Ideal disciple

(Sri Swamiji's discourse in Hyderabad on 19-3-96)

What are the characteristics of a Shishya? What are the qualities of a Guru ? These are among the frequently asked questions. A person who goes on visiting saints and great men will no doubt acquire some punya but if he does not stick to one Guru, he will never achieve the status of a Shishya. Similarly, all those who can perform miracles can not become Gurus. No doubt, a Guru can perform similar acts, but what makes Him a Sadguru is his ability to following the shishya through several births and bestow knowledge.

"Sadguru subjects his shishyas to several tests" - many people say. They must realise that it is not easy for a disciple to reach that state. Not many have reached that stage. Meerabai, Hanuman, Dhruva such personalities reached it.

When you reach that state, you may face tests. Not till then. Don't confuse the wayward nature of your mind and your unstable devotion as 'tests'. Even after attaining total devotion and knowledge, if you encounter instability, then you may consider it as 'test'. Till such time, whatever you may face is not 'test', but the foul play of your fickle mind.

Assume that a person sitting in the satsang congregation here today finds that his footwear is missing from where he left them. Now, if he says that 'Swamiji is testing me', is it proper on his part to say so ? Can it be called devotion ? There is a tendency in people (when they face difficulties) to say 'the Almighty is testing me'. But when they are happy, they will not say 'the Almighty gave this happiness'. This is because of the ego.

Money, education, inheritance - all these cause ego. Therefore, you must try to surrender the ego emanating from all these at the feet of the Sadguru. Do not nurture it. It is not enough if you make big donations. You must get rid of the ego which your wealth caused in you. You must surrender the ego of knowledge at the feet of the Sadguru. Making donations and expecting to be garlanded for having made the donation is a lowly desire. It will only bloat your ego.

A seeker will naturally possess some amount of surrendering attitude. But there will be some ego too. A sadguru will uproot the ego just as a farmer removes the weeds and facilitates proper growth of the useful crop. Thus, a Guru is a spiritual farmer.

Sometimes the Guru functions like a washer man. A washer man washes different clothes differently. For e.g., he will hand wash the silk clothes, and hard wash thick materials like blankets and bedspreads. He knows how to wash which cloth. Similarly, the Guru will schedule a purification agenda for his devotees on individual basis. To some, he gives the benefit of touching him, while some others may get the blessings through his eyes. To some, he may give upadesha (initiation with a mantra). This should not be mistaken for partiality. All patients coming to the hospital will not get the same prescription.

Sometimes, the Guru works like a spiritual goldsmith. A goldsmith melts the gold in a furnace and beats is well. It has to be done methodically. It is an art. Only those who have mastered that art can make ornaments. Similarly, the sadguru subjects his true disciples to various difficulties during the course of making him a realised soul. It may appear as though the Guru is behaving mercilessly and unfairly. In reality, the Guru does not have any prejudices. Let us consider the example of Narada and the four kings -

Once sage Narada was flying in the Pushpaka Vimana (the celestial aircraft) along with four of his disciple kings (Parvataka, Kashiraja, Dhananjaya and Shibi). During the course of conversation, they started asking as to who would reach Vaikuntha (the abode of Lord Vishnu) first. Narada, with the help of his divine vision, said 'I can not say right now about all of you; but I am sure that Parvataka will not be able to go to Vaikuntha'. Continuing, Sage Narada said -

'Parvataka, you were my disciple in your past life also. You were a king then also and you were ruling your kingdom in a dharmic way. I had once come to your kingdom then. You took me around your kingdom. We reached a grazing field and there were thousands of cows there. You pointed towards them and boasted- "All these cows have been given away as charity by me to the needy. But those who have accepted the charity can not even afford to look after them properly. Therefore I am taking care of the cows. All these actually belonged to me" At this juncture, I wanted to change the subject, but you kept on dragging me back to the same topic. You said "I want to donate more cows".

Thus, O ! Parvataka, you forgot that you are only a trustee to the resources at your command and thought that you actually owned them. You also took pride in boasting about your acts of charity. A man with so much pride and ego has no place in the Vaikuntha.'After listening this, Parvataka became speechless.

Now Kashi Raja asked - 'What about me ? Will I go to Vaikuntha ?'

Narada replied - ' Kashiraja, I once heard Lord Shiva speak very highly of you. I wanted to see who you were and I came to your kingdom. When I came to your kingdom, you were about to get in to a brand new chariot you had got made just then. I saw that chariot and asked, 'this chariot is very nice. Can I take it ?' Without thinking even for a moment, you gave that chariot to me. After some time, your name came up again in the presence of Lord Shiva in Kailasa. Agai Lord Shiva was all praise for you. Surprisingly, Goddess Parvati did not show much enthusiasm. I came to your kingdom once more. At that time, you had just got a silver chariot made. As you were about to climb it, I wished for it. Without any hesitation, you gave it to me. The same thing happened when you got a golden chariot made. I requested for it and you gave it away. The next time when you were about to ascend a chariot studded with diamonds, I again asked for it. You gave it too because I was your Guru. But this time, you thought 'I am a king; so I need chariots. But of what use is a chariot to my Guru ?'

What a thinking ! You are a king and so you need a chariot. But you are forgetting that you are my disciple too. Do you want your Guru to come walking to your palace to accept Gurupooja ? In fact, all the chariots were my creations. You are enjoying what I have created. You must offer the best of what you have to your Guru. You forgot this and entertained menial feeling while offering. Therefore even you are ineligible to go to Vaikuntha.

It was now Dhananjaya who asked whether he would go to Vaikuntha. Then Narada narrated about him.

"Dhananjaya, you too were my disciple. Once, when I visited you, out of respect for me, you and your wife made me sit in the royal chariot and took me round your kingdom. After some time, I said that the chariot should not be pulled by horses and asked you and your wife to pull it. Immediately, you set the horses free and the royal couple were pulling the chariot ! After some time, I said that even your wife should not pull. Then you started pulling the chariot alone. We entered the city and all the people started seeing you pulling the chariot. You felt a sense of shame and thought 'this is the job of horses. Why is this man making me pull the chariot ?' With this, it was proved that you did not have total devotion. You had not surrendered your ego. Therefore even you are not eligible to go to Vakuntha. King Shibi, who was listening to all this, was silent. He was not interested to know whether he would go to Vaikuntha. Narada himself spoke-

'This man Shibi was prepared to donate everything he had including his flesh. Still he did not think that he was the giver and the other person was the recipient. His attitude is the most sublime one. He has the eligibility to go to Vaikuntha.

With the help of this story, we can realise as to how impartial the Guru behaves and also how the disciples tread the wrong path when they think high of themselves. Understand the essence of this story and strive to become ideal disciples.