King Janaka also, like the Teacher Maharshi in front, relentlessly asserts the inner infinite glory of the Self, again and again, and in its light denounces and denies firmly everything else in comparison. Good and bad are very primary notions fed to the mind and intelligence to grow in knowledge and be able to think, formulate and articulate ideas, building the human treasure of knowledge.

Though these seemingly relate to the world, the world itself has no independent status. It is our five senses that perceive the world as sound, touch, taste, colour and smell. These five inhere in our senses alone. They do not belong to objects, which are all inert, with no power to cause any sensation at all. Where does the world, judged on the basis of these five sensations, stand then?

True we do speak about good and bad, virtue and vice and the like. But examined by our intelligence, they fall abruptly, untenably. At the same time, the ‘I’, the Self, on which these notions rest, scintillates undeniably with all intensity. Janaka says he is dwelling in this inner untarnishable glory, disregarding all else, however adored, observed and clung to by tradition or convention.

Spirituality is actually this supreme non-dual note, the very foundation of our life as well as the finale of all our experience and knowledge! Yes, Self is knowledge indeed, not matter, nor energy!