________________
lviii
SAMAYASARA
Asvapathi Kaikeya. This king also offers them rich presents which they decline begging him to impart the much prized knowledge of Brahman. In the VI chapter several illustiations are given to explain the nature of Brahman.
The scene is as follows:
The boy is given a small seed and asked to bicak it open. Then the father asks the boy, "What do you see there?” “Nothing inside it, Sır” replied the boy Then the father said "the central essence you do not see there. Of that central essence this great tree exists. But it is in the essence of it. In it all that exists has its self. This is the truth It is the self and that thou art!” Similarly the all pervading nature of this principle is taught to the boy in the following way. The boy is asked to dissolve a little salt in a cup of water. He is then askcd to take a sıp of it from different parts He finds it everywhere saltish. Then the boy is instructed “Though the thing is not perceived by the senses, still the salt is there. That which is the finest essence of the world is the soul of reality That thou art!” The boy who wants further instruction is taught by the father that life here is one of bondage and escape from it is the form of realisation of self. But as one might tread his way home even if he be stranded in a foreign country so can we individuals tread our way back to the Universal Being. Towards the close of the Upanishad the scene is placed in Devaloka. The thirst for knowledge possesses even the Gods. Narada goes to Sanatkumara with this appeal. “Sir, teach me the doctrine.” Narada is asked to give a list of all the sciences he learned. After enumerating the names of different sciences, such as the four Vedas, mathematics, astrology and so on, he addresses Sanatkumara thus “but Sir, with all this I could not know the self. I have heard that he knows the self who overcomes sorrow. I am in grief. Do help me to overcome the grief.” Then Brahma knowledge is imparted to Narada by Sanatkumara and he realizes bis self. Narada is then progressively instructed by Sanatkumara as to the nature of self. Finally the Chapter concludes with the following words
