What Matters Lies Within
Sage Uddalaka ran a school (Ashram) teaching Vedic knowledge. Kahoda was one of his best disciples. Uddalaka was so pleased with him that he got his daughter Sujata married to him. In due course Sujata conceived a child and wanted to instill the Vedic knowledge in her child early in life. So she too began to sit in the classes taught by Uddalaka and Kahoda. She along with the unborn baby would listen to the lectures and chanting sessions. It was one day, in a class taught by Kahoda, the unborn baby spoke up from inside the womb, "This is not the way to chant the verse, father." Kahoda felt insulted in front of the class and cursed, "You will be born deformed."
Sujata did not take the instance too seriously. When the baby was born he was deformed in 8 places. In order to raise her child Sujata needed money. So she asked Khoda to go to king Janak (father of Mother Sita). King Janak was preparing for a fire worship ceremony (yagya) to bring money to the family.
When Kahoda approached Janak, the king received him respectfully but regretted that he was unable to perform the yagna which I decided to perform several years back. Sage Bandhi arrived and asked me to only include those sages in the yagya who can defeat Bandhi in a scriptural debate (Shastrartha). His condition further includes that the sages who come forth, if defeated would be drowned. So far he has killed many learned sages. Now it is up to you to take the challenge." Kahoda agreed to debate with Bandhi. He was defeated and drowned in the nearby river. The widowed Sujata heard the news and repented having sent her husband to the king’s assembly. A few months later she gave birth to a boy with deformity at eight joints, hence was named Ashtavakra. He got his education from his grandfather Uddalaka. Ashtavakra was extremely intelligent and his grandfather loved him dearly and was very proud of him. When Ashtavakra was only twelve, he finished learning all that he needed to know from his grandfather. He also heard the fate of his father and the Yagna of king Janak which still remained unfinished as no one could defeat Bandhi.
One night Ashtavakra ran away from the hermitage and went to king Janak. Looking at his deformed body, the guards were amused. Ashtavakra retorted, "Do not judge a person by his appearance and age, judge him by what he knows. Inform your king that there is a person ready to challenge Bandhi." The king came and was surprised to see a small deformed boy. He asked a few questions and was greatly impressed by his knowledge. King Janak soon arranged for the debate with Bandhi. Imagine a 6-feet tall man, deformed in 8 places meaning he is crooked every 9 inches. How would a man like that look?
When the scholars laughed on seeing the deformed Ashtavakra, he said, "Janak! I had heard that your court is a seat of the learned. Little did I know that this learned gathering is no better than a bunch of cobblers”.When the scholars laughed on seeing the deformed Ashtavakra, he said, "Janak! I had heard that your court is a seat of the learned. Little did I know that this learned gathering is no better than a bunch of cobblers”. All scholars took offence to this statement. Hence king Janak humbly asked Ashtavakra to explain the reason behind his comment. Ashtavakra said,” A cobbler works with leather and is an expert in judging the quality of leather. These people saw my body which is deformed in 8 places and started to laugh. That is why I called them cobblers. Learned scholars should not judge a person by the skin but by the knowledge he has."
To everyone's surprise, Ashtavakara defeated Bandhi in no time. As per the agreement, he then requested the king to drown his father's killer. Bandhi then disclosed his identity. He said, "I am the son of Varuna, the god of water. I came to earth on the request of my father to get the best sages from here to perform his twelve years of Yagna. The only way I could get them to my father was to challenge them in a debate and throw them into water. Now that my father has completed the Yagna, let us go to the river bank and watch the sages walk out of the river."
People rushed to the river bank and watched the sages return from the river. Kahoda came and embraced his learned son Ashtavakra. He then openly admitted that his son Ashtavakra was a lot wiser than him. Bandhi then asked Ashtavakra to take a dip in the river, with the blessings of his father, Varuna, which would make him normal. Ashtavakra did as he was told and came out of the river as a handsome young man. Janak rewarded Ashtavakra and Kahoda. They went back to their hermitage to be united with the family. Uddalaka was very happy to see his worthy grandson surpass all the great sages of his time in knowledge. Sujata rejoiced at seeing her handsome son and the husband.
Moral
A wise man appraises the qualities only. Whenever you meet a real saint don't look at his height, eight, skin color, etc. These things are not the real personality. Look at the knowledge, his love for God, his disinterest in the material possessions etc.