There is a story in the Puranas which must be narrated at the very outset of our reflections on Upadesa Saar. The story is about a team of mendicants, who were experts in rites and rituals. By performing extraordinary rituals with impeccable perfection, they had also attained several supernatural powers. Thus these great mendicants had come to believe that they had attained all that was to be attained in life. They felt that since actions brought them such glory and power, actions were enough to ensure any spiritual and material progress, and that God was non-essential in this process. These great men were terribly caught up in this misconception, and thus lived with a myopic vision of life, constantly trying to perfect their actions and attain better results, more power and greater possessions. At such a time, Lord Shiva felt extreme compassion for these seekers and their fallacious thinking, and decided to teach them a lesson. Thus he appeared in their Ashram as a young and handsome mendicant - charming in looks, glamorous in personality and enchanting in demeanor. The mendicants, focussed on their rituals, did not even bother about the presence of this young lad. However, their wives were totally enamored by him and spell-bound by his endearing personality, they followed him into the heart of the forest. Enraged by the audacity of the youth to dare to infatuate their wives, the mendicants left their rituals half-way and rushed into the forest. However, just then, Lord Vishnu appeared in his most enchanting female form of Mohini devi, and just one glimpse of this beautiful damsel was enough to infatuate the mendicants. Forgetting their wives and the young mendicant hero, these men of great action now began to follow Mohini. She, with her magical smile and charming gait, led them far into the forest, and then suddenly disappeared into thin air.
This shocked the mendicants. They were also ashamed that they could not hold themselves back in spite of having done so many meritorious rituals and attained such great powers. This made them realize that the whole episode was probably a sport conducted by the young mendicant hero, perhaps to put them down. In fury, they invoked all their powers and celestial weapons, and began to attack the young mendicant. But the handsome young man, who was none other than the Lord Shiva himself, calmly subdued every attack. At this, the mendicants were utterly shocked, and then it dawned on them that this could not have been an ordinary person. A mere mortal would not have the powers to refute the results of such great rituals. Hence, they realized that the mendicant must be Lord Shiva himself. Their pride was humbled and they understood that all their actions are ineffective without the will and grace of the Lord.
They had spent an entire lifetime seeking power and hoping that will fulfill them. But they saw that how easily they got enraged and distracted. It was clear that it is not lack of power but lack of self-knowledge that is the problem. However much power we gain, however much we do actions, we still remain limited and bound.
At this point, Lord Shiva himself teaches the mendicants about the various paths - Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga and Gnana Yoga. This teaching was encapsulated by Sri Ramana Maharshi as the Upadesa Saar in Tamil, and later in Sanskrit.
It is one of the most holistic and inspiring texts of Vedanta. We shall see more details and implications of this story in our next post...
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