Bhagavada Vahini - Chapter 28

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Bhagavada Vahini by Sathya Sai Baba

 

Chapter 28

Death, Seven Days Ahead

 

" O, Emperor, our Preceptor has a son; though he is of tender years,

the splendour of his spiritual attainment is overwhelming. He reveres

his father as his God and has as his chief aim in life, his service

and the upkeep of his renown. His name is Sringi. You came to that

hermitage; propelled by some inscrutable impulse, you placed a dead

snake round the neck of the father of this Sringi, who is also my

Preceptor. A few children saw it and they ran towards Sringi, who was

engaged in games with his comrades, to inform him. He did not believe

it at first; he continued with his game. But, the children of the

hermitage repeated the news often and insistently; they jeered at him

for merrily playing on, when his father had been insulted so grossly.

Even his playmates laughed at his callousness. So, he ran as fast as

he could towards his cottage, and found that their report was true.

 

When he turned back, he saw you moving off from the place and,

without any sense of discrimination about what is of lasting

significance and what is of temporary interest, urged on by frantic

passion and anger, that teenage fellow lost control over himself ...

pronounced a curse on you. This has caused unending pain to my

Preceptor. " The Emperor interrupted him and asked, " 0 son of a

hermit, tell me what the curse is. " The youth replied, " Lord, I find

it hard to tell you. My tongue refuses to utter it. But, yet, I have

to communicate it since my preceptor has commissioned me to do so.

The son of my Preceptor promptly took the waters of the holy Kowsiki

river in his palm, and pronounced, " Seven days from this day, may the

King be bitten by the snake, 'Thakshaka', a terrible curse, indeed. "

The youth stopped, for his grief overpowered him and he broke into

tears.

 

But, the Emperor only smiled. He said, " Young hermit, is this a

curse? To be bitten by Thakshaka, and that seven days later? This is

no curse, this is a signal gift of Grace! This is a Blessing from the

lips of the son of the Preceptor. Immersed in the affairs of the

empire, I had become slothful regarding the affairs of the spirit,

and of God, which are the goals of life. As a result, the merciful

Lord, Hari, moved the tongue of that Rishi's son to articulate those

words. He has allotted me an interval of seven days! What a great

blessing is this! It must be Divine Will that I should spend every

moment of these seven days in the contemplation of God. From this

very second, I shall dedicate both Time and Thought, without

intermission at the Feet of the Lord. Young friend, what more did

your Preceptor command you to inform me? Tell me soon. My heart is

yearning to hear it. "

 

The young messenger continued, " My Preceptor felt that this curse

amounted to unpardonable treason for, you are well established in

Dharma, and you are a great devotee of the Lord. So, he sought for

long to discover some means by which the consequences of the curse

could be avoided; however, he came to know through his yogic skill,

that you are destined to give up your life as a result of snake-bite

and destined also to reach the Seat of the Lord on death. He felt

that this was an end, which was worthwhile; and that it was sinful to

obstruct such a glorious consummation. So, he sends you through me

his blessings that you may reach the Presence of God. I have now

finished my mission. I can leave, as soon as you permit me. "

 

Parikshith prostrated before the young disciple and prayed that his

reverential gratitude may be communicated to the great saint Sameeka

and his son. At this, he left and reaching the hermitage, he informed

the hermit all that transpired at the capital.

 

Death, Seven Days Ahead

 

Meanwhile, the emperor proceeded in great joy to the inner apartments

and standing before the entrance of the zenana, he asked that his

son, Janamejaya, be brought to him. Hearing the call the son wondered

why he was summoned so suddenly and he ran towards the father.

Parikshith got an old Brahmin into his room, and placing on the son's

head his own crown lying on the cot, he walked barefoot, with just

the clothes he had on, at the moment, towards the Ganga, entrusting

the new King to the old priest.

 

Within minutes, the news spread allover the place and all through the

City; groups of men and women, brahmins and ministers hurried behind

the king and remonstrated piteously; but, it was all in vain. They

wept aloud; they fell at his feet; they rolled along the road across

his path. The king did not notice anything; he vouchsafed no reply;

he moved on, with the Name of the Lord in his mind and the Goal of

Realisation in his thought. He was fast moving towards the bank of

the Holy Ganga. Finding that the King had been left alone, and

unattended to the River, the Royal Elephant, the Royal Horse, the

Palanquin were taken in a line behind him, so that he may ascend any

one of them as was his wont; but, the King did not pay any attention

to the importunities. The populace were amazed to see their ruler

discard food and drink; he was engaged without a moment's break in

the recitation of the Name of the Lord. Since no one knew the reason

for this sudden resolution to renounce, all sorts of rumours got

afloat based on the imaginative faculty of each individual.

 

But, some people investigated the antecedents of the event of

renunciation and discovered that the disciple of a hermit had come

with some important news, and following that cue, it was known that

the king had only seven days more to live; the people gathered on the

bank of the river and sat sunk in grief around the king, praying for

his safety.

 

The tragic news spread so fast that it reached even the forest. The

ascetics and Sadhakas, the sages and saints - they too trekked along

to the bank of Ganga, with water pots in their hands. The whole place

put on the appearance of a huge festival. The place resounded to the

chanting of the Pranava, the recitation of Vedic hymns, and the

singing in chorus of the glory of the Lord. Some groups were roundly

scolding the son of Sameeka who was the cause of all the tragedy.

Thus, in a short time, the bank was filled with human heads, so that

not a grain of sand could be seen.

 

Meanwhile, an aged hermit who was filled with great pity and

affection towards the Emperor approached him and, shedding tears of

love, he spoke to him thus: " 0 King! people say all kinds of things;

there are many versions going round from mouth to mouth; I have come

to you to find out the truth; I can walk only with great difficulty.

I love you so much that I cannot bear to hear all that people say

about you. What exactly did happen? What is the reason for this

sudden act of sacrifice? What is the mystery behind the curse that

the son of a hermit pronounced on such a highly evolved soul as you?

Declare it! Satisfy our craving to know the truth. I cannot look on

while the people are suffering like this; you were like a father to

them. Now, you pay no heed to their pleadings. You have given up all

attachments and come here. Speak to them at least a few words of

solace. With you, sitting silent and hungry on the river bank,

engaged in rigorous asceticism, the queens and ministers are like

fish thrown out of water. Who was that young man, whose words caused

this disastrous storm? Can he be genuinely the son of a hermit? Or,

is that only a disguise? It is all a mystery to me. "

 

The King listened to these words, spoken with such affection and

equanimity. He opened his eyes, and fell at the feet of the

sage. " Master! Mahatma! What have I to hide from you? It cannot be

hidden, even if I want to. I went into the forest a-hunting. Many

wild animals were seen but they scattered at our approach. The small

band of bow men that was with me was also scattered in the attempt to

pursue the animals. I found myself alone on the track of game and I

was far away from my retinue. I got no game; I was overcome with

hunger and thirst; the scorching heat exhausted me; at last, I

discovered a hermitage and entered it. I came to know later that it

was the cottage of Rishi Sameeka. I called out repeatedly to discover

whether there was anyone in. No answer came, nor did any one come

out. I saw a hermit sitting in deep meditation, lost in his own

Dhyan. While coming out from the cottage, I felt something soft under

my foot. I lifted it with my fingers and found it was a dead serpent.

As soon as my eyes fell on it, my intelligence was poisoned; a foul

thought came into me; I placed it round the neck of that hermit

engaged in Dhyan. This was somehow recognised by the son of that

hermit; he could not bear the ignominy. He cursed, " May this snake

round the neck of my father take the form of Thakshaka and end the

life of the man who insulted my father thus, on the seventh day from

today. "

 

" News was sent to me from the hermitage, of this curse and its

consequence. I am conscious of the sin I have committed; I feel that

a king capable of this sin has no place in the kingdom. So, I have

given up everything, every attachment. I have decided to use these

seven days, for the ceaseless contemplation of the Glory of God; it

is great good fortune that this chance has been given to me. That is

why I have come here. "

 

Thus, when the nobles, courtiers, princes, queens, ministers, hermits

and others who were around him came to know the true facts they

dropped from their minds the wild guesses they had made so far; they

prayed aloud that the curse may lose its sharpness.