Sai Baba Gita - Harischandra and Buddha

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Sai Baba GitaJanuary 14, 2004

Harischandra and Buddha

If you decide that a particular activity is good and sacred, you should not

postpone it. You should immediately implement it and see to it that this good

action is successfully carried out. This was the royal path laid down for all

by the Buddha. Once Gautama Buddha realized that the body was impermanent, that

none of the worldly things were going to last, he resolved to seek out and

discover the unchanging truth. He gave up his family and his kingdom and went

into the forest to realize the ultimate reality.

There was another great ruler who had an intense sense of sacrifice and

detachment. His name was Harischandra. Although he was an emperor, through a

series of unfortunate circumstances he lost everything he had in the world, his

kingdom, his wife and family, and spent his days as caretaker of a cremation

ground.

One day, when Harischandra first started performing his duties in the cremation

ground, the corpse of a rich man was brought there by a large number of

friends. They brought the body, set it on fire and immediately went back to

their homes. Usually when a body is set on fire, a little weight is put on it.

Otherwise, as soon as the heat comes, the body bends as if it was getting up,

and then lies down again. Only Harischandra remained in the burning ground that

day. No friends or relatives of the dead man stayed behind to keep a watch on

the body. Harischandra went to get a little more fuel to put on the fire.

Suddenly he saw the body lift itself up. He was surprised and went near it to

have a closer look.

As Harischandra approached the pyre, he noticed that the body had by itself

returned to a prone position. For an instant he thought that it was still alive

as if sitting up to look for its relatives and friends, but then he realized

that the whole episode was just a momentary illusion of a corpse appearing

alive, caused by the heat of the fire. Harischandra thought to himself, "In the

same way that I mistook this corpse to be alive, I thought this world to be

real. But it is unreal, it gives only an illusion of reality."

Harischandra lamented that such a wealthy man whose corpse was brought there had

no relatives or friends to stay with his body until the end. He thought,

whatever may be the position and the riches of a person, not even his wife or

children retain any attachment to him after his death. As a result of this

experience, Harischandra developed an intense detachment towards the objects

and forms of the world.

http://www.atmapress.com/saibabagita/saigita107.html

Sai Baba Gita, Compiled and edited by Al Drucker - Published by Atma Press -

http://www.atmapress.com - ISBN: 0963844903Online Edition:

http://www.atmapress.com/saibabagita/index.html

 

 

 

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