An apt account of spiritual wisdom for our app world

GĀRGI

The Brave, Wise Lady in the Upanishads

Janaka was a philosopher-king of ancient India. He was the ruler of Mithilā. The princely state consisted of great scholars, and Janaka himself was regarded with respect throughout India for his wisdom.

Once Janaka performed a sacrifice in which gifts were freely distributed. Vedic scholars from far-off countries, like Kuru and Panchāla, assembled in Mithilā on this occasion.

Now Janaka thought to himself: “This is a rare gathering. So many scholars versed in the Vedic lore have assembled here. I must take this opportunity to find the most profound scholar, the one peerless member of this grand assemblage.”

Janaka hit upon a plan. He asked his servants to put one thousand choice cows in a nearby pen. He further ordered that to each of cows’ horns should be attached five golden plates. The king’s servants obeyed him at once.

Janaka then appeared in the place of sacrifice. He solemnly announced, “Revered Brahmins, let him who is the best Vedic scholar among you drive the thousand cows home.” This was a rather peculiar announcement, and a hush fell upon the assemblage. None of the Brahmins was willing to rise and declare himself the best scholar. Yājnavalkya then stood up and asked Sāmashravā, his disciple, to drive the cows home to his forest retreat.

Immediately the Brahmins were aflutter. Ashwala, the priest of Janaka, was the first to issue a challenge, “Yājnavalkya, are you really the best scholar among us?”

Yājnavalkya: “I bow down to the best scholar. I just want the cows.” Ashwala decided to interrogate Yājnavalkya, whose politeness didn’t strike him as genuine. The priest’s favoured position with Janaka had made him insolent. He threw many questions at Yājnavalkya but Yājnavalkya answered them all. The quick answers were enough to calm the angry mood of Ashwala.

Several other scholars now began to interrogate Yājnavalkya. Some were genuine seekers of truth; others simply wanted to put him in a tight corner.

A Lady Emerges from the Gathering

Last of all rose a lady named Gārgi, the daughter of the sage Vachaknu. Gārgi had already asked a few questions but now she asked the permission of the Brahmins to put forth a few more.

“I shall ask him two more questions,” Gārgi proposed. “Should he answer them, none of you will ever be able to beat him.” In ancient India, women had access to philosophical enquiry –and what tremendous self-confidence we find in Gārgi, daring a great sage to answer her questions! She was dignity personified.

Gārgi continued, “What, O Yājnavalkya, pervades the whole cosmos and whatever it is, was and shall be?”

Yājnavalkya: “The unmanifested ether.”

“I bow to you, Yājnavalkya; you have answered the question to my satisfaction. Now I have another.”

“Ask, O Gārgi.”

“What pervades the unmanifested ether?”

The question seemed to launch Yajnavalkya to new heights of elucidation. He replied, “It is pervaded by the Immutable Brahman. It is neither gross nor minute, neither short nor long, neither shadow nor darkness, neither air nor ether. The different worlds, the sun and the moon, do not transgress its mighty rule. Whoever departs from this world without knowing this immutable substance has to move in an endless series of births and deaths. It is never an object of thought or intellect, being thought or intelligence itself. It is the Knower, who knows through all intellects. Brahman, which is the Self within all, and is beyond all relative attributes like hunger etc. is the ultimate goal, the highest truth. By this Brahman is the unmanifested ether pervaded.”

Thereupon Gārgi said, “Revered Brahmins, listen to my words. I have already said that if he is able to answer my questions, none of you can beat him. You can never even hope to defeat him. In comprehending Brahman, he has no peer.” Saying this, Gārgi sat down and listened humbly to the rest of the proceedings.

{Courtesy: Stories from Vedānta, by Swami Amarānanda, Advaita Ashrama}