Focus on Your Quest: The Story of Sage Ashtavakra and King Janaka

Once upon a time, there lived a sage named Ashtavakra, whose name denoted eight peculiar deformities. Legend had it that Ashtavakra’s fate was sealed even before his birth, as his own father cursed him while he was still in his mother’s womb. This curse was the consequence of Ashtavakra’s prenatal defiance, challenging his father’s wisdom.

Despite the curse, Ashtavakra embarked on a relentless pursuit of knowledge from a tender age, guided by his scholarly father who was renowned for his erudition.

As Ashtavakra matured, he delved deeper into the scriptures and diverse fields of learning, honing his intellect and wisdom. His journey led him to transcend his physical limitations, emerging as a distinguished scholar and sage in his own right.

One day, Ashtavakra went with his father Kahola to King Janaka’s court, where scholars were debating how to reach enlightenment. Ashtavakra listened carefully for weeks as they argued passionately. Eventually, he stood up and boldly stated that none of them, not even his father Kahola, truly understood the self and therefore were not qualified to debate enlightenment. He believed that understanding the self is where the journey to enlightenment truly begins. Many scholars were offended, but King Janaka asked Ashtavakra to explain his claim.

So, upon the direction of the deformed sage, King Janaka followed him to the forest where before dismounting his horse, he was asked to hold still for a really long time. It is said that during this time of enduring great pain, King Janaka realized self and became a life-long devotee of Ashtavakra. For the sage, King Janaka became his favorite pupil.

At this ashram, whenever the king came visiting with his jamboree which had his servants, horses, cooks and the like, the sage Ashtavakra would rush out to welcome his pupil with great fanfare much to the chagrin of his disciples who lived with him. That the sage spent a lot of time with the King was also a matter of great irritation to the residents of the ashram.

During one of his discourses, a servant came running to King Janaka, bowed down to him, and informed him that the entire palace was in flames and literally all his wealth in the coffers were about to be engulfed in flames. The King scolded the servant, asking how dare he interrupt his teacher’s discourse with a trivial matter and that instead of bowing down to the sage, he bowed down to a common pupil and ordered him to go away, to again focus back on Ashtavakra’s discourse.

After this incident, Ashtavakra decided to clarify to his disciples in the ashram what really separated Janaka from them. He got one of the helpers in the ashram to come running in during his discourse and declare that a bunch of monkeys were creating havoc with the monks’ clothes put up for drying. All the monks bolted out to save their clothes but realized that it was actually a false alarm — there were no monkeys. They felt ashamed realizing what had just happened.

When they returned, the great sage Ashtavakra underlined the importance of being focused on the right things at all times. While the King, with his wives, children, subjects, and wealth, all put at stake, was able to focus on his inner quest for enlightenment, the so-called seekers of self-realization with nothing to lose ran after loin clothes which wouldn’t even be of interest to anyone to use even as mopping cloth. So much for renunciation of material possessions!

(Let’s break this down with a real, material-life example: Imagine your goal is to not rely solely on your monthly paycheck to support yourself. To achieve this, concentrate on building up assets that bring in income. Your job should be seen as a means to reach that goal, not the goal itself. Don’t get sidetracked by coworkers who receive promotions or who are assigned prestigious projects. Stay focused on building your own assets instead of chasing after someone else’s objectives. You don’t know what your coworkers are aiming for, so concentrate on your own path consistently. Avoid constantly changing your goals, as it will lead you nowhere. Maintaining focus is crucial; keep your sights set on where YOU want to go and don’t allow anything to deter you. Eventually, when you reach the point where you no longer need your salary to sustain yourself, you’ll realize that staying focused has paid off.)