belongs to a category of people called Materialistic. People in this category feel that they are the centre of this universe. This universe is a series of random events. Therefore, present moment is all one can count on and there is no saying what will happen next. And you have to make the most of the present moment by enjoying all possible luxuries this world has to offer.”
“For such people, the concept of their identity is strongly attached to their body and therefore they go all out to provide as much comfort as possible to their body.”
“There is a caveat in their approach, though!” continued the knowledgeable Guru, “These people, quite naturally and like everyone else, want infinite and everlasting happiness. However, material world is finite, transient, uncertain. And when the input is finite, the output can never be infinite. When the input is transient, the output can never be permanent. Plus, the law of diminishing utility applies! Therefore, materialistic people never get to their destination because their premise that they will get something immeasurable from something quite limited itself is wrong!”
“So, what will you teach this materialistic son of mine?” asked the King in a worried voice.
“We know that fire is aided by a breeze but blown out by a tempest. Similarly, desires of materialistic people increase by regular enjoyment of worldly pleasures but can be ‘blown out’ by excess of the same. I will use this strategy to bring him to VishaadYoga (Yoga with disillusionment). Then will he understand that he will need to do something else, something more, to attain his goal.”
See you….
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