Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy - Osho - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 16. ATHEISM, THEISM AND REALITY
to go to his village on some urgent business. Since Mahavira is in silence, he cannot say yes or no,
but the cowherd takes his silence as his consent and hurries away to his village.
On his return he is shocked to find that all his cows have disappeared, while Mahavira is standing
there as before. The cowherd believes his cows have been stolen with the connivance of this man
who is now pretending to be deaf by not answering his questions. He curses Mahavira and beats
him mercilessly; he even sticks an iron rod into his ears, telling him, ”You are pretending deafness –
so have it for good.” Mahavira does not say a word; he remains standing motionless and silent.
Legend has it that Indra, king of the gods, comes to Mahavira and offers protection but Mahavira
declines the offer. This Indra is not a person, he is one of the bodiless souls who is grieved to see
an innocent and defenseless person like Mahavira being tortured. But Mahavira emphatically says
”no” to Indra. It is amusing that the one who does not say a word to the cowherd torturing him,
says ”no” to Indra. In fact this dialogue between Indra and Mahavira takes place at some inner level
where Mahavira has received Indra’s message psychically. If he spoke to Indra, he could have also
talked to the cowherd and explained his situation. But he maintains his vow of silence in spite of all
the tortures he is subjected to. His vow of silence is for twelve years. Evidently he does not have to
refuse Indra verbally – it is an inner dialogue, that can be carried without words and language. There
are such channels of esoteric communication where neither words nor sense organs are needed.
Mahavira’s followers have been in difficulty explaining this episode. But it is quite possible. There
are bodiless souls who can communicate with us astrally and without words.
Mahavira is reported to have said to Indra, ”No, if I agree to be protected by you I will lose my
freedom. Leave me undefended so my freedom re mains intact. Your help will surely bind me to
you, and I don’t want bondage even in return for my protection.” Mahavira means to say that the
cowherd will not do him as much harm as Indra’s protection because it will bind him with the king
of gods. Tortures inflicted on him by a keeper of cows will not bind him in any way, but the security
provided by Indra certainly will. He would not like to give up his freedom at any cost.
Another legend says when Gautam Siddhartha first attained to Buddhahood, gods came to greet
him. Buddha did not say a word for seven days after his enlightenment – as if he had lost his voice.
It happens often when one attains to the supreme knowledge; he loses his speech.
It is easy to speak in a state of ignorance. When one does not know the truth he has no sense of
responsibility for what he says; he can say anything he likes. There is no difficulty in speaking about
something we don’t know, because we are not afraid of being wrong. But when one comes to truth,
he becomes speechless, because truth cannot be said.
So when Buddha became Buddha, he kept absolutely silent for seven days, and it is said the gods
became disturbed and implored him to resume speak ing. It would be calamitous for mankind,
the gods thought, if Buddha did not share his priceless wisdom with those who needed it. It is
after millenia that a man like him is born on this planet. ”Pray, speak for the sake of the suffering
humanity,” the gods begged him.
These gods are bodiless souls, not persons. They are highly evolved souls, aware that what Buddha
has achieved is rare. And fortunately for the world he is in a human body, so he is in a position to
Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy 310 Osho