SAMRADITYA SAGA Part 2 - TANGLES OF HATRED

The King's detachment

“That traveller, Jeevraj means our soul.
• He was wandering in the forest. The soul is wandering in the four categories of incarnations.
• The wild elephant means death.
• The demon refers to old age.
• The well is human life.
• The high banyan tree means salvation.
• The 4 snakes refer to anger, ego, deceit and greeed.
• The grass and branch are life span.
• The black and white mouse are the waning and waxing phases of the moon.
• The bees refer to difficulties and hardships.
• The python means hell.
• The drops of honey are materialistic pleasures.
Prince, you both meditate on this fiction. You will receive answers to your questions.
Identify sensory pleasures as ghastly.
• Human life is fickle like a flash of lightning.
• Youth is like the water dripping from hands.
• Companionship of relatives and union of loved ones is as short-lived as a blowing wind.
If you attain this realization and assimilate it, then you will understand the necessity and need to practise Dharm. Spirituality will become an inseparable part of your life. You will be able to make efforts to free the soul from the bondage of infinite karmas. The innate joy and the natural bliss of the soul will descend in the mirror of experience.”
Acharyaji completed the sermon.
***
King Purushdutt was sitting on a soft white velvet mattress. Two maids were standing behind and waving fly-whisks. King Purushdutt’s body was fit and strong. He was wearing silk clothes. Precious gems were glittering around his neck, arms and wrist.
Some shadow of sadness had taken over his mind. He was waiting for the prince.
When he got the news that the prince and his wife had returned from the park, he commanded the maid, “Tell the prince that I am looking for him.”
The maid went to the prince and gave the king’s message. The prince immediately went to the king. He bowed down to his father and sat nearby.
“Father, you called me?”
“Yes, son!”
The king remained silent. He closed his eyes. Many thoughts started emerging in the prince’s mind. He was looking at the intense and radiant body of the king.
“Kumar!”
“Yes, father!”
“I want to retire now. Now you will have to bear the weight of adminstration.”
“Any reason for such a desire to suddenly spring up?”
“Desire? The desire was suppressed in the soul since many years. Some duties were to be taken care of. Many years ago, a great Acharya named Amittej had visited this city. Through his teaching, the seeds of detachment had sprouted within me at that time itself.”
“You are right. It is the company of a true Guru that awakens the soul. Without a true Guru, no one can break through the darkness of attachments! Even the of sharp rays of millions of suns cannot tear the unblemished darkness of attachment! Father, your wish is supreme. But do not be in a hurry to renounce and move on the path of right conduct. This is my wish.”
“Prince, I have never neglected your wish and I will never even do that. But my mind does not feel satisfied amidst materialistic pleasures now. The awakened soul is now tormenting at home. The aspiration to be free is getting stronger day by day.”
Dharmghoshsuriji’s gentle face emerged before Kumar’s eyes. His melodious words reverberated in his ears, ‘Kumar, consider materialistic pleasures to be ghastly and sorrowful. Believe human life to be as fickle like the flash of lightning and union of beloved ones to be temporary like wind.
Kumar looked at his father, “Father.”
“Yes, son!”
“Father, I have just returned from the park after listening to Dharmghoshsuriji’s sermons. Your decision seems to be appropriate. Your wish seems supreme but my heart trembles with pain when I imagine your separation and this palace without you. The heart does not leave love of beloved ones. The attachment with you does not reduce, what should I do?” Kamar cried hiding his face in his palms.
The king caressed the prince’s head and said, “Son, I’ve been through this inner conflict since many years. You know how deep affection I had for you, as if you were my life. You were my everything! All of me was confined in you. You were first, then your mother! Just think how much mental struggle I had to face to break this bond of attachment.”
“Give me some time too. I will need some time to break the bond of attachment towards you. I will have to explain myself and mother too.”
“Your mother will renounce with me and accept monkhood.”
“That means, both of you have decided?” A storm of anxiety spread on the prince’s face.
“Kumar, I have not hidden any of my personal thoughts from your mother. She has accepted all my thoughts,  good and bad. She has also reviewed those thoughts in her way. We have often discussed about retirement as well. We have thought very closely about monkhood also.”
The prince stood up and started walking in the room. ‘After mother and father, both renounce home and go away, how much will the atmosphere of the palace, city and state change! In the storm of these thoughts, the prince’s mind got insane.
Maharaj Purushdutt said, “Son, you think upon it. Meet me after a day. It is very important for my feelings to get your support and approval. Now you will have to meet your mother too, right?”
The king stood up. The prince bowed to his father and proceeded towards his room.
‘I have to talk about this with Kusumavali.’
***
“When the maid came to call you, the feeling of some unpleasant happening arose in my mind. Surely, something unbelievable will happen today,” Kusumavali expressed herself after listening to Sinhkumar.
“Swami! Isn’t this decision of father and mother hasty? They have not even reached old age yet.”
“Kusum, if a man is fast asleep at home and on waking up, he sees fire all around, then will he delay in coming out of the house?”
“No, not at all.”
“When the soul wakes up from the sleep of attachment, the physical world seems like fire to him. Then is it possible to wait for or depend on old age?”
“No.”
“Exactly, that’s what has happened. The souls of mother and father have awakened. They want to renounce and accept monkhood without any delay. I accept their decision, I like it. But I am unable to bear the grief of their separation. I am realising my cowardice very well.
You know, since thousands of years you have seen and felt how much affection I have for my father and mother? This affection is making me restless. I don’t know what to do?”
Kusumavali did not have a solution. She was also very attached to her in-laws. In this palace, she was enjoying the rights of a daughter more than a daughter-in-law of the king and queen. The endless love of her in-laws was pouring down like the clouds of monsoon every moment. Kusumavali’s eyes turned moist. The darkness of nostalgia appeared on her face.
“Swami! Without Mataji, I too will be alone, helpless and without support. I will not let her renounce.” She lay her head in the prince’s lap and burst into tears.
Meanwhile, Queen Srikanta came and stood at the open door of the bedroom.
She called out in a calm and intense voice, “My dear daughter.”
Suddenly, Sinhkumar and Kusumavali saw the queen. Saying, ‘Oh, Mother!’ both of them stood up. Kusumavali ran and clung to Srikanta. The queen held her in her arms.
Sinhumar stood at a distance. His eyes were fixed on the ground. The queen caressed Kusumavali’s back and said, “Daughter, calm down! Wash your eyes with water. The king told me that ‘I have told my decision to the prince and he has gone to his palace.’ So, I had an idea that Kumar would definitely talk to Kusumavali. And when she would know…” the queen’s  voice was getting heavy.
She sat on the bed. Kumar wiped his mother’s eyes with his silky upper cloth. Kusumavali washed her eyes with water and stood beside the queen. The queen grabbed her hand, pulled it towards her and showered it with love. She looked at the prince. Standing near the eastern window, the prince was looking at the limitless sky.
“Son!” The queen called the prince.
The prince came, bowed down to his mother and sat near her feet.
“Look in front of me, son!”
The mother’s reflection emerged in Kumar’s gloomy eyes.
“Son, did you not you like our decision?”
“Mother, the decision is good, the path is the best. There is no question of not liking it. The question is about bearing the pain of separation from you! Carrying the burden of life without you! Living without you…,” the prince’s throat was getting choked.”
“For thousands of years mother, I have loved you. There is a bond of limitless affection with you. I have dived in the ocean of your deep affection. I have drowned in it. You have given us immense happiness. You have gifted us a treasure of values for living life. Tell me mother, how can your separation be faced?”
Kumar kept his head in the queen’s lap.
“Son, the bonds of love are stronger than iron chains. However, one day or the other, those bonds have to be broken. Man himself does not break them, time and karma break those bonds brutally.”
The queen remained silent. Silence spread in the room.
“Son, unless you approve, how will your father announce your coronation? The day and time of coronation will also have to be finalised. We will renounce only after your coronation. We will go where Acharya Amitgati will be present and accept monkhood.
Kumar consoled himself.
Looking at his mother, he said in a gleeful voice, “Mother, I will not be a hurdle in your path. Since I have been listening to the teachings of Acharya Shri Dharmghoshsuriji for the past several days. I have also realised the reality of the physical world. Monkhood is the best and the purest. I have understood this clearly. Both of you are going on that path; may your journey be supreme. I hope you practise monkhood well and free your soul from the bondage of karmas.”
“Son, we had expected such a reply from you. You are wise and devoted towards your parents. Alright, so I'll ask your father to fix the date of coronation.”
The queen stood up. She grabbed Kusumavali’s hand and took her along. Kumar was left alone in the room. A deluge of thoughts started knocking on his mind.
‘I had never even thought or imagined that father and mother would suddenly take the decision of renunciation. They kept it so secretive! They told me only when the decision became firm!
They will renounce home, will they forget these palaces? Will they be able to forget their son and daughter-in-law? The innumerable events of the palace may get blurred in their minds, but will they be completely erased? Will the memories of the days spent in the ocean of happiness be forgotten so easily? Is this all possible? Although I have gotten a chance to see and know the inner and outer personality of Acharya Shri Dharmaghosuriji within a few days. His mind is illuminated with the light of knowledge, his thought process has completely changed.
If there had been no change in the world of thoughts, then the darkness of the past would keep hovering over the heart and mind again and again. Then it wouldn’t be possible to follow the monkhood well. That is why, saints always engross themselves in learning and meditation. But how does this unstable mind that has only learnt to wander in search of sensory pleasures for various years and lives, settle in a new environment right after accepting monkhood?
Such a wonderful transformation!
Father can still settle, but what about mother! How will this change be possible for him! She will become a nun and be bound in the limits of monkhood! The mother who commands hundreds of slaves and maids here, will she obey the other nuns there?
And father? The one who commanded sitting on the throne for millions of years; will he bear the orders of Gurudev on his head? Will his habits and nature change?
Both of them who have never tolerated a single adversity, will they  be able to live a life full of difficulties? How tough is the life of saints?
“Enduring difficulties willingly destroys karmas quickly,” Gurudev Dharmghosh used to say this. And for this, monkhood is required.
I find all this impossible for myself. Despite being good and supreme, I don’t have the strength and capability to accept this path. I can’t accept this sort of life. Even Kusumawali can’t accept this kind of life and so much change!’
The caravan of thoughts stopped.
The maid called him for dinner.