Rshabha-Deva

[ BY PROF. JATINDRA MOHAN GHOSE, M.A., B.L., ]
SREE SAJJANA-TOSHANI OR THE HARMONIST OCTOBER 1929

THE sage-king Agnidhra had nine sons. The virtuous Nabhi, the eldest of them being childless devoted himself with one mind and in the company of his wife Meru-devi, to the worship of Sri Hari by the method of sacrifices. The ever merciful God-head was pleased with his devotion and at his prayer appeared before him in His captivating four-handed Form in silk cloth, and with conch, disc, club and lotus in four hands. Like a poor man on receipt of unexpected and immense treasure the pious couple were beside themselves at the appearance of the God of their worship before them, made prostrations before Him and hymned Him in various manners. The sacrificial priest too did the same and begged of Him two boons. They said,--“My Lord! we are, indeed blessed at the very rarely obtainable sight of Thyself. But when in the times of our hunger, fall, (or degradation) disappointment and miseries we shall fail to remember Thee, may Thy Name, undifferentiated from Thy qualities and destroyer of all sins, be uttered on our tongues. Our second prayer is on behalf of this most virtuous king who desires an issue for the sake of his subjects, like the prayer for a grain of hollow husk from the hands of Kubera, the giver of wealth. But my Lord! Thou art verily the Desire-tree, mayst Thou fulfil the desire of Thy devotee!” The merciful God having agreed to their prayer, disappeared.

In due course, the God-Head, the Lord of all creatures, the only protector of Dharma, the Unborn and Freewilled, assumed a Form of pure spiritual existence and appeared in the form of Rshabha-deva. Immediately after birth all the auspicious Divine Signs were visible on His Person. Having perceived His equality, asceticism, divine powers and various influences, the Brahmins, the ministers and the subjects—all set their minds upon Him as their future King. His father the sage-king Nabhi, named Him Rshabha (the great) because of His divinely beautiful Person and super human virtues. Sometime after, the king Nabhi having considered Rshabha fit, placed Him on the throne, embraced the life enjoined for one who retires formally from the ordinary affairs of the world after having served his allotted term of householders duties and proceeded with his wife Meru-Devi to Badarikashrama. There he worshipped Lord Vasudeva with great devotion and penance and got to His transcendental Abode at final imancipation.

Now the world teacher Lord Rshabha Deva, in order to hold up the ideal to the people, resided for sometime in the house of His Preceptor. Then He returned with the Preceptor’s permission, to His Kingdom and took up the reins of Government, which the conscientiously carried on according to the laws of Sruti and Smriti. Indra, the Lord of Gods, gave Him in marriage his daughter Jayanti, in whom Rshabha Deva begot a hundred sons. The eldest of them, Bharata, was endowed with all great virtues and was a great saint after whose name the continent of Varsha (varṣa) i.e. India, came to be called Bharatvarsha (Bhārata-varṣa). Students of Srimad Bhagavata do not subscribe to the erroneous notion of others that India was named after the name of Bharat, the son of Sakuntala.

Of the rest, Kusavarta, Ilavarta, Brahmavarta, Malaya, Ketu, Bhadrasena, Indra-prk, Vidarbha, and Kikata—these nine were pre-eminent and they were all Kshatrias and obedient to Bharata.

Next to them were nine others viz.—Kavi, Havi, Atariksha, Prabuddha, Pippalayana, Avirhotra, Dravida, Chamasa and Karabhajana. They were all Mahabhagavatas or devotees of the highest rank, and afterwards came to be known as the nine pre-eminent yogis (Nava-yogendras)

All the remaining eighty-one sons were Brahmins—obedient to their father, modest, versed in the Vedas, performers of holy sacrifices, and devoted to pious acts.

From the above account it can be easily inferred that in India in ancient times different Varnas or classes used to be determined according to qualifications and callings of people, and not simply by virtue of birth. And it is quite reasonable and in keeping with the meaning of the teachings of the Shastras. A profession is very often a real indication of fitness and qualifications which specially characterise a person. Apart from such qualifications and occupations there are no other available external tests of the internal nature and fitness of a person. Although the claim of heredity and the part played by it in the determination of Varnas can not altogether be overlooked, yet to support and preach exclusively the Asura (unspiritual) view to the disregard of the Shastras and concrete instances bespeaks of a mentality blinded by selfishness and pride.

The ideal conduct of the great is always followed by others both in and after his time. For that reason Rshabha-deva would always undertake the performance of meritorious acts for the good of His people. The God-Head Who as Paramatma or Supreme-Soul is the Protector of all beings, Himself now being their ruler and protector the happiness of the subjects was beyond description.

Once upon a time Lord Rshabha-deva went out on tour and arrived in the country of Brahmavarta. There He found His sons present in an assembly of great Brahmarshis (Brahmin Sages). He gave the following advice to his sons, although naturally modest and obedient, in the presence of His subjects for the latter’s enlightenment.

My sons! this human body is very hard to attain. It ill becomes one in such body to engage oneself in sensuous enjoyment which brings only miseries. For objects of senses are available even in the life of a beast. Hence devotion or true penance should be the only duty of a human being. It is penance that purifies the mind, and on purification of mind one can attain the coveted service of Sri Hari.

Service of the great is the gate to freedom (salvation). The company of women and of those keeping company with women is declared by the wise as the gate to darkness or bondage. And the great are only they who are friends to all devoted to God, wrathless, pure in conduct and the same in all circumstances. The great are they who have been free from the idea of looking upon women as objects of sensual enjoyment, from improper attachment and love for children, wife, houses and properties, have love for Me and live a life of non attachment.

My sons! Jivas (creatures) come under the sway of Maya, the Illusory power of God, and migrate to this world, for their forgetfulness of the God-Head and disinclination to serve Him. They forget their own self i.e., the eternally spiritual nature, and on receiving a mental sheath run after activities according to their mental propensities. They come to regard the evils of the world as the aims and objects of life, become victims to sensuous living, and seek pleasure in the gratification of their senses.

They fall into the delusion, very hard to get rid of, identifying themselves with the transient material body, and of regarding worldly relations as pertaining to their selves and become hard bound up with the tie of self-love. And there can be no un-tying of this knot until they acquire of regain their love towards Me in My Form of Vasudeva.

My sons! there are twenty-five means of riddance from this self-love or egotism—viz. (1) devotion to Me in My Forms of Hamsa and Preceptor (who are freed from the bondage of Maya), (2) absence of desires, (3) tolerance of mutually opposing qualities, (4) to realise the miseries of all creatures in this and the next world, (5) search after Truth, (6) penance, (7) abandonment of selfish activities, (8) activities for Me, (9) discourses about Myself, (10) constantly living in the company of devotees who have their hearts pinned in Me, (11) singing of My glories, (12) non-enmity, (13) equality, (14) tranquillity, (15) abandonment of the conception of ‘I and My’ in regard to the body and the family, (16) study of spiritual scriptures, (17) residence in a place which is undisturbed by vulgar talks, (18) control over the mind and the senses, (19) right belief, (20) abstinence, (21) not shirking one’s duties, (22) control over the tongue, (23) proficiency in regarding every thing as belonging to Me, (24) knowledge by realisation, (25) deep meditation. With the help of all these the deception of the apparent ego is to be thrown off with patience, perseverance and right discrimination.

My sons! when the apparent ego is thus stopped, the mental knot which is the centre of all actions proceeding from spiritual ignorance, is broken. So all fathers preceptors and kings—seeking My mercy should instruct similarly their sons, disciples and subjects respectively. Only those who are slaves to desires of sensuous enjoyment, and indifferent to accomplishing their own real good, ultimately bring in their own miseries as they come into conflicts with others in their exclusive attempts for sensuous objects in the hope of a jot of transient pleasure. The wise should always mercifully save these ignorant people from the grasp of impending danger, just as in the case of the blind, from going astray. Ah! the sufferings of Jivas in the hands of ignorance! It is the service of Me alone that puts an end to all these sufferings. To do good to others and save them by preaching and practising this instruction is real kindness. The reverse of this is cruelty and cruel are those who have not yet understood this perfect nature of kindness and do not know how to show it. ‘He is no preceptor, he is no father, she is no mother, he is no relation, He is no god and he is no husband, who can not and does not avert the death that is always at hand.’

It will be quite clear from the quotation above that to dupe the sincere disciples out of greed for wealth etc. and to proclaim oneself a Guru—is not to be a Guru; seekers of selfish worldly interests are no friends; only to beget children is to be no father; mere conceiving and rearing up children do not make a mother; a god who is simply a bestower of the pleasures of the senses does not deserve worship. The true significance of their names lies in helping their protégés and affording them all possible facilities for the service of the God-Head. Testimony to the truth of the above was borne by the King Vali by abandoning his greedy Guru, Shukracharya; by the great devotee Bibhishana by non-co-operating with his nearest relation his uterine brother Ravana—the sworn enemy of Lord Sree Ramachandra; by Prahlada, by not submitting to his ungodly father Hiranyakashipu, a great enemy of Lord Hari; by Bharata by completely dissociating himself from his mother, Kaikeyi, who became disaffected towards his brother Lord Sri Rama; by the King, Khattanga by discarding the gods who were only givers of worldly prosperity but totally incompetent to grant salvation; and by the wives of sacrificial Brahmins having their life in the Supreme God-head, Krishna, by giving up the company of their foolish husbands who were after their sense-gratification and averse to service of Krishna.

Then Rshabha-deva informed His sons of the spiritual nature of His Person, and advised them to obey and serve Paramahansa Bharata, their eldest brother. He further advised them to serve those Brahmanas who knew the Great Supreme and do due honour to all creatures whose hearts are the seat of Krishna. He explained to the Brahmanas present that knowledge and realisation of the Great Supreme (Brahman) constituted tru Brahman-hood which alone was deserving of reverence and such true Brahmanas were objects of love to Brahmanya-deva, Lord Vishnu. Again He said to His sons—“My worship is the supreme and direct gain of mind, body, eyes and other senses. No person can ever free himself from the snare of Maya save and except by worshipping Me.”

Thus Lord Rshabha-deva made it but an occasion for instruction of people at large by instructing His own sons who were all well enlightened; and with a view to lead the highest life of a Paramahansa, He anointed His eldest son Bharata King—who was a supreme devotee of the God-Head and of His devotees as well. He Himself left Brahmavarta naked and with unlocked hair to enter into the fourth stage of life and took to the vow of silence. When accosted by others He would remain like a dumb dullard, and at last played the role of an Avadhuta (a saint who is past all classifications and stages). As He would roam about in cities and countries the mischievous people would throw dust and stones, pass urine, stool and wind, to His Person, just like flies coming upon an wild elephant. But He would take no notices of them, considering the transitoriness of the world. His Body, endowed with the marks of a great personage and with Its naturally beautiful appearance was shrouded with His brown hanging matted hair and appeared pale like an eclipsed planet.

In order to deceive His adversaries because of disturbance to His duties, He later on resorted to the mode of living practised by the boa-constrictor, Ajagara. That is, he would now no longer move from where He had taken His seat, and there He would eat His food, pass His urine and stool, and lie down and sleep and yet without any stench.

Thus sanctifying the earth for a period the pastimeful God-Head manifested the Lila of His disappearance.

The appearances of the God-Head in this world are a source of great perplexities and miseries to the ungodly, while they are the only things desired on the part of the devotees. This Rshabha-Avatar of the God-Head is of great importance to all Jivas for He as Reinstator of Truth (true religion), taught His own subjects by His own practical examples. Thus the learned sing the praise of Rshabha-deva.

Oh! the land of Bharat-varsha, the most holy of all the continents and islands of the earth surrounded by the seven oceans, the people whereof always sing the auspicious deeds of the Appearance of the Lord as Rshabha-deva!

Shukadeva said—‘Oh King! Lord Rshabha-deva was the Teacher of the people, Vedas , Gods, Brahmanas and the universe. What has been sung of his spotless career possesses the quality of destroying all evils of jivas, and is a fruitful source of great good. He who listens attentively in good faith, to His Lila, and he who sings it,--both of them become blessed with firm devotion in Vasudeva.’

Come, Readers! let us pray with joined palms to the feet of the Supreme God-head Krishna for the boon of pure devotion, and His causeless mercy!