The true renunciate
During his third odyssey, Guru Nanak travelled northwards to Kashmir and ascending high mountains made a visit to the Mansarovar lake around which well-known Siddha yogis had made their abode.
They were proud of the miraculous powers they possessed, which they had attained through the practise of Hatha yoga.
They felt quite uneasy seeing a non-Siddha and wondered how he managed to ascend such insurmountable heights. They approached Guru Nanak to have a conversation.
Siddhas: Are you a renunciate or a family man?
Guru Nanak: This question of yours is irrelevant. The relevant query would be, “How can one attain the Lord?”
Siddhas: Well… (silence).
Guru Nanak: Let me tell you, anyone who is utterly humble and truly loves the Lord can attain Him. They who have an unmanageable ego and think high of themselves have no place in the Lord’s eyes.
The Siddhas were struck by the Guru’s utterance and sensed that he had made an ironical remark about them. To divert the topic, they asked him, “How are things in the world below?”
Guru Nanak: There is utter darkness down there.
Siddhas: Can no one there help?
Guru Nanak: The Siddhas might have, but they chose to renounce the world and come atop high mountains. So love for the fellow men and fear of the Lord have vanished. The rulers behave like tigers and their officials like dogs. The judges revel in bribe. There is hardly any sanctity left in human affairs.
Such conversation went on for quite some time and whatever the Guru said made the Siddhas ponder over it. They eyed one another at the veracity of every statement that Guru Nanak made. The seniors among them withdrew aside and counselled if this stranger could become their disciple, it would much enhance the glory of their sect. So they thought, if they impress this man, with their miraculous powers, he might easily yield.
They tried a variety of such powers, but the Guru was not affected in any perceptible way. Then they tried to question his grounds and asked him, “How can a family man remain unaffected by worldly desires?”
Guru Nanak: This can be possible by living a spiritually disciplined life — loving one’s Creator, serving His Creation selflessly and being available to whoever is in need. Such a person, even if a householder, becomes as pure as the water of Ganges.
The Siddhas: Why should he not become a renunciate?
Guru Nanak: If one is so immersed in the love of God that his egoistic desires have all vanished, isn’t he a true renunciate? Detachment has to be of the mind, not necessarily of the body.
At that moment King Bharthari came to visit the Siddhas. So the Guru withdrew.
O Yogi!
Let your begging bowl be the mind turned away (from desire),
And the essence of the elements, your cap.
Your ever alert mind should be your kusha seat.
And self control your loin cloth.
Let truth, contentment and continence be your disciples.
Thus may you cherish the Lord’s Name.
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