Alexander invited to Taxila a number of ascetics noted for their skill in answering philosophical questions with pithy wisdom. An account of the verbal skirmish is given by Plutarch; Alexander himself framed all the questions.
Which be the more numerous, the living or the dead?”
The living, for the dead are not. Which breeds the larger animals, the sea or the land?
The land, for the sea is only a part of land.
Which is the cleverest of the beasts? That one with which man is not yet acquainted. (Man fears the unknown) Which existed first, the day or the night?
The day was first by one day. This reply caused Alexander to betray surprise; the Brahmin added: impossible questions require impossible answers. How best may a man make himself beloved?
A man will be beloved if, possessed with great power; he still does not make himself feared. How may a man become a god? By doing that which it is impossible for a man to do. Which is stronger, life or death? Life, because it bears so many evils.
Alexander was impressed by the knowledge of these ascetics. He came to know about a great ascetic Dandamis, who lived in a jungle, lying naked on leaves, near a water spring and was far more knowledgeable than these ascetics. Alexander made up his mind to meet this yogi. Being a king and unknown to Indian culture, he sent four soldiers with naked swords and told them, “Invite the ascetic! Tell him, Alexander the Great wants you to be his guest. He wants to take you to his country with great respect and honor, and you will remain there as a royal guest. This is something very special, because Alexander has never invited anybody the way he is inviting you.'”
They went, and they told Dandamis. The naked man simply laughed. He said, “A man who calls himself Alexander the Great cannot be really great. That is a sign of a very mean mind, to think of oneself as `the Great’.” The soldiers were shocked. They said, “What are you saying? Can’t you see our naked swords?” Dandamis said, “I am not blind like you, and like your Alexander the Great. If you who are blind can see, why won’t I will be able to see? Just go and tell Alexander that a sannyasin moves according to his will. Thanks for your invitation, and in return I invite you to be here with me, my guest under my tree, to have some taste of what sannyas is.”
When Alexander came to know of Dandamis’ reply, he went to the forest to meet Dandamis. Dandamis first asked Alexander why he has come to him. ‘I have nothing to offer you. Because we have no thought of pleasure or gold, we love God and despise death, whereas you love pleasure, gold and kill people, you fear death and despise God.’ Alexander was very angry and said, “I am a dangerous man.”
Again the naked man laughed, and he said, “You cannot be more dangerous than I am. If you are so dangerous, why are you carrying this sword and having so many people around you with naked swords? Look at me, standing naked — and you think you are dangerous? Have you come to accept my invitation and be with me, or have you come to repeat your invitation?” Alexander said, “I have come to take you forcibly. Now it is no longer an invitation: either you come with us, or this sword will cut your head off and finish you right now.”
Dandamis laughed a third time, and he said, “That’s great! You do it, right now. I am not moving from here. Nobody can move me against my will. Yes, you can cut off my head because that does not belong to me, but you cannot shake me; that is my citadel where I am absolutely the emperor.
“You can cut off my head, you can cut off my hands, you can cut off my legs, you can cut my whole body into pieces, but remember one thing: when you are cutting my body, my head, my hands, I will be watching in the same way as you will be watching. Your sword cannot cut me, my watcher cannot be penetrated by a sword. So start!” he said.
But it is so difficult to kill such a man, who is inviting you to kill him. Alexander said, “I am sorry that I disturbed you, but now I know why my master asked me to bring a sannyasin. And now I also know why I could not find a sannyasin in so many places I have been visiting. Now I understand also why people were saying, `You have come five hundred years late. The whole country was full of sannyasins; now they are certainly a rare phenomenon.’
Then Alexander asked, “I have conquered so much in my life. Anything a person can think of, I possess that. Still, why don’t I feel contented in life?” Dandamis replied, “Thirst being a natural desire, if you drink the water you thirst for, your desire for it ceases. Similarly, if feeling hungry, you receive the food you seek, your hunger comes to an end. If, then, man’s appetite for gold were on the same natural level, no doubt his cupidity would cease as soon as he obtained what he wished for. But this is not the case. On the contrary, it always comes back, a passion never satiated, and so man’s craving goes on without end, because it does not proceed from an inclination implanted by nature.”
Then Alexander further asked, “How can I win over this whole world?” To this, Dandamis replied, “I have just as much of the earth as you and every other person; even if you gain all rivers, you cannot drink more than I. Therefore I have no fears, acquire no wounds and destroy no cities. I have just as much earth and water as you; altogether I possess everything. Learn this wisdom from me: wish for nothing, and everything is yours.”
Alexander then further questioned the sage, “Do you believe in God?” The sage remained silent. Alexander said, “I cannot see, so how can I believe? How do you believe without seeing him?” The naked sage laughed. He took Alexander by his hand towards the market place.
Alexander followed—maybe he was taking him somewhere where he could show him God. A small boy was flying a kite, and the kite had gone so far away that it was impossible to see it. The sage smiled secretly and stopped there, and the king of the Macedons waited impatiently. The sage asked the little boy, “Where is your kite? Because we cannot see it, and without seeing, how can we believe it is actually in existence? So where is that kite of yours? How do you still believe the kite exists?” The boy laughed merrily and looked pityingly at the sage for asking such an absurd question. He said, “I can feel the pull of it.” And the sage said to Alexander, “I can also feel the pull of it.”
“Seeing you, looking at you — your integrity, your strength — makes me feel that I have wasted my life. Perhaps rather than conquering the whole world, if I had also found this watcher that would have been better.” Alexander again requested Dandamis to come with him to Macedons, however Dandamis politely rejected his offer saying an ascetic’s movement is completely abided by nature’s directions.
However, Alexander succeeded in taking out of India, as his teacher, a true yogi. This was Kalyana, called Kalanos by the Greeks . The sage accompanied Alexander to Persia. On a stated day at Susa in Persia, Kalanos gave up his aged body by entering a funeral pyre in view of the whole Macedonian army. The historians recorded the astonishment of the soldiers as they observed that the yogi had no fear of pain or death; he never once moved from his position as he was consumed in the flames. Before leaving for his cremation Kalanos had embraced many of his close companions but he refrained from bidding farewell to Alexander, to whom the Hindu sage had merely remarked, “I shall see you later in Babylon”.
Alexander left Persia and, a year after, died in Babylon. The prophesy had been the Indian guru’s way of saying that he would be present with Alexander in life and death. Such has been the greatness of our Gurus that even the greatest of the warriors have bowed in their holy feet. There are hundred thousand million species on this earth and among these species is human being. There are more than seven billion human beings and only few lucky ones get blessed with the presence of Guru in life. Fortunate are us who st are among these few lucky ones and 21 April is the day when our beloved Gurudev incarnated on this planet to guide us in life. This is the day to show our love towards Him, to show our gratitude towards Him and to impress Him.
If we put a piece of salt in an empty tumbler, it occupies only a limited space. And, if we put it in a tumbler full of water, it is dissolved in water or, so to say, it becomes one with water, gives up its limitation, and spreads itself in the water, making it all salty. Or, in other words we can say that, to the extent the piece of salt gives up its limitation of name and form by being dissolved in water, it develops to the same extent the power to expand itself and make the water salt. Similarly, though the mind is said to be limited, yet the more it gives up its limitation by identifying itself or being one with the unlimited ocean of its Real-Self, the Guru, the more the disciple is able to develop unlimited powers. It means that the mind will then develop power to express itself in an unlimited way. Similarly, if a disciple wants to develop unlimited powers within himself, he will have to identify himself and try to be one with the Absolute, the unlimited source of Power and Energy, the Guru.
And that is the reason why it is a must to assimilate the Guru in one’s heart. That is the reason why disciple must meditate on the form of Guru. That is the only reason why a disciple must worship the holy feet of the Guru. All these are necessary to attain that divinity in life after which even the Yogis have said, “Neti-Neti” i.e. nothing is left beyond that point to be achieved in life. A person can attain such divine sphere in life by means of Guru Hridyast Staphan Diksha. When the Guru gives this diksha to the disciple, the Guru himself comes directly into the heart of the disciple and rest is then up to the disciple as to how he wishes to keep the Guru in his heart. A true disciple then never lets the Guru get out of his heart and doing so he himself becomes united with the Guru. And thus, he is able to assimilate all the powers of the Guru.
What can then remain unfulfilled in life when the Guru, the epicenter of all that is visible or invisible resides within ourselves? Guru is the source of all the siddhis, chakra activation and even the Gods are desirous to attain human life so that they can uplift themselves under the guidance of such great Gurus. Blessed are we who have the luxury of such a great Guru in our life. It is all up to us whether we want to understand the true meaning of life and attain greatness or to live a life just as the crowd around us is living.
It is mandatory to obtain Guru Diksha from Revered Gurudev before performing any Sadhana or taking any other Diksha. Please contact Kailash Siddhashram, Jodhpur through Email , Whatsapp, Phone or Submit Request to obtain consecrated-energized and mantra-sanctified Sadhana material and further guidance,