Extract taken from: (Ramayana: A Divine Drama, Actors in the Divine Play as scripted by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba Vol.5)
Janaka was a self-realized king; father of Sita and father-in-law of Lord Rama. His ancestor was Nimi, a great emperor (DV, p. 126)
Janaka, King of ancient India became a Jivanmukta (liberated while alive) by performing his royal duties with detachment. He was also the father-in-law of Lord Rama (SSB 1995, p. 41)
King Janaka was known as Videha, one without body attachment. (SSB 2002, p. 144) Janaka Maharaja (was the) Master of the inner Mysteries of the highest morality. (RKRV Part I, p. 305)
Having no children of his own, he brought up with great love a foundling (Sita). There were two powerful entities in his kingdom Shiva s bow and Sita. (SSS Vol.20, p. 48)
Janaka Past Life
On one occasion, Emperor Janaka went to sage Yajnavalkya and prayed, “Guruji! I would like to hear about my previous birth kindly tell me. “Yajnavalkya then tried to counsel Janaka saying, “Oh! Emperor Past is past. There is no use of brooding over the past. It will not do any good to you.” But, the Emperor insisted on his request being fulfilled. At last, Sage Yajnavalkya yielded. He scanned the past life of the Emperor Janaka with his Divine Vision and told, “Janaka! The woman who became your wife in this life was in fact your mother in your past life.” On hearing these words, Janaka was mentally upset. He thought, “Fie on me! How bad I am! I have taken my mother in my past life as wife in this life. It is unpardonable. I must give up this sinful life.” From that very day Emperor Janaka renounced his family life and entered into a life of total detachment and strove to attain Atma jnana. (Beacons of Divine Wisdom, Part 1, p. 86)
Emperor Janaka’s Forefathers:
“My birth with this body happened through the blessings of forefathers of this dynasty. It will be justified and its purpose fulfilled only if I describe them myself to this vast gathering.”
Janaka then began the narration: “Brahmarishi! Revered Preceptors! Maharaja Dasaratha! In the very distant past, there was an emperor named Nimi who adhered firmly to the path of righteousness, and who was therefore famous for might and foresight. His son Mithi built this city, Mithila, to serve as the capital for this kingdom. He was the first sovereign of this region. His reign was very popular and his subjects were happy and prosperous. His son, Sudhavasu had a son Nandivardhana who ruled after him. Nandivardhana’s son was Suketu and Suketu’s son was Devarata.
Brihadratha was the son of Devarata, and Mahavira was the name of the son of Brihadratha. Mahavira had as his name indicates, vast prowess. His son Sudhriti had a son called Dristaketu. Dristaketu’s celebrated son was Haryasva. Haryasva had a son named Maru. Maru’s son was Pratindhaka. Pratindhaka’s son was Kirtiratha. Kirtiratha had a son named Devamidha. Devamidha’s son was Vibudha. Vibudha’s son was Kirtirata.
Kirtirata’s son was Maharoma and Maharoma’s son was Hrasvaroma. He was a talented ruler, a strict adherent of Dharma. He was acclaimed as a Mahatma. He is my father. I am indeed very happy to acknowledge that my father was an ideal personage. The truth is I am now ruling happily over this Mithila City as a result of the merit acquired and handed down as heritage by my forefathers. (RKRV Part I, pp. 180-181)
Grihastha:
Janaka, Aswapati, Dilipa—these are examples of persons who gained Moksha as Grihastha (PraV, p. 62)
Rajarshi like Janaka Chakravarti, Aswapati, and Dilipa reached the goal while continuing in the householder stage; while in that stage, they struggled and succeeded in removing all obstacles that hindered the winning of the grace of the Lord; they had as the goal the Godhead they wanted to reach. Therefore, do not doubt it; the stage of householder is no hindrance. (DV, p. 53)
Kshama it was that enabled Emperor Janaka to transform from a karma yogi to jnana yogi. The power of forbearance can help you to achieve anything. (SSB 2000, p. 253)
Jnana Yogi
King Janaka was known to have mastered his senses. He was an acknowledged expert in Jnana yoga. (SSB 2002p. 59)
One who lives in this world should in the first instance become human in nature. To learn the Atma Vidya is tantamount to knowing the Brahman. For attaining Raja Yoga, this is the path. The word Yoga indicates sacrifice and also indicates union with something that is sacred. Raja Yoga in particular signifies something which has a very high place. The one who attained Raja Yoga in a remarkable manner is King Janaka. If Raja Yoga to be explained in simple terms, we can say that it is a union of bhakti and karma. By involving yourself in action in accordance with the scriptural injunctions and performing it in the name of God, you will be combining bhakti and karma which will lead you to Raja Yoga. It is said that King Janaka was performing all his daily work in this manner and thus enjoyed the fruits of Raja Yoga. It is in this context that Janaka is also called by the name Videha that is one who has no attachment to the body (SSB 1974 Part II, pp. 225-226)
King Janaka, even while performing ordinary worldly duties such as ruling the kingdom and looking after the needs of the kingdom, found it possible to turn his thought completely towards the divine. For Janaka’s ability to do this there is an example. (SSB 1973, p. 105)
In a forest near Mithilapura there used to be a great rishi by name Suka. Several disciples used to gather round him and he used to teach them spiritual knowledge leading to the realisation of the Atma Tattva. Janaka came to know of this ashram of Suka and went there and prayed to Suka to permit him to be one of his disciples. Suka thought it very desirable to have such an ideal king among his disciples and readily agreed to his request. He asked him to come every day at a particular time. In this manner, many days went on. (SSB 1974 Part II, p. 226)
From that day, Janaka was conducting himself as one of the disciples. One day when he did not arrive in time, Suka did not start his class and waited till Janaka arrived. He further told the other disciples that he was delaying the class for that reason.
When the sage told the other disciples to wait till Janaka arrived, they murmured amongst themselves and told each other that they had joined this great sage only because it was believed that he attached no special importance to kings and such other powerful people. It now appears that he is influenced by the king’s wealth and power.
From that day, their faith in the Guru started weakening. They also became envious of King Janaka. This is something which has been known from ancient times. When deserving disciples are given the opportunity of going close to the teacher, others who are not eligible for such treatment become envious. It is not possible to say when and on whom such grace will fall. Some people, even if they had done a lot of good in their previous births, are reborn the moment their accumulated good work has worked itself out. This means that one should go on performing good actions and thereby rise higher and higher. On the other hand, if one thinks that he need not do any more good, he will lose the opportunity. As soon as Suka saw such envy and jealously among his disciples, he decided to teach them a lesson. At an opportune moment, all the disciples were made to feel that the entire city of Mithilapura was in flames. As soon as the disciples saw that Mithilapura was in flames, each one of them began to think of the effect it would have on their houses, on their parents, on their wealth and so on. Each one began to run to the city, with a view to save and salvage what he could. But, king Janaka did not waver and did not move from his place. Suka told Janaka that the flames appear to have spread to the palace and he asked Janaka to go and save the inmates of the palace. Janaka did not agree to do this but was only smiling, thinking that God’s will shall be done and no one can change it.
The envious students who ran to the city found that there were no flames at all and that it was perhaps only a make believe. They came back and reported this to Suka. (SSB 1973, pp. 105-106)
Suka then told that each one had only one small house in Mithilapura and they ran in great anxiety to save these houses. On the other hand, Janaka who was the king of Mithilapura was not disturbed in the least even when he was told that his own palace was on fire. Nothing could move him. Thus, the difference between Janaka who had a steady mind and all the others who had wavering minds could easily be seen. It is enough if one student, like Janaka whose attention is steadily fixed and who is engrossed in the lesson, is available. There is no point in having several students with distracted attention. That is the reason why I was awaiting Janaka’s arrival. It was not because he was a king or a rich person. You should understand the reason for my being more anxious to convey my knowledge to Janaka rather than to you people with wavering minds. From this incident, you can understand that the words of elders and the teachings of great teachers are not to be ignored. They are to be taken right into your heart. You have to understand and assimilate them so that when the occasion arises, they can be put to use.
As our attention and our care begin to grow, so also the fruits of our knowledge begin to grow. It is in this context said that where there is care and where there is a desire to learn with attention, wisdom will appear. This prema or devotion is also like a creeper which can grow quickly. Only when we are able to absorb the fire of wisdom into our heart will it be possible for us to quickly burn away our distracting desires. (SSB 1974 Part II, p. 227)
A Jnani:
Janaka was a Jnani (realised soul). He used to be constantly immersed in the Advaitahanubhuti (non- dual experience), that a feeling that he was not separate from God. A famous lady who was well-versed in logic named Sulabha approached Emperor Janaka once and entered into an argument with him. She told him, “In the eye of your wisdom, all human beings are one. Therefore, take me as your wife and establish the fact that scholars are equal-minded (samadarsi), thereby.” Janaka replied, “True! All are equal to Jnani. Hence no distinction can be made between man and a woman. For the very same reason, I cannot marry you.” Janaka’s reply was an eye-opener to Sulabha. (Beacons of Divine Wisdom, Part 1, pp. 86-87)
A Brahma Jnani
King Janaka was a great Brahma Jnani (a realised soul). He was the King of Videha, which means he attached no importance to the Deha (body), It means, he was an Atma Jnani (who realised the knowledge of the self). One day after dinner, he was discussing something with his Ministers and followers. Therefore, he retired to bed late. He slowly got into sleep while his servants were pressing his feet and fanning him. His Queen was also at his bedside. The Queen, noticing that the King has fallen asleep, sent the servants out of the room. She was looking at him intently, as he was very much tired.
Which is the truth?
After sometime, the King got up from the bed and started shouting “Is this the truth? Or that is the truth?” The Queen was deeply upset over the behaviour of the King. In spite of her repeated questioning as to the reason for this sudden change in his behaviour, there was no reply from him. The only words he spoke were his continuous questioning “Is this the truth? Or that is truth?” Then the Queen called the Ministers and servants to help her ascertain the reason for the strange behaviour on the part of the King. They, in turn made enquiries. But, there was no answer from the King. For all the questions, there was only one response from the King – his query, “Is this the truth? Or that is truth?” Sage Vashistha was a triloka Jnani (one who knows all that happens in the three worlds) Therefore; he closed his eyes for a moment and tried to think about the reason for this type of behaviour from King Janaka. He realised that King Janaka had a dream in which he was dethroned and was roaming in the forests with acute hunger. There, he saw some dacoits in the forest about to take their food in a leaf-plate. He went and begged them for food and they gave him some in a leaf-plate, taking pity on him. While he was about to partake of that food, suddenly from somewhere an eagle came and snatched away that leaf along with food. He cried aloud in deep anguish that he could not take even the food offered as a charity to him. With this, the dream ended and he was awake. When he came into the waking state he realised that as usual he was in his palace happily lying on a soft bed, with his Queen and servants doing all sorts of service for him. In the dream, he was dethroned and suffered from acute hunger and even the food offered to him in charity was snatched away by eagle. Therefore, he was enquiring whether the dream experience was real (is that the truth?) or the experience in the waking state was real (is this the truth?). (BhaG)
Vashistha Rishi came there. He studied the situation and through his divine powers he could realise the king’s predicament. He said to the king “Neither this nor that is true.” You experienced certain things in the dreams, as well as in the waking state. In the waking state, there is no dream. In the dream, there is no waking state. But ‘You’ are both in the dream state and in the waking state. So ‘You’ alone are true. In both the states ‘You’ are present and therefore ‘You’ are omnipresent. ‘You’ lived in the past, ‘You’ live in the present and ‘You’ will live in the future. The ‘You’ aspect is timeless and therefore is Divine.” (SSB 1993, p. 21) You are present in the waking state and in the dream state. This is a daydream, and that was a night-dream. Neither of them is present in the other, but you are present in both. You are the Truth.” (SSB 1995, p. 42) Thus, both waking and dream states are a kind of delusion. To make efforts to recognise such discrepancies is true Vairagya, said Gitacharya. (BhaG)
Ekam Sat—the One is Real. Truth is one and its manifestations are many. This is the central doctrine of the Bhagavad Gita. (SSB 1979, p. 145)
Likewise, devotees perceive the Avatar’s Divinity and humanness and then doubt, “Is Divinity true or is that humanness true?” The divinity that you think you see is not true; neither is the humanness. Underlying both is the sanctity of the Avatar. When your vision is pure, you perceive the Avatar’s sanctity. Divinity attracts sacredness. (SSB 1995, p. 42)
He was a Brahma jnani (one who possesses knowledge of identity of individual self with the cosmic being) who had renounced everything. Like water on a lotus leaf, he was completely detached, with no concern for worldly things. (SSS Vol.20, p. 48)
Brahma Jnana to be won by involvement with Prakriti:
Janaka, the Ruler of Videha, had the bow in his custody. He was on the lookout for a hero who had mastered the fatal flaw. Supreme Wisdom cannot co-exist with duality. The story relates that Janaka, the Vaidehi, (ruler of Videha, that is to say, without body or body consciousness) offered his daughter (the awareness of Brahman) to Rama. Wedding Sita is another way of saying acquiring Supreme Wisdom , for, from where was Sita gained? The story says, from a furrow on the Earth , that is to say, from Prakriti (Nature). This statement reveals that Brahma Jnana can be won by meaningful involvement with Prakriti. (SSS Vol.19, p. 69)
Janaka performs a Yagna:
Janaka, the King of Videha, celebrated a Sacrifice giving away vast wealth in gifts. Many Brahmins attended this Yaga from the Kuru-Panchala territory. The King had a thousand cows decorated with anklets, necklaces and hornets of gold. He announced that they would be donated to whoever taught him the Brahmam. But such Brahmins, though great scholars in their own line, hesitated to claim the cows, through fear of failure. But Yajnavalkya was so confident that he asked his students to drive the cows to his Ashram! The other Brahmins got enraged at his audacity and started testing his scholarship and experience.
The first to come forward to challenge Yajnavalkya was the family priest of Janaka. The answers that the sage gave to his questions clarify the method of attaining the Atma encased in the pranas, through the conjoint yogas of Karma and Bhakti. In the Yajna, the Rithwik’s voice is Agni, the Kala is Vayu, the Mind of the performer is Chandra—such is the manner in which one has to grasp the meaning of ritual and free oneself from the limitations of mortality. (UV, pp. 34-35)
From the lowest joy to the highest Brahmanandam, each step is an increase of the feeling. Words like Paramanandam indicate only stages of Anandam (bliss). As a matter of fact, all types of Anandam are derived from the primary basic source of Brahmanandam. Yajnavalkya explained all this to Janaka, for he took great delight in instructing the King on all that he knew. (UV, p. 38)
A Karma Yogi
Return trip to Ayodhya (after celebration of marriages) commenced, and the people of Mithila felt intensely sad. Even the Emperor, who was a great Karma Yogi, himself, shed tears. The people of Mithila were stunned when they saw that Janaka, who had no attachment, was crying. Explaining himself, Janaka said, ‘These tears of mine are not tears of sorrow, they are indeed tears of bliss.’ (SSB 1996, pp. 34-35)
Great personages like Janaka performed Dharma-karmas (GV, p. 54)
Surrender and Dedication:
The Emperor Janaka believed in right action. (SSB 1993, p. 21)It is said that King Janaka could attain the highest state by doing his daily work always in a spirit of dedication. We should cultivate the spirit of surrender, saying, ‘I am Thine.’ (SSB 1979, p. 39)
King Janaka was able to get liberation when he offered his entire mind and the three types of activity, thought, word and deed, to Ashtavakra:
The one become Amanaska, to realise the unity with the Divine. As long as you have a mind, there is duality. Cold and heat, day and night, sorrow and joy, loss and profit – all these pairs of opposites – come about only when you have a mind. If you want to learn to treat all these thing equally, you have to offer your mind to God. That is why in Vedanta it has been said that it is the mind that is responsible for liberation or bondage. (SSS Vol.17, p. 155)
The Court of Janaka
(King Janaka debating with Ashtavakra)
In the court of Janaka, there used to be a practice by which he invited great scholars and conversed with them. The kind of conversations that were permitted in the court of Janaka were of three kinds. The first type is the argument or exchange of words. The second type is Jalpa, and the third is Tarka or logic. The first kind signifies the fact that the individual pays complete attention to what he wants to say and he can adopt any method to present his view point. The second method, Jalpa consists of using a Sastra or quoting from scripture and establishing one’s view point with the help of such quotation. The third method, Tarka consists of using intense logic by quoting from the Vedas to confirm his ideas. This method is one of deep analysis and logically establishes what one wants to by quoting authority from the Vedas.
In this manner, arrangements were made to have three kinds of presentation in Janaka’s court. Many reputed scholars used to enter the court. People who had several titles to indicate their expertise used to participate and were wearing Rudraksha symbolic of their scholarship. Among them was one scholar by name Ashtavakra, who was very young and ambitious. When he was trying to enter the court to participate in the deliberations, the elderly scholars thought that it was not befitting of them to argue with this young Ashtavakra. Such an attitude indicates intellectual arrogance and pride of scholarship. They tried to prevent his participation in many ways. But Ashtavakra was very stubborn and after praying to King Janaka, he was allowed to enter the court.
As soon as Ashtavakra entered the court, all the Pundits who looked at him laughed loudly. In return, Ashtavakra also laughed more loudly. The Pundits were rather surprised because they thought that there was a valid reason for their laughing, but they did not see any valid reason for Ashtavakra laughing. Ashtavakra was stopped by one of the Pundits and was asked to state the reason for his laughter. One of the Pundits said that anyone who sees the crooked body of Ashtavakra cannot refrain from laughing. Then Ashtavakra offered to tell the reason for his laughter if they wished to listen to it. He said that he had come to the court of Janaka to participate in the function when he heard that several scholars would be present, but he was forced to laugh when he found that King Janaka had mistaken such Charmakaras to be real Pundits and scholars. Ashtavakra used the word Charmakaras which denotes the community of cobblers and at this all the Pundits were in the court of Janaka were enraged. Ashtavakra said that he addressed them as cobblers because only cobblers can understand the nature of leather used for making footwear and they behaved like cobblers when they attached much importance to the skin covering the external body.
Pundits will be true Pundits only if they are able to see inside the heart with their inner vision. On the other hand if people only look at the external from and give undue importance to it, they will belong to the same class of cobblers described by Ashtavakra. To always talk of the Vibhuti which I give or to talk of the things that I materialise and of the miracles that I perform is not correct. Even erudite people are not able to recognise my Divinity. Is this the result of their education? What value can we attach to their education when they are not able to see the inner and more important aspects but attach significance only to the other details? (SSB 1974 Part II, pp. 284-285)
The three debts to be discharged
There are also three other Rnas (debts), mentioned in the scriptures---Pithr-rna, Matr-rna and Deva-rna---the debt to the father, to the mother and to the Gods. Once there was a great sage named Uddalaka, famous for his scholarship. He had a son, Shvetaketu, and a daughter Sujatha. Among his disciples was Kaholaka, a young man who was well behaved, virtuous, devoted to the teacher and earnest in his studies? But he could not keep pace with the other bright lads and so became the target for taunts. The Guru loved him all the more on account of this.
Sympathy with his lot grew into Grace; Grace resulted in the Guru offering his own daughter in marriage to Kaholaka! While Sujatha was pregnant, Kaholaka recited the Vedas as laid down in the Disciplinary Rules, but within hearing of the child growing in the womb. It heard the recitation but, since it was already aware of the correct pronunciation of every syllable, whenever Kaholaka spelt a syllable wrong, it squirmed in distress. So, when the baby was born, it had eight bends, crooked in eight places, in fact! Naturally, he was named Ashtavakra. (Eight Bends) When Ashtavakra was still in the womb, Sujatha had persuaded her husband to seek some monetary help from King Janaka to relieve their dire poverty and when Kaholaka went to Mithila, in the midst of a big Yaga (ceremonial sacrifice) which the king was celebrating, he had to stay on till it was finished; later, he was forced by circumstances to join a competitive disputation with a celebrated scholar called Vanadena, and accept the terms laid down by the challenger, namely, whoever gets defeated in argument was to be thrown into the sea.
Meanwhile, Ashtavakra, in spite of his physical deformity, became an erudite Pundit full of intricate scholarship, even while in his teens. His father s fate was kept from the lad by both Sujatha and Shvetaketu for many years, but, one day, he was taunted by someone as one who was ignorant of his father s fate and the sad tale was revealed to the son. Immediately, he proceeded to Mithila and sought entrance into the audience-hall of King Janaka. The guards laughed when he wanted them to report to the King that a Vedic scholar eager for disputation with the court Pundits had come. They slighted him for his tender age, but he said that age was no criterion. At last, he pleaded that his deformity, at least, entitled him to hospitality and sympathy.
Parents should encourage their sons by good example
Janaka was struck by the boy s persistence and courage; he ordered that he should be admitted and arranged for the disputation the boy sought! If I start telling you the absurd questions that the court Pundits teased him with and the replies with which Ashtavakra sparred them with, it will take so much time that perhaps we will have to sit beyond Shivaratri even! Janaka tried his best to dissuade him; he told him that he was too young to risk death in the sea. But, Ashtavakra argued that Atma vidya does not take account of the Deha tattvam, the physical principle of the body. Vanadena entered the fray with the deformed lad resplendent with spiritual scholarship; to the great astonishment of all, the boy gained the upper hand; the aged pundit squirmed under the questions; he failed; he had to be thrown into the sea; the deformed son of Kaholaka had triumphed over the victor who had consigned his father to the waves. The mother was delighted that her son had discharged the debt, and retrieved the honour of the line.
The father must encourage the son by example more than by precept. Prahlada told his father that only the parent who directs his progeny to God deserves obedience and respect. All others are, so far as the sons are concerned, human ogres like Hiranyakashipu. There are some parents who are sorry that their sons are coming to Puttaparthi and who dread that they would start doing puja or Japam or Namasmarana, and give up the habits of smoking or drinking or gambling, which they have learnt from their fathers! Such people do not know the value of Satsanga (spiritual company), for peace and happiness. They fail to equip their children or themselves with armour against the blows of fate or fortune. (SSS Vol.4, pp. 295-297)