Janaka was the king of Mithila. He was an excellent king with incomparable spiritual knowledge! But his mind was always in quest of gaining the true knowledge of Self! He was a true seeker! His longing for enlightenment was so strong that he gathered all the scholars in his court to arrange a debate. Scholars from various places came to the royal court of Janaka to join the spiritual discussion. He wanted to get enlightened! Having heard of this debate, Astavakra, a young rishi (he was ten years old at that time) became desirous to join the argument. ( As per Mahabharata, his father Kahoda joined the debate in King Janaka’s court but lost the argument with Vandin because of which he was forced to die by drowning.) The first encounter of King Janaka with Astavakra was truly amazing!
Astavakra was the son of Sage Kahoda and Sujata. The name ‘ Astavakra’ means eight bends. Thus, Astavakra had eight bends in his body when he was born. This happened because his father cursed him. When he was still in his mother’s womb, he had grasped all the Vedas, Sastras, scriptures, and other knowledge that his father taught to his disciples. One day, Kahoda while reciting Vedas made some mistake. Astavakra, the unborn child from his mother’s womb said, ‘O father what you are teaching is not correct!’ Listening to his words, Kahoda lost his sense of being offended in front of his disciples. Enraged he said, ‘O child! You are still not born but wish to correct me, so I curse you to be born with eight bends in your body! Thus, the child was born with eight types of deformities.’
King Janaka was so eager to get enlightened that after finishing all his temporal duties as quickly as he could, he spent hours with these spiritual leaders' arguments and discussions! Astavakra heard about these scholars and took great interest in attending this debate. He came to King Janaka’s court to attend the debate. After a long discussion on spiritual questions, suddenly Astavakra stood up, and said, ‘O king! I think they don't know anything about themselves! These are all nonsense talk! Nobody knows anything about self! These are all empty talk!’
King Janaka was stunned! He looked at the young boy with eight deformities in surprise! He said, ‘O young man! Can you provide proof of what you said? Or else you will lose your body for sure.’
Young Rishi immediately said, ‘Yes, I can.’
King Janaka asked, ‘What's that you can offer ?’
Astavakra said, ‘O king! If you want to receive then you have to obey my words. I live in the forest. Come to the forest and meet me there. There I will give you what you want to know.’ Saying these words, Astavakra rishi went away.
King Janaka was very curious to know what answer the young rishi would offer. Thus, the next day accompanied by a few soldiers and ministers he went to the forest. But somehow, he was separated from his retinue. He searched everywhere for Astavakra. Suddenly, he saw him sitting under a tree. Janaka was about to dismount from the horse when his one leg was on the stirrup and the other leg up in the air, that time Astavakra shouted, ‘Stop! Stop there!’
King Janaka stayed in that position almost hanging on the horse! God knows, how long he was in that position! But at that very moment, he realized himself and became enlightened! After a while, he got down and fell at Rishi Astavakra’s feet. He said, ‘O Rishi! Accept me as your disciple and let me be in your Ashram! I have nothing to do with this kingdom or any worldly materials.’
Listening to his words, Rishi Astavakra said, ‘O king! You are now enlightened! People need one good king. So do not reject everything. Go and rule your kingdom thinking it as your prime duty! You have nothing for yourself and you have already detached yourself from all the worldly materials.’ King Janaka ruled his kingdom selflessly following the path of truth and Dharma!
The young sage was delighted in the presence of King Janaka and he spent enough time with him in spiritual discussion. The other monks, his disciples who came to Astavakra to gain knowledge noticed the intimacy between King Janaka and their Guru. And this intimacy kindled the jealousy among the other monks! They whispered that their Guru paid more attention to Janaka as he was a king! He has a vast kingdom and enough wealth and he can provide their Guru whatever he wants. That's the reason why he loves the king more than them! Astavakra came to know their feelings and thought to teach them a lesson! He created something to happen. Once all the monks and King Janaka were deeply engaged in a discussion with their Guru, suddenly a soldier came running and bowed down to the king and said, ‘O King! The entire kingdom is on fire! It may burn down with your palace! Save it!’ Hearing his words, King Janaka dismissed him saying how dared he to disturb him when he was busy listening to his Guru! And how dared he pay respect to him without paying respect to his Guru Astavakra first!’ The monks were stunned looking at King Janaka!
A few days later, Astavakra once again created a situation to happen. The monks with King Janaka were attending the lecture of Astavakra, that time a helper in the ashram screamed aloud, ‘Look! Monkeys are tossing around and they have taken the loincloths of the monks.’ The monks without paying any attention to their Guru ran to save their loincloths from the monkeys. But, when they reached the spot, they found no monkey at all, and their clothes were intact where they were! They could understand the trick played by their Guru! All were ashamed of their own mistake, and walked back to the ashram!
Astavakra then explained how King Janaka was superior to them. He said, ‘A few days ago, a soldier came to the king and told him that his entire kingdom- Mithila was on fire but Janaka was unmoved! He said that he had not lost anything! He was only concerned about the disruption of my speech but when a helper of the ashram gave the news of loincloths of yours- monks, without giving a second thought to my lecture, all of you ran to save your loincloths! Monks have nothing to do with external materials or circumstances! Your spiritual progress has nothing to do with that. Perhaps, your mind is still attached to the title ‘monk’ not to spirituality! Thus, this is what you are and this is what he is!’
Spirituality and detachment should be in the hearts of the monks. It should never be a mere show!
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