Episode 13 - Proud Balaki

Stories from Upanishads

Today’s episode is named - Proud Balaki! This story is featured in BU Chapter 2, Section 1 and features one of the greatest kings of India - Ajaatashatru. He was also known as Kunika and was son of Bimbisara. He was a contemporary to both Bhagwaan Mahavira and Gautama Buddha. I hope you all must be knowing about Bhagwaan Mahavira and Gautama Buddha!

As a result he is referenced in both Jain and Buddhist literature. Interestingly, name of his mother is different in different literatures. As per Jain literature his mother’s name was queen Chellana where as as per Buddhist literature his mother’s name was Kosala Devi. However, both queen Chellana and Kosala Devi were referred as “Vaidehi” so he was also called “Vaidehi Putra”.

Ajaatashatru is believed to live around 492 to 460 BCE and was one of the most important king of Haryanka Dynasty of Magadha. He forcefully took over Kingdom of Magadha from his father - Bimbisara and imprisoned him. He captured Vaishali and occupied Kashi or Benaras. Under his able rule Magadha became one of the most powerful kingdom of North India. He is believed to have invented two types of weapons which was used in wars in those days, first one being - Ratha-musala (Scythed Chariot) or chariot with swords or spike attached to its wheels, you may have seen that in many movies such as 300 or Baahubali. The second weapon was Maha-shila-kantaka - an engine to throw large boulders. You must have seen this in numerous movies such as in Lords of the Ring, Baahubali and many others. Apart from his military inventions and skilled warfare, he was also very learned, a scholar and was very well versed in various Indian scriptures.

Baalaaki who was the son of Balaakaaa from Garg family was a upasaka and a renowned scholar. However there was some very indifferent about him, ….he was very proud of his knowledge and scholarship. One fine day, he went to the court of the king Ajaatashatru and told him -

“O venerable king, I am Baalaaki Garg… son of Balaakaa Garg. I wish to tell you about Brahman!”

Ajaatshatru was pleased to hear this proposal and immediately announced -“Really, o learned scholar, if you tell me about it then I shall award you with one thousand cows!”

After a pause, the king continued with a smile - “I know King Janaka who is benevolent and generous and loves to listen to great debates and scholastic discussions on spirituality and Brahman! I too have some of his qualities.”

Friends just a pause here, if you look into the timelines, Ajaatshatru lived around 492 - 460 BCE and during that time King Janaka also lived! So again clarifies the point that this King Janaka is not the father of Sita! This Janaka belonged to the same dynasty and was much much later that Ramayan’s Janaka.

Let’s continue with the story -

Baalaaki said - “The being who identifies himself both with the sun and the eye and who having entered the body through the eye resides in the heart as the ego as experiencer and the agent - Therefore I ask you to meditate that being as Brahman!

Ajaatshatru stopped him with a hand gesture and said - “Please don’t talk about him! I meditate upon him as all surpassing. Who exists surpassing all beings in this universe. We both know the same Brahman and you are telling me the same thing now. So stop, please don’t discuss this Brahman. If you know any other Brahman then tell me about that. I would be happy to listen to it! I meditate upon the Brahman with these attributes as the agent and the experiencer and obtain results accordingly. Sruti also say that “One becomes exactly as one meditates upon Him!”

When Ajaatshatru refuted the presentation of sun as the Brahman, Baalaaki tried to put forward another -

“That being who is in the moon, I meditate upon as Brahman!” He wanted to present moon as the Brahman to the king. But the king again interrupted him…

“Stop O Baalaaki, please stop telling me about this Brahman! I meditate upon him as the great, white robed, radiant Soma! That being in the moon and also in the heart or mind as the experiencer and agent. The Considering the moon and the drink yielding creeper Soma that is offered in the sacrifices, I meditate upon that as Brahman. One who meditates upon him as principal and auxiliary sacrifices everyday will never have shortage of food! Because he meditates upon Brahman as consisting of food.

Baalaaki’s presentation of Brahman as moon was completely unsuccessful! The vision of having one thousand cows as a gift from the king lured him to present Brahman in another way!

Baalaaki continued -

That being who is in lightening, I meditate upon him as Brahman!”

As he wanted to continue to talk on Brahman as lightening, the king stopped him again!

“Dear Baalaaki, would you be wasting my precious time talking about the Brahman which I already know? There is one god in lightening, the skin and the heart. It’s attribute is powerful. I meditate upon him as all Powerful, one who meditates upon him as such becomes all powerful and his progeny too becomes powerful. ”

Baalaaki was in a fix! With his limited knowledge, he was getting trapped and wanted to tell something to the king on Brahman which he may not know! He thought maybe he want to think something bigger and larger than sun, moon and lightening!

He said to the king -“ That being who is in the Space or Ether, I meditate him as Brahman!”

The king again stopped him abruptly and said - No, no my friend! This is not the Brahman I want to hear about! There is one god in the space or ether, in the ether enclosed by the heart and in the heart Full and unmoving are its two attributes. I meditate upon him as the full, and unmoving! One who meditates upon him with the attribute of fullness is always filled with his progeny and cattle and when meditated with the attribute of immobility or unmoving, which represents that his progeny will be never extinct from this world and continue his progeny.

Baalaaki was getting frustrated, but the imagination of one thousand cows, he him blind and closed all his doors leading to his brain and heart. He asked another question - “This being who is in the air, I meditate to him a Brahman!”

The king interrupted and said - “ There is one god in air, the vital force and the heart! Its attributes are irresistible and undefeated. One who meditates upon him as these attributes will have an irresistible and undefeated and unvanquished army, the one which never get defeated by its enemies. So please dont talk about this Brahman as I already practice it everyday!

Baalaaki’s bag of knowledge was on the verge of emptiness, he continued his presentation of Brahman as Fire, which was again interrupted and was stopped by the king. The king told him that there is one god in fire, speech and the heart and it’s attribute is being tolerant for others or forbearing. He meditates him as forbearing as his progeny will become forbearing too.

Then Baalaaki tried to present Brahman as Water! That too was an unsuccessful attempt as the king told him that there is one god in water, the seed and the heart. It’s attribute is agreeable and he meditates upon him as agreeable as it results in coming of only agreeable things and not the ones which are contrary.

After this failed effort, the proud scholar told the king about the Brahman represented as a looking glass. The king again told him there is one god in a looking glass and in other reflecting objects such as a sword, and in the intellect, which is made of pure materials. Its attribute is the shining, and he meditates upon him as the shining and as a result his progeny will always shine.

Frustrated Baalaaki now told the king about the sound that issues behind a man as he walks. He meditates upon as Brahman. The king in response said that the vital force is the cause of life in this body to be the one. Life is the attribute. The result of the meditation is that he attains his full term of life in this world, even if troubled by diseases, he will complete his full life term before departing this world.

Again Baalaaki told the king about the being who is in the quarters and is meditated upon as Brahman. King laughed and stopped him. He told the scholar, there is one god in the quarters, the ears and the heart. The Aswin twins are never separated from each other. His attributes are - being attached with a companion and not being separated from one another, the quarters and the Aswins have these characteristics. One who meditates upon this remembering these attributes gets this result.

Then Baalaaki, the son of Balaaka Garg told the king about the being who identifies himself with the shadow and can be meditated upon as Brahman. The king responded that there is one god in the shadow which is external darkness and internally it is ignorance which is a veil or a cover. Its attribute is the death. The result of the meditation is that he will not die prematurely and will be free from death due to some disease.

Then awkward Baalaaki again tried to put in another representation of Brahman. He said that the Being who is in the Self, is meditated upon as Brahman. Ajaatashatru immediately stopped him and said, there is one god in Self or Hiraanyagarbha, in the intellect and in the heart. His attribute is Self-Possessed. The result of the mediation is that he becomes self-possessed and his progeny also becomes self-possessed. The difference of intellect in individuals is also extended to his progeny.

After listening to the explanation of Brahman from the king, the scholar Baalaaki stooped down. He realised that he still doesnt have enough knowledge to debate on Brahman. He was humbled by a king in the courtroom. Baalaaki has realised that the price of wisdom is beyond riches. How can a possession of thousand cows be comparable to the Supreme Knowledge of Brahman? The pride of birth in a high caste, the pride of half baked knowledge are all his folly and are completely meaningless.

Ajaatshatru now asked the scholar-

“Is that all you know?”

Baalaaki with heavy heart and filled with unfathomable shame said - “Yes, my lord, this is all I know!”

The king told him - “I am sorry to say, Baalaaki, by knowing this much one cannot claim that he knows Brahman! You have to learn more, know more!”

Then with folded hands, Baalaaki realising his grave mistake and his foolishness kneeled down in front of the King and said “Please accept me as your student!”

Ajaatshatru told Baalaaki - “what you are asking me is exactly opposite to what is followed as a custom! A Brahmin must teach a Kshatriya, but today a Brahmin has approached a Kshatriya for gaining knowledge on Brahman!….I accept you as my student O Baalaaki!

The king knew that Baalaaki’s view of Brahman was conditioned by the inherent limitations of the physical body. It was only confined to the waking consciousness. But Brahman itself is unconditioned. So the king wanted to demonstrate this fact to Baalaaki.

He took the scholar by his hand and asked him to stand up, hoping that this will ease him a bit. Then they walked across the palace to a place where a man was sleeping under a shade. At first, the king addressed him by calling him as with all nice names. The man didn’t wake up.

King now went close to him and shook him to wake him up. He kept on shaking and pushing him till he awoke.

Now the king asked Baalaaki - “Can you tell me where the consciousness in this man was when he was fast asleep? How did it come back when he awoke?”

Baalaaki shook his head and with shame said - “I don’t know my lord”

The king replied - “O scholar Baalaaki, now listen carefully! Consciousness means awareness. But it need not necessarily mean awareness of something else. Awareness of something else implies the existence of an external object. Pure consciousness, awareness does not depend on the external object as it is self-luminous.”

After a pause, the king spun up another concrete example.

He said - “Baalaaki, the sun continues to shine even if there were no worlds for it to shine upon! The same is the case with consciousness. In the stage of deep sleep, the awareness merges in itself. For there is nothing else for it to be aware of! But it does not mean that it stops being aware! When emerging from a deep sleep, one is aware that one has slept well . This is an indication that consciousness survives. This could as well be called pure consciousness to distinguish it from the consciousness of something else, of some object!”

Baalaaki after listening to this, thought for a while and got a doubt and asked the king -

“Sir, Does it mean that we have only to fall asleep in order to be with Brahman?”

The king smiled and appreciated the question as it was quite a valid doubt. He said - “That was just an illustration Baalaaki! I spoke of sleep consciousness. We are in Brahman all the time, whether we are awake or asleep! All that is is necessary is to aware of this fact. I will give you another example.

Suppose due to some emergency such as a war, a king’s son was brought up among the shepherds. After some years, when the conditions were favourable, he was reinstated in his position as the prince or Yuvaaraj. He now knew he was a prince. The person was the same, but his outlook has now changed! Same is the case with Brahman, Baalaaki! Nothing needs to be done as we are not acquiring Brahman afresh. All that is necessary is to remove the blocks, the path of awareness. Brahman is this the Truth of Truth

Finally the king told Baalaaki - “ The Brahman is immortal, unlimited, infinite. That is all we may express about Brahman. The body is mortal, limited and finite. There is no other or more appropriate description of Brahman than the expression - “Not this, not this” This may be a double negation, but it does not cease to be true, as the fact is - this is Truth of Truth i.e. Satyasya Satyam!

Friends that was today’s story of the proud scholar Baalaki. I hope you enjoyed it as much I enjoyed narrating it to you.

As customary in my show, I will ask you 3 questions from today’s story, and I will definitely acknowledge you and may be invite you for a chit chat in one of my future episodes.

First question - What do you mean by Truth of Truth?

Next question - Was Baalaaki prepared to talk about Brahman? Explain your answer!

Last question - Why did Baalaaki asked the King to teach him about Brahman?

Please that’s it folk for today! Please subscribe, follow, download and ofcourse leave your valuable review comments about my show. It will help me to improve and provide you with better content in the future.

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This podcast was created on Hubhopper studio. If you wish to start your own podcast for free, visit www.hubhopperstudio.com. Hubhopper is India's leading podcast creation platform. Start your podcast with Hubhopper studio & get your voice heard across platforms like Spotify, Gaana, Google podcasts, Wynk Music and more. Click on the link in the episode description or visit www.hubhopperstudio.com.”

Source content collected from various books on Upanishads such as “Messages of the Upanishads” by Swami Ranganathanada, “The Brhadaaranyaka Upanishad” by Swami Madhavananda, “Eight Upanishads” from Advaita Ashrama, Upanishads.org, “Vedas and Upanishads for Children” by Roopa Pai and several other write-ups and thoughts on Upanishads.

Background Music is sourced from various royalty-free music sources, Apple Loops and Internet Archives with a Non-Commercial 4.0 International license. Aum Shantih chants are from Youtube - source - Gaiea Sanskrit.

The Concept, Script, Narration and Audio Design: Arghya Goswami