There are many stories that I had read and pondered over, which helped me progress towards my realization.
Is THIS True or THAT True?
One a day, a courtier came to King Janak and informed him that there was an attack on the kingdom. King Janak prepared himself and declared for a war. It was one of the toughest wars, and unfortunately, he lost it and was wounded. The enemy king captured the kingdom and ordered King Janak to leave the kingdom immediately. King Janak started his journey out of the kingdom in a situation where he was wounded and was left hungry and thirsty. He asked for water and food from the people, but they refused in fear of their new king. King Janak, left with no options, tirelessly walked for days and night with no food and water. However, at the entry of the new kingdom, he saw food was being served to the poor people. Immediately, he walked towards the line of people to get something to eat. But the moment he reached the counter, the food was over. The server saw him and said, “I can give you starch. I am sorry, but this is the only thing that I can offer.” King Janak, being helpless, agreed for the starch. The cook gave him the starch, but the moment King Janak took the bowl of starch to help himself, an eagle jumped on it, and he dropped the bowl on the ground. King Janak lost the last hope and fell down seeing the starch getting mixed with the dirt. In utter despair, he screamed, “Oh Lord!!!”
That moment, his bodyguard entered the king’s bedroom and saw King Janak on his bed, sweating heavily and with pain in his chest. The bodyguard checked if he was alright. King Janak took a deep breath and said, “Is THIS True or THAT True?” He asked, “What is the Truth?” Am I a king who dreamt that I was a beggar, or am I a beggar dreaming that I am a king? Is This true or That True?
King Janak remained in that condition for a while, leaving the people in his kingdom worried about their king’s state of mind until one day, a learned saint Asthavakra Muni came to his capital. He heard about the King’s situation and decided to visit the court. Seeing the king confused, he asked what the matter was. The king again murmured, “Is THIS True or THAT True?”
Then, saint Asthavakra said, “Dear King Janak!! Neither ‘this’ nor ‘that’ is truth. YOU ARE THE TRUTH!!!”
For the first time, King Janak got an answer to the question. In the past, people had told him, “Of course, you are the king. Why you ever doubted? You know you are the king. That was a dream.” That’s what people said. To which, King Janak always said, “No, but what is true? Am I a king dreaming that I was a beggar, or am I a beggar dreaming that I am the king?” King Janak could not believe their answer that he was indeed a king. Until this saint Asthavakra came and told king Janak, “Neither this is true – that you are a king dreaming you a beggar; nor that is true – that you are a beggar dreaming to be a king. And this made King Janak realize the truth.
Learning: My learning from this story is that the waking state is just like a dream. Because ultimately when everything is over, when life is over, everything dissolves just like everything in a dream dissolves. The saint tried to explain that neither the waking state nor the dreaming state is real. But there is the other state, the state of the true self, the Soul, which is the real state. This is what saint Asthavakra tried to tell King Janak, and King Janak being a man of seeking was awakened by this.
The Immortal Fruit
Once a great sage gave the king a fruit that would help him attain immortality when he consumes it. The sage told the king that the fruit was rare and one of its kind. The king was very happy, but while he thought about gaining immortality, his thoughts revolved around his dearest queen, without whom an immortal life seemed meaningless. So, he gave the fruit to the queen and asked her to have it so that she can be immortal and be with him forever until his last day.
The queen gave the fruit to the charioteer with whom she was secretly in love with as she wanted him to be with her forever. The charioteer, in turn, gave the fruit to the damsel with whom he had a relationship. The damsel thought that she was