In the previous episode, we had witnessed Sage Dhurvasa testing Mudgala to the maximum extent possible. After every fifteen days when Mudgala’s family will be preparing themselves to have a sumptuous meal, Sage Dhurvasa would make his way to their place and would consume all the food that they had prepared! Mudgala too would be very pleased and happy to offer everything to Sage Dhurvasa as a token of “Dhaanam”, without caring for the fact that he and his family would starve without any food or water for the next fifteen days! This continued for around three months until Sage Dhurvasa himself questioned Mudgala’s consistency. As Sage Dhurvasa asks thus, Mudgala never exhibited any sort of frustration or facial expressions towards performing the “Dhaanam”. He was doing it with a lot of “Shraddha” (Perfection) and “Bhakti” (Devotion). This melted Sage Dhurvasa’s heart and he provides Mudgala his divine Anugraha of granting him and his family the highest “Moksha” through the “Svarga Lokha”. He ordered that a “Vimaana” would come and pick them up and take them to the “Svarga Lokha” with immediate effect.
Even as Sage Dhurvasa orders thus, the “Dhootas” (Messengers) from the Deva Lokha are already arriving one after the other to pick up Mudgala and family. As Mudgala is preparing himself to transcend, all the people around him feel happy too. Internally they were also thinking thus, “Oh wow! Mudgala is getting what he really deserved to get for a long time now! Whatever we’re not getting is what he is getting. This is where we’ve to work and strengthen our path towards “Dharma”! We should take Mudgala as a role model and follow his footsteps carefully for attaining the ultimate goal!” As the people think thus, none of them fall in jealousy with him. Nobody felt bad that Mudgala is transcending to the “Svarga Lokha”. This is also primarily because, Mudgala had offered the “Dhaanam” in whatever ways to all these people around him! Hence, the “Dhaanam” that he had offered with all his “Sathva Guna”, has transformed all the people around him! Since they have obtained the “Dhaanam” from such a person, they’ve also obtained the “Sathva Guna” from him, along with the material “Dhaanam” that they had received! Hence, we can understand from this point as to how important our “Aahaaram” (Food) is!
We should remember one important aspect here – Our entire character and “Gunas” are determined completely by the food that we consume! The “Shaastras” have prescribed a balanced diet, which would be enriching not only our stomach and physical health, but also with the most important “Sathva Guna”, which is the fundamental requirement for a good character. Obviously only if we have a good character, will we be having that interest to pursue the path of “Dharma”. Hence, all are interlinked here. In today’s context, we’re crossing all our boundaries with regards to food. We’re consuming more and more outside food from restaurants and fast-food centres, owing to our change in lifestyle. Now we’re talking about how the “Sathva Guna” has transferred from Mudgala to the others, isn’t it? If we’re going out and eating from restaurants, apart from the ingredients and the raw materials that are used to prepare the food, do we know as to who is cooking that food and with what kind of “Gunas” and intentions? If the chef is full of “Rajo Guna” or “Tamo Guna” and with a lot of anger and frustration, and if we consume the food that he / she cooks, then what “Gunas” are we imbibing? This is where we get into a lot of mess and ultimately start deviating from the path of “Dharma”.
Of course, I’m not trying to say that we should close down all the restaurants or anything like that. We should of course enjoy that once in a while, but fundamentally we should make sure that we consume home-cooked food as much as possible. This is because, if we’re cooking at home, we would be very careful with all the ingredients with which we cook. Moreover, if we chant our “Mantra” or any slokas pertaining to our favourite deity while cooking, the essence of that slokas or “Mantra” would transcend into our food, which would enhance our “Sathva Guna” further! Once our “Sathva Guna” increases, automatically we would start following the path of “Dharma” without any invitation from anybody! This is where the loop is. Hence, we can see from here as to how “Aahaara Shuddhi” plays a very crucial role in our pursuit towards the path of “Dharma” and this is exactly what Mudgala and family illustrate with their practice too. Even while collecting the grains, we’ve seen how Mudgala meticulously took efforts to collect every single grain. This is why there was a fifteen-day time lag between every meal. Hence, we can imagine how much of “Sathva Guna” that Mudgala and family possessed, which paved the way for Sage Dhurvasa to order the “Svarga Lokha” / “Moksha” to them!
So for today, let us understand this point very clearly and let us consciously take a step forward towards implementation of the same. Of course, it would take time for us to slowly imbibe it, but we’ve to start somewhere, isn’t it? Hence, let us make the head-start today! We shall wait till the next episode to continue this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 