Shri Guruleelamrit – Chapters 1-4

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Shri Guru Leelamrit
(The Nectar of Teacher’s Sport)
by

Pujya Shri Rang Avadhoot

Put into English by:

Shri Shantilal Thaker, M.A. B.T.,
Vidya-Bhasker

 

PREFACE

This book, the Guru Leelamrit, is written by Shri Rang
Avadhoot, the saint of Nareshwer. It is a rich mine of
knowledge, a storehouse of religious stories. It has got the
power to awaken the self-knowledge in a sincere, humble,
deserving reader. I have done a number of its recitals in
the original in the presence of His Holiness Shri Rang
Avadhoot. It was indeed a pleasure and joy that could not be
described. I have tried to put the gist of it in simple
English for the benefit of those who are unable to read it
in Gujarati.

I should congratulate the Avadhoot Parivar of Kampala,
especially Shri Ramanbhai Patel, for publishing this
invaluable book, thus putting all the spiritual aspirants in
a deep debt of gratitude. I hope and trust that the holy
spirit of Pujya Shri Rang Avadhoot shall be mightily pleased
to see this small effort of mine put as a humble offering of
worship at his holy feet. I also hope and trust that many
devotees and spiritual aspirants and seekers will find
immense help and guidance from this book. May it receive a
wide circulation and benefit all for whom it is planned and
written.

NAIROBI, SHANTILAL THAKER,

P.O. Box 5262. M.A., B.T., Vidyabhasker. 21/6/1970.

 

 

Book of Knowledge

CHAPTER I. – INTRODUCTORY, LINEAGE OF SHRI RANG
AVADHOOT.

 

The spiritual teacher is
Brahma, the creator; Vishnu, the God protector; Maheshwar,
the God Destroyer. He is the Highest all-pervading divine
consciousness. A bow to such a holy spiritual teacher.

In the beginning of this
book, I prostrate before thee, Oh Ganapati, who is
beginningless and who has created this universe, in whose
vast belly countless cosmoses are contained, who has the big
head of the elephant – the great intelligence, whose minute
eyes perceive everything, who has the white tusk of
knowledge, who picks up the smallest and the biggest by
means of his trunk, who eats fondly the sweet-ball of
Self-Knowledge, who is the son of God Shiva, Self-trance
incarnate, and Parvati who is Self-Knowledge incarnate.

Then I prostrate myself before Saraswati, the goddess of
learning, of speech, the daughter of God Brahma, the eternal
virgin, the form of the sacred syllable OM incarnate, the
moon-faced, white-bodied goddess, in whose hands are the
white lotus, the lute, the book and the rosary of beads. She
is the Power of the Lord. All letters belong to her. She is
the master of all sacred mantras.

Then I bow down to Lord Dattatreya, who is the master of
all yoga, who combines in him the three great divine powers
of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh, who is the great Avadhoot,
self-centered, absolutely detached, beyond all scriptural
commands and prohibitions, who is the son of the Sage Atri
and mother Anasuya, chastity incarnate.

Then I bow down to Lord Datta’s incarnations – Shri Pad
Shri Vallabha, Shri Nrisinha Saraswati, and my own spiritual
teacher Shri Vasudevanand Saraswati, who gave me the
treasure of his self-knowledge. In fact, he has inspired me
to write this book with his compassionate gaze. I am only a
pen in the hand of my teacher. He is the writer, the book,
and the knowledge contained in it. I am only his instrument.
Otherwise, I am quite ignorant, the slave of holy
persons.

Then I bow down to all the holy saints of the world,
whose mercy I beg.

Then I bow down to my father Vitthal and mother Rukmini,
by whose auspicious blessing this poor Rang has crossed the
ocean of worldly existence. I am a Maharashtri Brahmin,
Kahade is the title of my family. I belong to the Gotra
(family-ancestry) of the sage Atri. Rig-Veda is my family
Veda. Ashvalayan is my Sutra -the holy body of aphorisms.
Shekel is my Shakha, the branch of Veda. Valame is my
surname. Pandu-Rang is my name. I do not know poetry,
rhetorics, metrics, etymology, exposition.

I have begun to write this book, for my teacher
Vasudevanand commanded me to do so in a dream. putting his
hand on my head; and who can remain silent although he may
be dumb, when the teacher says, ‘Speak’ ?

I write in Gujarati, and not in Sanskrit, the language of
the learned. But that is immaterial. Is not a jewel a jewel,
though placed in a wooden box ? I have packed the treasure
of knowledge in this book. Though the bee is small its honey
tastes sweet. There can be a pearl in a shell. The pippal
tree is worshipped, though stained by the feces of crows.
The sugar-cane is crooked, but its juice is sweet. The swans
taste of pearls while crows eat of the feces. Similarly, the
wise pick up the substance and the worldly-minded wallow in
sensual pleasures. This book contains the sweet taste of the
Brahmic juice. You will be convinced of it. if you have
faith in my word.

There was a Brahmin, Niranjan (untainted by ignorance) by
name. He was a great devotee of God. He was self-controlled,
had a peaceful mind. He wanted eagerly to realize God. So he
was not easy in mind. His mind was deeply agitated. He did
many pilgrimages to holy places, observed many vows, gave
much in charity. studied many scriptures. But he did not get
God. So he renounced the world, and went into the forest. He
started doing rigorous austerities. But who can show the way
except the spiritual teacher ?

What is the use of devotion, if God be got by fate? If
books can give self-knowledge, white ants should get it. In
the world there are neem-trees at every step; but rare is
the sandal-tree. Only a rare fortunate person can see the
desire-yielding heavenly tree. In the world there are many
hypocrites, who assume the role of a teacher. But they do so
to rob a disciple of his wealth, not to remove his mental
agony, arising out of worldly ignorance. A real teacher is
made available by storing holy deeds in many births. He
gives self-knowledge. So Niranjan went out in search of a
true spiritual teacher, indifferent to all worldly
enjoyments. The foolish people of the world were laughing at
him. He forgot to eat and drink, the distinction between day
and night. There was only one idea in his mind. ‘How and
when shall I see God ?’ His eyes were sunken in the sockets.
His body was covered over with the dust of the road.
Children pelted him with stones and smashed his begging-bowl
to pieces. His clothes were torn, became rags. His hair flew
loose and dry. He did not get food to eat for days together.
Still he was firm in his resolve. He wandered like a ghost.
He came to the mount Girnar in his wanderings. That is the
abode of Lord Datta. He had fasted for four days. He prayed,
‘Lord, oh teacher, appear before me. Remove my agony. Have
compassion on me.’ Then the teacher appeared. His name was
Alakh – the Inscrutable, the Secret. He got a guru,
spiritual teacher after many troubles. Then the teacher
Alakh began to teach Niranjan.

The Lord wanted to create the universe in this Varah age.
So he abandoned his yogi sleep and willed. From his navel
rose up a lotus stem. In it was God Creator He had four
faces in four directions of the vast space. He found nobody.
So thought he was the supreme. So, Lord Narayan smiled
seriously and said, ‘Child, I am your father. Don’t get
puffed up. I command you to create the cosmos.’ Brahma sat
‘I don’t know the way of creation. How can I create the
cosmos? ‘

The Lord Narayan thereupon gave him the Veda, the
knowledge, the eternal mirror. Then the God Brahma created
the beings born of womb, the birds, the vegetable kingdom a
creatures born of perspiration. He created his mental sons –
Sanaka, Maric, Atri and others who helped him in the process
of creation. He created gods, demons, human beings,
demi-gods like Kinnaras, Gandharvas, Yakshas and the rest.
He created the four castes and four stations of life, the
four ages. The golden age of truth is when all will be
religious-minded. Its duration was fixed 17 lakhs and 28
thousand years. Then came the Treta age, when sacrifices
were performed. Its duration was fixed 12 lakhs and 96
thousand years. Then came the Dwapar age, when religiousness
and irreligiousness will be half-half. Its duration was
fixed 8 lakhs and 64 thousand years. The last came the Kali
age, the iron age of quarrels and hatred. Its face was
dirty, its heart was tainted. It walked stumbling. It was
impure, given to all sorts of addictions. It held the
procreative organ by its left arm, and its tongue with the
right. Its speech was sweet, but heart full of deadly
poison. It laughed and wept alternately. Brahma said to it.
‘When you will rule the universe, people will be
short-lived, atheistic, selfish, slaves of lust and greed,
given to anger and jealousy. They will have no self-control.
They will not like to practice austerities. They will revile
holy people and the scriptures. But those, who will do the
Lord’s devotion, will be quickly saved. The true teacher
will save his disciples.’

Kali Yuga

 

 

Kali-age asked Brahma to tell him the greatness of the
spiritual teacher. Brahma told this story:

Formerly, there was a beautiful hermitage on the bank of
the holy river Godavari. In it was dwelling the Sage
Vedadharma, a descendant of Sage Angiras, the son of Sage
Paila. He had many disciples. But Dipak was most devoted to
the teacher. Once he gathered them all and said, ‘I want to
exhaust all my sins by experiencing in this body a deadly
disease. Who is ready to serve me during that period? Who
will take me to the holy city of Benares ? ‘ Dipak willingly
offered his services. The teacher put him to a severe test.
Pus began to form in his body. He passed urine and feces in
the bed. Dipak washed him clean with love and devotion. When
he would bring food in alms, the teacher would show
mock-anger, ‘why do you not bring sweet dishes daily ? ‘ If
he would bring vegetables and light food, or sweet dainty
dishes, he would get invariably angry and scold Dipak. But
Dipak would smile and bear all abuses, remain steady and
unflinching in his devotion to the teacher.

God Shiva was pleased at his such devotion and service.
He appeared before Dipak and asked him to choose a boon. He
came to the teacher and asked if he should choose from the
God the healing of his body. The teacher said, ‘No, I want
to exhaust away my sins by experiencing this agony in this
very body.’ Dipak came to God Vishwambhar and requested him
to depart. Then came God Vishnu to give him a boon, but he
politely declined and said, ‘I have not worshipped you. Why
do you insist on granting me a boon ‘ But God Vishnu said,
‘I am pleased with thy devotion to and service of the
teacher. So do ask for a boon! Dipak replied, ‘All right.
Then grant that I may have still more devotion and love for
my teacher.’ The God was pleased, blessed Dipak, granted the
boon, and departed. The teacher knew all. He was pleased and
blessed Dipak. He said, ‘Stay here in Benares. All yogic
powers will wait upon you. Even God will be always pleased
with you. People will be happy, when they will take your
name. Live in peace and supreme happiness.’ Vedadharma
removed his assumed disease, and became well with a lustrous
body. Dipak passed the test.

 

IDEAL DISCIPLE DIPAK – SERVICE OF THE TEACHER.

Alakh continued his teachings to Niranjan. I will tell
you the power of devotion. There was a king in the solar
dynasty. Ambrish by name. He was a devotee of God Vishnu. He
fasted on the eleventh day of every month. Once on the
twelfth day in the early morning, Sage Durvasa came to test
the king. The time for breaking the fast was near. Durvasa
went to take a bath in the river, together with his
disciples he deliberately delayed there. To keep his vow,
the king broke his fast by sipping only a little water. The
Sage Durvasa returned. He was angry with the king ‘For
having broken the fast without feeding the guests. The king
remembered the Lord, who appeared for the sake of his
devotee. The Sage cursed the king to be born in various
kinds of species. The God Vishnu interceded! “The king is
too soft to bear your curse. Please transfer that curse to
me” The Sage agreed, and said, ‘You will have to incarnate
yourself ten times in the bodies of a fish, a boar, a
tortoise, a lionman etc.’ Vishnu accepted the curse for the
sake of his devotee.

It is difficult to understand the power of devotion; It
is of nine kinds:

(I) Hearing,

(2) Reciting,

(3) Remembering,

(4) Serving His feet,

(5) Worship,

(6) Loveful prostration,

(7) Steady-minded serfdom,

(8) Feeling of firm friendship, and

(9) Total self-surrender.

In the first kind of devotion, the devotees hears with a
pure mind the deeds of the Lord in all His incarnations.

In the second, he recites the names of the Lord with the
accompaniment of musical instruments.

In the third, he remembers the beloved image of the Lord
continuously, even in sleep.

In the fourth, he serves the auspicious marked feet of
the Lord, of the saints, holy persons, his spiritual teacher
and of parents with deep love.

In the fifth, he worships the beloved image of the Lord
thrice a day with flowers, burning incense, waving before it
the holy lamp of ghee.

In the sixth, he prostrates himself before his beloved
image of the Lord in all temples, without pride, not caring
for the criticism of worldly people.

In the seventh, he thinks himself to be his Lord’s serf
doing his will, casting away all ego and pride, never caring
for his means of livelihood, so that there arises in his
heart deep love for the Lord, dispassion and knowledge.

In the eighth, he thinks of the Lord as his dearest
friend, uniting his soul with the Lord’s self so that no
distinction remains.

In the ninth he offers himself completely, unreservedly,
within and without, to the Lord with the sense of absolute
surrender, so that no inner or outer sense of separateness
remains with the Lord. It was by this supreme eighth kind of
devotion that the Lord was pleased with the cowherds-women
in his incarnation as Krishna, and with mother Anasuya, so
that He was born as Datta of her womb.

 

CHAPTER III

SATI ANASUYA AND THE BIRTH OF LORD DATTATREYA.

The God Creator produced seven Sages, who were his mental
sons. They were Marich, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha,
Kratu and Vasishthe. But of these, Atri, the second son of
Brahma, had attained self-knowledge. He composed the fifth
Mandal of the Rig-Veda, the science of medicine –
Harit-Samhita, and a Smriti laying down rules of conduct. He
married Anasuya, the daughter of Sage Kardama, the sister of
the Sage Kapil who promulgated the Samkhya system of
philosophy. The Saga Atri was practicing penance on the
Riksha mountain, Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh – the gods of
creation, protection and destruction were pleased by his
austerities. The Triune godhead appeared before the Sage
Atri and asked him to choose a boon. He chose the state of
absolute spiritual liberation and their closest proximity.
They granted him the boon, and said that he would get a son,
combining in his consciousness the divine Trinity.

Then Atri and Anasuya came in Gujarat and built a
hermitage on the holy bank of the river Narmada. As a result
of his severe austerities and the chastity of Anasuya, the
hermitage and its surroundings were quiet, peaceful, full of
divine bliss. The moon showered the nectar of its rays on
that lovely spot. Mother earth became soft. Soft breezes
blew. All seasons were favorable. It rained there gently and
in necessary measure. The sun shone, not very hot. Due to
the perfect vow of non-violence of the sagely pair, there
played the tiger and the lamb together, the mouse gambled
with the cobra, the crane fondled the fish. Gods were afraid
of the austerities of Sage Atri. They repaired to God
Vishnu, who told them not to worry, as the Sage Atri had no
worldly desire in his heart, not even of the heavenly
kingdom. Then God Vishnu thought of his divine play to be
born of Anasuya’s womb in his triune divine form. He also
wanted to remove the pride of Laxmi, Savitri and Uma – the
wives of Vishnu, Brahma and Mahesh – of their being
unrivaled and unsurpassed women of chastity.

The Sage Narada, who is the divine mind of Lord Vishnu
incarnate, wanders over all the three worlds, singing the
Lord’s name and praise on his lute given by the Lord. Once
he came to earth and went to the hermitage of Sage Atri. He
was struck by the peace pervading all over, the holiness of
the atmosphere, the pleasantness of the surrounding, and
above all the quiet peaceful lustre and aura of the Sati
Anasuya. He was glad to have her holy sight. He could not
withdraw his sight from her face, so enrapturing and
purifying was Anasuya’s physical frame and subtle body. When
he returned to the Vaikunth, the goddess Laxmi received him
well and asked if he had come across anything extra-ordinary
in his wanderings all over the three worlds. Narada replied
that he was blessed by the sight of Sati Anasuya, who was
the holiest, the most peaceful and divinely charming lady he
had seen in his life. Laxmi asked him if she was more chaste
and charming even than she. Narada, undaunted, replied, ‘By
all means. You cannot compare with Anasuya even in a slight
degree.’ Then he went to Savitri and then to Uma. The same
conversation took place with them two also. The three
goddesses became jealous of Anasuya and decided to pull her
down from her high pedestal of chastity. They met together
and resolved to exhort their husbands to pull Anasuya down
from her superb chastity by any means.

The three gods assumed the forms of mendicant ascetics
and went to the hermitage of the Sage Atri to defile the
chastity of Sati Anasuya. But none of them dared to enter
the hermitage first. Each goaded the other to enter first.
At last they all three entered simultaneously, shouting for
alms of food. Anasuya gave them seats, bowed down before
them, and said, ‘Please wait for a while. My husband shall
be returning soon from his ablutions and meditations on the
banks of the holy river Narmada’. But they were in a hurry
for fear of being detected and cursed by the Sage Atri. So
they pleaded great hunger and consequent inability to wait
longer. Anasuya was confident of her husband’s faith in her,
and she went into the kitchen to prepare three dishes for
the mendicant ascetics. When the dishes were ready, the gods
shouted, ‘We belong to the sect of Aghori mendicants, and
dine from the dish that is served only by a naked lady. Do
so or here we depart ! ‘

Anasuya began to doubt that they must be gods come to put
her to test. She was pure at heart, a chaste woman. So she
had neither fears nor doubts. She knew that no trouble would
come from the side of her husband. She did not like the idea
that the mendicants should go without food from her house.
So she removed her clothes, and said, ‘Whoever these three
mendicant ascetics may be, let them become small children by
my power of chastity,’ Lo ! the three gods became small
children forthwith and she came out of the kitchen naked.
Milk began to flow from her breasts and the three gods were
drinking it with gladness. In the meantime, Sage Atri
arrived on the scene and was highly delighted for he knew
everything by his supernatural yogic powers. Anasuya put the
three god-children in the cradle and they vied with one
another to be first to be rocked and sung a lullaby too. The
joy of Atri and Anasuya knew no bounds, for the presence of
the three god-children made their hermitage more blissful
than the divine abodes of the three gods.

Months passed, and the three divine consorts of the
gods-Vishnu, Brahma and Mahadeva saw neither the return of
their husbands nor got any news about them. So their minds
were filled with anxiety. They met together and came down to
earth near the hermitage of Sage Atri. Nobody of them dared
to enter it, for they had wronged the Sati Anasuya without
any cause of provocation. They approached the goddess of the
river Narmada with a request to intercede on their behalf.
The The goddess Narmada readily acceded to their request,
for noble souls have always a compassionate heart. She took
the three goddesses to mother Anasuya and told her the
reason why they had gone there. The goddesses stood
trembling in the corner behind the door. The kindhearted
Sati Anasuya requested the three godchildren to assume their
original forms and accompany their divine consorts back
home. They began to weep and requested mother Anasuya not to
be so hardhearted as to drive them away from her, for in her
vicinity they had found greater and diviner bliss than in
their heavenly abodes. Anasuya requested them to understand
the pain in the hearts of their consorts and go. The three
gods requested her to be kind to allow them to be born of
her womb, for that was the boon granted by Lord Vishnu to
her husband, Sage Atri. The mother Anasuya gladly agreed,
and they went to their abodes with Laxmi, Savitri and
Uma.

Days passed and the full-moon day of the month of
Marg-Shirsha arrived. Mother Anasuya was pregnant. She held
in her womb the lustrous seed of Sage Atri’s lifelong
austerities. On that holy day, she gave birth to three sons
– Durvasa, the moon and Dattatreya. Durvasa, who was
destined to be a great ascetic, went away to the forest for
practicing penance’s and austerities. The moon went over to
the sky and took there its station to illumine the world
with its cool rays. The third was so called, because the
three gods had given themselves away completely to the
devotee soul, Anasuya, and because he was the son of the
sage Atri (Datta and Atreya). He was a born Yogi. He began
to roll in the holy ashes as soon as he was born. He sat in
meditation, while lying in the cradle. His gaze was steady
and fixed, as it were, in the vacuum of the sky. The mother
would give him a bath, and the next moment he would throw
earth and mud over his body and make it dirty. Great Yogis
try to find the Lord in the heart by practicing hard
austerities, but they do not have his sight even in the
dream. The same Lord took great delight in lying in the lap
of mother Anasuya. Datta became eight years old, and the
sage Atri invested him with the sacred thread. He went to
Panchaleshwer, on the bank of the river Goda, to do
austerities. The next moment he would come back to Mahurgadh
and prostrate before his parents. Some times he would put on
a loincloth, and the next moment he would throw it away, and
go and sit naked in the cemetery-grounds. Sometimes he would
appear fat and well-nourished in body, the other day he
would appear lean and thin, emaciated, only a skeleton.
Sometimes he would appear a celibate with only a gourd in
his hand, the next day he would appear like a rich
householder; the third day he would appear like a sannyasin
who has renounced the world. He acted beyond all scriptural
commands, throwing away to the winds all commands and
prohibitions. He sometimes behaved like a child, at other
times like a mad man or like a tipsy man. Who can bind the
Lord ! By his supernatural yogic powers, he would stay on
the Sahya mountain, sleep in Mahurgadh, take his morning
bath in the Ganges, do achaman ceremony (sipping holy water)
in Kurukshetra, do meditation in Ganagapur, apply holy ashes
to his body in Dhoot-papeshwer, would do his evening worship
in Karhat, would beg for food-alms in Kolhapur, would do the
holy mark in the forehead in Pandharpur, would eat his lunch
in Panchaleshwar, would drink water in the rive Tunqabhadra,
and would hear the religious discourse in Badari-Narayan.
Then h would rest on the mount Girnar and do his evening
worship in the Western Deccan. He taught self-knowledge to
the great devote Prahlad and the cobra Pingal.

 

Chapter IV – SHANDILI

 

There was the city of Pratishthan on the banks of the
river Goda. In it there was living a Brahmin, Kaushik by
name. Shandili was his wife. She was a chaste woman. He got
infatuated with a prostitute. As a result he contacted a
disease. There was pus oozing out of his limbs. He became
deformed. He had wasted all his money on that prostitute.
Once he went to the house of that prostitute. She despised
him and turned him away. He returned home. Shandili welcomed
him gladly. She joined her hands in salutation to him. She
put him in the bed and began to serve him tirelessly. She
changed his pus-soiled clothes now and then, gave him a soft
towel-bath. He was surprised to see his wife’s wonderful
devotion, although he had neglected her all the time. He
apologized to her and praised her. She replied that she was
not doing anything wonderful. Everybody minded himself or
herself. He was not at all different from her, separate from
her. Months passed away, and by her single-minded attendance
on his sickbed and punctilious service, he became better.
Then he began to say, ” Look, you are wonderful, but I
cannot forget the moonlike face of that my beloved
prostitute. You have, no doubt, given me a new lease of
life, but today I am very eager to meet her. She gave me
such sex-pleasure as I have never found with you. Oh, if I
could go to her house ! ” Shandili replied, ” Lord, don’t
worry. I will take you to her tonight on my shoulders.” When
night came, she took out a little casket in which she kept
her ornaments she had brought from her father’s house. She
took it with her, tied in the fringe of her sari. She softly
and gently carried Kaushik on her shoulders. She was careful
that he received no jerk or jolt. She avoided streetlights
so that her husband’s prestige may not suffer.

Reaching to the prostitute’s house, she gently put her
husband on the sofa of the drawing-room. She went within,
and giving the ornaments to the prostitute, she requested
her to receive her husband kindly that night, for he was mad
to see her that night. Kaushik was admitted to the
prostitute’s inner apartment. He spent an hour with her, and
came out panting, exhausted. Shandili allowed him to rest on
the sofa for ten minutes, and then putting him on her
shoulders, left the prostitute’s house. It was midnight.

Now on the way a strange thing was happening. A thief had
stolen away from the royal palace the jewellery-box of the
king. The policemen and guards got his scent and chased him.
In a hurry he dropped the box near Mandavya, the disciple of
the sage Markandeya. He was sitting in meditation outside
the city in a solitary place. The policemen thought him to
be the thief, for the jewellery-box was found near him. He
was taken to the king, who ordered him to be put on a stake.
He was put in the public square on the piercing point of the
stake in the part of his abdomen, and his body was made to
revolve on it, so that the piercing point would slowly and
painfully go deeper in his body. While Shandili was
carrying-Kaushik on her shoulders, his foot touched the body
of sage Mandavya with force, and the revolution became
quicker and therefore more painful. In extreme pain, the
sage Mandavya gave out a curse, ” He, who by his touch was
the cause of this excruciating pain to me, shall not see
sunrise tomorrow.”

Shandili came home with her husband Kaushik. She uttered
forth a resolve, ” Oh Sun-god, hear my words. If I am a
chaste woman, if I have not seen another man’s face with a
lustful desire even in dream, if I am faithful to my husband
in thought, word and deed, you will not rise except when I
give you order to rise again.” The next morning the sun did
not rise. It was all dark. Birds, beasts, human beings did
not know how to perform their daily duties. Sacrifices came
to a standstill.

Nobody could tell the time. All were puzzled. Eight days
passed in that state o things. Gods went to the Creator and
complained about the chaos. God Creator replied, ” A chaste
woman’s power is very great. Even the sun has to obey h
orders. Go to Sati Anasuya, the mother of Dattatreya.
Request her to approach Shandili and to persuade her to
withdraw her orders. Only then will the sun and people be
happy.” The Gods acted according to the Creator’s advice.
Anasuya went to Shandili and said, ” Sister, look at the
piteous condition of all the beings of the world. A Sati – a
chaste woman should have compassion for all in her heart
Withdraw your orders, and let the sun rise.” Shandili
replied, ” I am fortunate today to have your holy sight,
mother. But the sage Mandavya has cursed my husband
unjustly. He should have cursed me to death, for it was my
fault. I was carrying my husband on the shoulders. I was in
a hurry to go home to avoid public gaze and scandal. I would
have succumbed to death willingly. But this injustice I
could not bear.” Anasuya said, ” Don’t worry. Let the sun
rise. I will bring Kaushi your husband, back to life by my
power of chastity. Rely on my words.” Shandi withdrew her
orders. The sun rose, and Kaushik dropped down dead in the
bed.

Sati Anasuya took Kaushik’s body in her lap and spoke, “
If I am a Sati, an have never looked upon another man with a
lustful eye even in dream, let Kaushi arise, come back to
life.” Kaushik yawned, and stretching his arms, arose. He
thanked Shandili for giving him second time a lease of life.
Shandili said, ” No, fall at the feet of mother Anasuya, who
has given life to you and to me, both She is the holy mother
of Lord Dattatreya, the great Yogeshwar.” Kaushik fell at
Anasuya’s feet. She blessed him and Shandili both. Kaushik
lived thereafter for a full hundred years.

The Sage Mandavya was saved from the stake by gods and
other sages, who went to the king and told the whole story
about Kaushik and Shandili. The sage Mandavya had to suffer
for a short while the excruciating pain of the stake, for
while in play, as a child, he had pierced a small bird with
a thorn. He had to pay so dearly for that sin.

 

CHAPTER V.
– SAHASRARJUNA, ALL SCIENCES LEAD TO GOD
.