In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Krishna invoking King Janaka as an epitome for attaining the highest “Moksha” by following the path of “Karma Yoga”. Till now Bhagawan Krishna had explained the theory behind “Karma Yoga” and how it works in reality. However, when Arjuna raised doubts as to whether this is really possible for normal people like us to follow, Bhagawan Krishna invokes the example of how King Janaka attained “Moksha” through the path of “Karma Yoga”. We’ve witnessed one illustration in the last episode as to how King Janaka was steadfast in his “Karma” (Actions) even though his entire kingdom was “illusioned” to be engulfed with fire by Sage Yajnavalkya. We’ve witnessed one important part of this event yesterday, and we shall continue this discussion further in today’s episode.
Moving further thus, as all the disciples of Sage Yajnavalkya came back to the Gurukula understanding that it was just a mere illusion, they saw King Janaka sitting there steadfast in front of the Guru, without moving an inch! He was entirely focused on the learning and was not perturbed even an inch by the “so-called fire” that spread through the entire Mithilapuri Desham. Upon seeing King Janaka sitting steadfast, Sage Yajnavalkya explains to his disciples, the significance of King Janaka and how he was extremely meticulous in whatever he does. Upon hearing this, King Janaka gives his understanding of the entire situation to Sage Yajnavalkya and the others. King Janaka says thus, “Oh Sage Yajnavalkya! I’m glad that you recognised my effort. However, let me tell you my understanding behind whatever has happened – From the moment you portrayed the entire Mithilapuri Desham on fire, I immediately understood through my power of penance that it was an illusion that you’ve created through your power of penance! Hence, I did not feel the need to move from my place and I understood that my kingdom and my people are safe and secure without any problem!”
From the above reply from King Janaka, we can understand one thing clearly – If we’re dedicated with our “Karma Yoga”, we can attain that state wherein we can clearly differentiate between which is true and which is not. When we’re thorough in our subject, nobody can take us for a ride by cheating us, right? Similarly here also, since King Janaka was steadfast in his path of spiritual upliftment, he was clearly able to understand that this was nothing but a “Yoga-Maya” (Illusion created through the power of penance). This is just one example, and there are many more which we can witness, to prove how King Janaka was an extremely scholarly person with a lot of compassion towards the entire creation! Scholarliness and Compassion (Down-to-earth) – This combination is very rare to find in this world, isn’t it? When people become scholarly, they start exhibiting superiority to a great extent, don’t they? However, King Janaka isn’t of that nature! The more scholarly he becomes, the more humble he becomes! The example which we saw above is itself a proof for this statement and this is exactly the reason why Bhagawan Krishna invokes the apt person here to explain how one can attain the highest level through the path of “Karma Yoga” itself, and nothing else is required. If we’re able to perform our actions with complete dedication and surrender to Bhagawan and without expecting the result, we are definitely walking the path of “Karma Yoga”, which will ultimately lead us to the highest “Moksha”!
Moreover, on a lighter note, it is believed that Bhagawan wanted to praise and appreciate King Janaka, who was His father-in-law during His previous incarnation as Bhagawan Rama. We might be knowing that King Janaka was the father of Mother Sita, whom Bhagawan Rama married, and hence, King Janaka was Bhagawan Rama’s father-in-law. Of course, because Bhagawan Rama was Himself a great and a righteous king, He wouldn’t talk much. His actions will do all the talking, as we’ve witnessed during our previous Ramayana project. Hence, during that time, Bhagawan Rama was unable to appreciate King Janaka, due to His stature. Now as the Krishna-Avatara comes, Bhagawan can talk anything and everything, can’t He? 🙂 Hence, He uses this opportunity to invoke King Janaka and appreciate him for his due efforts towards “Karma Yoga”! This is of course on the lighter side! On a serious note, normally, even Bhagawan Krishna doesn’t invoke any particular individual to appreciate! We can see this across the Bhagawad Gita, or in the Mahabharata or Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana – Bhagawan Krishna talks a lot of philosophy but He doesn’t pick names to cite examples of whatever He talks! This is probably because He Himself has exhibited all these philosophies during His previous “Rama-Avatara”! If Bhagawan Himself has shown the way, why should He pick out other individuals to prove His points? However, if Bhagwan has to invoke King Janaka’s name in particular, we can understand how important King Janaka is, in this context!
So for today, let us understand up to this point and we shall continue this discussion forward in the next episode as well! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 