Topical Musings

Our Sadhana

Non-attachment T his is a very subtle philosophical concept, which is really tough to explain or understand. A story might clarify this concept.

There was once a king whose close friend was a sannyasi. This king had a very stressful job. Indeed, what job can be more stressful than that of an all-powerful, absolute monarch? So, one day he went to meet his friend the sannyasi in the forest and told him, ‘I am fed up with running this kingdom. I have decided to renounce it all and go somewhere and live a low-key, peaceful life.’ The sannyasi commented, ‘Is that so? Well, let me see…you must certainly have made provisions for your successor?’ The king had made no such arrangement. His own son was but a small boy. But he was planning to choose someone from his large kingdom so that he could hand over its reins and be free. However, since he was a conscientious king, who took his kingship very seriously, there was a nagging fear that he might not get the right kind of successor who would care for his immense kingdom just the way he had done all these years. The sannyasi understood all this. He volunteered, ‘Say, why don’t you gift your kingdom to me?’ The king was overjoyed. Where could he get a better successor than his closest friend?! So, he gave away his kingdom to the sannyasi. There was a visible relief on the king’s face now. The sannyasi asked him, ‘Where will you go now? What is your next plan?’ The king said, ‘Well, I will now go to my palace, take some money, go to a neighboring kingdom. I know many trades. I will earn my livelihood there.’ The sannyasi stopped him, ‘Hey, wait. Did you say ‘my palace’ just now? Remember that the palace, along with everything in the kingdom is now mine!’ The king was indeed taken aback. Yes, what the sannyasi said was indeed true. Without another word, he turned and was about to go away when the sannyasi stopped him and said, ‘Say, my friend, you said you are ready to go elsewhere and do some job and earn your living. What do you say if I offer you a job right here?’ This was indeed acceptable and he agreed. Then the sannyasi said, ‘Well, you see, I have just come upon this huge kingdom. I am a sannyasi. I live according to the voice in my soul. I need a trust-worthy man to look after this beautiful kingdom on my behalf. You have sufficient experience in running kingdoms. Say, I will fix a certain amount as salary for you. Why don’t you run this kingdom on my behalf?’ The king readily agreed. Thus, he went back to his palace and went about managing his kingdom exactly the same way as it was before. A month later, the sannyasi came to meet the king in the palace. He asked the king, ‘How are you? Are you facing any problems now?’ The king now replied, ‘I am doing fine. Problems, yes, of course there are; but I and my team of ministers keep solving them on your behalf. I work, knowing that you are the real Lord of this kingdom.’ This is non-attachment, the second condition of working that converts work into Yoga.