There was a Sage named Shukdev. He was son of Shri Vedvyas. One day he went to King Janak in Mithila City with the aim of taking initiation. King Janak said, “Shukdev, I will initiate you tomorrow morning.” He made arrangements for his stay in a separate building. King Janak sent a beautiful young woman to the sage in his service with the aim of testing him.
The young woman sat on Shukdev’s bed at the foot end. The sage bent his legs and retracted them further. When the woman got nearer to the sage, he stood up. He said, “O Sister! You seem to be a daughter of a good family. Please go outside the room; otherwise, I will go.” The woman went away. She told King Janak that the sage is a chaste person, and told everything that happened. In the morning, King Janak asked Sage Shukdev that – “A lady had come to meet you. By not having intercourse with her, you have showed good self-restraint. You are an abstemious person. Blessed are your parents.”
The viewpoints of Supreme God Kabir are even superior to and excellent than these. He says that even Sage Shukdev was not Aatmgyaani (knowledge of the soul) because when the young woman sat on Shukdev’s bed, he considered her a woman and did not let her touch his body, and standing up got ready to exit the room. It is clear from this that Shukdev did not have Aatm Gyaan. Just think, what would have Shukdev done had a young man instead of the young woman sat on the bed? He would have asked his well-being and would not have got up from the bed. He would have said, “Brother! There is only one bed. You may rest on the bed. I will make my bed on the floor. If the young man had been decent, he would have said, “No, Sage! You lie down on the bed. I will rest on the floor.” But because of her being a young woman, Sage Shukdev got scared due to the defect of lust.
Supreme God Kabir has explained that male and female are two clothes on the soul. Like, it is mentioned in Gita Chapter 2 Verse 22 that – “Arjun! A soul on relinquishing a body acquires a new body. This is called death. This is like; man relinquishing old clothes wears new clothes. Therefore, become aware of Aatm Tatv.
Example: - A drama troupe came to a village. They performed drama shows for many days. In olden days, men only used to play the role of women in a play in drama shows. A boy had gone for the first time with his friend to watch a play. In the play, a boy was wearing the clothes of a girl. Even the breast was like that of a young girl. The boy who had gone for the first time said to his friend (who had seen plays many times), “Look! How beautiful that girl is!” His friend said, “This is not a girl, but a boy.” But the boy, who had gone for the first time, was not ready to accept it. He did not believe his friend’s statements. After the completion of the play, the actors went to that place where they were staying. The two boys also went there with them. That boy who had disguised as a girl took all his girl-clothes and hung them on the hook. Taking off the artificial breast off his chest, he put it in his bag. He went to take a shower only in his underwear. On seeing this, the new spectator believed that actually he is a boy. The next day, the spectator boy did not develop any malicious feelings as for a girl on seeing that boy in the attire of a girl. He was appearing as a boy to him. Similarly, if Sage Shukdev had Aatm Gyaan from spiritual discrimination, then considering her a man in the soul-form instead of a woman, he would have said that – “You may lie down on the bed. I will rest on the floor.” Sages, saints and fakirs lead their lives with this viewpoint. They attain salvation by doing worship.
