“A man insists with a sage that he be given ‘self-realisation’. The sage has no problem. He says, ‘Of course, you will attain self-realisation’. Then he hands over to the man a little sparrow and says, ‘Kill this sparrow at a place where there is no one watching you’. The man feels confident of finding such a place, goes there, and is about to wring the sparrow’s neck to kill the bird. But then he realises, in effect, that if not anybody else, he himself is watching the act of killing the bird. He returns to the sage and says, ‘Oh Master, as I was about to kill the bird, I realised that I myself was watching the act. I realised, I could not kill the sparrow without being watched by me’.

 

 

The sage smiles and says, ‘So, you have attained self-realisation -- the awareness that you are immortally there when there is nobody else’.” - An anecdote narrated by (the late) Pandurang Shastri Athawale ‘Dada’, the founder of the spiritual movement ‘Swadhyaya Parivar’ THE impact of this story lingers in the mind as if for ever. Some may tend to treat this anecdote as an oversimplified metaphor. Factually, however, its meaning is much deeper than just the words. In fact, this anecdote can prove to be a life-changing point in the thought-process. Entire spiritual literature Man has created since time immemorial revolves around this point -- self.

 

The Vedas insist upon the principle of Aham Brahmasmi -- ‘I am the Brahman’ ! Every other philosophical treatise talks about the divinity that is enshrined in human being. Yet, much of that talk often revolves around the platonic thought of ‘self’ as something difficult to capture in words or common comprehension. But this anecdote -- of the man who could not kill the sparrow unwatched by anybody because he was the watcher of the act himself -- makes one realise the power of self as the sanctuary of human conscience -- where the human soul evolves and attains singularity -- oneness -- with the divine -- Aham Brahmasmi ! This vaidic enunciation has been variously described and discussed by the sages and wise men and women through ages with innumerable dimensions. But the core idea remains the same through all that discourse -- the singularity of human soul -- Atma -- as a reflected manifestation of Paramatma -- The Ultimate ! Saint Dnyaneshwar uses an interesting analogy to describe this phenomenon of multiple reflected manifestations of Paramtma. He says, in effect, that there is only one Sun up in the sky. But it reflects itself in each of the pots storing water -- may be in thousands. The Sun is only one -- its reflections can be many. This is how the Paramatma reflects itself in every being -- in the Atma -- the Soul. In other words, what what one has within is just a reflected manifestation of the Divine -- which is the watcher of everything, seen or unseen, seeable or unseeable, in light or in dark. Or, in still other words, that in that zone without borders and dimensions, there is nothing called light or dark.

 

There is only one timeless, dimensionless space that is all the time open -- to soul, to the Divine. From that eternal eye, nothing stays hidden. So, even when there is no one to watch, there is you -- Self (Atma) -- to ‘see’ and ‘sense’ you and your own actions. From that scrutiny, no one can ever escape. So, when the man sought to wring the sparrow’s neck, he realised that he was watching his own action. So, metaphorically, there is no space or place or time when there is no one watching. For, when you are your own invigilator, you are constantly under scrutiny. The Mandukya Upanishada says: Dva suparna sayuja sakhaya samanam vriksham parishasvajate/ Tayoranyah pippalam svadvattyanashnannanyo abhicakashiti// (On the same tree, two birds are perched as a pair. Of these, one eats and tastes the fruit. The other of the pair is that which does not eat, but just looks on.) That other non-eater bird just does not watch silently or passively. On the contrary, that bird also poses vigilant questions about the action being right or wrong. But suffice it is to say that the other bird is all the time watching, seeking explanation (to one’s own self). But that explanation is beyond justification. The action done. The action noted. The action questioned. The question is of the conscience, to the conscience ...!