Story 142 - The Secret of Invincibility

In the Hindu Scriptures there is a magnificent story told about three persons called Asuras. These three persons had wonderful powers. They were warriors, nobody could get the better of them, they were wonderful people. People who came' and fought with them, were defeated immediately, hosts of enemies came, and were defeated. The men, who fought with them, came in thousands but were defeated by these three persons. The enemies being defeated so frequently, went to a great saint and asked how they could beat these three fellows; and the saint told them they must enquire into the cause of their invincibility, how were these three Asuras invincible? With great effort and trouble it was found out that the secret of their invincibility lay in the fact that these persons never entertained the thought that they were workers or enjoyers. When the victory was gained, they thought nothing of it. They did not stoop down to enjoy the victory. When they were fighting, the idea that "I, as this body, am fighting" was entirely lost, and the idea that "I am fighting" was entirely absent. Such are the heroes in this world. You know every hero in war, while engaged in action, as people say, "I am all ears," so the hero is all action. There is no room left for the idea "I am doing." There his body gets mechanical, so to say. - He is all action. His head and feet are saturated with Divinity. So, such people whenever they fought, became all action, they never for a moment allowed the idea, <CI am acting." Just as a machine worked, their bodies worked; machines of God, machines of Divinity, their bodies vvorked. This was the secret of their success, nobody could win them. Now the secret of their invincibility being found out, the great sage told the enemies of these three warriors the means of conquering them. He told those enemies to engage in action with them and then run away from them; go to them and call them out into action, and just when they begin to attack them, to leave those warriors as conquerors. Thus to draw them out and flee away from them. The enemies of those warriors drew them out and fled from them. Thus a few times more were the enemies of those warriors defeated. By and by those three invincible warriors were drawn out of their true position, were drawn out of their real invincibility, and were brought down into their bodies, they were made to believe that they were conquerors. They were made to believe that they were great, that they were victorious. Those continued victories engendered in them the idea that they were victorious, they were conquerors. Here were the three men brought down into the cage of the body; here were the three men put into the prison house of the body. The idea of "I am doing," or the thought of “I am great" got hold of them, and held them in prison. There the God in them was replaced by the small ego and then it was no hard task to win them and catch them and imprison them. It was not a hard task they were defeated immediately, immediately were they caught.

So long as you are doing a work, as it were, your body being a machine in the hands of God, your personality being merged in Divinity, so long as you are in that position, you are invincible, you are like those three Asuras above the idea of "I am enjoying, or I am doing." You are invincible; but when people come to you and begin to praise you, to puff you up, flatter you, favourably review you from all sides, you are made to, believe that you are a conqueror, a hero, you are victorious, others are defeated, your rivals are against you. They are like those three

Asuras. The idea of "I am doing it" and."I must enjoy the deed," "I am the enjoyer," that very thought imprisons you, brings you down into the cage of the body. You are undone, the power is lost. Go out of the cage and you are inspired, go into the cage again and you are no more.

MORAL: Merging of personality into Divinity leads to invincibility and power; getting out of Divinity into personality leads to defeat and ruin.

Vol. 1 (163-165)