The Story of Ashtavakra (Part 6)

After Ashtavakra had defeated Bandi in King Janaka’s court, the king said to him. “I have heard your divine voice and the arguments they have put forth. Even though in a physical body, you are not of this world; you are a god in human form. I give this Bandi to you to punish him as you please.”

Ashtavakra said, “I have no reason to keep this Bandi alive so let him be drowned in the river so he can go back to Lord Varuna, his father.”

Then Bandi spoke, “I have no fear on drowning in the river. Very soon all the Brahmins who have gone to my father’s yagna will return and Ashtavakra will meet Kahod, his father.”

At that very moment all the Brahmins whom Bandi had got drowned over a period of twelve years rose from the river. Kahod then addressed King Janaka, “The meaning of the word putra (son) is one who delivers the father from hell. This, my son has done. Even a weak person can have a strong son, and even one with little knowledge and wisdom can have a son who is wise beyond his years. O king, I am very happy today, may the lord of death destroy your enemies and may you be ever victorious.”

Ashtavakra then took his father to meet his mother. It was a happy reunion after twelve long years. His father then told Ashtavakra to enter into the river called Samanga. Ashtavakra did as told and when he came out, his deformed body, which was crooked in eight places, was healed of the deformities. He was free from the curse his father had given him while in his mother’s womb.

Rishi Lomesh, who had been narrating the story of Ashtavakra to Yudhisthira and his brothers, asked them to take a dip in the holy river that had washed away the deformities of Ashtavakra’s body. He added that whoever listens to or recounts the story of this great rishi will lead a long, healthy, and prosperous life.

Everything changes in life. A certain person, thing, or event that attracts us today could repel us tomorrow. Then again, a new idea could strike and the same things attract us again. Our inner states of like and dislike swing constantly, consistent with the law of the pendulum. We interpret that people have changed and that is why we are not attracted to them anymore. The scriptures say that everything that happens in life happens because of the action of three forces. Every event or thing or person is merely a conductor of a force. The same person or event may, at a certain time, be conducting an active force and so we like it, and at other time, be conducting a passive force and so we dislike it. The person or event is the same, nothing has changed but the force that is conducted is different. The three forces that make up events follow a law called ‘The Law of Octaves’.

Octave means eight and the eight crooked parts of Ashtavakra’s body represent the workings of this law.