EMPEROR ASHOKA AND A PROSTITUTE STORY ! (Post No.3432)
Compiled by London swaminathan
Date: 9 December 2016
Time uploaded in London: 8-06 am
Post No.3432
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“There is a word in in Hindi, kiriya. It is used when someone swears by something. it is short for saccha kiriya, that is an “act of truth”. An act of truth is performed by using the accumulated power of some form of secret you have kept for a long time. There are many stories about “acts of truth”. Here is one of those stories:
It is said that emperor Ashoka, in the third century BCE, was standing by the River Ganga (Ganges) near his capital. In the history of India Ashoka is well known as the most noble king. being an emperor Ashoka could naturally follow whatever whim he wished. So he said to his ministers, “I wonder whether it is possible to for anyone to make the river flow back towards the mountains!”.
The ministers, not wanting to offend the emperor, very gently told him, “Sir many things are possible but perhaps this is not one of them”.
a courtesan was passing by. She said, “You are all wise ministers, and who am I to speak in the presence of a great emperor., but may I have permission to speak please?” So she was granted permission. She said, “Even someone as lowly as myself can make the river flow backwards”. They asked her to demonstrate. She stood there, closed her eyes and did a saccha kiriya, an act of truth. And the emperor saw that, indeed, the river was flowing backwards towards the mountains. “That is enough”, he said, “Let the river flow naturally”. And she let the river flow.
The king and his wise men asked her what her secret was. How could a prostitute have such power? She said, “when I was younger and circumstances led me into this kind of life, I said to myself that there is very little good I can do
in this life to raise myself, but I must do something. So I made one vow to myself, though I lead the life of a prostitute, whether a prince comes to me or a leper comes to me, in mind and body I will treat them absolutely equally. And I have kept to that secret truth in my life. I have not let it out to this day. It is by the power of this truth that I have been able to make the river flow backwards. However for this kind of power you must keep your truth a secret.”
Source: Five Pillars of Sadhana by Swami Veda Bharati (Formerly he was Prof.Ushar Budh, Head of the Department of Sanskrit, University of Minnesota,USA)
My comments:
Other stories like this:
Gandhari saw Duryodhana naked to save him from Arjuna, but he hid his private parts and lost his life
Babar going round sick Humayun 3 times and saved him by sacrificing his life
Viswamitra sending Trishanku to heaven but pushed back
–Subham–
Tamil and Vedas 