The Chhandogya Upanishad - 73: Swami Krishnananda.

 

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Monday 23, December 2024. 13:45.
Appendix 2: Samvarga-Vidya
Post-73.

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4.

Yatha krtaya vijitayadhareyah samyanti, evam enam sarvam tad-abhisameti, yat kinca prajah sadhu kurvanti, yastad-veda yat sa veda, sa mayaitad-ukta iti.

In the play of dice, there are numbers marked on each face of the dice, number 1 in one face, number 2 in another, number 3 in the third, and number 4 in the fourth one. Now in this play of dice whoever casts the highest throw is called krita. He wins all the other ones. Four includes three, two and one. So he who has won the fourth throw has automatically won the other three also. He need not go on winning the other three one by one. The other three are automatically included in the fourth one which he has won.

In a similar manner, all the virtues that people do anywhere in this world are included in the virtue of this great person called Raikva. His virtue is like an ocean which swallows up all the dribbles, rivulets and rivers of the little virtues that other people do anywhere. So one can imagine what sort of person he must be. His goodness, greatness, virtue, righteousness is like an ocean which swallows all the other virtues of anybody, anywhere in this world.

We have got four ages called krita, treta, dvapara and kali. According to the traditional calculation of the calendar, kali-yuga—this present age in which we are living, sometimes called the iron age—is supposed to extend for 432,000 years. That is the duration of kali-yuga. Twice the duration of kali-yuga is the duration of dvapara-yuga. Thrice the duration is treta-yuga, and four times the duration is krita-yuga, which is the longest in duration. Its extent is such that it includes all the other yugas in it. So, in comparison with these four ages krita, treta, dvapara and kali, the dice numbers in the dice play also are called by the names krita, treta, dvapara, and kali. This is only by way of example.

The point that is made out here is that Raikva was a very great person and Janasruti, the king, was nowhere before him. He was nobody compared to that great man. This was a pointed insult to the king no doubt, who was hearing it. He was all along feeling very happy and legitimately proud that he was doing his best in giving charity and leading a good life. But he was encountered with this very unpleasant conversation that went on in the sky between the birds. So he passed a restless night thinking over this matter as to what sort of person Raikva would be, where he was, and whether he could see him. "What is the use of my charity, what is the use of my virtues, if all this that I do is nothing in comparison with others who are still greater than me?"—thus Janasruti was thinking in his mind.

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5.

Tadu ha janasrutih pautrayana upasusrava, sa ha sanjihana eva ksattaram uvaca, angare ha sa-yugvanam iva raikvam attheti, yo nu katham sa-yugva raikva iti.

6.

Yatha krtaya vijitayadhareyah samyanti, evam enam sarvam tad-abhisameti, yat kinca prajah sadhu kurvanti, yas-tadveda yat sa veda, sa mayaitad ukta iti.

Kings wake up in the morning hearing the sounds of beautiful music and bards singing their glory. Janasruti when he woke up in the morning heard his glories being sung in his palace. On this particular morning, he was not pleased. He was grieved, very unhappy, indeed. "What is the use of this praise?" thought he. He called his attendant, ksatta, and asked, "Do you praise me in the same way as one praises Raikva with the cart?" The idea was that the attendant should go and find out where that man was and tell him that the king wanted him. That attendant asked, "Master, who is this, Raikva? You ask me to go and search for him?" In a mood of irritation, as it were, the king simply repeated the very words he heard from the bird. "Just as the fourth cast in the dice includes every other cast, all the virtues of people are included in the virtues of this person. Whatever anybody knows, he also knows and what he knows, that only others also know. This is the greatness of Raikva. There is nothing which he does not know, and no one can know what he does not know. Such a person you find out." Well, very astounding indeed! The ksatta, the attendant, went in search of Raikva in all the cities and in all important places.

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Continued

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