Parables from the Upanishads

The Story of Jabala-Satyakama

(I)

I think I told you once of the story in the Upanishada bout a seeker of spiritual knowledge who had been given by his teacher as a first assignment the task of looking after his kine. This was meant to serve both as an initiation and a training; it was to be his work and also his test. But the student had had to pass through another, perhaps somewhat minor, ordeal of a preliminary nature. Tagore has a well-known poem based on this episode. I begin my story with that narrative, giving it almost verbatim as it appears in the Upanishad (Chhandogya, IV.4).

Jabala Satyakama, says the Upanishad, approached his mother, Jabala, and put to her the question, "What, O my mother, is the name of my caste and family, for I desire to become a student of sacred lore?" To this Jabala replied, "I do not know about that, my darling, but I obtained you when I was young and was serving maid to a number of different men. That is why I do not know what is the name of your caste and family. But my name is Jabala and yours is Satyakama. So you may say that you are Satyakama, the son of Jabala."

Satyakama now went to Gautama, the son of Haridruman, and said, "I come to you with the desire to stay as a student of sacred lore." Gautama asked him, "What is the name of your caste and family, my child?" Satyakama answered, "I do not know what my caste or the name of my family is. But when I asked my mother, she said, I obtained

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you when I was young and was serving maid to a number of different men. So I do not know who your father was. But my name is Jabala, and yours is Satyakama. You should therefore say you are Jabala Satyakama.' This is the whole story." Thereupon Gautama answered, "No one but a Brahmin could have spoken thus. Bring in the fuel, my dear; I shall take you as a disciple, for you have not swerved from the truth."

(2)

Thus was Satyakama given admission to the Ashrama of Gautama. Now for his initiation and training and the tests. Gautama sent for him and said, "Satyakama, I shall now invest you with the sacred thread." This investiture is a sacred rite which "sets one on the path" — what the Buddhists call in Pali "sotāpatti" (srotāpatti in Sanskrit), that is, "getting into the stream" or starting on the way. He added, "You bring in the fuel from the neighbouring wood.'' Satyakama did as he was told and the ceremony of initiation was duly performed.

The teacher now sent for him again and said, "Satyakama, I possess some four hundred kine. But they are all puny and weak. You should look after them." This meant that he was to take them out to pasture. Satyakama replied, "Very well, sir, it will be as you desire. I am leaving with the four hundred kine and I do not return till they are a thousand." Gautama sent him off with his blessings.

Satyakama went along with his herd of kine. He looked after them as they roamed over the meadows and fields, through the forests and village settlements. Months passed, and years went by — many years. The kine had by now all gained in bulk and had a well-fed look; their numbers too had reached the thousand mark. One day, all on a sudden, a Bull from out of the herd appeared before Satyakama and addressed him in the voice of a man. "Satyakama!"

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he said. Satyakama took it as nothing unusual and answered in a polite tone, "Yes my Lord." The Bull went on, "Satyakama, now let us turn homeward. We have reached the thousand mark and all of us are fit and strong." Then the Bull added something more. "Meanwhile, Satyakama," he said, "let me tell you something about the knowledge of Reality, brahma-vidyā - the very first lessons. Brahman has to be known in his four aspects; of these I shall tell you about the first just now. Of this first phase or aspect there are again four limbs. North, south, east and west, these four quarters are the four limbs of the first aspect of Brahman out of the four. Through the four quarters Brahman appears · as the manifest One, prakāśavān. And he who realises this manifest aspect of the Brahman becomes himself manifest and wins all the manifest worlds. This is the first of the four aspects of Brahman. Now, Agni is going to tell you about the second."

The next day, Satyakama resumed his march with the kine. As evening came, he gathered his herd together and penned the kine. Then he collected the fuel and lighted the sacrificial fire, and sat facing the east with Agni in front. Now Agni called to him, "Satyakama!" And Satyakama gave reply with his usual humility, "Yes, my Lord?" Agni continued, "Let me now speak to you about the second aspect of Brahman. This too has four limbs; these are earth, mid-air, the heavens and the ocean. This second aspect of Brahman that is constituted by these four is the Infinity of Brahman. He who gains it lives in Infinity even on this earth and wins all the worlds of Infinity."

Again the homeward march began, and again the Bull came and informed Satyakama thus, "Now it will be the Swan who will come and tell you about the Brahman." When it was eventide, Satyakama gathered his herd again, penned them in, and lighted his sacrificial fire. Again he sat in front of the fire facing the east. Then the Swan appeared as promised by the Bull and called in a human voice,

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"Satyakama!" And Satyakama made answer, "Yes, my Lord?" The Swan continued, "I shall speak to you about another aspect of Brahman." "Tell me, my Lord." "This the third aspect of Brahman consists of Fire, the Sun, the Moon and Lightning. Through this quartet of the third aspect Brahman appears as the Effulgent One. He who realises this aspect of Brahman becomes himself effulgent and wins all the worlds of effulgence even while on this earth."

Satyakama started on his march again, and once again the Bull came and informed him that this time a Flamingo would come and tell him about the fourth aspect of Brahman. As evening came, Satyakama gathered his herd together and penned them as usual. He lighted the sacrificial fire and sat in front facing the east, and waited. The Bird flew in and called, "Satyakama!" Satyakama replied, "Yes, my Lord?" The Bird went on, "I shall give you the knowledge of the fourth aspect of the fourfold Brahman." Satyakama replied in all humility, "Tell me, my Lord." The Bird said, "The four limbs of this aspect are the Life-force, the Eyes, the Ears and Mind. These four combined make Brahman the All-Form. He who knows this becomes the All-Form and wins here itself the All-Form."

By now Satyakama arrived at his master's home, accompanied by his herd of a thousand well-fed kine in place of the original four hundred weaklings. As he came to his master, Gautama gave him a look and came out with these words, "Satyakama, I see your face shining with the light of Brahman. Who has given you the knowledge of the Brahman?" Satyakama told him about the four strange encounters. But he added, "My master, you are my sole teacher, and my knowledge will remain incomplete until I receive the knowledge directly from you." Gautama then repeated to him the same things that he had heard about the four aspects of Brahman, thus confirming what Satyakama had already experienced and realised; it was now

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sanctified with Gautama's blessings.

Thus did Satyakama become a knower of Brahman and foremost among Brahmins. In course of time he himself took the place of a Guru.

(3)

I intend to tell you on another occasion the story of his dealings with his own disciples. That story too appears in the Upanishad. Let me in the meantime add some explanations of the knowledge given to Satyakama.

The knowledge and realisation that he had gained from his life of a wandering cowherd are the basic truth of the world, the supreme secret of creation. He realised that Brahman is the ultimate Truth, the one and only Reality. The signs or qualities of this ultimate Truth or Reality are four. Brahman may be described as if in a group of four aphorisms, like the first four aphorisms of the Brahmasutra, the basic compendium of Vedantic thought, which Shankara has commented on in very clear terms. If you know his commentary on these four aphorisms, you get to know practically the entire philosophy of the Vedanta as interpreted by Shankara.

The first of the aphorisms taught to Satyakama implies that Brahman has made himself manifest, for He is self-manifest. Another Upanishad has said the same thing: tameva bhāntam anubhāti sarvam, "His is the Light that illumines all." Of this self-luminous form of Brahman or God the four limbs are the four quarters. He is manifest on all sides, above and below, in every direction, and he is not only thus

manifest; there is also no end or limit to his manifestation. Hence, as a second step in our knowledge, we learn that God or Brahman is the Infinite. This Infinity too has four limbs or lines: ( l) earth, or the physical and material extension, (2) mid-air, or the expanse of the vital worlds, (3) the vast expanses of mind, and ( 4) the oceanic reaches of the higher

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worlds that stand above the mind. The third attribute or quality of God is Luminosity, He is the Bright, the Effulgent One — He is the supreme light. Of His Brightness or Effulgence the symbols are four, the four that serve as the medium or base: these are fire, the sun, the moon and the stars. Fire is enkindled on the solid earth of matter; the sun burns in the mid-regions of life; the moon illumines with its cooling rays the regions of the quiet and happy mind; and the stars give us the brilliance of the world beyond mind. It is needless to add that the Seer is not speaking here in terms of astronomy. He has been expressing his meaning through the help of significant symbols or metaphors. And finally, the Reality or God is made up of Form: that is to say, He has put Himself forth variously through a multitude of forms, rūpaṁ rūpaṁ pratirūpo babhūva. And the functions or instrumentalities through which Form has taken shape are the four main powers of sense-consciousness. These are: (1) the power of sensitivity, the capacity of living contact and intimate or close experience, of which the sense of touch represents to us the external form or activity, for through it we get a sense of reality as living existence; (2) the power of vision or sight, for through the eyes we get a sense of form and definite shape; (3) the power of hearing, for the organ of hearing gives us a sense of rhythm, of sound, the form of articulate speech; and ( 4) the power of mind which, being the centre of thinking, gives us a sense of meaning, builds the forms of thought.

These then are the four aspects of Brahman, the fourfold quartet through which we get a glimpse of the wholeness of Brahman, pūrṇabrahman.

(4)

This story of Satyakama brings out a picture that tells us something about the lines or circumstances of ancient Indian education.

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We know that the Upanishads are classed with the Aranyaka literature; the Brihadaranyaka is a well-known name. The forest life of the recluse was in those days intimately associated with education and learning, and especially with the spiritual disciplines. The injunction for the seeker of truth was, "Repair to the forest," vanaṁ vrajet. The seers, the Rishis, had their hermitages in the forests alone. That of course was an age when the forest reigned upon earth. The greater part of the globe was still a virgin forest. Cities and townships were not so common; there were only a scattered few that glimmered like torches amid vast stretches of night. There is also the point that the free and easy association of day to day with Nature brings about a natural heightening and widening of the consciousness. The English poet Wordsworth, as I told you the other day, had some experience of this to which he gave voice in lines like these :

And beauty born of murmuring sound

Shall pass into her face.

The quiet beauty and rhythm of Nature permeate the limbs if one lives in close proximity to Nature. We in our country had, no doubt, the advantage of forests. But even in other countries like Arabia or Egypt which had no forests but only desert tracts with their wide stretches of bare sand, the same method was followed. There the seekers and the saints and mystics lived in the heart of the desert and drew from that source its rhythm and harmony and inspiration.

But in the modem world, under the circumstances of today, we no longer follow the ancient method either physically or even perhaps psychologically. Man does not now depend on external props or surroundings, nor does his consciousness either. Man's consciousness has grown to be in large measure free and self-reliant. It would rather bring external Nature under its own control than be guided by its

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influence. As in our outer so in our inner spiritual life, we are becoming city-dwellers in place of the old forest recluses. Even when we repair to the forest we try to make it as far as possible akin to the city. But this need not give rise to a quarrel or conflict between the forest and the city; it is possible to reconcile the two — the rural and the urban — even as it is necessary to effect a reconciliation between the inner and the outer life, between the consciousness within and the conditions of life without.

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