❇YogaVasistha - pg1❇- Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

❇YogaVasistha - pg1❇ Sage Sutiksna asked Sage Agastya: Which one of the two is conducive to liberation, work or knowledge? Sage Agastya: Birds are able to fly with their two wings; even so both work and knowledge together lead to liberation. ⭕STORY 1⭕ There once lived a holy man Karunya who son of Agnivesya. Having mastered holy scriptures, Karunya became apathetic to life. Agnivesya demanded why Karunya had abandoned due performance of daily duties. Karunya replied: Do not the scriptures declare that one hand one should fulfill scriptural injunctions and on the other immortality can be realised by abandonment of action. What should I do? Agnivesya then narrates this story to his son. ⭕STORY 2⭕ A royal sage by name Aristanemi entrusted his kingdom to his son and was engaged in breath taking austerities. When he was sent for by Indra to be escorted to heaven, he wanted to know merits and demerits of heaven. To this he was told that, in heaven, the best, middling and the least among pious mortals receive appropriate award and once the fruits of their merits get exhausted, they return to the world of mortals. The sage on hearing this refused to accept the invitation to heaven. Indra requested the sage to consult Sage Valmiki before turning the offer down. He asked Valmiki,"What is the best way to rid oneself of birth and death." In reply, Valmiki narrated to him the dialogue between Rama and Vasistha. Jai Gurudev! 😊