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

CHAPTER 17. DON’T IMITATE, JUST BE YOURSELF
– you will never say no to them. And you will answer every question I will put to you at any time
and place. And thirdly, I will attend, if I want to, even your very private and confidential discussions
with your visitors.” Being the younger brother, Buddha not only accepted Ananda’s conditions, he
honored them throughout his life. He never felt any difficulty about it.
But when he returned to his home town after twelve years and was going to visit his wife,
Yashodhara, these promises given to Ananda years ago came in the way. Ananda, as usual, wanted
to be with him during his meeting with his wife, but for the first time Buddha felt embarrassed. He
said to Ananda, ”Just think, I am going to visit her after twelve long years. And for her I am not
Buddha, but the same old Gautam Siddhartha, her husband who left her in the dead of night without
informing her. And you know she is a proud woman and she will take offense if you come with
me; she will think it is a strategy to prevent her from expressing all her bottled-up resentment and
frustration. sorrow and suffering. I am aware of my promise, but I beg of you not to insist on it for
once.”
This is a very sensitive and delicate moment and Buddha’s response to it is so human and beautiful.
When Ananda reminds him that he has transcended all associations and attachments – no one is
now a wife or a son to him – Buddha tells him, ”This is quite true, Ananda, as far as I am concerned.
But for Yashodhara I am her husband, and it is not in my hands to undo it.”
Ananda keeps out of Buddha’s way. ’When Buddha meets Yashodhara the expected happens. She
bursts out crying; all the pent-up anger and pain and agony she has silently suffered for twelve years
comes out in a torrent. Her outburst is quite justifiable. Buddha listens to her very silently. When
she quiets down and wipes away her tears, Buddha says to her very gently, ”Yashodhara, look at
me attentively. I am not the same person who had left you twelve years back. I don’t come back to
you as your husband, the husband is no more. I am altogether different. You talked so long to the
departed one; now you can talk to me.”
The relationship between Krishna and Arjuna is radically different; they are friends. They have
played and gossiped together as intimate pals. If Krishna tells him only this much, ”I speak about
the truth that I have known,” Arjuna will retort, ”I know you and your truth.” So he has to say, ”What I
say is the same truth that has been said by many other seers. Don’t take it amiss because it comes
to you from a friend. What I say is really significant.”
The GEETA is the product of a particular situation; and this has to be borne in mind, otherwise
there is much room for misunderstanding. Buddha’s situation is different from Krishna’s. He can
afford to say, ”What I say is truth; I am not concerned with what others say about it. And I also urge
you not to accept it on my authority. You need to come to it on your own.” And it is not an egoist’s
statement. An egoist would insist on being accepted as an authority. Buddha is simply stating his
individual experience to stimulate the thirst for truth in his listeners. He tells them again not to take
it as a belief, but go on their own search for truth. But he is also clear that what he says is his own
experience. This is simply a state, ment of fact.
We are aware that what Buddha says has been said by others too. We know that the Vedas and
UPANISHADS have already said what Buddha says. But why doesn’t Buddha say so? There are
reasons for it, and the reasons are inherent in the conditions of Buddha’s time. By the time of
Buddha, the tradition of the Vedas and UPANISHADS had completely degenerated and decayed,
Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy 326 Osho