Hello Marek, Thank you for offering this story. While it is similar to the one I've heard and read about Narada, it's not the one I'm searching for. Instead of rewriting it from what little I remember, I'm searching for an extant well-said version of it to share with others in driving a point. In the one I'm searching for Narada could fly at will and is sent around the world and instructed not spill a drop at any time during the journey. He arrives back, speaks of how he did not spill a drop, though focused so much on not spilling a drop that he forgot to think about Krishna, Vishnu or whoever supposedly sent him on the trip. I've read and heard the story told as either Vishnu or Krishna sending him, and one other character besides, whose name I don't remember.
Katha shastra is always told with specificity to the moment it's being told so it's often that the story being told is changed a bit to meet the specific needs of the circumstance at hand. In the West we may be used to stories staying consistently the same all the time and over many centuries, a characteristic dating as far back Josephus, in contrast to what was more common at the time of morphing stories to meet the needs of the moment, as demonstrated in the ever morphing rendition of the Ramayana, originally by Valmiki, though modified over the centuries by others. *Of all that anyone leading or teaching has to convey, the most valuable thing to cultivate and convey to others is a moral conscience. Only such persons deserve to lead others, in any capacity. Anything less is a menace to society. * ** ** On 4/30/07, Marek Reavis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
The Yoga Vashishta has the story that sounds similar to the Narada tea story, and maybe that's what you're thinking of. In the YV Vyasa sends Shukadev to King Janaka for instruction. Shukadev is kind of contemptuous of Janaka because he's the epitome of householder life and Shukadev is "sky clad" and all that. Anyway, one of the episodes has Janaka telling his men to give Shukadev a complete tour of the whole palace, all the features, etc., etc., but before Shukadev goes off with them Janaka gives him a cup of milk and tells him to hold it. He then tells his men that if Shukadev spills even a single drop they are to cut off his head. At the end of the day's tour when Shukadev is again brought back into the presence of the king, Janaka asks him how he enjoyed the tour. Shukadev tells him how he couldn't enjoy, or even notice, anything because all he could do was keep his attention on not spilling the milk. So too, says King Janaka, does the enlightened live in the world, even the sumptuous world of a palace, without being affected by it, because the enlightened's attention is on the Self. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Samadhi Is Much Closer Than You Think -- Really -- It's A No-Brainer." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Does anyone have the story of Narada that tells of [Vishun, Krishna, > Whoever] sending Narada around the world with a cup of tea and tells Narada > not to spill a drop? > > I've googled key words in a multitude of combinations and simply have not > found this story anywhere on the Web, though I know for sure I've seen it on > the Web or at least it's been sent via email or posted in a newsgroup > somewhere. > > Thank you in advance for your assistance. > > *Of all that anyone leading or teaching has to convey, the most valuable > thing to cultivate and convey to others is a moral conscience. Only such > persons deserve to lead others, in any capacity. Anything less is a menace > to society. *
