Don't let knowledge dull your, be spontaneous, live innocently: Words from the Master

As I told you earlier, people often ask me, "Swamiji, how is it that with all your knowledge you seem like a child. Every time you crack a joke, you laugh so spontaneously and we look at you with awe! When you start telling a joke, sometimes we've heard you say it before and so we don't laugh, but you enjoy it so much as if someone else were telling you the joke for the first time!"


You see, this is exactly what I mean when I say you've lost your spontaneity and capacity to enjoy. You acquire a know-all attitude with all your knowledge.


Now that I have told you this, let me tell you a story that I repeat very often in my talks and which makes me laugh even now!


In the villages in Tamil Nadu, during the yearly temple festivals, there will be a temporary stage constructed in the open, where famous drama troupes will enact plays, mostly scenes from the great Hindu epics like the Mahabharatha and the Ramayana.


I used to go and watch those dramas.


On one such occasion, they were enacting the scene from Mahabharatha were Draupadi is raped by Duryodhana and she is ultimately saved by Lord Krishna.


The Draupadi character was played by a man dressed in a saree.


As per their plan, he would wear seven sarees, one on top of the other and Duryodhana would pull them out one after the other keeping a count.


When the seventh saree is reached, Draupadi would scream to Lord Krishna for help and Krishna would appear.


Somehow…the Draupadi character missed out one saree while getting dressed, and wore only 6 sarees.


On stage, Duryodhana started pulling and suddenly when the 6th saree was being pulled, Draupadi realized the mistake!


He started screaming, "Hey leave it! Hey leave it!" to Duryodhana.


Duryodhana thought that Draupadi was playing her role so beautifully and continued to pull!


Finally, Draupadi was standing on the stage with just half trousers and a blouse, with make-up of a woman!


But he had good presence of mind, and he screamed, "Oh Krishna! How gracious you are; you changed my gender to save me from shame!"


(Swamiji shakes with laughter as he narrates the story!)


Even now if I think of that scene, I can't stop laughing!


So understand: Knowledge is alright, but don't use it to solidify yourself. Your inherent nature is river like - flowing. Spontaneity is your nature. You have moved away from it with the help of so-called knowledge. If you live innocently, a whole new world will open up for you.


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This excerpt has been taken from the book: Guaranteed Solutions.