Broken and Beautiful

Once upon a time, in a timeless time, long ago- from within his mother’s womb, a sweet baby listened to his father recite the holy Vedas. Much to his father’s dismay, each time the baby heard him make a mistake, he would giggle. In a state of anger, the father cursed his unborn child and soon after Astavakra was born to him broken/bent (vakra) in eight (asta) places.

When Astavakra was a teenager, King Janaka invited all the noblemen and scholars of the land to attend a great competition. You see, King Janaka was in search of a teacher. Astavakra’s father was invited to compete and it took several days for them to travel to the kingdom due to Astavakra’s deformities. Upon entering the castle, those in attendance began to laugh and ridicule Astavakra. As he began to cry, King Jankaka turned to him and asked what the commotion was all about. Astavakra spoke to his pain and disappointment- that he had traveled a long distance to stand in the presence of such nobleman but here he finds himself among shoemakers. King Janaka, yet confused, begins to roll call all the brahmins and the sages. Astavakra shakes his head and replies, “They see only the skin and not the soul. The cobblers are so concerned about the surface- this is good skin, that is not, this one is smooth, that one is rough. They merely see the surface and based their judgements on such.” Realizing the truth in his sentiments, King Janaka turned pink with embarrassment, he then turned to his assembly and declared Astavakra his teacher.

To dive deeper-

We are all born into this world a little bit broken, flawed. Beyond the surface of our being, lies the richness of our soul. Look deep, look deeper still.