Kārāla Janaka

Kārāla Janaka was a king of the Janaka line of Videha. He is the king who receives the great Sāṃkhya-Yoga teaching from Vasishṭha Maharshi. The Brahma Mahā Purāṇa gives this teaching in Chapters 241–245. The Mahābhārata gives a longer version in its Mokshadharma Parva.

Kārāla Janaka asks precise questions about kshara (the perishable) and akshara (the imperishable). In reply, Vasishṭha teaches him the system of 24 tattvas (principles of creation), the 25th and 26th principles beyond them, the three states of the spiritual aspirant, and the path to the 26th tattva, the pure jñānātman (the self of knowledge).

Lineage

Kārāla Janaka belongs to the Janaka line of Videha. The Purāṇas link the kings of this line with the pursuit of ātma-jñāna (knowledge of the self) while holding royal power. Janaka of Mithilā, the father of Sītā, is a member of this line. He debated philosophy with Ashṭāvakra and other ṛshis. Kārāla Janaka continues this tradition. He uses his royal position as the base for the highest inquiry. The Brahma Purāṇa tells this in Chapter 241.

The question

In his royal sabhā (assembly hall), Kārāla Janaka puts a question to Vasishṭha about kshara and akshara. He asks how they are related. The text says they are related like man and woman, in a union that creates and in which each depends on the other. He also asks what the path is from kshara to akshara. This question opens the teaching of five chapters in the Brahma Purāṇa, known as the Vasishṭha–Kārāla Janaka Saṃvāda (dialogue). The Brahma Purāṇa tells this in Chapter 241.

How he received the teaching

The Brahma Purāṇa shows Kārāla Janaka as a fitting disciple. He is jitakalma (free of inner faults) and amatsara (free of envy). He comes to Vasishṭha with praṇati (a bow of respect). Vasishṭha praises the quality of his question. He then gives the full Sāṃkhya-Yoga teaching. It covers:

  • the 24 tattvas
  • the 25th, the avyakta (unmanifest) Paramātman
  • the 26th, the pure jñānātman
  • the three states of the spiritual aspirant

At the end Vasishṭha says to him: “You have heard this parabrahma-tattva, ancient, pure, without beginning or middle, eternal. You now have no saṃsāra-bhaya (fear of saṃsāra, the cycle of birth and death).” The Brahma Purāṇa tells this in Chapter 245.

The Mahābhārata version

The Mokshadharma Parva of the Śānti Parva (Chapters 302–308) holds a seven-chapter Vasishṭha–Kārāla Janaka Saṃvāda. It is longer than the five chapters of the Brahma Purāṇa. It stands in a series of dialogues in the Mokshadharma Parva: the Parāśara Gītā, the Haṃsa Gītā and the Sāṃkhya-Kathana. All of them answer one question: what is the means of crossing saṃsāra?

The Mahābhārata version teaches the following.

The twenty-four tattvas as kshara

Vasishṭha sets out all twenty-four Sāṃkhya tattvas as kshara (perishable). They run from the gross mahābhūtas (great elements) through the subtle tanmātras, the five sense organs, the five organs of action, manas (mind), ahaṃkāra (the sense of “I”) and mahat, up to the avyakta, the unmanifest root-prakṛti. Each of these arose from an earlier cause and will dissolve back into it. Whatever is born in time is bound by time. Vasishṭha tells Kārāla Janaka that the whole domain of saṃsāra is the same as the twenty-four.

The twenty-fifth: the purusha

The ātman is the twenty-fifth principle. It is the witness-consciousness that lights up the field of the twenty-four without being part of it. It does not arise from a cause and cannot be dissolved. In the Sāṃkhya way of speaking, it is the akshara. The path of yoga (prāṇāyāma, dhāraṇā, dhyāna and samādhi) leads to a clear discernment of the twenty-fifth from the twenty-four.

The twenty-sixth: the paramātman

The Mahābhārata version adds a twenty-sixth principle, the paramātman. It is the ground of both the twenty-four (kshara) and the twenty-fifth (purusha). It is beyond even the relation of witness and field. It is the absolute reality from which both the field and the witness arise. Moksha (liberation) in its fullest sense is the realisation of the twenty-sixth. This matches the purushottama of the Bhagavad Gītā, the supreme person who is beyond both kshara and akshara.

Three states of the spiritual aspirant

The three levels match three states:

  • kshara-stha: one who is identified with the twenty-four, the ordinary being in saṃsāra
  • akshara-stha: one who rests as the twenty-fifth, the witness, free from identification with the twenty-four
  • uttama-paramātman-stha: one who has realised the twenty-sixth, the state of complete jīvanmukti (liberation while living)

Yoga is the work that moves a person from kshara-stha to akshara-stha. Jñāna (knowledge) bears the fruit that moves a person from akshara-stha to the twenty-sixth.

In the Mahābhārata version, too, Kārāla Janaka is the royal disciple who receives this short map of liberation.

Sources

  • Brahma Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 241–245
  • Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Mokshadharma Parva, Chapters 302–308