In southern India, Gomteshwar has the greatest statue in the world - the statue of the sannyasin Baahubali ("man with strong arms").
Baahubali was the son of a king who became a monk. The king had two sons: the eldest - Bharat and the youngest - Bahubali.
The king renounced power and worldly life; his kingdom was to be inherited by Bharat. But he, too, after talking with his father, left and plunged into the world of meditation.
Bahubali was a great warrior and a powerful man, he was supposed to inherit the kingdom and strived for this. But the problem was that the father, having renounced the kingdom, did not make any orders in this regard.
He reasoned: “How can I do this? After all, power is what I renounced! How can I proclaim one of my sons the heir of what I have renounced? The power is theirs. I'm not taking her with me. People will laugh at me. After all, the kingdom is worth nothing and no one needs to inherit it. If they want to reign, then that’s their business, but perhaps one of them will follow in my footsteps.”
Bharat shared his father's views and went to the mountains. Baahubali was a practical man and wanted to become a king, but this required either an order from his father or the abdication of his elder brother, who by law was the heir.
The situation was strange. Many problems accumulated in the state, and Baahubali was unable to make decisions and issue decrees. First he had to declare himself king, but this required the formal abdication of his older brother.
Angry, Baahubali went to the mountains, to where Bharat was meditating. When he arrived and saw his brother sitting on a rock, his blood leaped within him. He grabbed it with his strong hands, lifted it, and was about to throw it into the abyss, but then a thought occurred to him: “What am I doing? And for what? For the sake of the kingdom that my father renounced? After living his whole life, he found it worthless. My brother loves me so much that if I ask, he will gladly give me the right of inheritance. And now, when I picked him up, about to throw him into the abyss, he doesn’t even resist, as if we were playing.” As a child, he often lifted his brother with his strong arms. Tears welled up in his eyes: “What was I going to do? What will people think of me? And, lowering his brother to the ground, he plunged into deep meditation, which changed his whole life.
It still stands there, carved in white marble. This is a very beautiful statue, 52 feet high, its little toe is the height of a man. Around it there are steps carved from marble, along which you can climb and examine the statue from all sides. There is a parable carved on the rock that tells how Baahubali became enlightened. It says that he stood in meditation for several months; climbing plants entwined his legs and flowers bloomed; birds began to build nests in his ears.
What happened to Bharat, who was almost enlightened? He was on the verge of enlightenment, and he's still there. What stopped him?
When Bharat opened his eyes and saw his brother standing in deep silence, and light emanating from his appearance, he was very surprised, because his brother was never distinguished by holiness, and suddenly he became enlightened, and he, who had renounced the kingdom and made so much effort to achieve enlightenment, was still on the path.
The father found both sons meditating and was also surprised to find that the younger son had become enlightened. When Bharat opened his eyes and saw his father sitting in front of him, he said:
- You see, Baahubali became enlightened, how could this happen? Why didn't I achieve this after spending so much time? What stopped me?
Father said:
“Something very subtle is bothering you, just the thought that you have done an unprecedented act in history, something unique.” There were kings who renounced the kingdom, and there were kings who did not renounce the kingdom. You are the only one who has not even accepted the kingdom; the question of renunciation did not arise. You are unique in your own way, and this little idea is a very subtle egoism that gets in your way.
Your brother, although he is rude and unskilled in the scriptures, did not have such thoughts. He came to kill you, but at the last moment he realized and overcame the base in himself, and since he did everything passionately, with all the ardor of his heart, he rushed and became enlightened, and you, moving step by step, are still on the way.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru