कर्मणैव हि संसिद्धिमास्थिता जनकादय: | लोकसंग्रहमेवापि सम्पश्यन्कर्तुमर्हसि || 20 || यद्यदाचरति श्रेष्ठस्तत्तदेवेतरो जन: | स यत्प्रमाणं कुरुते लोकस्तदनुवर्तते || 21 || |
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“By performing their duties, Janaka and others like him reached perfection. You should also perform duties to set an example for the welfare of the people. Your actions will set a standard for people of the world.”
Commentary
King Janaka is a rare example of a king and a yogi like Lord Krishna. Sage Yajnavalkya used to keep one seat empty among the students when King Janaka was busy with duties at the palace. Other students were very jealous. One day when Janaka was sitting among the disciples listening to the master, the chief soldier came running to inform them that a fire burnt parts of the palace and was spreading in the forest. Janaka immediately instructed the next steps to the soldier and continued listening to his master. When the fire came close, other disciples gathered all their clothes and ran. When they came back after the fire receded, they saw Janaka sitting there with the master, not bothered about his kingdom. Sage Yajnavalkya then said, “The king with all his wealth, family and palaces wasn’t worried as much as you were for the sake of your torn loin clothes! Now you must have realized why I keep an empty seat for him to occupy whenever he comes from the palace”.
Once in a while, we see extraordinary people who astound the intellect of common people and have great influence beyond human comprehension. The work of real saints also may seem weird or strange. Women saints like Nirāhāra yogini and Giri Bala lived many years without food to prove the divine possibility that the body can live by consuming prana directly from air. Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, who describes himself as “Zen Buddhist,” donated his entire company worth $3 billion dollars on September 14th, 2022. He brings a point from yoga and writes ‘how you climb the mountain is more important than getting to the top’ in his book, ‘Let my people go surfing’. There are others – Padmasri Swami Sivananda, 125 year old saint whose secret to live is no desires, Sai Baba of Shirdi who could command nature, Swami Raghavendra who converted meat into fruits, Adi Sankarācharya who broke the rules of sannyās to manifest fire from his hand for his mother.
Once in a while, we see extraordinary people who astound the intellect of common people and have great influence beyond human comprehension. The work of real saints also may seem weird or strange. Women saints like Nirāhāra yogini and Giri Bala lived many years without food to prove the divine possibility that the body can live by consuming prana directly from air. Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, who describes himself as “Zen Buddhist,” donated his entire company worth $3 billion dollars on September 14th, 2022. He brings a point from yoga and writes ‘how you climb the mountain is more important than getting to the top’ in his book, ‘Let my people go surfing’. There are others – Padmasri Swami Sivananda, 125 year old saint whose secret to live is no desires, Sai Baba of Shirdi who could command nature, Swami Raghavendra who converted meat into fruits, Adi Sankarācharya who broke the rules of sannyās to manifest fire from his hand for his mother.
Saints who have achieved union with God work in the world as per the inner guidance of God only to please Him and uplift people mired in the material world. Devoid of ego, personal desire and attachment, the saint works to enlighten others. People who attune with such a saint receive his compassionate grace just like the light from sun, shade from tree and fragrance from the flower. It is not an easy path for the saint but still he strives to do good in spite of persecutions and insults, just to set a high standard that inspires people. Saints are present even in this era but what is lacking in people is the intense search. The saint does not care if people garland his photo or talk condescendingly. He only wants everyone to emulate his qualities in their daily lives so that they too can become divine and enjoy the infinite bliss of God.