STORIES FROM YOGAVASHISHTAM - 6

Empowering one’s husband – The Choodala Way

This is the story of Queen Choodala. Normally queens have a leisurely life style with no worries except to keep their body youthful and attractive for the King. They might take bath in perfumed Rosewater daily and do many such oddities. Queen Choodala was different in many ways. She was after self-realization and followed the tantrik path. As a fringe-benefit, she acquired certain special powers (siddhies). For example, anima, by which one can move from the gross plane to take the subtle plane for travel ! Anima is a no-holds-barred travel enabling one to float and move around as you wish. Since the person takes the subtle form, the speed is unmatched and the traveler will be invisible! One can traverse through Air or Water with equal ease.

Choodala had a strong but rather naive man as her King. She wanted to raise him to her own level. He should be an embodiment of power and wisdom, she thought. Even in close embrace, she was planning ways to make him enlightened. King Sikhidhwaja, however, didn’t have any inkling of his wife’s designs. He never knew that the Queen had already become an enlightened person. She could have made a demonstration of her special powers giving a well-deserved kick to her simpleton husband but she refrained from doing so. There is a time for everything..and miracles are for children. The siddhies are not to be used for self-glorification, at any rate.

She started giving him a primer in spirituality.

gopikrishna - murdered cat

 

The transactions of the world adding to one’s worries.The transient nature of all pleasures. The resultant craving. The nearing Death.

There is no one-stop remedy. If only one knows the origin of sorrow, one can transcend it. 

Evidently, Choodala was a good teacher. However, her student was less-than-average who couldn’t even envisage a neutral state of mind in which one functions without any strings attached.  

 No sense of ownership, no pre-conceived notions, no hatred or ill-feelings, no particular affinity or anything…

The sessions had a tell-tale effect on the Queen. She became much more radiant and beautiful.

The King was wondering,

Oh my beloved wife, you’re a stunner now! Looking serene as well as vibrant. I get purified looking at you!

Choodala didn’t feel elated. 

Anybody can attain this provided s/he makes a conscious effort.

 Get purified from all sources. Even from man-woman relationship including love-making. Your mind will be filled with Ananda .You will be so pleasant like the earth on a full-moon night. When the whole being become pleasant, all your aadhis (anxieties) and vyadhis (ill-health) will just wither-away.

In spite of her best efforts, King Sikhidhwaja didn’t show any improvement. He already had some ideas about spiritual life and decided to practice them. What’s the use in knowing the nitty-gritties of theory if one doesn’t put them into practice? He shunned the royal luxuries bestowed on him by default. Gave away huge donations in gold and cows to the needy and not-so-needy. Undertook difficult pilgrimages.

Of course, the package involved taking up arduous vrithas too and the King carried it out verbatim. 

He took a sabbatical from the daily grind and wandered like a mendicant. It made no change as he felt down and restless again. Ananda remained elusive. What’s more, he found it increasingly difficult to run the kingdom.  

gopikrishna - neo primitive

 

One day King Sikhidwaja spoke his mind to the Queen.

Beloved Choodala, I’m feeling down and out. Its time to call it a day. Please allow me to enter Vanaprastha. Virakti has caught up with me. I want to settle myself in a place away from people’s gaze. My love, don’t say no to me.

Choodala tried to resist him but her plea fell in deaf ears. The King had already made up his mind.

At the dead of the night, King Sikhidhwaja released himself slowly from the life-giving embrace of the Queen, silently bid adieu and walked out. He left the border and entered into a dense forest. He never felt lonely. He was one with it, like a river flowing into the sea. For ten days he was on his feet, journeying through the forest until he found a lake and an elevated plateau . He built a small ashram there. 

gopikrishna - nagaraja descending

Now, I shall restart my japa, dhyana and mantra sessions…all in peace…Nobody is going to bother me.

His tapas was getting momentum.

Over to Choodala now. She was quite crest-fallen as expected but she was worried about her husban's safety.She summoned her siddhi, anima and traveled through the sky. She saw him walking away, sword in hand, and his favourite mantra on lips. 

She mused for a while. 

There is no point in dissuading my husband. He has to walk his path entirely on his own and learn from experience. In fact, everything is happening for the good. I can only function as a facilitator. Meanwhile,I'll have a constant check on his status.

She went back to the palace through the sky-route and slept.  Like the crescent moon  in the sky! 

People were told that the King was away on a mission. Queen Choodala ruled the country with equal concern for everyone, treating them as her own offspring.

Eighteen years had passed. 

Its time to meet my husband, she thought. She took the sky-route again and reached her husband’s humble abode. Sikhidhwaja was there, changed completely in physical appearance. No signs of a King or a man of authority. No signs of a Yogi either. He had become a total wreck.

gopikrishna- Lasar the noble driving the earth

Choodala felt very sad. How strange!  People at the receiving end of excellent counseling and professional advice sliding downhill. They were supposed to be in search for Truth.

Truth is ananda itself which is inherent in every human-being. One does not have to do any special-purpose karma for its attainment.

Both the Rajah and the Yogi have equal potential to work out their ways to discover ananda. One has to avoid cravings and aversions of any kind. One has to do away with discrimination of any kind. That’s all. 

My husband had given weightage to the yogic ways and chucked his responsibilities as a King. He fell into turmoil. Obviously, his was not an exercise in selflessness but an act in eccentricity.  He should be stopped from deviating any further. 

I shall disguise myself and approach him as a balayogi (teen-age sanyasin).
He'll listen to me and take me seriously which he would not have done otherwise.Though  an accumulation oddities, he is  a clean-hearted guy who deserves enlightenment.

Choodala changed her appearance to that of a Brahmin Brahmachari. Just a few minutes of meditation was sufficient. In another two minutes she reached right in front of her husband. Sikhidhwaja sprang up on his feet.

Ha...The son of God has descended!

Sikhidhwaja was overwhelmed by the Balayogi's presence. He removed his methiyadi (footwear) , walked upto the boy and welcomed him with flowers.

Oh Lord, I'm blessed. 
Kindly tell me where are you from. 

The balayogi replied with a smile.

Punyatman, you're great! Leaving a bountiful country and its upright citizens, you've reached here for attaining nirvana. You will be rewarded.

Sikhhidhwaja was quite surprised.
Bhagwan, you know everything. May I ask who you are? And may I inquire your whereabouts ?
Why did you take the trouble to come all the way ?

Relax, said the Balayogi.
I shall answer your queries. Prior to that, let me tell you this story about Narada .

gopikrishna - untitled

The brahmarshi was meditating inside a cave near the Ganges. It so happened that he casually glanced over the river during a break and saw beautiful damsels taking bath. They were freaking-out in water in full nude ! The scene made a sudden impact on the brahmarshi and he was overpowered by lust !
Narada felt a heavy stuff  moving down through his spine which got jerked out, exploding !

                                                                                                                   (continued....)