The Background
Ribhu was a realized sage, and Nidagha was his devoted disciple. Though Nidagha had intellectual understanding of Vedanta, he lacked direct realization. After years of study, Ribhu left Nidagha to digest the teachings. Years later, he returned in disguise to test his student’s realization.
First Teaching: The King’s Procession
Nidagha was now a learned scholar living in the city. One day, he was watching the king’s grand procession. A rustic villager (Ribhu in disguise) stood beside him.
Ribhu: Respected sir, I am a simple villager. Please tell me—which one is the king?
Nidagha: The one riding the elephant, of course!
Ribhu: You say “riding the elephant,” but which is the king and which is the elephant? I don’t understand.
Nidagha: (Annoyed at the villager’s ignorance) The one above is the king, and the one below is the elephant. Is that clear?
Ribhu: “Above” and “below”—I still don’t understand. Can you show me using yourself and me?
Nidagha: (Thinking the villager must be very stupid) All right, look! I will climb on your shoulders. I am above like the king, and you are below like the elephant. Understand now?
Ribhu: Now tell me—who is this “I” that is above, and who is this “you” that is below?
The Thunderbolt
At that moment, Nidagha froze. He suddenly realized: The words “I” and “you,” “above” and “below,” “king” and “elephant”—all these divisions exist only in the mind! In reality, there is only the one Self.
Tears streamed down his face. He recognized his teacher.
Nidagha: Master! Forgive my blindness! I have been using “I” and “you” all my life without truly investigating what they mean.
Ribhu: That is why I have come, my son—to show you that the intellectual knowledge must become living realization.
Second Teaching: The Funeral Procession
Some time later, Ribhu returned again. Nidagha was mourning the death of his wife.
Ribhu: Why do you grieve?
Nidagha: My beloved wife has died!
Ribhu: Who has died? Show me.
Nidagha: (Pointing to the body) She lies here.
Ribhu: Is this body your wife? When she was alive, was she this body?
Nidagha: She was in this body.
Ribhu: Then where has she gone? What has changed between a moment before death and a moment after? Only the life-force has departed. But that life-force—was that your wife? Or was your wife the memories, the personality, the relationship?
Which of these did you love? And who is the one who loved? This “you” who grieves—who is this?
Nidagha: (Contemplating deeply) The body was not my wife. The personality was not my wife. The relationship existed only in thought. And the “me” who is grieving—this too is just a thought arising in consciousness!
Ribhu: Yes! This consciousness, which gives life to all bodies, which is aware of all thoughts, which witnesses all relationships—this alone is real. And this consciousness is one, not many. Your wife was not separate from you; both arose in the one consciousness.
Can the one consciousness grieve for itself?
Third Teaching: The One Self
Ribhu: Let me tell you the final teaching, Nidagha.
एकमेवाद्वितीयम् (Ekam Eva Advitiyam) - One without a second
There is only one Self in all beings. Just as the same space exists inside and outside a pot, the same consciousness exists in all bodies. When the pot breaks, space does not become many—it was always one.
Similarly, all beings are like pots. The consciousness within them is one and the same. Birth is like making a pot; death is like breaking a pot. But consciousness itself is never born, never dies.
To see a king and an elephant, a wife and a husband, a living person and a dead body—this is ignorance. To see only the one Self manifesting in countless forms—this is knowledge.
The Practice
Nidagha: But Master, how can I stabilize in this vision? My mind still makes divisions.
Ribhu: Through constant contemplation. In everyone you meet, see your own Self. In every object, see pure consciousness appearing as that form.
When you say “I am happy” or “I am sad,” investigate: Who is this “I”? When you see another and think “That is not me,” ask: Is there really a separation?
The waves appear different, but they are all the ocean. The ornaments appear different, but they are all gold. The bodies appear different, but they are all consciousness.
The Final Realization
Nidagha: Master, I understand now. When I look at you, I no longer see “my teacher” and “myself the student.” I see only consciousness appearing as two forms, playing the roles of teacher and student.
When I look at the world, I no longer see separate objects. I see consciousness dancing with itself, taking infinite forms for its own delight.
There is nothing to attain, nothing to become. This consciousness that I am—that is what everything is!
Ribhu: You have understood, my dear son. Now you are truly free.
सर्वम् खल्विदम् ब्रह्म (Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma)
All this is indeed Brahman
You are That. I am That. All this is That. There is nothing but That. Rest in this understanding, and live your life fully—for all actions are the play of consciousness itself.
The Teaching for All
This dialogue shows:
- Direct pointing: Not mere philosophy, but actual recognition
- Practical application: How to see non-duality in daily life
- The illusion of separation: All divisions exist only in the mind
- One in all: The same Self in all beings
- Living the realization: Not withdrawing from life, but seeing its true nature
Ribhu’s teaching to Nidagha is timeless: Look deeply into the “I” and “you,” investigate the reality of all divisions, and recognize the one consciousness that alone exists—appearing as all things, yet remaining forever one, indivisible, complete.