Story 106 - True Renunciation

There was in India a king called Shikhadhwaj. He was a great king, a mighty monarch. He wanted to realize his God-consciousness; and in order to do that he thought that he ought to give up this family life.

His wife was Chudala. She wanted to teach him but he would not listen to her, for he thought nothing of her.

He renounced everything, gave up his kingdom, and his wife became the ruler, and he then went to the Himalayas, and there he lived about a year or so.

In the mean time, the Empress, his wife, thought of a plan to bring him real happiness. So one day she put on the garb of a Sannyasin and walked up to the cottage where her husband then was. She found him lost in a state of meditation; she remained standing beside him, and when he came to his senses, he was filled with joy. Thinking her a great Sannyasin, he showered flowers on her.

She was in a blissful mood. He spoke, "I think God has incarnated in you to lift me up." She replied, "Yes, yes." He wanted her to teach him and she did so. She said, "O King, if you want to enjoy perfect bliss, you will have to renounce everything." He was surprised, and replied, "I have renounced my empire, my wife, my children." She said, "You have renounced nothing."

He could not understand, and asked, "Am I not a man of renunciation, have I not given up my empire, my family?"

She answered, "No, no, do you not possess something still?" "Yes," he replied, "I possess this cottage, this staff and this water-vessel." "Then you are not a man of renunciation," she replied. "So long as you possess anything, you are possessed by that thing. Action and reaction being opposites you cannot possess anything, without its possessing you." He then burnt the cottage, threw his staff into the river, and burnt his water-vessel, and exclaimed, "Now am I not a man of renunciation?" She replied, "Renunciation cannot come from renouncing these objects." She said, "O king, you have burnt the cottage, but do you not possess still three cubits and a half of clay? It was wrong for you to destroy those things, for you have gained nothing by it. What you possessed then, you still possess namely, that three cubits and a half of clay, where you lie down.*' He began to think, and determined to burn the body. He piled up wood and made a great fire, and was about to jump into the fire, but the wife prevented him and exclaimed, "O king, when your body is burnt, what will be left?" He replied, "Ashes will be left." "Whose ashes?" She asked. He replied, "My ashes." Then she replied, "You must still possess ashes. By burning the body, you have not attained renunciation." He began to think, and exclaimed, "How can I renounce, what shall I renounce".?

She asked, "Whose body is this"? He answered, "My body," "Well, renounce it." "Whose mind is this"? He answered, "My mind." "Then renounce it." The king was then made to ask questions. He said, "Who am I then? If I am not the mind, I am something else; and if I am not the body, I must be something different." He reflected and the conclusion was that the king realized, "I am the God of gods, the Lord of lords, the Infinite Being, the Supreme Excellence." He realized that, and said that this

Supreme Excellence cannot be renounced, though other things may be.

The story goes that the wife of this king lived on for some time, and at one time threw off her yogic garb or powers and made the king believe that she was playing false to him in favour of a former lover of hers, and to his knowledge remained in that state for some time.

She afterwards came to the king and apologised, and said, "O king, you will please pardon me. I am wicked, and have been false to you, forgive me, I pray you." The king looked at her and said, "O girl, what is the meaning of these excuses and apologies? Your misconduct would have caused me pain, had I believed in this body, had I been prompted by ignorance, had I believed that I am the owner of this body, and that you belong to me. If I were a victim of that desire, a victim of that idea of the copy-writing spirit, if I had been subject to that malady, I would have been annoyed and deeply grieved, but as it is, I see no husband in my body; I do not hold in my hands any rope; I possess nothing and am possessed by nothing. I find myself the Infinite. Think, reflect, O girl, you may become pure, but there are other girls in this world who are impure; they are mine also. As the Light of the Universe, I am the owner of the whole world; for what shall I chafe, and for what shall I be pleased?" If a crime is committed by your neighbour, there is no grief, but if a crime is committed by your wife, oh, then you are deeply grieved. This comes through this self-appropriating, copy-writing spirit.

The queen went back to the kingdom and soon returned to the king and exclaimed, "O king, you are a veritable God. What difference does it make where you live? Are the Himalayas more yours than those palaces?" The king replied that he was present everywhere. "All bodies are mine,*' said he, "this body is not any more mine than other bodies. This body is not present in the eyes of the Jnani; it is present only in those who do not know the whole truth."

All this world is created by your own thought. This is as true as mathematical certainty. It is a bold statement, but it is literally true.

They took the king to the throne again. He was living in the midst of all the luxury, in the midst of all these uncertainties, pure, pure, no dupe of the senses, not led by his senses. He ruled for years. What was he? He was neither a king nor a monarch but God Himself. This was renunciation.

To him the pebbles and stones, the thorny roses and velvet cushions, and those silk quilts, those princely, royal magnificent houses were the same.

Renunciation is to begin with those things nearest and dearest. It is that false ego which I must give up: this idea that "I am doing this," that "I am the agent," and "I am the enjoyer," the idea which engenders in you this false personality. These must be done away with these thoughts. "My Wife," "My body," "My mind," "My children." Unless these ideas are renounced, realization is not attained, Retire into the Jungle and still you are not a man of renunciation, because the thought of making this or that belong to you, is in your mind. Hermits do not always get rid of this thought; while kings living in royal state do get rid of it sometimes. The man of renunciation is one who gets rid of this little appropriating self, this little apparent self.

MORAL: True renunciation consists, not in giving up this or that, the family or even the body, but in doing away with the idea of possession, the enjoyer, the agent, or of false personality.

Vol. 3 (168-172)