(When) you go to a Saint, don’t judge him. This is nām aparadh (an offense against the Divine name).
You do not know what he’s doing or why. And that’s what we do - we judge. You don’t have to say anything. Once you think it in here (in your mind), He has taken note already. God has taken note, and that is called nām aparadh, an unpardonable sin.
So these two Brahmins, these two pundits, said, “Oh, Janak has so much opulence, so much wealth, so much of everything, and yet he’s so detached! Why? Maybe we should go and ask him.”
One of the pundits said, “No, no, kings are not predictable. There’s no knowing what they will do.”
But the second one insisted, “No! We should go and ask him.”
So they went there and said, “King Janak Ji, You have so much luxury, so much wealth, so much opulence, and yet you are completely detached from everything! How come?”
Janak Ji became very angry,
“How dare you ask such a question? I am going to sentence you to death!”
And he called some servants.
“Take them away and hang them in the morning!”
Then he said to them, “Give them the best meal now before they die. The best meal, the best room, and the best bed!”
They were given the most succulent meal imaginable, and the bed was so soft. There were rose petals and rose water sprinkled everywhere. It was such a beautiful room. But they could neither eat nor sleep. The best food was before them, but they were so tense, thinking,
“I’m going to die in the morning!”
When the morning came and they were brought before Janak, he said, “I’m going to give you one last chance. There are two bowls filled with oil. You each have to take one bowl and walk through my entire kingdom. Someone will go ahead, and you are to follow them. If even one drop of oil spills, you will be hanged! Now go!”
They went and were so careful not to spill even a single tiny drop of oil. They came back, and not even the tiniest drop had been spilled.
Janak said, “While you were going through my kingdom, there were so many attractive things— restaurants, parks, gardens. Were you not distracted by all those things?”
They replied, “Oh King, the only thought in our minds was that if we spilled even one drop of oil, we would die! We couldn’t think of anything else or look at anything else!”
Janak said, “Yes, now you have the answer. Why am I so detached? Because I also think that at any moment I can lose this body. So I keep my mind attached to the feet of the Lord at all times.”
Shree Krishna says:
अन्तकाले च मामेव स्मरन्मुक्त्वा कलेवरम् ।
यः प्रयाति स मद्भावं याति नास्त्यत्र संशयः ॥Anta-kāle cha māmeva smaran muktvā kalevaram.
Yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ yāti nāstyatra saṇśhayaḥ.- Gita 8.5
“When life leaves this body, if we remember the Lord—not merely say His name, but remember Him, smaran (loving remembrance)—then we will attain the Lord.”
