The Wise Astrologer - short story by Chaitanya mahaprabhu

 

The wise Sarvajna continued. "Do not search on the southern side of your house for there you will be attacked by a poisonous wasp. On the northern side danger lurks in the form of a large serpent. Searching on the western side will prove equally fruitless for there you'll find a yaksha or wicked spirit lying in wait. Luck will come to you only if you search on the eastern side of your house!"

 
By citing this story, Lord Shri Chaitanya Mahprabhu pointed out the forlorn and destitute condition of the living entity due to his unfortunate forgetfulness of his eternal relationship with Lord Shri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As Bhagavan Shri Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita, aham bija prada pita. In other words, He is the supreme seed-giving Father. It therefore follows that we, His lost sons, are in dire need of the real treasure or pure love of God.

 
The southern side of the house represents materialistic rituals which are prescribed in the shastras for obtaining fruitive gain. The resultant attachment to the bodily concept of life and the subsequent rebirth in an endless whirlpool of samsara is symbolically indicated by the wasp. Truly one who is lost in the confusing cycle of repeated birth and death is stung at every moment by his own ignorance of his real treasure.

The northern side represents that system of yoga wherein mystic siddhis or fantastic subtle powers are awakened. It often happens that mystic yogis become materialistic and forget their real business of "linking to God through pure love" (this is the real import of the word yoga). These so-called yogis engage in austerities to achieve only subtle material advancement. Still other yogis forget their search fo the personal Absolute and lose sight of the spiritual individuality which is inherent and inborn in each atma. Because they annihilate their unique identities by merging into the limitless realms of sayujya, they also fail to reach the feet of the all-merciful Lord Sri Krishna. Because they are swallowed by His non-personal effulgence, it can be said that they have been attacked (and devoured by) a dangerous serpent.

The yaksha on the west represents the whimsical mind of the mental speculator who avoids the wise counsel of authoritative shastras. People possessing such mental attitudes love to invent various concocted means of attaining so-called perfection. Persons who are chained to mental gymnastics are like the puffed-up frog in the well who exploded while speculating that the ocean must be about the same size as the expanding bubble on his chin. Quite naturally these lost souls never reach the goal, but are forced by material nature to continue their mental speculation birth after birth. That is the analogy of the yaksha.

The wise astrologer Sarvajna advised the poor man to dig for the long-lost treasure on the eastern side where the sun rises. The eastern side represents pure love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna. The supremely valuable treasure of Krishna-prema is discovered when our dormant personal relationship with the Supreme Lord is realised. By abandoning all material pursuits whether gross or subtle and by spontaneously offering everything and every act unto Sri Krishna, the real value of life is discovered. This is the sum and substance of Lord Chaitanya's teaching to Santana Goswami in the parable of the wise astrologer.

After instructing Sanatana, Mahaprabhu observed that the Goswami had achieved a high degree of enlightenment. Thus by Lord Chaitanya's mercy, Sanatana, who had kicked aside vast material wealth, went to Vrindavana to dig deeper into life's real treasure. There in the abode of Lord Krishna he wrote more than a hundred books which to this day guide sincere seekers on the transcendental path of spiritual realisation.