SHOWING ADVAITA IN ACTIVITIES

84. Question: Sri Bhagavan has written that one should not show advaita (non-duality) in one's activities. Why so? All are one. Why differences?

Bhagavan: If you saw someone molesting a woman would you just let him go, thinking "All is one?" There is a scriptural story about this. Some people once gathered together to test whether it is true, as said in the Bhagavad Gita, that a jnani (realized being) sees everything as one. They took a Brahmin, (a member of the highest Hindu caste system), a cow, an elephant, and a dog to the court of King Janaka, who was a jnani. When all had arrived, King Janaka sent the Brahmin to the place of Brahmins, the cow to its shed, the elephant to the place allotted to elephants, the dog to its kennel. He then ordered his servants to take care of his guests and feed them all appropriate food. The people asked, "Why did you separate them individually? Is not everything one and the same for you?"

"Yes, all are one," replied Janaka, "but self-satisfaction varies according to the nature of the individual. Will a man eat the straw eaten by the cow? Will the cow enjoy the food that a man eats? One should only give what satisfies each individual person or animal. Although the same man may play the role of all the characters in a play, his actions will be determined by the role that he is playing at each moment. In the role of a king, he will sit on a throne and rule. If the same person takes on the role of a servant, he will carry the sandals of his master and follow him. His real Self is neither increased nor decreased while he plays these roles. The Jnani never forgets that he himself has played all these roles in the past."