Sri Guru Gita – 9 March 2014 – Episode 79

Jaya Guru Datta. English summary:

Sloka:
Sarira martham pranamsca sadgurubhyo nivedayet |
Atmanamapi dasyaya vaideho janako yatha ||

We discussed that in this mantra, they cited the Videha, king Janaka as an ideal for self-surrender. There are many stories that talk about his devotion to the Guru. In one story, king Janaka’s Guru ordered the king that he pull the chariot the Guru is seated in. See how many tests the Guru put his disciple to, to teach devotion to the Guru.

King Janaka had prostrated to the Guru saying that he was surrendering his entire kingdom and himself to the Guru. As soon as the king prostrated, the Guru said, “Okay, since there is nothing that belongs to you, why don’t you pull this chariot with your body. There is nothing that belongs to you anyway; I will sit in the chariot, you will pull the chariot with your body.” King Janaka did exactly as ordered.

Then, the Guru asked him to stop pulling the chariot and asked him to carry the Guru on his shoulders and parade through the streets in the town. The Guru said, “It’s not enough to just pull the chariot outside the town, now I will sit on your shoulders”. The Guru was not thin like me. The Guru sat on the king’s shoulders. “Now, you should walk through the streets in the town”, the Guru ordered. In the streets of the town, everybody would be watching. “You pulled the chariot so far, now carry me on your shoulders”. King Janaka did this very happily. He was very pleased to do this. This is the king’s greatness. Self-surrender needs to be practiced. It’s not enough to pay lip service, “I am surrendering myself to you”. What does that mean? Does it mean to just provide it in writing?

Here, let’s recall another story. Guru appears as an ordinary human being, but he is a manifestation of the divine and a representative of God. King Janaka surrendered himself to Sadguru Ashtavakra and earned his blessings. Saint Lomasa relates this story to Dharmaraja. Let’s delve in to this story.

A long time ago, Ashtavakra was born to the couple Sujata and Kahola. Ashtavakra was born with eight physical deformities. It is said that, Ashtavakra who was in the womb of his mother, couldn’t bear to hear the off-key chants of the Vedic verses by his father, causing Ashtavakra to cringe. You cringe and deform when you hear something jarring on the ear and in some instances, that deformity stays. A lot of people close their ears when they hear mantras that are off-key. They won’t be able to hear afterwards, because they are shutting off the Lord’s names. Even if it is off-key, it is the names of the Lord that are being chanted. You should not close your ears. You can quietly leave that place, but you should not close your ears. You should not be annoyed.

When the baby in the womb heard the off-key chanting by the father, the baby cringed and deformed, unable to bear hearing the recitation. He was born with those 8 deformities giving him the name Ashtavakra (ashta=8; vakra=deformity).

Jaya Guru Datta.