The Story: Ribhu and Nidagh
There was one sage by name of Ribhu. He was an expert in philosophy. A lot of students came to his Ashram to learn Vedas. His favourite student was Nidagh. Nidagh completed his studies and took leave of Ribhu. He came back to his home.
As per the instructions of his teacher, he got married. Ribhu had advised him to obtain knowledge while performing duties towards his family. He was trying to behave accordingly.
After some years, Ribhu remembered Nidagh. He wanted to see whether his disciple was behaving as per his teachings. Ribhu came to Nidagh’s town. He saw one procession passing on the main road of the town. The king’s men were pushing back the crowd. Thousands of people were gathered. He saw Nidagh standing in one corner. Ribhu had changed his appearance to avoid recognition, so Nidagh did not recognize him.
The king was sitting on an elephant in the procession. Ribhu asked Nidagh,
“In whose honour is this procession arranged?”
“King’s!”
“You seem to know a lot. Tell me, who is the king and who are the other people?”
king.” “The one who is sitting on the elephant is the
“I do not understand. Tell me who is the one sitting above and who is the one under him?”
“Stupid, the one who is below is the elephant and the one who is sitting on top of it is the king. Do you understand now?”
“My dear, I do not understand the difference.
Please tell me in simple words who all are above and who all are below?”
Nidagh got very angry hearing Ribhu’s words. He jumped up on Ribhu’s shoulders and said,
“Fool, now do you understand? I am above just like the king and you are below me just like the elephant. Now you must know the difference.” Ribhu saw that his disciple had humiliated him. Still, he did not get angry. He was even more calm and said to Nidagh in a sweet voice,
“Now look at me properly, and tell me who you are and who I am.”
Now Nidagh understood. He looked at Ribhu carefully. He jumped down from his shoulders. He touched Ribhu’s feet and said, “Sir, you are my teacher Ribhu Rishi. I am your beloved student Nidagh. There is no other calm and controlled person like you in the world. Your nature tells me who you are. Please forgive my offense.”
Ribhu embraced his student. He preached Nidagh, blessed him and went back to his Ashram.
Bravo the teacher and bravo the student!
