Chapter 20, Leela 1: Ishavasya Upanishad-Kaka's Maid Servant

Leela:

Das Ganu once started to write a Marathi commentary on the Ishavasya Upanishad. Das Ganu translated it in Marathi 'Ovi' metre, verse by verse, but as he did not comprehend the gist or essence of the Upanishad, he was not satisfied with his performance. He therefore consulted some learned men regarding his doubts and difficulties and discussed with them at great length. They did not solve them nor did they give him any rational and satisfactory explanation. So Das Ganu was a little restless over this matter. This Upanishad is the quintessence of the Vedas. It is the science of self-realization, it is the scythe or weapon which can rend asunder the bondage of life and death, and make us free. Therefore, he thought, that he who has himself attained self-realization, can only give him the true or correct interpretation of the Upanishad. When nobody could satisfy Das Ganu, he resolved to consult Sai Baba about this. When he got an opportunity to go to Shirdi, he saw Sai Baba, prostrated himself before Him, and mentioned his difficulties about the Ishavasya Upanishad and requested Him to give the correct solution. Sai Baba, blessed him and said- "You need not be anxious, there is no difficulty about the matter, the mind-servant of Kaka (Kakasaheb Dixit) will solve your doubts at Vile Parle, on your way home". The people who were present there and heard this, thought that Baba was joking and said, ""How could an illiterate maid-servant solve the difficulties of this nature", but Das Ganu thought otherwise. He was sure, that whatever Baba spoke, must come true, Baba's word was the decree of the Brahma (Almighty).

 

On fully believing in Baba's words, he left Shirdi and came to Vile Parle (a suburb of Bombay), and stayed with Kakasaheb Dixit. There the next day, when Das Ganu was enjoying his morning nap (some say when he was engaged in worship), he heard a poor girl singing a beautiful song in clear and melodious tones. The subject matter of the song was a crimson coloured Sari, how nice it was, how fine was its embroidery, how beautiful were its ends and borders etc. He liked the song so much that he came out, and saw that it was being sung by a young girl, the sister of Namya, who was a servant of Kakasaheb. The girl was cleaning vessels, and had only a torn rag on her person. On seeing her impoverished condition, and her jovial temperament, Das Ganu felt pity for her and when Rao Bahadur M.V.Pradhan next day gave him a pair of dhotars, he requested him to give a sari to the poor little girl also. Rao Bahadur bought a good Chirdi (small Sari) and presented it to her. Like a starving person getting luckily good dishes to eat, her joy knew to bounds. Next day she wore the new Sari, and out of great joy and merriment, whirled, danced round and played `Fugadi' with other girls and excelled them all. The Day following, she kept the new Sari in her box at home and came with the old and torn rags, but she looked as merry as she did the previous day. On seeing this, Das Ganu's pity was transferred into admiration. He thought that the girl being poor had to wear a torn rag, but now she had a new Sari which she kept in reserve and putting on the old rag, strutted herself, showing no trace of sorrow or dejection. Thus he realized that all our feelings of pain and pleasure depend upon the attitude of our mind. On thinking deeply over this incident, he realized that a man ought to enjoy whatever God has bestowed on him in the firm conviction that He besets every thing, from behind and before, and on all sides and that whatever is bestowed on him by God must be for his good. In this particular case, the impoverished condition of the poor girl, her torn rag and the new Sari, the donor, the dance and the acceptance were all parts of the Lord and pervaded by Him. Hence, Das Ganu got a practical demonstration of the lesson of the Upanishad - the lesson of contentment with one's own lot in the belief that whatever happens, is ordained by God, and is ultimately good for us.

Shri Sai Satcharita, The wonderful life and teachings of Shri Sai Baba, Translated by Nagesh Vasudev Gunaji (Mumbai: Shri Sai Baba Sansthan, Shirdi, 20^th Edition 2002), p

 

Teachings from Leela:

1.    Live according to your true nature, which is Brahman, and described as Sat-chit-ananda

In the above leela, Kakasaheb Dixit’s maid servant was a living example of how we should live our life according to our true nature, which is Sat-chit-ananda.

·         Sat means Truth. The definition of “Truth” here is that it must be true always:  It was true yesterday, is true today and will be true tomorrow. Truth is unconditional, which is to say that it is always true no matter what the condition.

Looking at your surroundings, you will find that everything you see did not exist before a certain date in the past, and will likely not exist beyond a certain date in the future. The existence of these things cannot be Truth, as it comes with a condition of only being true from a certain date to a certain other date.

There is something about you which is Truth, however. Your body will die one day but you will survive death. Your existence is the unconditional truth that you were, are and will be forever.

·         Chit means Consciousness. You are conscious of your existence. Nobody must teach you to be aware of yourself, or to remind you of it. You always know that you are aware of yourself. This is consciousness.

·         Ananda means Bliss. Your true nature is bliss, which is obscured by the thoughts in your mind. It is due to this blissful nature of that you seek happiness. Unfortunately, you look for happiness in the wrong places, outside of yourself and in the world of things, or by going on a vacation, etc. Happiness lies within you, and you do not have to delay your happiness until you go on a vacation. You can be happy all the time. You are that happiness, that bliss.

This understanding of Brahman is the essence of the Ishavasya Upanishad. Kaka’s maidservant was very happy on putting the new Sari and was equally happy coming back to rags the next day. She is a metaphor for Brahman, while her garments are a metaphor for Maya, the temporary things around us.  Her cheerfulness echoes the Bliss of Brahman.

2.    You must not have any prejudice regarding the source of knowledge as it can come from unexpected places

Baba wanted us to realise that we must be on constant alert to receive knowledge as it could come from anywhere. In this leela, Baba told Das Ganuji that a maid servant at Kakasaheb Dixit’s home would help him understand the essence of the Ishavasya Upanishad, which many learned men could not do. True to Baba’s words Das Ganuji, did learn the gist of the Ishavasya Upanishad from the maid servant. 

The knowledge came from a source which represented many social biases. The source was female not male, of low status not high status, and very young, not old and experienced in life.

This world is filled with temporary things that keep appearing and disappearing around us, and is described as Maya or illusion.  However, let us not forget that even Maya comes from Brahman, which pervades everything around us.  It should not surprise us then, that clues to the nature of Brahman are all around us, even among all these temporary things.  Don’t expect to find valuable teachings only in books. Look around you, and look beyond your biases.

A classic example in our tradition is that of the lotus plant. Just as the lotus plant rises above the muddy water, untouched by it, so must you live without being affected by the muck of everyday life. Just like a drop of water on a lotus leaf does not stick to the leaf but falls off, so must you let worldly attachments and disturbing thoughts caused by those attachments slide off.

 

3.    It is more important to build a spiritual principle into your way of life than to merely understand a spiritual principle intellectually

Through this leela, Baba wants us to understand that it is more important to live the lessons learnt than to just know them intellectually. He wanted Das Ganuji to learn the lesson first hand via the maid servant. Kakasaheb Dixit’s maid servant taught us a very important spiritual lesson by living it herself.

Seeing the girl live the lesson, and be as happy as she was, unaffected by the comings and goings of the objects around her, showed Das Ganuji that merely knowing a spiritual lesson is not as valuable as making it a part of how you live your life.

Putting into Practice

Here are some suggestions on how we could use this leela in our daily lives.

1.    Live according to your true nature, which is Brahman, and described as Sat-chit-ananda

How can we live and behave according to our true nature? Unfortunately, we often develop attachment to things, which results in our suffering.  This is very well described in an example by Swami Chinmayanandaji:

A man, while taking his bath in the Ganges, saw a bright thing floating down the stream. He swam to it and caught hold of it. He saw that it was a Malacca cane with a silver top. Along with the cane, while swimming back, he was caught in a dangerous whirl, and, lost his hold upon the newly gained stick. The stick floated down the river-stream. The man, on reaching the bank, was seen to be bitterly weeping for the loss of his cane. The cane that came down the stream would have continued its progress without causing this man any sorrow of its own accord. But, on going and claiming it as his, and thereafter when he lost the stick, it left him wounded in his heart. It was only the relationship that he fixed up between himself and the stick that gave the stick the potency and the strength to wound him.

Discourses on Isavasya Upanisad, Translated by Swami Chinmayananda
(Mumbai: Central Chinmaya Mission Trust, 2007), p21.

Along with attachment to things, we also develop emotional attachment to people around us, which also becomes the cause of our sorrow. We think love is similar to attachment, but they are very different.

I once remember reading an advice on how to take care of your children or loved ones around you. Love and care for them without any attachment, just as a nurse would take care of a patient to the best of her abilities, without any attachment, and let them go when healed.

Love is a positive feeling toward something or someone, but attachment is an emotional need for something or someone. The major difference is that love is a feeling directed toward the other (person or thing), while attachment is self-centered — meaning based on fulfilling your own need (note 1).

Whenever you feel anger or betrayal, contemplate upon it and see if you can identify an attachment which is the root cause, as it is only attachment which can cause this.  On the other hand, when you love without attachment, you may feel sadness, but never anger or betrayal. 

2.    You must not have any prejudice regarding the source of knowledge as it can come from unexpected places

Knowledge can come from any source, but we will be able to receive it only if we are in tune with our surroundings at all times. Do not expect to learn only from books and other writings, but look all around you.  You will find a wealth of knowledge in your surroundings.

Pay attention to the people you encounter, especially those you might otherwise overlook because of their humble status.  Observe other creatures, the nature around you, and look for deeper meanings in what you see.

 

4.    It is more important to build a spiritual principle into your way of life than to merely understand a spiritual principle intellectually

As you come across important spiritual teachings that ring true deep within you, look for ways to work them into your day-to-day life. 

For example, if you are deeply attracted to Teaching 1 above, you must make a habit of honestly examining yourself each time you are angry or with hurt feelings, to look for attachments.  As you identify and deal with each attachment, you will find yourself happier and happier. 

Similarly, for Teaching 2 above, you must make it a habit to pay more attention to those around you who are otherwise invisible due to their social status. This will cause you to see these people with more compassion, and you will likely learn important lessons from them.

 

 

Om, Sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ

Sarve santu nirāmayāḥ

Sarve bhadrāṇi paśyantu

Mā kashchit duḥkha bhāgbhavet

Oṁ Shāntiḥ, Shāntiḥ, Shāntiḥ

Meaning:

May all be prosperous and happy

May all be free from illness

May all see what is spiritually uplifting

May no one suffer

Om peace, peace, peace

 

I would encourage all of you to please share your interpretations, learnings and experiences on how you have put this leela into practice.

 

 

Om Sai Ram.

 

NOTES:

1)    Please see http://happyhealthyrelationship.com/difference-between-love-and-emotional-attachment/