Akshaya Patra, the source of unlimited energy

Today, we will take up the story that takes place after the five Pandavas had been exiled to the forest. The whole city of Hastinapura was in the streets bidding farewell as the Pandavas were leaving for their exile to the forests of ‘Kamyaka Vana’. The Brahmins of Hastinapura did not leave the Pandavas at the city gates but followed them into the forest; they all stayed at a place called ‘Pramanavta’ for the first night. The next morning, Yudhisthira requested the Brahmins to go back to the city and lead their normal lives, which they refused to. He was in a dilemma as to how to feed them.

A great rishi called Shaunaka came to Yudhisthira’s help. He asked Yudhisthira to make Dhomya, a Brahmin, his official priest and take his advice whenever needed. Yudhisthira asked Dhomya how he could feed the Brahmins. Dhomya advised Yudhisthira to meditate upon Surya, the Sun God, who would solve his problem. Yudhisthira meditates upon Surya, who is pleased with him and appears. Surya gives him a copper vessel (akshaya patra) and says that as long as Draupadi did not finish eating, that vessel would always remain full of food, and that he could then feed everyone from this vessel.

Surya then says “It is my energy that is responsible for all organic life upon earth, which is a combination of Surya, Chandra, Prithvi and Jala. My rays fall upon water, which rises as vapour to become clouds and then falls as rain again, bringing life to the plant kingdom, which in turn feeds all organic life.” He adds “Chandra, the moon, absorbs my energy and returns it to the earth in the form of aushadhi (medicine); all medicinal and herbal qualities present in all of plant and animal life is because the moon has taken my energy and recycled it back to earth. My energy is very hot and it burns, the moon acts as a counterweight and balances my energy.”

Yudhisthira was then able to feed everyone with the aid of this vessel (akshaya patra) throughout the twelve years of their exile. The Pandavas took care that Draupadi ate only after every person had had their fill of food.

The five Pandavas represent the five centres within us, namely intellectual, emotional, instinctive, moving, and sex centre. Yudhisthira is the intellectual centre whereas the Brahmins represent the higher qualities of this centre. For the higher qualities to work within us certain finer energies must be generated in the body-brain system. The earth takes in energy from the sun for a period of six months, which we can call as breathing in or ‘Uttarayana’ and breathes out energy for another six months, which is ‘Dakshinayana’. When the earth is breathing in energy, the solar prana in the earth’s atmosphere is always fresh and contains that special substance that ignites the higher qualities of the intellectual centre. It is in the later six months that the earth is devoid of the fresh solar prana. All great masters knew how to take in solar energy directly from the sun without the earth as an intermediary so the higher qualities of the intellectual centre would always remain alive within them.

Jesus wanted to teach his disciples this technique. He went into the Gardens of Gethsemane to pray that this energy be passed on to his disciples but when he came back, his disciples were still sleeping. This shows that they were not in the correct state to receive this energy and hence, he could not pass it on to them.

The Pandavas first go into ‘Kamyaka Vana’, which represents the areas of our unconscious mind or our desires. Yudhisthira makes Dhomya, which means mist (or fog) his chief priest. When the student tries to take his attention from the physical body into the unconscious mind, he encounters a curtain of mist (or fog) that does not allow him to see beyond; he has to go through this mist to enter into the deeper areas of his mind. In many systems, this curtain of mist is known as the etheric body. Yudhisthira then meditates upon Surya; this represents the technique of providing the solar energy directly to the intellectual centre to perform higher functions. Every disciple needs this energy to hold the states of higher consciousness within oneself.

We relate to the world through the five senses; what comes in through the five senses is interpreted by the five centres and as a result we form thoughts, emotions, perform actions, and so on. The energy that is needed to decode the input through the five centres is known as psychic energy. This is the very basic energy that we need in order to perform all functions of life. Many times, while sightseeing (over a period of time), one sees that no new impressions are taken and everything then seems the same. This is an example of lack of psychic energy. Similarly, while reading a book, after a point of time, we cannot register anything and the reading becomes a mere mechanical action.

Each centre in the body has two small energy hubs, which provide the body with psychic energy. Usually, it takes about 45 minutes for one hub to be depleted of this energy. That is also the reason why most periods in schools used to be of 45 minutes each. A small break would follow so that the intellectual centre then could connect to another energy hub (of that centre’s two hubs) to gain energy. In the meantime, the energy centre refuels the hub that was exhausted of its energy. Then comes a time when both the energy hubs are completely exhausted and we cannot perform the act we want to. Within all of us, there is also a higher unlimited source of energy, called Surya, or in this story represented by the ‘akshaya patra’. The Guru teaches the student to connect to this higher source so there is an unlimited amount of energy available to the student to walk on the spiritual path.