It happened in Ujjain Nagri. There lived a Brahmin by the name of Vasudev Sharma. He was a thorough gentleman and deeply religious. He had a son named Gunakar. It was the father who had named him Gunakar and had educated and brought him up. But he became a worthless young man immersed in sex. He fell into the bad habits of visiting prostitutes and gambling. Because of these, he lost most of his property. The father tried to make him understand on many occasions.
But he failed to mend his ways. Getting fed up with him, the father expelled him from the house. And he refused to acknowledge him as his son.
After getting expelled from the house, Gunakar became totally broke. His condition became like that of beggars. He was greatly tormented by hunger. Wandering in this condition, he reached a desolate cremation ground.
In the stillness of the cremation ground, the dhuni of a yogi was smouldering. The yogi was sitting in a posture of meditation. The yogi was engaged in ‘tantrik sadhna’.
Gunakar seated himself beside the yogi. He asked the yogi for some food.. He gave him something to eat in a human skull. But Gunakar got bewildered at the sight of the human skull.
He said, ” Maharaj, I cannot eat food in this skull”. The yogi was looking at the mutilated condition of Gunakar with kindness and mercy. He recited a mantra and summoned up a beautiful yogini and said,” Feed this child well and remove his tiredness”.
The beautiful yogini took him to a palace and fully satisfied his hunger with a variety of sizzling food. And arranged a beautiful bed for sleeping. And affectionately, made him lie on the bed. Because of the extreme of satisfaction, Gunakar soon fell asleep. When he woke up after about three hours, there was not either yogini or the palace in sight. He was lying on a stone in the cremation ground.
Gunakar came to the yogi and said,” Maharaj, she is gone. The palace has also vanished”.
“She had to go. She had come only with the power of the mantra” , the yogi replied. Now Gunakar caught the yogi’s feet and started crying and urging” Maharaj, teach this mantra to me also”.
The yogi said, “This is a very tough task. You would have to fast. Would have to recite mantras whole night. Only then the mantra can be mastered”. Gunakar said, “I am ready by all respects”. The yogi mercifully told him the mantra and also explained thoroughly the procedure to him.
Gunakar had to continuously do the ritual for a week . He went on reciting the mantra for a week but the beautiful yogini did not show up.
A grief-stricken Gunakar went to the yogi and said, “Maharaj, that beautiful yogini has not turned up” The yogi said, “You must have lacked somewhere in your meditation”. “No Maharaj, I fully obeyed your order”. The Yogi said,” Okay, sit before a funeral pyre and then recite the matra”.
Gunakar started the meditation once again. But the yogini did not show up this time also. Now Gunakar much grieved. When he again approached the yogi, the yogi paused for a moment, concentrated his mind and got up from his seat and kicked Gunakar with his leg and said, “Get lost from here. What a fool I made my disciple”. But Gunakar did not run away. he went on requesting the yogi again and again. But the yogi was not paying any attention to his entreaties. In the meantime, there came another youth. He also expressed the desire to master the yogini and requested the yogi to teach him. The yogi explained the mantra and the performing of the ritual.
That youth succeeded in a week. Gunakar, who was witnessing all this, became very puzzled.
He thought perhaps the yogi did not fully teach him the whole procedure. Once again, he went to the yogi. Now the yogi became even angrier. He made Gunakar run from there with the fear of a curse. The heart of an aggrieved Gunakar broke down. He had lost hope from all quarters. In the end, he ended his life by jumping into a well.
The story of Gunakar came to an end but left a big question behind. Was not the behaviour of the yogi inappropriate? Had the yogi not despised and chased him away, perhaps he would not have committed suicide. The yogi could have explained the meditation process once again. Perhaps Gunakar could have succeeded the next time. General public sympathy was with Gunakar. The case came up before king Vikram who ruled the state. Vikram was a very intelligent king. He gave the decision that the yogi was not at fault. He needlessly showed kindness towards Gunakar.
Another meditator succeeded before Gunakar in his first attempt. The yogi had come to know the reason behind Gunakar’s failure. Gunakar was not into meditation wholeheartedly. His heart was not in his control. He was just blind in the lust of the beautiful form of the yogini.
The yogi knew it well that a foolish, sensual person could not be liberated from lust by any procedure of meditation.
Committing suicide is a sign of extreme foolishness. Gunakar had even started blaming the yogi for discrimination. Already, he had failed to come up to the expectations of his father.
This way, it was Gunakar who was at fault on all counts.
There is no dearth of people like Gunakar in the world. How many are there who recognise their own faults and try to remove those faults? Recognising their own faults is a far-fetched thing for them. On the contrary, they hold those at fault who try to reform them. People are grieved, restless. They cry and writhe in pain. They hold the time, karma and even God at fault. According to them, there is only grief in the world. If they can get rid of all these, only then they can get relief or comfort. Some aggrieved people try to find out ways to seek liberation from the world according to their own whims. They begin to escape from the field of their duty. They say we have become sadhus and sanyasis. People express their sympathies with such people as Gunakar. Not only this, they also give respect and honour to them as sadhus and sanyasis. In fact they are people with ‘tamo-guni’ inclinations who lead their lives as lazy beings.
The cycle of sorrows goes on becoming more complicated because of the inability to identify the root cause of sorrows. If the root cause of sorrows is identified, then by mere identification, one starts finding the way to eliminate sorrows and realise God. The root cause of sorrow is dependence. If you are expecting comfort from a substance or individual different or other than yourself, it means you have become dependent. You have forgotten your existence.
If whatever is available is utilised properly and you behave in a loving manner with whoever comes into your contact, then you shall not remain a slave to any individual or substance. With this you shall begin to find the path to the ultimate pleasure or comfort within yourself.