Dear Friends,
Namaste!
The fourth prince had a likeable character. He had an air of child-like innocence and inquisitiveness.
He looked around with intense curiosity at various contents of the cave. After the Guru asked him to take his pick, he chose the holy literature.
“Pray tell us why you have chosen the holy literature over everything else” probed the Guru gently.
“It’s quite straightforward really” obliged the fourth prince, “I was born a prince. Life has been good to me. I have had every single thing a human being can ever yearn. And I have been good to Life too. I have done my bit by trying to perform my duties to the fullest of my abilities, make everybody happy and so on.
“So far, so good! However, I am plagued by a number of quite fundamental questions. Earlier, I was able to push them in the background as I had other things to achieve etc. But now having ‘been there, done it all’, those questions have come back to haunt me.”
“And what are those questions my dear fellow?” The Guru gave a sympathetic ear.
“Silly to be honest!” said the fourth prince sheepishly, “Questions like – What is the meaning of this life? Why is there suffering in this world (especially if there exists the omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient power called ‘God’)? Is it really possible for a human (or any other) being to completely eradicate all the grief from the surface of this earth? Or suffering and happiness will continue forever like night and day? What is death really and is it the ultimate truth? Or is there life beyond death? What is the true nature of this world? Does Absolute Reality really exist or is it just a myth? Who am I? Body? Mind? Or something else? (If something else, what else?)
“It is my belief that these basic questions will have logical and satisfactory answers in the holy literature. Hence I chose the same over everything else in this cave.”
“So you did!” said the Guru, “But that’s all for now. You may leave and send in your fifth brother next.”
As the prince left, the Guru turned to the King, “O King, this prince is a Seeker of Knowledge. He has achieved everything that can be achieved in this material world and naturally is looking for something beyond. He seems to now understand that there is much more to this world than what can be gauged by our senses. He is extremely curious to find out what that is. He knows that there is much more to this world, to life, to this universe and to God than whatever he can see, feel, taste, smell and hear! He is setting out to embrace that Whole Reality or the Absolute Truth! He believes that once he knows the entire jig-saw puzzle, he will achieve his natural aim of being fully at peace and happy.
“He is not far wrong” continued the Guru as the fascinated King heard on, “This knowledge of the Whole Reality or the Absolute Truth is the most sacred and divine thing in this whole universe! The prince will indeed be flooded with waves and waves of happiness as he acquires the knowledge.
“I will teach him JnanaYoga (Yoga of Acquiring Knowledge) so that all his relevant questions will be answered to his fullest satisfaction. However, in the present state of mind, he will find it incredibly difficult to grasp this knowledge. For this knowledge is subtler than the subtlest, sharper than the sharpest, denser than the densest! He will need a very calm mind and a razor-sharp intellect to get to grips with this knowledge. Therefore, even before I impart JnanaYoga to him, I will first make him an expert in the next two limbs of AshtangaYoga, viz., ‘Pratyahar’ (sense control) and ‘Dharana’(concentration).
“Through sense control, he will learn how not to get distracted by external stimuli. That will make his mind completely steady and calm. Once he achieves the steadiness of his mind, he can then concentrate or bring all his intellectual powers together to make his intellect pointed. And with this pointed intellect, O King, will he penetrate the Divine Knowledge and get to its very heart! Like a sponge, he will understand and absorb every little ounce of this knowledge.”
“How very insightful and exciting!” exclaimed the King, “To me, it looks like there is nothing else that needs to be achieved in human life after this! Having health, prosperity, success and then understanding the holy secret of Life!! What more can a person hope to get?”
What did the Guru have to say to this? What happened to the fifth prince?
Friends, let’s discover it next week…
Till then, take good care of yourselves!
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