The fundamental aspect of the states of consciousness are very difficult to comprehend for us ordinary souls. This is more true in a world where body consciousness is so strong that we think it is the only thing that matters. The famous story of Ashtavakra and King Janaka is a fine example of the lessons to be learnt in day to day life. I am aware of the fact that the story of Ashtavakra being born deformed in 8 areas was on account of a curse given by his father Kahoda on account of pointing out the 8 mistakes he made while reciting the Vedas and explaining them to his wife Sujata. So the story is of false pride of a father who thought because of his ego that this small child in the womb could not rival his wisdom. Is this not the lament of youth that the adults refuse to believe that the generation of today can be cleverer than them? I recollect listening to a podcast where a very well read mature author lamented that the reading habit had declined in general and more so among the youth of today. In the olden days there was no black screen to consume one's attention. The pace of life was slow and information available was limited in terms quantity and quality. It therefore required effort and the privilege of being surrounded by books which was available to children whose parents literally chose to offer their kids a great future by literally prioritizing books over many luxuries in life. Now though Ashtavakra was an enlightened youth he was never respected on account of his appearance which made even King Janak not acknowledging his true worth. Try as you might we are unable to separate the true worth of a person from his or her bodily appearance. The fundamental premise of fair skin vs dark skin, the exponential rise of use of the so called plastic and cosmetic aids to enhance one's appearance to fool the world into projecting an image not true to oneself has reached unprecedented heights. I feel this story teaches us to not be judgemental in terms of assuming superiority on account of age, appearance and to ensure that nobody is ever underestimated.
The next story is of the Washerman and the Donkey. I am going to copy this directly from the source and explain why it resonates with me so much.
A washerman visited a village every day. He went to every house in the town, collected all the dirty clothes, loaded them up on his donkey, and set off to the river. After reaching the river, he gasped in horror. He had forgotten the rope at home. He panicked and looked in all directions for some help. Without his rope, he could not tie his donkey to a tree. If the donkey remained untied, it could walk away, and he would lose his livelihood. If he went back to the village, he would not have enough time to return and wash the clothes. He would lose his day’s work, which meant he could not earn money to feed the family.
He was sweating anxiously when a wise man walked up to him and asked him about his troubles. After listening to his story, the wise man smiled and offered the washerman a suggestion.
“Pretend to tie the donkey with a rope and go to the river. The donkey will graze and wait for you here.” The washerman was astounded, but because he lacked other options, he tried it out. He took an imaginary rope, wound it around the donkey’s neck, and pretended to tie it to a tree.
He walked a few steps and saw that the donkey had begun grazing. He walked all the way to the river, and the donkey had not moved. The washerman spent all day washing his clothes peacefully, dried the clothes, and loaded them back on the donkey. He pats the donkey and signals that they are ready to go, but the donkey does not move. The washerman is puzzled when the wise man appears and reminds the washerman to untie the donkey. The washerman opens the imaginary rope, and the donkey starts trotting off to the village.
All of us live in this world like donkeys who believe that we are bound by the rope of attachment of the body, mind and intellect consciousness. Even as we are taught these truths in the scriptures we unable to realise that we are free and therefore immortal. Even though we see creation destruction and the never ending cycle of birth and death we are afraid of dying. We are bound by attachments and slave to our desires, likes, dislikes, joys, sorrows, profits and losses. When the washerman had forgotten the rope to tie the donkey he merely pretended to tie the rope and the donkey became bound by the rope. Funnily when the time came to free the donkey and take him home he still felt he was bound and would not move till the washerman pretended to free him. This is the state of humanity who feel bound when they are free and when the time comes to enjoy freedom they cannot do so unless someone pretends to free them even though they are already free.
One more story is that of Raj Rishi Janaka which has been often repeated. Again I will copy this story from the source and then try and make sense of it.
The mighty emperor Janaka was asleep in his palace, and he suddenly jerked awake. People were screaming, and guards were running around. They shouted about an invasion by an enemy and asked the king to defend the kingdom. Janaka slipped on his armour, led his army, and fought a terrible battle. He was finally defeated and dragged to the enemy. Since Janaka was of royal blood, the emperor said he could not be killed and banished him from the kingdom. Janaka wandered around in his kingdom with his clothes in tatters and covered with filth and dust. No one dared to offer him food or water because they did not want to upset the new king.
Janaka crossed over to the next kingdom. He saw poor people being fed Khichdi in an ashram. He stood in line for the food, and by the time he reaches the counter, the person serving folded their hand and apologized since the food is over. Janaka begged him to scrape the bottom of the barrel and gave him something. After receiving the food, Janaka brings the bowl to his lips when a kite knocks it out of his hands. This was the last straw. Janaka collapsed on the floor with a cry asking the lord to end his life.
Janaka, the emperor, woke up on his bed with his heart pounding and his body drenched in sweat. Guards run in upon hearing his scream and enquired about his wellbeing. While most of us would have said it was just a dream, Janaka was of a more inquisitive nature. He mumbles, “Yeh Sach Ya Woh Sach.” Is this true, or is that true?
His queen came over to visit him and was escorted by the finest doctors in the kingdom. Janaka keeps saying, “Yeh Sach ya Woh Sach.” “Is this the truth or was my dream the truth.”
The story spreads like wildfire around the kingdom. The king had lost his senses. He keeps mumbling. Hearing about the state of the king, the sake Ashtavakra came to meet him.
Here the explanation is based on the states of consciousness that we experience that is the waking or gross state where we are conscious of the body which is subject to experiences based on organs of perception and actions using organs of action. The dream state exists in the mind but the experiences in the dream world seem extremely real and at that point we do not have any awareness of waking state. This is the subtle stage existing in mind. The third state is the state of dreamless sleep during which we are aware of the sleep but there is no awareness. This is the causal state. But in all the three states there is one permanent entity which is You the Self which is for want of a better word, Atman, Brahman or whatever name you call it. So now comes the undiluted realisation that anything that is impermanent be it gross ,subtle or causal by its very nature cannot be real and in each state one believes the particular state to be real to the exclusion of the other. When we wake up from the dream state we are ready to easily accept that what we saw in the dream was not true yet when we dream we are not ready to accept that the waking state is equally untrue. Even in the deep sleep state where nothing is visualized in the gross or subtle form there is an experience of nothingness so we say that the entity I or Self or Brahman experienced deep restful state which is the only reality. So the answer to Janaka's question “Yeh Sach ya Woh Sach.” “Is this the truth or was my dream the truth.” becomes clear. There is only one truth and that is the isness of Brahman or Self. This even though called Turiyam or Fourth state is the only real state of eternal consciousness.
I hope You can make sense of all this. I have tried my best to make all of you understand the seemingly complex yet simple elegant concepts of Vedanta. Yet I am certain that my atheist friends will scoff at this explanation. But an essay on the states of sleep and levels of consciousness proved a Video analysis of EEG/REM (Electroencephalogram/Rapid eye Movement) will prove that what Vedanta says is true but we will deny the existence of Brahman. Therefore the ultimate statement Truth is God resonates well with me.
Vispi Jokhi
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