Day 252 - The Brahmana’s Wisdom: A Story of Narada and Self-Control

Day 252 - The Brahmana’s Wisdom: A Story of Narada and Self-Control

Narada’s Encounter and Momentary Fall

The Brahmana (Queen Cudala in disguise) began narrating a story to King Sikhidhvaja, speaking of the great sage Narada. One day, Narada was deep in meditation in a cave by the holy river Ganga. As his meditation concluded, he heard the sound of bracelets from nearby water-sports. Drawn by curiosity, Narada looked and saw celestial nymphs, indescribably beautiful, playing naked in the water.

For a moment, Narada's heart was overwhelmed by pleasure, and his mind lost its equilibrium, clouded by lust.

Sikhidhvaja’s Question: How Can Even the Wise Be Overcome by Lust?

Confused, Sikhidhvaja asked, "How could a sage as great as Narada, one free from desires and attachments, be overcome by lust?"

The Brahmana’s Explanation: The Nature of the Embodied Self

The Brahmana explained that as long as a being has a body, it is subject to the dual forces of pleasure and pain, happiness and sorrow. This applies to everyone, whether ignorant or wise. The body experiences pleasure through satisfying objects, and pain through deprivation.

However, the difference between the wise and the ignorant lies in how they handle these experiences. While an ignorant person clings to pleasure even in its absence, brooding over it, the wise remain unattached. The wise may reflect on a pleasurable experience, but it doesn’t leave a lasting impression. Liberation is the thinning out of such attachments, while dense attachment to pleasure and pain is bondage.

How Pleasure and Pain Arise in the Absence of Objects

Sikhidhvaja further questioned, "How do pleasure and pain arise when the object of desire is absent?"

The Brahmana explained that the cause lies in the impressions left on the heart through the senses—such as the eyes. Once the heart is agitated by these impressions, the memory of pleasure or pain stirs the jiva (individual self) and its kundalini energy. The nadis (energy channels) are affected, expanding in pleasure but constricting in pain.

When the jiva realizes that pleasure and pain are mere illusions and do not truly exist within it, it attains liberation. Like a lamp without fuel, the jiva is no longer agitated once it sees itself as a non-entity, merely an emanation of the infinite consciousness.

The Loss of Energy Through Pleasure

When Sikhidhvaja asked about the loss of energy through pleasurable experiences, the Brahmana responded that when the jiva is agitated, it stirs the life force, which moves throughout the body. This energy is eventually depleted, descending as seminal energy, which is then discharged.

The Nature of Creation and the Universe

The Brahmana continued by explaining that originally, only Brahman (the ultimate reality) existed. The universe, with all its beings and substances, arose naturally, much like ripples on the ocean’s surface. There was no direct cause, just as a coconut falling from a tree is not caused by a crow landing on it.

This nature, filled with diverse creatures and characteristics, is born from self-limitation. When this self-limitation ceases, beings are no longer born, and the cycle of creation ends.