Udanga and Krishna

Sages wander. They usually do not stay at a place. So when they move back and forth, they have to cross deserts and rivers and mountains alike. They are put to extreme discomfort and pain. They suffer themselves to bear it all as they have renounced the "physicality" of the world.

Udanga was no exception to this rule. But, he, by his constant prayers, love and devotion to Lord Krishna, won the boon that he would find water whenever his throat was parched. He just had to think of water and Lo! Behold! He would have it.

Krishna was extremely proud of a devotee like Udanga. He was of the opinion that Udanga was one of a kind : No ego, extremly pleasant, no racial prejudices and all renouncing.

Once Indra, the king of the devas, had called on Krishna. The discussion came to rest on Udanga. As Krishna was extolling the virtues of the sage, Indra sneered and said nothing. Krishna stung, asked Indra why he did not hold the sage so high.

Indra replied that Udanga was a racist. He did not think much of lower castes and considered it a sin to be associated in any way with them.

Now this was a serious insult and slur. No sage would ever ever do this, as to him, the world, universe, man and animal are the same.

Krishna wanted to clear the slur on His favorite and so said, "Ok. Now you have cast the blame. Prove it to me. For my part, I hold Udanga to be blameless."

Indra replied calmly," Since you hold so much belief on him, I would think him to be worthy of anything. As you are the Lord himself. Even Amirtha which you know is not for anyone other than the devas. I will offer him even that. But in the guise of a tribal man. Not just a common tribal but a tribal leader. Let's see what happens."

Krishna,seemingly sure, of the reaction of Udanga accepted the challenge.

Now the scene shifts to a desert. Extremely hot and dry. Udanga is walking slowly on the sifting sands. He feels extremely thirst and crys out, "Krishna".

Lo! There appears Indra himself holding the pot of nectar disguised as a sand pitcher in the garb of a tribal king. Udanga is scandalized. He refuses to take the water and cries, "Krishna! What sin have I committed to have water forced upon me by this tribal? Answer me my Lord. I would die of thirst than to accept this water!"

Indra vanishes and his place is taken by Krishna. Extremely angry and mortified, He shouts at Udanga, "Oh Sage! Till date I had thought of you as one equivalent to the greatest of the illumined. But you,in this issue, have brought shame on yourselves. What is the sin committed by the tribal that the water offered by him be unpalatable to you? Was it poisoned by his touch?
You have a very long path to traverse. You have not yet even been qualified to see the hallowed halls of the truly devote.
And as a punishment you shall know what you missed. You rejected the amirtha which Lord Indra himself freely offered to you. Now go! Repent."

So saying, He left Udanga to repent over his attitude.

Udanga proceeds further. To reach what now seems unattainable to him.

So. Here we come atlast. The point behind such a drama. Did not the Lord know the true capability of His devotee? Did He not know the outcome of the wager? He did. But He wanted to give Udanga a chance to see his error and correct himself.

Mistake or a wise decision. Every man attains the fruit of his deeds. He might or might not in his present janma. So many a time the consequence of a deed does not strike us at all. But when it does so all at once, we are either elevated to a position never so glorified or brought to our knees crumbling before the world.

Here Udanga sees his mistake come back to hit him so hard that his years and years of penance reduce to naught.

Also the equality of the caste which seems to be the "strike out" moral of the story is re-emphasized. After all, the Lord himself has chosen to be a Brahmin in only 2 of His avatars. In one of which he publicly renounces all dharma attached to it.

Hari Om:

Udanga

It is said that everything in this world will happen in its own sweet time and in a predetermined manner. (Evolutionists: dont argue at this spot) Whatever is happening is for the good and happy is he who realises it.

This morning for no reason at all I was reminded of Udanga Maharishi and his devotion to the Lord. This character is one that is publicly trounced for all his devotion.

Udanga as a young sage was the disciple of Sage Vishwamitra. Now, who hasn't heard of the legendary anger of him? As soon as Udanga completed his education, Vishwamitra extremely pleased with him told him that he did not have to pay Guru Dakshina. But Udanga argued and counter argued to a point that the sage completely went berserk and asked him to bring 48 horses of a given Sabhurikha lakshana.

Now these horses are extremely rare and were owned by a king who lived eons away. And also there were only 48 horses in the entire world. The king also had 48 beautiful daughters of a lakshana found nowhere else.

Udanga was dismayed and pleaded with Vishwamitra. But now, the sage would hear nothing of it. Udanga set out and reached the king after a long and wearying journey.

The king refuses to part with even one of his horses. But as Udanga pleads, begs and points the wrath of Vishwamitra if he returns without the horses, he finally yields.

But as fate would have it, Udanga gets caught in a storm near a river on his way back with the 48 horses. Three of them go wild and jump into the river to be swallowed forever. The storm stops and Udanga is disconsolate. He rushes back to the king and begs with him.

But now there is nothing that even he can do. So he offers 3 of his daughters in place of the horses. Shaking with fear and trembling as a leaf, Udanga reaches Vishwamitra. He narrates the issue and seeks forgiveness. But to his surprise and mortification, the sage bursts out laughing.

He says,"Udanga, If you had any real brains, you would have got the 48 daughters of the king than the horses."

Udanga leaves the ashram ashamed and chastised.

So what do we have here? Is it that Vishwamitra is a womanizer? Or is the lesson that Udanga learnt was that women are better than horses?

Not at all. The lesson is that blind obediance to the Guru is required. He definitely knows what is going to come. If Udanga had only listened to his guru instead of thinking himself to be capable of much more than what the Guru could ask, he would not have been subject to such discomforts and humiliation.

Either he must have got all the 48 horses or the 48 daughters. Now he has got an incomplete number of both. The application of the knowledge imparted is not present. It is not to be assumed here that Vishwamitra prefers the 48 daughters. He is a sage who has won the senses.

So Udanga is left to no doubt about the incompleteness of his knowledge: application to practical issues and the inferiority to his guru.

He sets out to seek the permanence that exists beyond all and the knowledge that he craves for.

We shall see more of Udanga in the coming days