DHINAM ORU KATHAI -9

A person who does anything that he does to utmost perfection without being
involved in its materialistic aspects and benefits is called a Yogi. However, since it is
very difficult for a person to attain such a state, principled ways like
vaanaprastham, sanyaasam have been suggested, to train a person to be
dettached from the materialistic world. Once upon a time, there was a sage. He
used to visit all the kingdoms and used to preach the people "for attaining
moksham one needs to give away everything he owns. He should not have any
desire on anything. He should not think of the next minute. He should not store
anything for future. He should not tell who he is to anyone and should do meditation
with peace and no desire. Then he can achieve moksham". The preachings of the
sage were all very good, however, were very difficult for people to understand. One
day Magadha king was inspired by the teachings of the sage. He gave away his
kingdom and went to the forest for divine meditation. In the same manner,
Kaambhoja king was also inspired and went to the forest for god realization. He also
had given away everything he had. Both the kings met each other in the forests, but
they did not tell each other that they were kings. They both used to go for bhiksha
for their food. According to the rules, they used to eat the food that day itself
without storing it for future. One day, they got only porridge (rice soup). Kambhoja
king commented to Magadha king that it would be better if there was some salt for
the taste. Then the Magadha king told that he had some. The Kambhoja king
questioned him "where did you get the salt from?". The Magadha king replied that
he had brought some with him in case he needed in the journey. Then the
Kaambhoja king told Magadha king that he had given his whole empire but was
unable to maintain the rule that they should not store anything for future. The
Magadha king replied that Kambhoja king who also left his kingdom with ease was
not able to control his taste. Both were shocked realizing that they broke the rules.
They then realized the true meaning in the teachings of the sage and returned to
their duties as kings and ruled with love,peace and harmony. But because of the
learning from the forest, they were never involved in the bhogas of a king and were
totally dettached. They got the unattainable moksham in the end.
The tale reveals: There is no need to go to the forest and to do the penance for
moksham. One can achieve it while doing all his duties, but being without desire.
Even Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavadgita:
"He who does his duty without expecting the fruit of action is sanyasi and yogi both,
and not the one who has simply renounced the fire or given up all activities."