Bodhya Gītā
The Bodhya Gītā is a teaching in the Mahābhārata, in the Mokshadharma Parva of the Śānti Parva, Chapter 178. Nahusha’s son asks the ṛshi Bodhya for the secret of his unshaken śānti (peace). Bodhya names six teachers from whom he learned the way to moksha (liberation). They are Piṅgalā, a bird called the lāṭukika, a snake, a bee, an arrow-maker and a maiden. The chapter begins with a famous saying of Janaka about non-attachment.
Where the teaching is told
Bhīshma tells this teaching to Yudhishṭhira. It continues the series on vairāgya (non-attachment) in Chapters 174 to 181. The chapter opens with a famous verse of Janaka Mahārāja, which Bhīshma quotes. Janaka does not appear here as a student. He is an example of one whose jñāna (knowledge) is firm. Bodhya’s teaching then forms the main part of the chapter. (Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Chapter 178)
Janaka’s saying
The chapter opens with the well-known words of Janaka Mahārāja. Bhīshma quotes them to show vairāgya inside kingship.
“I have wealth without limit. And yet nothing is mine. Even if all of Mithilā were to be consumed by fire, nothing of mine is lost.”
This saying shows the ideal of the Mokshadharma Parva. It is the king who rules, protects and keeps dharma, yet stays wholly unattached to the kingdom, its wealth and its lasting. (Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Chapter 178)
The question to Bodhya
Nahusha’s son is an ātmajijñāsu (one who seeks the self). He comes to Bodhya, a ṛshi who has plainly reached śānti and wanders the earth in perfect contentment. He asks:
“O great ṛshi, you have intelligence, knowledge and wisdom. You are gentle and unshaken, in control of yourself, free of jealousy, and true in speech. You wander like a child, at ease. What have you realised? What śāstra did you study? What is your practice? Tell me what leads to śānti. What is the secret of your contentment?”
Bodhya answers:
“I will not teach you by preaching. I will describe the lakshaṇa (sign) of the teaching I received, and you must see it for yourself. Let me name my gurus.”
He names six. (Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Chapter 178)
The six gurus of Bodhya
1. Piṅgalā. Bodhya says that āśā (hope turned outward) is very strong. But āśāhīnatā (the cutting off of āśā) is the highest sukha (happiness). He recalls the gāthā (verse song) of Piṅgalā, the courtesan who waited in vain for a patron. In that very night of letdown she cut off her outward āśā completely and found peace within. The teaching is that outward hope is the source of all suffering, and its end is liberation.
2. The bird (lāṭukika). A lāṭukika bird held meat in its beak. Other birds saw it and chased it. They pecked and attacked, trying to steal the meat. When the bird dropped the meat, all the chasing stopped at once, and peace came back. The teaching is that owning things invites attack, and owning nothing brings peace. One who holds nothing has no enemies.
3. The snake. Bodhya saw that a snake does not build its own home. It goes into an empty anthill or hole made by others and settles there. From the snake Bodhya took the teaching that a muni need not build or keep a house. He accepts the shelter that comes to him, as the snake enters a ready hollow. Building a house brings attachment, worry and bondage.
4. The bee (bhramara). Bees take nectar from many flowers without harming any of them. In the same way munis receive bhikshā (alms), a small amount of food, from many houses. They do not burden any one house and do not become attached to any one source. The bee neither stores nor harms. This is the way the brāhmaṇa who lives on alms should deal with the world.
5. The arrow-maker (bāṇakāra). A bāṇakāra (arrow-maker, or blacksmith) was once so deep in straightening his arrow that he did not notice a great king’s procession pass right by him. He looked at the arrow and adjusted it with his whole mind on that one thing. This full absorption in the work in hand, with no eye for greatness and splendour passing by, is the model of ekāgratā (one-pointedness) in yoga. The teaching is to fix the mind wholly on Brahman, as the arrow-maker fixed his mind on the arrow, and let the whole world of kings and powers pass unseen.
6. The maiden (kumārī). A young woman was secretly preparing food for guests who had come without warning. To make the meal she had to husk rice. But the many bangles on both her wrists made a great noise at every movement, and the noise could give away her work to those she wished to surprise. She took off the bangles one by one, until one bangle was left on each wrist. With a single bangle on each wrist there was no noise, and the work went on in silence. The teaching is this. When many are together there is noise and quarrel. When even two are together there is talk and distraction. Only the one who lives alone in ekāntam (solitude) moves in silence. This is why the muni lives in solitude. (Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Chapter 178)
How Bodhya teaches
Bodhya will not simply lecture or explain. He says: “I was taught by these. Let me describe the lakshaṇa of what they taught, and you must think on it yourself.” His whole teaching comes from watching how the world works. His teachers are the lāṭukika bird, the snake, the bee, the bāṇakāra, the kumārī and the courtesan Piṅgalā.
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Mokshadharma Parva, Chapter 178