IISATYANAAMII

THE CAT’S PET

Who is safe? Who is safer? Who is safest? These days, many people are worried about their safety. Lots of places have been declared red zones. In some places, where the number of COVID-19 deaths is declining, hope is coming back and people are thinking of getting back to their routine. Will we be safe ever? We all know that someday we will have to depart anyways. What if we developed an immunity? An immunity to the anxiety of dying.

Satguru Kabir Saheb has propounded his precepts in some very strange ways. The following is a lesson which calls for deep reflection and comprehension.

“Moos bilaayi ek sang, kahou kaise rahi jaaye

Acharaj ek dekho ho santo, hasti singhahi khaaye”

The rat and the cat are in the same place; tell me : how can they live together?

Oh Saints! How is that? I see the elephant eating up the lion.  

The cat has a rat as his pet. He keeps petting the rat, loves the rat. The cat has an insidious agenda. The rat has two options : either he falls in love with the cat, allows himself to be petted, reciprocates the love OR wisely finds his way out to his father’s home. The cat is Maya (Illusion) which attracts us in multiple ways, entices us to fall in its traps. Man is the rat, who by his own previous actions, landed in the cat’s house to undergo a final test. If instead of passing the test, we give in to the worldly enjoyments, we miss the opportunity to free ourselves from the circuit of dying and being born again and again.

Why would the elephant eat up the lion? The lion is the king in the forest. The elephant should be under the lion’s rule. Strangely, the elephant goes out of bounds, breaks all the rules and wants to eat the lion. Although he knows he cannot do that. Motivated by ego, he engages in a lost battle. We all know that the mind has been likened to an intoxicated elephant. The mind just wanders in all directions, without being steady and fixed on one goal. The lion, the king, is in fact the soul – the soul which is the centre of our being, silently witnessing everything. Our mind is dangerously treacherous; it gets captivated by illusion and runs after desires which will not lead us to our destination. Instead, we are bound to come back again to fulfil unfulfilled desires if we give in to Maya. If we focus our mind on God, we will embark on that path which will lead us to God. 

Let not the rat fall in love with the cat. We know that we landed in a dream palace with lots of attractions to tempt us. Therefore, by following our Guru, and avoiding the traps set everywhere, we will be able to make our way to our ultimate destination. Being aware that we are in the red zone always, we must be very vigilant and not lose sight of our goal – not a single moment.

Mahant Jay Jaggessur, Kabir Association of Toronto.