I admit I am a Trekkie. “Trekkie” is found in the dictionary. So, clearly, lots of people are fans of the science fiction TV program “Star Trek.”
As the show begins, Spock (Leonard Nimoy) says, “To boldly go where no one has gone before!” When I hear those words, there is a yearning that arises within me.
Before yoga, my yearning was to know more, to do more, to see more, to be more. I trekked all over the world. I had wanderlust. I thought seeing and knowing more about the world would take care of my yearning. I didn’t know what I was truly yearning for until I found yoga.
This yearning drives humankind to look outward, and even to reach out into the cosmos. Voyager 1, a space probe launched by NASA, is now 14.6 billion miles from earth. For what purpose? The goal is to explore the solar system beyond the outer planets, to the outer limits of the sun’s sphere of influence, and possibly beyond. There is this yearning to go beyond the beyond.
Ultimately, it is the yearning to experience your own infinity. It is a yearning to know your own Self. Everyone has this yearning, but very few act on it. It is a spiritual yearning.
For yogis this is an inner exploration, for it is all found within you:
Even while contracted, Consciousness is the essence of the individual, who embodies the entire universe.
[rendered by Swami Nirmalananda]
Consciousness, the One Divine Reality, has contracted in order to be everything, including you. Even though Consciousness is contracted, the whole of consciousness is found inside your own body.
The ancient sages did explore “where no man had gone before.” But they looked inward. They sat in meditation and deepened within. What did they find? They found the whole universe within their own body.
From seeing the whole universe within, they came to understand the solar system and the galaxy. And they even understood that space was expanding. Into what? The yogis would say it is expanding into the Self. All of this is described in the ancient yoga texts. Their knowledge came from exploring inward.
In meditation I had the experience of the universe being within me while I was being in the universe. I saw planets, the stars and the space between the planets and the stars. Not only was the universe outside me, but the universe was within me as well. Moreover, I was more than the universe.
Baba Muktananda said, “The inner universe is much greater than the outer universe; it is so vast that the entire outer cosmos can be kept in just one comer of it.” Right now, astrophysicists estimate that there are two trillion galaxies, and their estimate just keeps increasing. But, as Baba Muktananda says, the two trillion galaxies can be kept in just one corner of your inner universe. Wow! There is so much more to explore within.
My mind cannot even fathom that. That is because your mind can only take you so far. To go beyond your mind and explore the innermost realms of your own being, you must meditate. The vehicle you use to explore inward is mantra. By repeating mantra, you place yourself in the mantra mobile — your rocket ship.
Yet, if you want your rocket ship to take off for your inner exploration, you must fill your tank with special fuel — Guru’s Grace. You cannot get there on your own. Receiving Shaktipat from a Shaktipat Guru ignites your inner energy and it climbs your spine. Now you are being propelled beyond the beyond into the inner infinity of your own Self.
Wonder after wonder of yogic realizations will unfold. Now you are exploring what you have yearned for all your life — to know and to experience your own greatness, your own Self. This is the gift of the Guru. This is why I have a Guru: Swami Nirmalananda Saraswati.
As Harishchandra’s son refused to leave his mother, he was sold along with his mother. Harishchandra hugged his son tightly to his chest, bursting into a stream of tears. His wife Chandramathi fell flat at her husband’s feet to get his blessings before departing.
The cruel-hearted old man who bought them, without mercy yelled at them to follow his lead. Harishchandra watched them leave, in desperation unable to do anything.
Vishwamithra (1)
The sage Vishwamithra visited again and demanded the donation. Harishchandra happily gave all that he had from selling his wife and son. The sage wasn’t too happy with the donation and asked for more. Harishchandra didn’t have any other choice but to sell himself. He sold himself to a person who oversees disposing human remains. So, the great King Harishchandra’s duty was to burn off dead bodies. With this, he was not only able to settle all his debt, but also was able to lose his identity of being a great King.
Harishchandra carried out his new duty righteously, collecting the fees on time and giving it all to his master without missing a penny. After a while working at the cremation ground, one day around midnight Harishchandra found a woman half-clad, with her dead son on her lap. She looked completely exhausted as if she had been crying for a long time.
Harishchandra, Chandramati & son (2)
She asked for help from Harishchandra to burn her son’s body as she didn’t have any money to offer for the services. As much as he wanted to help the poor woman, he couldn’t do it as he was merely a servant to his master.
The woman pleaded with Harishchandra, saying that she was a servant of a stone-hearted old man, who was very unkind, and she needed to get back to work before sunrise. Harishchandra looked more closely at her.
Though he couldn’t see her face in the dark, he noticed the wedding necklace in her neck shining brightly, in contrast to all else that she was wearing and saying. He then demanded her to give the money, saying that she could get money with the golden wedding necklace she was wearing.
The woman was so hurt by this. She screamed with a loud voice saying, “Why am I still alive? If this cemetery keeper can see my wedding necklace, that means my chastity is going to be questioned. It’s only my husband who can see this necklace, according to the boon I had when I was born.”
Harishchandra immediately recognized that this woman in rags was none other than his beloved wife Chandramathi, and the boy lying lifeless was his son. He hugged his wife and the body of his son. He arranged a huge pyre, laying his son’s body on it. Harishchandra then told Chandramathi to go get the money from the master.
Even though Chandramathi was quite sure that she would not get a penny from her boss, to satisfy her husband she started running towards the master’s home. On her way she saw a young boy’s corpse on the streets. Her heart went out for this boy, so she dragged him from the street and held him on her lap.
Next thing you know, she was surrounded by royal guards. She was accused of killing the son of the king of Kashi for the sake of his jewelry. The thieves had run away with the golden treasures, abandoning the corpse, while Chandramathi’s fate brought her to this trouble.
Chandramathi was taken to the king. As she was in shock, she couldn’t say a word. With the evidence totally against her, she was charged with murder and treason. She was sentenced to be beheaded.
Sage Chandramathi, son & Harishchandra (3)
Chandramathi was taken to the cemetery by the royal guards. Harishchandra was called upon by his master and asked to behead Chandramathi. Harishchandra’s heart stopped for a moment. He could clearly understand the poor state of his wife. His hands trembled to even to hold the sword. He cried without knowing what to do.
Chandramathi addressed her husband in a very firm voice and said to him to uphold the righteous and to be truthful. Not to give it away for the sake of her life. She was willing to give up her life for her husband’s truthfulness.
When Harishchandra was just about to perform his action, Vishwamithra interfered. The sage said, “Oh king, why are you suffering like this? All you must do is refuse to do what you promised. I will give everything back to you.” He encouraged Harishchandra to lie to win his kingdom back.
Harishchandra and Chandramathi fell on the sage’s feet. They said that water purifies the body and truthfulness purifies the mind. That it is as precious as life itself, only that it is internal. For the sake of worldly life, we cannot give up on truth. Then they both got up and Harishchandra raised the sword to behead Chandramathi.
Flowers falling from heaven (4)
The sword went right to her neck, but what a miracle! As soon as it touched her neck, it disappeared, instead turning into a beautiful garland full of fragrance. The devas were blessing them with flowers raining down from the heavens. The public was taken by this blissful scene.
To everyone’s astonishment, their son Devadas stood as if he was waking from a deep sleep. Sage Vasishta was there, delighted to see Harishchandra and Chandramathi, and to witness the triumph of truthfulness.
Sage Vishwamithra was taken by all this and realized his mistake. He too blessed the couple, giving not only all Harishchandra had lost but also half of the powers of penance to the truthful king, as the sage had promised earlier. Harishchandra lived for a long-time, ruling Ayodhya righteously, continuing to be truthful.
Before returning to the Pandavas’ story, I will share one additional story the Pandavas heard from the great sage during their time in the forest.
Once, there was a noble and just king named Shibi. Born into a line of righteous rulers, King Shibi was known for his wisdom, courage and unyielding sense of justice. He was a descendant of the legendary Bharata dynasty. His father, King Usinara, was an equally revered ruler.
King Shibi, dove (Agni) & eagle (Indra) (5)
King Shibi was married to a beautiful and virtuous queen. Together, they had several children who were taught the importance of upholding dharma and leading a life of righteousness. The royal family was greatly admired and respected by the people of the kingdom for their kindness, generosity and dedication to their subjects’ well-being.
His fame spread throughout the world. News of his magnanimity reached even the heavenly realms. Indra, Lord of Heaven, wanted to test King Shibi to see if he was as great as his fame suggested. So Indra and Agni, the God of Fire, came down from heaven to test the King.
Agni assumed the form of a dove and Indra became a fierce eagle. Agni flew in front, fluttering his wings as if terrified with Indra following at a distance, as if in hot pursuit. They flew straight towards the king’s palace.
The frightened dove took shelter in king’s lap. As the King had vowed to protect those who seek shelter, even though in this case it was a bird, he decided to protect it.
King Shibi cutting flesh (6)
The king comforted the dove with peace-filled words and he was ready to face the eagle. The eagle flew in, demanding the release of the dove as it was his prey. The righteous king realized that he was in a dilemma. While protecting the dove, he must fulfill the eagle’s hunger.
The eagle agreed to let the dove go if the king would offer equal weight of flesh from his own body, but without shedding a single teardrop. The King agreed to this demand. He called his guards and set up a scale where he placed the dove on one side and a large chunk of flesh from his right thigh on the left.
To his surprise the weight of dove was more. He added more, but even after additional flesh was added, the weight of dove was more. Even after cutting the whole of his right half of the body, the dove’s weight was not equaled.
As he is man of his words, he decided to offer the left side of his body as well. As he was about to cut the left side of his body, the eagle and the dove disappeared. In their places stood the Gods Indra and Agni. The Gods granted the king many boons. King Shibi ruled righteously for many years. After his death, he went directly to heaven to enjoy the fruits of his good deeds.
