~~OM~~

Ashwamedh means the use of wisdom for the benefit of society. It’s the horse sacrifice. The use of the wisdom of uccishrava, the horse of wisdom, which symbolized the dominion of the kingdom.

In the old Ashwamedha Yagya, a horse was set free, well adorned and decorated, followed by a great army. And wherever the horse roamed into the neighboring kingdoms, those kings would come out and they would either challenge and stop the horse which meant that they would do battle with the army; or they would accept the horse as an emblem of wisdom and they would surrender and unify the kingdoms into an empire.

And that way they reduced the amount of conflict in all the neighboring states by creating a unity in wisdom.

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~~OM~~

I want to tell you a story, if you don’t mind. There were three robbers, three thieves, who came upon a man in a lonely place in the forest. And the first thief said, “This guy is of no use for us, let’s kill him and take all his stuff.” And the second robber said, “There’s no need to kill him, lets just tie him up, bind him tightly, throw him in a ditch and take all his stuff.”

And that’s what they did. They threw him in the ditch, they tied him all up, they bound him, they stole all his goods and possessions and they made off.

The third thief walked down the path some way, and he started to feel very much remorseful. He started to think, “that poor guy is lying in a ditch all battered and bruised and bound, let me go back and help him.� And that’s what he did, he went to find the victim, and he attended to his wounds, and he unbound him. And he put him on his own horse and led him out of the forest towards his own village.

And the victim said to him, “You have been so kind to me, please come to my village and come to my house, and let me demonstrate my appreciation to you.” And the thief said to him, “I can’t go to your village.” “Why not?” “Well, the police are going to ask me why I was with the robbers in the first place.” And he disappeared. He ran away.

Now the first thief was tama guna. He says, “This guy is of no use for us, let’s just kill him.” The second thief was raja guna. He said, “No need to kill him, just tie him all up, bind him securely, throw him in the samsara, in the ocean of worldliness, where he will have all kinds of miseries.” The third thief was sattva. He says, “No, let me attend to your wounds, let me free you, let me show you the way to go home. But, I can’t go into your village. I can’t go to your house because I too am a thief.”

Sattva only shows the way to go home, he can’t go home with you. Sattva still binds you to the world in activity. To go into the house you have to be nirguna, without any quality. Not trying to do good, not trying to do evil, not trying to do anything. You become nirguna, and then you can go home.

~~OM~~

Harischandra was cursed by Vishwamitra. And Harischandra promised to deliver his son to Varuna, and he didn’t do it. And he was cursed, and he became so pained by the curse that he called all the Gurus and said, “Show me a way out. What shall I do?”

And the Gurus said, “There are five types of children. There is one begotten by the mother and father. There’s an adopted son. There’s one who is won as the spoils of war. There’s one who is attained through initiation, who becomes a child of the Guru, a member of the Guru’s family. And there is one who is bought and paid for, and sold by his parents. There are five kinds of children. So therefore king, you’ve got to sacrifice your son, go out in the kingdom and buy a son.”

The king said, “Excellent idea. Captain of the guard, go out in the kingdom and announce to anyone who is in dire straits if they want to sell their child, the king is purchasing. Name your price, I just can’t stand this pain any longer.” Now there was a poor brahmin named Ajigartha. And Ajigartha had three sons. And he said, “This poverty is so debilitating. I can’t feed my children. Better for me to sell one of the sons so that I can feed the other two. I take your offer.”

And then Ajigartha thought. He thought, “My oldest son is responsible to perform my funeral ceremony when I leave this earthly plane. So I can’t sell him. My youngest son is so innocent, I can’t sell him. So, I’m selling the middle son (whose name was Sunahshepa).”

Now the time for the sacrifice came. All the brahmins, all the Rishis, all the Gurus were sitting in the assembly and they bound Sunahshepa to the sacrificial pillar. And the executioner raised his sword above, and the child was calling so piteously. He said, “Please don’t slay me. I’m innocent, I didn’t do anything wrong. It’s the king’s duty to protect his citizens, I’m a citizen. Why would you slay an innocent citizen to protect your own self, for your own comfort? Is this the dharma of a king?”

The executioner said, “King, I’m putting down my sword, I can’t execute this child. It’s against my dharma as an executioner.” The brahmin father Ajigartha said, “King, double your payment and I’ll do it myself.” And all the Rishis, and all the brahmins, and all the Muni’s they said, “Booooooo!!!” And Ajigartha said, “It’s easy for you to condemn me, but nobody knows what the pains of poverty are really like.”

The father picked up the sword, the king agreed. The father raised the sword over the child and Vishwamitra stood up. Vishwamitra went over to Sunahshepa and he said, “I’m giving you initiation in the Bandhan Mukta Shukta, It’s in the first adhyaya of Rigveda. And this will free you from the bonds, it will liberate you from all bondage.”

Sunahshepa began to repeat after Vishwamitra, “Namo Mahabyo Namo Arbakebyyo . . .â€� I bow to the Seers of past, I bow to the Seers of the present, I bow to the Seers of the future, I bow to all the unknown Seers, I bow to all the Divine beings everywhere, release me from bondage. And with that Varuna appeared and said, “The debt is paid, release the child.”

And so Shunahshepa was freed. And Sunahshepa said to the assembly of Rishis, “Now that I am free, who is my father?” And some said, “Go home with Ajigartha, he bought you.” And some said, “No, the king paid for you, so go home with the king.” Then Vasishta stood up and said, “Go home with Vishwamitra, he is your true father, he gave you initiation in the mantra that freed you from all bondage.”

And that was the story of the Muktan Bandhan Shukta.