Shri Guruleelamrit – Chapter 5

In the lunar dynasty, in the Haihaya family, Sahasrarjuna
was born to king Kritavirya, who did the vow of purity and
giving in charity, taught to him Brihaspati, the preceptor
of gods. The queen also did the vow of Anant-Vrata. When he
came of age, the king wanted to put him on throne, and
retire him with the queen to the forest for meditation on
the Lord. But the intelligent prince refused to be the
ruler. His argument was that people gave the king taxes, a
if, in return, he would not protect his subjects from
oppressors and wicked m he would get sin and go to hell. The
king called his preceptor Gargacharya, w told Sahasrarjuna
to go to the great Yogin Dattatreya and learn Yoga from h
who had defeated the demon Jambha through god Indra. Then he
would able to assume any number of forms at will and know
the inner thoughts of people So, he would be able to punish
a wicked man with a wicked thought arising in mind, even
though he may be on the border of his territory, and this
will stop all sinful acts in his kingdom. So the prince went
to the great Yogin Dattatre who taught him Yoga and
self-knowledge. Before that the Master put him to severe
test. Then he returned and became the king. He set exemplary
punishment to a few by his Yogic powers, and then nobody
dared do an unjust thing in his territory All lived happily
and justly, as if it was the period of Golden Age in his
territory.

Dattatreya taught Sahasrarjuna that the purport of all
scriptures and sciences, if properly learnt and mastered and
used for higher purposes, is the same and ultimately leads
to the spiritual liberation. The following are the
illustrations of this truth :

(I) There was an expert architect, Vidhigna by name. He
examined the site with regard to its purity, income from it,
expenditure on it, and then got a building constructed, with
the result that the people of the house, its inmates always
became happy. Nobody of them met with an accident and died
prematurely. They always had good religious ideas and spent
their money always in charity, good deeds, religious rites.
In the next birth he was born a king. In that birth he got
constructed wells, temples, inns, ponds, parks, gardens,
palaces, etc. – all for public use and welfare. In the third
birth he was born a Brahmin. In that birth he performed the
worship of God daily regularly, studied the Vedas after
being invested with the sacred thread, served the teacher,
gave in charity and lived a contented householder’s life.
The result was that his mind got purged. At fifty he
renounced the world, meditated on the self, surrendered all
to God, and ultimately got spiritual liberation.

(2) In Mahishmati, on the bank of the holy Narmada, there
was a Brahmin. He loved music. He played exquisitely on all
kinds of musical instruments. He was a fine poet. He knew
well the science of sex, amours. He knew how to read the
signs on the body of a person. On reaching age, he went out
in search of a befitting wife, a woman after his desire.
While wandering, he came to a king’s court. The king asked
him why he was wandering. He told his object of wandering.
The king had only one daughter. He asked the Brahmin to
foretell her future by reading the signs on her body. They
both saw each other and fell in love. The king asked him to
give a musical performance in the court. The Brahmin sang
and played on his musical instruments. All the courtiers and
the king sat charmed. They had never heard such music
before. Even the princess was fascinated. At the end the
king asked him to choose what he wanted, and he would grant
it willingly. The Brahmin asked for the hand of the princess
in marriage. The king married his daughter to the Brahmin,
gave all his kingdom also to him, ordered out nuptial
festivities throughout his kingdom, and then went away into
the forest for meditation on the Lord, together with the
queen. The Brahmin-king and his beautiful wife enjoyed all
worldly pleasures. When they became old, he pleased God
Shiva with his music and devotional songs. The God Shiva
sent them both to heaven after death. Even there he pleased
all the gods and Gandharvas by his proficiency in music and
playing upon various instruments. Thereafter he was sent to
the world of God Creator. There he pleased the God by
singing the Vedic verses musically to the accompaniment of
instruments. Then he got self-immersion and obtained final
spiritual liberation.

(3) On the banks of the river Goda, there lived a
Brahmin, Veda-Sharma by name. He had a son, Sushil by name.
He was good by nature, repeated the Gayatri everyday, did
meditation on the Lord. By ill-luck he was possessed by an
evil spirit. Under its influence he jumped, danced, cried,
fell down unconscious on the way. The father was a devotee
of Lord Dattatreya. Once the Lord came to his door to beg
for food in alms. The mendicant was surrounded by dogs. His
body gave out a stinking smell. He appeared a fool
outwardly, but his eyes were shining with Brahmic lustre.
The Lord went away into the forest. The Brahmin followed
him. The Lord said, “Why do you follow me? I am an outcaste.
You are a holy Brahmin. Go.” The Brahmin fell at his feet
and said, ” I have recognized you. Do not put me away. Have
mercy on me. Save my son. Please come and take food at my
house.” The Lord agreed. He went to the Brahmin’s house,
dined, gave him a holy syllable to mutter – which would
drive away the evil spirit, and went away. Within seven
days, the evil spirit left his son. He continued the
muttering of the Mantra. In the end he obtained salvation by
the power of Mantra.

(4) In Matapur, near the Mount Sahya, there lived a
Brahmin, Vishnudatta by name. He was a devotee of Lord
Datta. His wife also was a chaste woman. In front of his
house there was a pippal tree. It was haunted by a
Brahma-Rakshasa, a Brahmin evil spirit He was eating daily
of the food-offering put under the tree by the Brahmin. He
got purified by eating the Brahmin’s holy food. Once he
appeared before the Brahmin and asked him to choose a boon.
The Brahmin could not decide so he went to his wife. She
said, “Don’t ask for anything worldly. All worldly pleasures
are perishable. Ask for the holy sight of Lord Datta. Yogins
try hard to see him, but cannot. So ask for that highest
boon.” The Brahmin did accordingly. Once that spirit came
and told the Brahmin, ” Look ! There stands Lord Datta. near
a bar, moving about like a mad man. Go and fall at his feet.
Have no doubt.” But the Brahmin doubted – “What will people
think of me, if I go near that dirty-looking man near the
tavern ? ” He did not go, and allowed one golden opportunity
to slip away. On second thoughts he repented. Again he
requested the Brahmin spirit to help him. After a few days,
the spirit appeared and said, ” Don’t miss this time. Look !
There he is playing with puppies in the cemetery-grounds. He
appears dirty, but he is Lord Datta, the purifier of all.”
This time the Brahmin did not fail. He went to the Lord and
fell at his feet. The Lord asked him to choose a boon. The
Brahmin said, ” I beseech you, Lord. Come to dine at my
house at the Shraddha ceremony after a week, so that my
ancestors may be saved.” After testing him, the Lord agreed
on condition that there are invited two others fit to sit at
dinner with him. The Brahmin returned home, but was worried
as to who other two were to be invited to sit to dine with
Lord Datta. Five days passed, but he was not at ease. Women
sometimes solve their learned husbands’ difficulties by
their power of intuition. The Brahmin’s wife asked him the
cause of his anxiety. He narrated the whole story. She asked
him not to worry, she would invite the other two to dine
with Lord Datta in the same line. On the seventh day, the
woman got up early in the morning, took her ablutions,
offered worship to the Lord. Then she prayed to God Sun, ” I
always offer you water and flowers in worship. My husband
does the muttering of Gayatri every day. I want you to do me
a favour today. Please come to dine at my place today noon,
together with Lord Datta.” The sun-god consented. Then she
prayed the fire-god, ” I always give food-offerings and
oblation of ghee to you before eating. Please do me a
favour. Come to dine with Lord Datta and the sun-god today
noon.” The fire-god also consented. They both came in the
forms of Brahmins, with lustrous faces, to dine with Lord
Datta. Lord Datta was pleased at the pure-heartedness of the
couple and at the cleverness of the Brahmin’s wife. They all
three gave boons of great Yogic powers to Vishnudatta and
departed after meals. This Vishnudatta did many benevolent
deeds with these Yogic powers given to him by Lord
Datta.

There was a Brahmin, Harisharma by name, living on the
banks of the river Goda. A son was born to him in the Mula
constellation of stars. His parents died. He got married,
but was never keeping good health. At eighteen, he got
bhagander disease. His wife was worried. She came to
Vishnudatta for help He gave her a vow to observe.
Harisharma became quite well again within few years. Even
his T. B. disappeared.

There was living a Brahmin in the north of the Sahya
mountain. His wife was also a pious lady. Once he had to go
to another village for a month get some religious rites
performed. The wife gave him a farewell. After a few days,
she went to the river for a bath. There’ an evil spirit,
full of lust, saw her These spirits have some supernatural
powers, as they are not bound down to physical frame. He saw
her and wanted to have sex-enjoyment with her. Aft she went
home, he assumed the exact form of her husband and went to
her home.

She asked him why he returned before the month elapsed.
The lustful spirit replied, ” The religious rites that were
to be performed have been postponed, so I returned home
earlier.” The woman took him at his word. He enjoyed sex
with her overmuch with the result that she suffered in
health. She became thin and pale and emaciated. She was
terribly upset, for her husband was a man of restraint.
After the month the husband returned. There was a heated
dispute between the two similar-looking husbands of the
Brahmin lady. Each said that the house and woman belonged to
him. She went to Vishnudatta for help. He said to both of
them, ” He, who takes a circle of these two miles of the
field, running and coming first, shall be known as the true
husband of this woman.” The lustful spirit completed the
round within the twinkling of an eye, while the Brahmin
could do it after an hour and returned panting. Then
Vishnudatta asked them to take a round of a hill, bowing
down to all the perfected Yogins on it and knowing their
family-names. The man, who came first after doing it, would
be accepted as the true husband, The spirit did it within no
time, while the Brahmin returned, tired and panting, after
ten hours. Then Vishnudatta set the last and the third test.
He got brought a small metal-vessel with a slender pipe. He
asked them to enter it and come out of the thin pipe. The
first would be owned as the owner of the house and the
woman. The Brahmin stood aghast at the stipulation. The
lustful evil spirit entered the tin-vessel. Vishnudatta put
his palm on the vessel, uttered the holy Mantra-syllables,
and bound down the evil spirit, imprisoned in the vessel for
ever. Thus the Brahmin and his wife were freed from their
calamity by the Mantra-power by Vishnudatta.

There was a Brahmin in Pratishthan. He was full of
self-knowledge from birth. But being afraid of worldly
attachment, he remained dumb and deaf, as it were. He
behaved like a madcap. At eight, he was invested with the
sacred thread, but he did not do the Gayatri-Jap. His
parents took him to Vishnudatt. He understood all. He told
him, ” You are the witness consciousness, the pure Self,
untainted by Ignorance. Why make your parents unnecessarily
unhappy ? Do all works unattached.” The boy began to act
normally and the parents became happy.

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p. 11 Chapter VI