I was searching for Khatu Shyam Baba. I didn’t see Sri Aurobindo Ji has spoken about him. There is a question in my mind. Who was really Khatu Shyam Baba? Do Khatu Shyam Baba known for fulfilling the desire of his bhakta or there is something else which we don’t know? 🦚🛕🌹🚩[…]

Today is the Birthday of Khatu Shyam ji (1st Nov). I think whatever the People have made Khatu Shyam Baba as the giver of happiness, one who fulfils desires, etc. I think there is a misunderstanding…

Yes, there is indeed a deeper, in fact, very deep meaning in the story. The story of Khatu Shyam ji is narrated in the Mahabharata as the story of Barbaric, son of Ghatotkach and grandson of Bhima. He is a very powerful warrior who had three magical arrows given as a boon by god Shiva. With these three, he could destroy any army. But he had it in his mind that he would use these powerful arrows against the winning side and stand by the side of the losers, regardless of their deeds and merits or demerits. He entered the war with the idea of fighting for the Kauravas because he knew that, due to Sri Krishna being on the side of the Pandavas, they could not be defeated. This would naturally create a gross imbalance and would unwittingly make the great warrior an instrument of adharma. Hence, Sri Krishna asks him for his head and the heroic soul agrees. Sri Krishna, pleased by his sacrifice, grants immortality to the head and places it on a hill to watch the war.

At the end of the war, when each warrior is discussing who was the mightiest, the head of Barbaric laughs, saying that he saw only Krishna on both sides. Happy with his yogic vision, Sri Krishna grants Barbaric the same status as himself, giving him his own name, Shyam. Thus, one born in the Rakshasa kula attains the highest status through the sacrifice of his ego and ideological leanings. This is the story of Khatu Shyam ji. It is the story of how victory and defeat are intertwined in life and how the greatest loss sometimes opens the doors to the highest gain. Most of all, it is a story that reminds us of the truth of Oneness. The most important direct symbolic meaning of the story is that he who sees the Divine everywhere and in everything becomes one with the same status as the Divine and by losing his ego at the Feet of the Divine attains immortality. 

Affectionately,

Alok Da