Kalsokarik and his son

Is knowledge Ishwar? Knowledge may or may not be Ishwar. Knowledge may take us near or away from Ishwar. A businessman was in front of the god of death who asked him where he wished to go — to heaven or to hell. The businessman replied, ‘I don’t bother about heaven or hell, but please send me anywhere where I can earn some money.’ This is the state of deep attachment to money.

Kalsokarik was a renowned butcher of his time. He used to kill 500 buffaloes every day. Once he was put inside a dark cell by the king. There, too, he fulfilled his deep-rooted attachment to killing buffaloes by making and killing imaginary buffaloes.

This is also a sort of attachment.


When Kalsokarik died, his son Sulas became the butcher. He had to perform a ritual of sacrificing abuffalo. His whole clan was gathered and Sulas was ordered to kill the buffalo. He said, ‘I cannot kill.’

Sulas was free from cruelty and he was awakened to his knowledge. Kalsokarik couldn’t exist without killing buffaloes, and Sulas couldn’t kill buffaloes. The difference in their tendencies was the subtle difference in their knowledge.

What is prekshadhyana?
It is a process of awakening one’s own reasoning mind and thereby controlling one’s passions and emotions, by concentration on perception rather than on thought.