Podcast details
The Yogi, the Hunter, and the Deer
The story of the yogi and the hunter illustrates the challenge of discerning truth in a moral dilemma. A hunter, pursuing a deer, asks a meditating yogi for the animal's direction. Telling the truth aids a killing; lying violates a lifelong principle. The yogi faces an immediate test where any action seems sinful. In such urgent moments, one must rely on inner discernment, not prolonged reasoning. The yogi receives an answer from within. He tells the hunter that the eyes that saw cannot speak, and the mouth that speaks did not see. The hunter dismisses him. This entire situation operates within the realm of qualities, body, and senses. The true Self, the Ātmā, is neither the doer of the action nor the experiencer of its consequences.
"If you tell the truth, you commit a sin because an innocent animal will be killed. If you tell a lie, that is also a sin."
"Those who have seen the deer cannot speak. And those who speak and say that they have seen cannot see."
Filming location: Vancouver, Canada
This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.
The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:
- Yoga in Daily Life - The System
Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda. Ibera Verlag, Vienna, 2000. ISBN 978-3-85052-000-3 - The Hidden Power in Humans - Chakras and Kundalini
Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda. Ibera Verlag, Vienna, 2004. ISBN 978-3-85052-197-0 - Lila Amrit - The Divine Life of Sri Mahaprabhuji
Paramhans Swami Madhavananda. Int. Sri Deep Madhavananda Ashram Fellowship, Vienna, 1998. ISBN 3-85052-104-4
