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Chapter 13
Appendix—The people who have no ability to understand the scriptures and whose discriminative power is weak but have a burning desire to go beyond death, such people also by obeying the liberated exalted souls, go beyond death.
In the Upanisad, there is an anecdote. Satyakama, the son of Jabala went to sage Gautama so that Gautama might preach him the gospel. The sage gave him four hundred lean and feeble cows and ordered him to tend them. Satyakama enthusiastically said, "I shall return only when their number increases to a thousand." Having said this, he carried them to the forest and began to rear them there. After several years when their number was increased to a thousand, then a bull said to him, "Our number has increased to a thousand, therefore you should take us back to the preceptor (teacher)." Having said this, the bull preached him the gospel of the first plida of Brahma. The next day Satyakama started for the seminary with the cows. On the way Agni preached him the gospel of Brahma's second Oda; Hamsa preached him the gospel of Brahma's third Oda and Madgu (an aquatic bird) preached him the gospel of the fourth Oda of Brahma. Thus on the way having gained knowledge of the Supreme, he came back to sage Gautama. When the teacher asked him, he narrated the whole anecdote and requested the teacher to preach him the gospel in his own words. Then Sage Gautama preached him the gospel (Chandogya. fourth chapter, fourth to ninth khanda) (portions). In this way only by obeying an enlightened liberated exalted soul, Satyakama attained Self-realization.
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