All these distinctions made between the ‘I’ and ‘you',
master and disciple, are merely a sign of one's ignorance. The 'I' Supreme
alone is. To think otherwise is to delude oneself. A puranic story of Sage
Ribhu and his disciple Nidagha, is particularly instructive in this context.
Although Ribhu taught his disciple the supreme truth of the
One Brahman without a second, Nidagha, in spite of his erudition and
understanding, did not get sufficient conviction to adopt and follow the path
of jnana, but settled down in his native town to lead a life devoted to the
observance of ceremonial religion. But the sage loved his disciple as deeply as
the latter venerated his master.
In spite of his age, Ribhu would himself go to his disciple
in the town, just to see how far the latter had outgrown his ritualism. At
times the sage went in disguise, so that he might observe how Nidagha would act
when he did not know that he was being observed by his master.
On one such occasion Ribhu, who had put on the disguise of a
village rustic, found Nidagha intently watching a royal procession.
Unrecognized by the town dweller Nidagha, the village rustic
enquired what the bustle was all about, and was told that the king was going in
procession. "Oh! It is the king. He goes in procession! But where is
he?" asked the rustic.
"There, on the elephant", said Nidagha.
"You say the
king is on the elephant. Yes, I see the two" said the rustic, "but
which is the king and which is the elephant?"
"What!" exclaimed Nidagha, "you see the two
but do not know that the man above is the king and the animal below is the
elephant? Where is the use of talking to a man like you?"
"Pray, be not impatient with an ignorant man like
me", begged the rustic. "But you said 'above' and 'below', what do
they mean?"
Nidagha could stand it no more. "You see the king and
the elephant, the one above and the other below. Yet you want to know what is
meant by 'above' and 'below'?" burst out Nidagha.
"If things seen and words spoken convey so little to
you, action alone can teach you. Bend forward, and you will know it all too
well."
The rustic did as he was told.
Nidagha got on his shoulders and said, "Know it now. I am
above as the king, you are below as the elephant. Is that clear enough?"
"No, not yet", was the rustic's quiet reply.
"You say you are above like the king, and I am below like the elephant.
The 'king', the 'elephant', 'above' and 'below', so far it is clear. But pray,
tell me what you mean by I and you.
When Nidagha was thus
confronted all of a sudden with the mighty problem of defining the 'You' apart
from the T, light dawned on his mind.
At once he jumped down and fell at his master's feet saying,
"Who else but my venerable Master, Ribhu, could have thus drawn my mind
from the superficialities of physical existence to the true Being of the Self?
Benign Master, I crave thy blessings."
This story is found in the Srimad Bhagavad Purana.
Source - The Mountain Path Magazine 2000 Jayanthi issue page 209 and 210.