Dharma Kshetra

Queen Madalsa sings a lullaby to her sons

Once upon a time, there was a King named Ritudhwaja. He had a wise wife named Madalsa.

When their first son was born, the king named him "Vikranta", or one who possesses great valor and courage. Madalsa used to sing lullabies to him with the knowledge of self-realization in them. Gradually, the boy became detached from this world, lost interest in ruling the kingdom, and went to the forest as a renunciate. Then when the second son was born, the king named him "Subahu", which means one who possesses powerful and beautiful hands. Again, Madalsa would sing lullabies with the knowledge of self-realization to him. Even this boy became renounced and left for the forest to attain salvation. Then when the third son was born, the king named him "Shatrumardana", which means one who conquers his enemies. Again, the mother taught him self-realization through lullabies and the boy left the home for salvation.

Every time the king would select a name, Queen Madalsa would laugh at the name. So, when the fourth son was born, the king asked his wife to name him. She named him "Alarka", which means mad dog. This surprised the king and he asked her why she had named the boy in this way. She replied:

The name is only for the sake of the reference of mortals. The self is beyond worldly names and forms. To that self what name can we propound and by which name do we have to address? So, my dear, don't be under the false impression that the names you have chosen for your kids are meaningful. When the body is illusory by nature, names assigned to this body based on its bodily traits refer to nothing but a combination of the five elements. Hence, it is your opinion that is meaningless and not the name "Alarka".

But the king requested her to not make the fourth son a renunciate. She accepted her husband's request and taught him Raja Dharma and Varnasrama Dharma. She advised him to become a learned scholar and an ideal king. Then she gave him a Golden Ring inside which a secret message was carved. She told her son to look at that message only when he faced problems that he did not know how to solve.

Many years passed happily. But eventually, King Alarka began to face many serious problems. One day he remembered his mother's advice to open the ring. He noticed the minute letters engraved inside the golden ring she gave him. As he read the script, the advice of his mother was direct: If you are not able to solve problems then give up the association of all living entities and go to Caityaka mountain.

Below is the lullaby that Queen Madalsa would sing to her children when they would cry.

suddhosi buddhosi niramjano'si

samsaramaya parivarjito'si

samsarasvapnam tyaja mohanidram

mamdalasollapamuvaca putram

You are pure, you are knowledgeable, and you are free from all contaminations. Therefore, discard the illusions of this world, just like one might discard the confusion created by the worldly dream. Thus says Madalsa to her crying son.

suddho'si re tata na te'sti nama

krtam hi tatkalpanyadhunaiva

paccmitakam deham idam na te'sti

naivasya tvam rodisi kasya heto

O my child, you are pure and this is not your name. The name has certainly created your imagination at present. This body made up of five elements is not yours nor are you of the five elements. Then what is the reason for your crying?

na vai bhavana roditi viksvajanma

sabdoyamayadhyaya mahisa sunum

vikalpayamano vividhairgunaiste

gunasca bhutah sakalendyesu

The Lord who gave birth to this world does not cry. O child, this is just a chapter of a huge book infused with sound. It incites thoughts in the mind that are various types of qualities. Even the sense objects within the senses are nothing but the qualities.

bhutani bhutaih paridurbalani

vrddhim samayati yatheh pumsah

annambupanadibhireva tasmat

na testi vrddhir na ca testi hanih

The elements are weakened by surrounding elements. The elements are strengthened by surrounding elements. That is just as in the case of people. The consumption of food and water therefore makes the body strong or weak. That is not your growth nor is it your reduction.

tvam kamcuke siryamane nijosmina

tasmina dehe mudhatam ma vrajetha:

subhasubhauh karmabhirdehamet

mrdadibhih kancukaste pinaddhah

What you consider your own is a perishable covering. Do not foolishly consider it your achievement. The good and evil actions create your body which is just like a covering of clay surrounding you (perhaps the boy is either being bathed in a clay pot or being rocked in a clay cradle).

tateti kincit tanayeti kincit

ambeti kincidayiteti kincit

mameti kincit na mameti kincit

tvam bhutasangha bahu ma nayathah

Someone is called the father and someone is called the son. Someone is called the mother and someone is called the wife. Someone is called mine and someone is called not mine. These are different aggregations of the elements and not as they are referred to.

sukhani duhkhopasamaya bhogana

sukhaya janati vimudhacetah

tanyeva duhkhani punahprapti sukhani

janati viddhanavimudhacetah

Those with a deluded consciousness consider enjoyable objects as the givers of happiness and removers of unhappiness. Those who have pierced the deluded consciousness know that those things that give unhappiness again result in happiness.

yanam cittau tatra gatasca deho

dehopi canyah puruso nivisthah

mamatvamuroya na yatha tasmin

deheti matram bata mudharausa

Just like a chariot appears moving in your consciousness (but you are not embedded in the chariot), your consciousness is not embedded even in your body (rather your body is moving in your consciousness). Just as mine-ness doesn't pertain to the moving chariot similarly it is only foolishness to associate mine-ness to merely the body.

Philosophically speaking, materialism begins with the idea that I need the world, I depend on the world, and I am nothing without the world I am surrounded with. Spirituality begins with the idea that I don't need the world, I don't depend on the world, and whatever I am, I must discover independent of the surrounding world. Separating oneself from the temporary world is the precondition to knowledge. Those who don't understand that the body and world they call real are simply images being projected into their consciousness by a projector haven't begun to comprehend the truth. The projector is real, hence, there is a "reality". But the projection is not real, hence, there is a "delusion".

Just like people watching a movie identify with characters in a movie, similarly, the living entity identifies with some character as himself. He considers the friends of that character to be his friends, and the enemies of that movie character to be his enemies. Enlightenment begins when one realizes that he is not the movie character, his so-called friends and enemies are not so. Madalsa teaches the philosophy of how our body is projected in our consciousness just like all other objects. We don't identify with a moving chariot, but we identify with a moving body, although both are projections into our consciousness. Madalsa teaches her boys how to understand this delusion and get out of it.

The best time to begin the spiritual journey was yesterday. The next best time is today. Therefore, the wise don't waste their time postponing the process to later, thinking that "he is just a child", "he is so young", "he has just gotten married", "he has just gotten a child", and so on. The wise prioritize spiritual knowledge over everything else. The time that is wasted never comes back. The living entity has lived millions of lives in which he has repeated the same arguments over and over. The wise know this to be a fact and focus on the spiritual journey.

This spiritual journey is described as comprising three stages: detachment, knowledge, and devotion to the Lord. As long as we are attached to this body and various other temporary identities, we neither know nor can we become attached to the Supreme Lord. Hence, detachment is the precondition for knowledge, and knowledge is the precondition to devotion to the Supreme Lord. Thus, quite often, as in this case, we find stories in the Vedic texts that teach detachment. This is not the end of the spiritual journey; it is only the beginning.

(From Markandeya Purana)

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