Long ago there was a lady by the name of Madalasa. She was a great sádhiká [spiritual aspirant]. In Aryan literature she has been mentioned as Rakshasi⁽¹⁾ Madalasa because she belonged to the Dravidian race.

At the time when she was to be married to [Chitrasena,] the king of Kashi, she said to her would-be husband, “I will marry you only on the condition that I will be solely responsible for the education and upbringing of the children. The moment you will interfere in this, I will leave you.”

The king of Kashi agreed to this condition set by Madalasa, and the marriage between the two was held. [Three] children were born to them. [The first] was named Vikranta and [the third] Alarka.

Madalasa started imparting spiritual education to Vikranta. She would put him in the cradle and sing lullabies in very sweet and rhythmic tunes which were full of the highest spiritual truths. One of her lullabies was

Shuddho’si buddho’si niraiṋjano’si saḿsáramáyá parivarjito’si;
Saḿsárasvapnaḿ tyajamohanidrám Madálasollápamuváca putram.

This means, “O my son! You are that [pure] Entity; you are that all-knowing Entity; you are that spotless Entity. This world is a passing show, is ever-changing. It is all like a dream. O my son, awaken from your sleep of ignorance and realize the Reality.”

Vikranta grew up among such spiritual ideations, and by the time he was about twelve he left his parents and took to sannyása [renunciation]. This was a great blow to his father, the king of Kashi, for, he, the king, had planned great wordly things for Vikranta. He had planned to make Vikranta king after him.

[The second son, under Madalasa’s training, followed in the footsteps of the first.]

Now Madalasa devoted her time to her [third] son, Alarka. [Madalasa] was not happy at the naming of [this third] son, for alarka meant “mad dog”.

Once when the king was strolling by the palace where Madalasa lived, he heard the same spiritual lullaby being now sung to Alarka that Madalasa had sung to his first two sons. He thought, “Madalasa spoiled [my first two sons]. I see she is doing the same thing with Alarka as well. No, I can’t let this happen.” Thinking thus, he rushed to Madalasa and said, “Stop this now. I have had enough of it. From now onwards I shall look after Alarka.” The king picked Alarka up in his arms.

Madalasa then said, “You have gone against the promise you made to me. I will therefore stay with you no longer.” Madalasa prepared for her departure. Just when she was about to leave, she gave one ring to the king and said, “Please put this ring on Alarka’s finger as he grows up a little more. Please tell him that at any moment when he might be in great trouble, he should break open the ring, and therein he will get the right advice.” Madalasa then left her husband’s place.

Alarka was then brought up under the care of the king. The king had gotten himself too involved in material pursuits. There was hardly any evil to which he had not gotten habituated. Naturally, under an evil care, Alarka as well developed evil habits. These grew in intensity as he grew. And when he became the king of Kashi after the death of his father, Alarka had hardly any time for the state and its people. He was too engrossed in his own entertainments. The condition of the state and its people deteriorated, going from bad to worse. The officers of the state ruthlessly exploited the people, as generally does happen in any state ruled by a king who finds no time to look after the affairs of state. All the people of the state wanted a change in the administration.

Vikranta, the sannyásii brother of Alarka, heard of the miseries of the people of Kashi. He approached the [king of Kaushala] and said, “You see, I am the [eldest] brother of King Alarka. The kingdom actually belongs to me. You know also the sorry state of affairs in Kashi. I therefore request you to please march with your army to Kashi, conquer it, and hand it over to me.”

[The king of Kaushala] was a moralist. He thought the proposal to be a wise one and attacked Kashi. As there was no one to support Alarka, Kashi was conquered without a fight. Alarka fled to save himself.

Vikranta then thought, “I requested [the king of Kaushala] to attack Kashi only to give Alarka a good lesson. My duty is now over and I hope Alarka will now rule nicely.” Vikranta returned to his own place.

But Alarka had run away from Kashi. Hiding here and there, he reached a forest. He found himself helpless and in trouble. Suddenly his eyes fell upon the ring given to him by his mother. He broke open the ring. Therein he found two pieces of advice written. The first was, “Do not have any desire, but if that be not possible, then have the desire for mokśa [non-qualified liberation].” The second was, “Do not keep any type of company, but if that be not possible, keep good company, satsauṋga.”

Alarka thought, “It is not possible for me to be desireless. At the same time, I have committed such evil deeds, how then can I get mokśa? Regarding the second advice, it is not possible for me to live without company, but let me keep good company. This is what I can do.”

In the same forest where Alarka then was, the ashram of Astavakra Rishi also was. Alarka went to see the rśi [sage] and started living in the ashram. In due course he learned sádhaná and devoted most of his time to the rśi. The rśi taught many things to Alarka.⁽²⁾ Due to his sádhaná and good company Alarka became a realized man.

Meanwhile, finding neither Vikranta nor Alarka to rule Kashi, yet having not even the least desire to enlarge the frontiers of Kaushala, his own state, [the king of Kaushala] decided that he would rule Kashi as well as his own kingdom for the time being only, and, when either Vikranta or Alarka would come, would hand Kashi over to that person.

Some time passed thus. One day Vikranta thought, “I did all those things only to correct Alarka. I guess now he must be ruling Kashi nicely. Why not go and see him?” And he started for Kashi.

Alarka also thought, “Vikranta must be ruling excellently. He gave me such a fine thing here. I should go and thank him.” And Alarka too started for Kashi.

The two met on the way to Kashi. They embraced each other and exchanged affections. They then proceeded towards the court of [the king of Kaushala]. Seeing them coming, [the king of Kaushala] hurried to meet them. The king then said, “You two have really burdened me with the administration of Kashi, and I already had enough to keep me worried. Now you have come. Please take your kingdom back and release me.”

But neither Vikranta nor Alarka was ready to do this. They had already got a taste of a nicer thing. They requested [the king of Kaushala] to administer Kashi as well. The king had to accede to the requests of the two sannyásiis.

[Bábá ended the story here and asked:] Now tell me which of the three – Vikranta, Alarka, and [the king of Kaushala] – is the greatest character, according to you?

[One by one those present expressed their views. Diverse were the opinions. Some were for Vikranta, for, though he was a sannyásii, he did not forget society. When needed, he came back to do his part of the duty. Some others were for Alarka, for he showed that a degraded man could rise. Many others expressed themselves for the king of Kaushala, for he represented “Heart to God and hands to work.”]

[Then those present asked Bábá, who then said:] All three are the greatest of men. But the greatest character is the one who not only is great himself but also can inspire others in society. Of the three characters in review here, Alarka has such a characteristic. A great majority in society, and actually speaking almost all, do commit mistakes. They repent, too, and are always desirous of correcting themselves, of improving themselves. Alarka will inspire all such persons. These persons can get new hope in Alarka, thinking that if a man like Alarka could rise to great heights, why can’t they? Alarka will keep encouraging them to rebuild their careers in a nicer way.

Footnotes

(1) In mythology, a demoness. The terms rákśasa and rákśasii were used by the Indo-Aryans to refer derogatorily to the indigenous Indians, especially the Dravidians. –Eds.

(2) These have been compiled in a book named Aśt́ávakra Saḿhitá. –Eds.