Curious Corner

Did you ever find yourself waking up from a dream that was so vivid that you couldn’t tell if you were still asleep? So real that you find it hard to believe that it was a dream. Something similar happened to king Janaka once. 

Dreaming World

King Janaka who was considered a wise and revered monarch, and also well known for his spiritual pursuit. One night in his dream, he found himself in the middle of a battle fighting the neighboring kingdom’s king who launched a sudden attack on his kingdom. And he lost the battle and along with that his kingdom as well. The enemy king exiled Janak from his own kingdom. In the exile from a mighty royalty he became a destitute beggar. 

He dreamed himself roaming the streets in search of food and water, without even a rag to cover his body. He felt his hunger haunting him and he suffered humiliation by others who ignored him. He felt the dread of hopelessness and misery.  It was so vivid and real that even when he woke up from the dream and found himself back in his grand palace, surrounded by all the luxury, he almost couldn’t believe it at first.

Waking World

In the morning King Janaka found himself wondering whether he is a king who had dreamt of being a beggar, or is he a beggar now dreaming of being a king? This question disturbed him because of his vivid experiences of the dream. It was so real that he could not get over the pain and misery he felt as the beggar. Moreover the royal palace and all its riches started to seem an illusion to him. And he kept asking what is real, this – waking world or that – dream world.

Wisdom of Ashtavakra

King Janaka called upon the great Vedantian sage Ashtavakra, to get answers for his existential dilemma. And asked him the same question – which one is real?
Ashtavakra then in all his wisdom said neither is real, only you the one who saw and experienced both the worlds is real, reality is non-transient and never changing. While both the waking state and the dreaming state are transient and impermanent. They are like two sides of the same coin, each giving rise to experiences that seem real while they last but are ultimately fleeting and insubstantial. The suffering beggar in the dream and the opulent king in the waking state both are unreal and an illusion (Maya). Ashtavakra’s answer helped King Janaka realize that the true self is not tied to external circumstances — beyond both the king and the beggar. 

This story has many layers of meaning each hiding behind another like layers of an onion and it is up to the reader to what extent they can peel and peek inside. The deep philosophical revelation hidden within this points that there is a reality more permanent than both the waking and dreaming worlds. And this is the true reality – in form of our consciousness(the observer) that is present in both the worlds. And I will leave you with this radical argument that was made many millennia ago in the ancient texts of India.