Once
a man was going through a forest, when three robbers fell upon him and robbed
him of all his possessions. One of the robbers said, 'What's the use of keeping
this man alive?' So saying, he was about to kill him with his sword, when the
second robber interrupted him, saying: 'Oh, no! What is the use of killing him?
Tie him hand and foot and leave him here.' The robbers bound his hands and feet
and went away.
After a while the third robber returned and said to the man: 'Ah, I am sorry. Are you hurt? I will release you from your bonds.' After setting the man free, the thief said: 'Come with me. I will take you to the public highway.' After a long time they reached the road. Then the robber said: 'Follow this road. Over there is your house.' At this the man said: 'Sir, you have been very good to me. Come with me to my house ' 'Oh, no!' the robber replied. 'I can't go there. The police will know it.'
This story is same as our life story. This world itself is the forest. The three robbers prowling here are satya, rajas, and tamas. It is they that rob a man of the Knowledge of Truth. Tamas wants to destroy him. Rajas binds him to the world. But satya rescues him from the clutches of rajas and tamas. Under the protection of satya, man is rescued from anger, passion, and the other evil effects of tamas. Further, satya loosens the bonds of the world. But satya also is a robber. It cannot give him the ultimate Knowledge of Truth, though it shows him the road leading to the Supreme Abode of God. Setting him on the path, satya tells him: 'Look yonder. There is your home.' Even satya is far away from the Knowledge of Brahman.
Brahman is beyond the three gunas. It is beyond Prakriti.
Sri Ramkrishna Paramhansa.
After a while the third robber returned and said to the man: 'Ah, I am sorry. Are you hurt? I will release you from your bonds.' After setting the man free, the thief said: 'Come with me. I will take you to the public highway.' After a long time they reached the road. Then the robber said: 'Follow this road. Over there is your house.' At this the man said: 'Sir, you have been very good to me. Come with me to my house ' 'Oh, no!' the robber replied. 'I can't go there. The police will know it.'
This story is same as our life story. This world itself is the forest. The three robbers prowling here are satya, rajas, and tamas. It is they that rob a man of the Knowledge of Truth. Tamas wants to destroy him. Rajas binds him to the world. But satya rescues him from the clutches of rajas and tamas. Under the protection of satya, man is rescued from anger, passion, and the other evil effects of tamas. Further, satya loosens the bonds of the world. But satya also is a robber. It cannot give him the ultimate Knowledge of Truth, though it shows him the road leading to the Supreme Abode of God. Setting him on the path, satya tells him: 'Look yonder. There is your home.' Even satya is far away from the Knowledge of Brahman.
Brahman is beyond the three gunas. It is beyond Prakriti.
Sri Ramkrishna Paramhansa.