闍拿迦的一個故事

*** 闍拿迦的一個故事 ***

闍拿迦(Janaka，註一)是降世的十大宗師之一，時間約在八千年前，他是錫呂羅摩(Shri Rama)的岳父，他本身也是一位國王。他到任何的修行靜室(ashram)，靜室內的聖者都起立，並觸摸他的腳來表達敬意。其中有一位門徒叫納其柯塔(Nachiketa，註二)看了非常生氣，就對他的導師說："你們為什麼去觸摸他的腳？他是一個國王(而已)，他戴王冠，過著國王的生活，他有什麼偉大之處？他又不是一位聖人！" ，他的導師回答道："不，他是一位原始宗師(Primordial Master)，對他而言，住在宫殿和街道上是完全一樣。只有他可以給人自覺，他是處在極高的境地，不然你去他那裏看看。" 

納其柯塔就來到闍拿迦的宫殿，他實在無法理解為什麼他的導師叫他來，來拜訪這樣一位國王------穿著漂亮的衣服、穿戴許多首飾，宫殿内又有許多舞蹈及宴會等等。闍拿迦問他：你為何而來呢？納其柯塔回答：我來此希望獲得我的自覺，闍拿迦答道："你可以拿我王國内的任何東西，但是要給你自覺是太困難了！"，納其柯塔堅持說："反正你說什麼，我都完全遵行。"

闍拿迦在納其柯塔的頭頂上方吊了一把劍，要他在劍下睡覺，納其柯塔整晚都無法入睡。闍拿迦又帶他到河裏泡澡，當他們在享受河水時，有人跑來報告説宮殿起火了，但是闍拿迦繼續他的冥想，一點都不在意。過了一會兒，又有人跑來報告說火更大了，你的家人都逃離宮殿了，但是闍拿迦仍然繼續他的靜坐。接著又有人跑來大叫説火向這邊燒過來了！這位納其柯塔趕緊上岸去拿他的衣服，但是闍拿迦仍然在靜坐。最後他才張開眼睛從河中走出來。當他們走上來時，納其柯塔發現根本沒有什麼火災，闍拿迦對他說："這一切都是幻相(Mahamaya)，我知道根本没有發生什麼事，而且對我而言，没有什麼東西是重要的！"（註三）

註一：Janaka 的譯名自古即用"闍拿迦"，闍的發音同"舌"，是梵語，意思是指高深的修行人，"拿迦"才是名字。Janaka若直接音譯會是"迦拿卡"。

註二：納其柯塔是闍拿迦唯一的門徒，傳說闍拿迦用許多方法來試驗他、開導他。

註三：闍拿迦上岸來後對納其柯塔的說詞有另一個版本："當你活在無所不在的神聖力量的領域裏，大梵會照顧你"。在Shri Mataji的想法，應該這兩種說詞都是相同的。

註四：Shri Mataji 多次談到這個故事，包括闡釋無執(detachment)、真正内裏禁欲的修行人(ascetic)、真正的捨棄放下等，皆用此故事。幾次講述的内容大致大同小異。

註五：許多人會有如下的疑問：倒底宮殿是否有失火？譯者的理解是：這好像無關重點。

註六：譯者綜合摘譯自Shri Mataji的談話1994-12-04、1996-07-16、1973-12-09、1983-06-05、1993-10-15、1983-09-10. JSM ! 敬請霎哈嘉兄弟姊妹們指正.

So for people who have money, or who have wealth should not try to show off by very big cars and this and that. That of course does not mean that you should become sanyasis. On the contrary, you should be very well dignified personalities. But there should be detachment. As you saw Raja Janaka, He was a king and still He was so detached, that all the Saints used to go and touch the feet of Raja Janaka. So there was this fellow called Nachiketa, he asked his master “Why do you touch His feet? He is a king”. So the master said “All right you go and meet Him now”. So what he saw was that Janaka had all the luxuries of life. He was living in the palace and in the procession there were thousands and thousands of people who were throwing pearls on him. So Nachiketa thought he should get one pearl at least.

Next day, he went to Raja Janaka and asked Him, “Give me Self-realisation.” So Raja Janaka said, “I can give you all My kingdom but not Self-realisation, very difficult, because you are possessed by the idea of money, such a person cannot get Realisation.” He said, “All right, I will live here till I get Realisation. Next day Raja Janaka took him for a bath in the river and He was enjoying the bath. And people came and told Him that there is a fire in His palace. But Raja Janaka was meditating, He didn’t bother. Then they said that the people who are in the palace have run away. Then he says that, somebody said that now the fire is coming here. Still Raja Janaka was meditating. But Nachiketa ran out because his clothes were outside, so ran out to save his…. And still Raja Janaka was not bothered. So when He came out He told him, “Nachiketa, this is all Mahamaya.” This is how you are tested,if you are money-oriented you cannot get Self-realisation. She’s the one who is testing. All the greedy people, all the people, for money’s sake, do all kinds of thing, as you have here, Mafias, will be all punished. In any case they are not happy people, satisfied people,they are all the time worried. So first thing you must have is satisfaction. This is a very important thing in modern times to understand. (1996-07-16)

The same Shri Datta incarnated many a times on the earth. As I told you yesterday, King Janaka was one of them. King Janaka was the father of Janaki (Sitaji). He was none other than the incarnation of Shri Dattatreya.(1973-12-09)

You will be amazed that at the time of Shri Rama, His own father-in-law, who was Raja Janaka, had one disciple called Nachiketa. And he asked that he would like to know about his Self, about his Atma. And Raja Janaka told him, “You can take all my wealth, you can take everything that I have, but please don’t ask me to give you enlightenment”. But Nachiketa was very anxious and assiduous and he achieved his goal ultimately.(1983-06-05)

[Yogi: “The different types of desires, the worldly desires and the spiritual desires.”]

Shri Mataji: All right. Now people are saying that you must give up this, you must give up that. There’s nothing to be given up. If you give up, still you’ll stick on to that. I’ve known people who are very much stuck, but they think they have given up. Like, I’ll tell you, some people came to see Me. They wanted to use our ships for some purpose and they said that “We have”, they came in an ascetic dress and they said, “Mother, you are suppose to be a holy person, but you are sitting in all luxury and all this. How are you a holy person? We have given up our houses. We have given up our cars, given up this, given up that.” I said, “All right, in this house or anything which is with Me is equal to the dust particle of God Almighty, of His Feet. You can pick up anything, but should be equal.” They started looking around. They have not given up anything. They have given up stones. A detachment develops within yourself.

I don’t know if you have heard the story of Raja Janaka, whose guru was Ashtabhakar [check spelling]. Raja Janaka was the father-in-law of Shri Ram. This Raja Janaka was a king and all the saints use to bow to him, so one fellow asked his guru, “Why is it you bow to this king? He is a king and what is so great?” He said, “He’s the only one who can give realization and he’s so high.”

So he sent one of his disciples, his name was Nachikita [check spelling] to Raja Janaka. Raja Janaka told him, “No, you can ask anything, but I’ll not give you self realization.” He said, “No, Sir, I must have it. But I want to know about myself.” So he said, “All right.” So first he took him with himself to have a bath in the river. I mean many tests he took, but lastly. And there he was having his bath while people came and told that “Sir”, he was meditating. He was in thoughtless awareness, just enjoying himself. And they came and told that “Your palace is on fire.” Still he was meditating. Then they came and told him that “Now all the family is running away from the palace.” Still he was meditating. Then they said, “The fire is coming here and will burn everything that you have.” Now this fellow ran out and he clutched his clothes because he thought, “This will be all burned.” But he was still meditating. And then when he opened his eyes, he saw nothing has happened. “I know nothing has happened. And it’s nothing important to me.”

So the detachment is within. It’s not without. You don’t have to announce it. It is within. It’s something that you do everything. As I knew, I am a grandmother, I’m a mother, I’m a wife. My husband was holding a very big position, all that. I did everything, but there’s a kind of a detachment about it and this detachment can only be possible if you develop your spiritual powers. When your spirit shines, you see everything is useless and fruitless, but by giving up things, by renouncing things, you’re just pampering your ego by saying, “I have given up this. I have given up that.”(1993-10-15)

Now a question was asked whether you become an ascetic or you become detached. Now there is a confusion on this, very much. You think the one who wears a dress like a saint or an ascetic and who gives up his wife, family and runs away in the Himalayas, a ascetic, he is not. Because if goes and builds there a compound for himself with lock and key, then he is not an ascetic. He is ascetic from outside. But you become ascetic from inside. You are not attached to anything. Everything is there but you don’t get attached. I will tell you a story of Raja Janaka who was a great king in India. He was called as Bidehi – means an ascetic. And He was a king and whenever He went to any Ashram the saints used to get up and touch His feet. So one disciple of a guru got very angry ─ his name was Nachiketa ─ and he said, “How can you all touch His feet when He is a king and enjoying the life like a king, living like a king, wearing a crown? How can you touch His feet?” So the guru said that. “He is the primordial master.” To Him it does not matter whether He lives in a palace or on the street. So this Nachiketa went to Him to see. And he was very bold and he told him that, “How can you call yourself a king and also an ascetic, allow people to call you an ascetic?” So He told that, “All right, tomorrow we will go to the bath together in a river.” And He told him now you go into meditation. I am going into meditation. So the people came and told that, “Your palace is on fire.” Still He was meditating. Then they said that, “All your things are being burnt. Your children and families are running away.” Still He was meditating. Then they came and shouted, “Now the fire is coming here and all your clothes will be burnt.” So Nachiketa ran out of the water to catch hold of his clothes and to look after it. But He was still meditating. After sometime He came out and Nachiketa said, “Aren’t you worried about your palace being burnt, everything being burnt?” So He said that, “When you live in the realm of divine power, the Brahma, that looks after you.”(1983-09-10)

Like, Raja Janaka, He was the king so He had to wear ornaments, He had to wear beautiful clothes, He had to do everything. And when Nachiketa went to Him he was quite surprised that why my guru has sent him to this king who is wearing all kind of dresses and this and that and he also had a big function of dancing and this. He said, “He’s not a saint so why my guru touches His feet? He’s a king.” Of course Raja Janaka knew what he was thinking about. He said, “Why have you come here Nachiketa?” He said, “I’m here to get my Self-realisation.” He said, “You can take all My kingdom but not easy to give you Self-realisation.” He said, “Alright, whatever you say I’ll do.”

So He put a big sword on his head and asked him to sleep. He couldn’t sleep at all. Then they were having a bath, he said, “Come and have bath in the river.” People came and told that there’s fire and everybody’s running away and Raja Janaka was in His meditative mood, He was just sitting quietly. Nachiketa got a little upset.

Then they said, “The fire is coming here and all these cloths are going to be burnt.” So Nachiketa ran out to save his things but still He (Janaka) was meditating.

Then they came out and Nachiketa found that nothing that was burnt was there. It was just an illusion for people. He was amazed. Then he realised what was wrong with him, that he was doubting the Divine power Itself. The one who was Janaka, who was a king, was not bothered about His own powers, these are what? Because he is today, this you have to do it. Because I’m married, I have to wear a mangalsutra. So this is for the parampara, for the tradition style, but inside He was a saint, a very high…high level of saintliness.

When this thing happens that you get some position, any power, even in Sahaja Yoga I was surprised. If somebody becomes leader, I don’t know what happens to him. It is a myth. There’s nothing like leadership in Sahaja Yoga, nothing like that. It’s just a myth. But suddenly people jump up. It is ego that gets pampered.(1994-12-04)