There is a very famous myth – a great parable . . . maybe it was really a historical fact; there are possibilities.
This is an upanishadic parable – that there was a young man of the name Satyakama. He said to his mother, ‘Now the time has come and I would go to a master, so can you tell me to whom I should go? Because I want to know what truth is. And you have given me this name ‘Satyakama’ : it haunts me. It reminds me again and again that I have to create that passion for truth. Now I would like to go to a master.’
So the mother said, “I know only one man who is really enlightened. You go to him.’
So he was sent to a master. When Satyakama reached the old man, the old man enquired, ‘What is your father’s name and what is your caste?’ That was formal in old days in India – to enquire the name of the father and the caste.
Satyakama said, ‘Sir, that is very difficult. When I was coming I had enquired of my mother and said that it is bound to be asked – “They will ask who is my father and what is my caste. You have never told me who is my father and what is my caste, so now tell me!”
‘So my mother said, “Listen!” She said, “Satyakama, when I was young I was working as a call girl so I used to serve many people. I don’t know exactly who is your father. Your name is Satyakama, my name is Jabala. So you go and tell the teacher that your name is ‘Satyakama Jabala’, and tell him that neither you nor your mother know who was your father.”
The master looked at the young man and cried. Tears came to his eyes and he said, ‘Then you are a brahmin’ – the highest caste in India. ‘You are a brahmin, because only a brahmin can be so authentic, so true – you have not deceived. And I don’t see any guilt, any shame on your face, so you are accepted, my son.’
This is a parable, but there is a possibility that it may have been a historical fact.
I(OSHO) used to live in a city for fifteen years – the city is called Jabalpur. And it is said that this is the place where this Satyakama lived. From Satyakama Jabala has come the name ‘Jabalpur’. It is very ancient story – almost five thousand years old.
The old master said, ‘You are close to truth. There is not going to be much trouble, Satyakama, because you are authentic. To be authentic is the method to reach truth – half of the journey you have already completed. It is not going to be difficult to help you, because a man who is so authentic, so true, does not try to hide . . . You could have tried to hide, you could have invented a name, you could have said anything; I was not going to enquire. But you have been true, so truth is not very far away.’
Tags: Osho Upanishads
