Queen Madalasas Vedantic Lullabies

Dadi**: Guddu beta, what songs did your mother sing to you when you were a baby?

Guddu**: Lullabies about the moon and sleep, I think.

Dadi**: Tonight's story is about a queen who sang very different lullabies - songs of deep philosophy - and her babies grew up to be enlightened beings!

Guddu**: Philosophy for babies?!

Dadi**: Queen Madalasa was no ordinary queen. She had been rescued from a demon by Prince Rtadhvaja, who married her. But she was an evolved soul who understood the deepest truths of existence.

Guddu**: What truths?

Dadi**: That we are not our bodies, not our names, not our social positions. We are pure consciousness, eternal and unchanging. This is Vedantic wisdom.

Guddu**: That's heavy for a baby!

Dadi**: Listen to what she sang to her first son Vikranta when he cried: "You are pure, enlightened, and spotless. Leave the illusion of the world and wake up from this deep slumber of delusion."

Guddu**: To a crying baby?!

Dadi**: She continued: "My child, you are ever pure! You don't have a name - a name is only an imaginary label put on you. This body made of five elements is not you. Why then do you cry?"

Guddu**: Did the babies understand?

Dadi**: At some deep level, yes! These teachings entered their consciousness from infancy. When Vikranta grew up, he became an atma-jnani - a self-realized being. He renounced the kingdom and went to the forest to meditate.

Guddu**: Her lullabies worked!

Dadi**: She sang the same songs to her second son Subahu, and her third son Satrumardana. Each grew up, understood the illusory nature of the world, and renounced everything to seek enlightenment.

Guddu**: Three sons became monks because of lullabies!

Dadi**: Her husband the king became worried. "You're destroying our lineage!" he said. "Who will rule the kingdom if all our sons become monks?"

Guddu**: He had a point!

Dadi**: So when their fourth son Alarka was born, the king said, "Please, sing different songs to this one. Teach him to be a king, not a monk."

Guddu**: What did the queen do?

Dadi**: She agreed! To Alarka, she sang lullabies about bravery, righteousness, good kingship, and using wealth for noble purposes. She taught him that action in the world can also be a spiritual path.

Guddu**: So he became king?

Dadi**: A great king! Alarka ruled wisely for thousands of years according to legend. Eventually, he too attained enlightenment, but through the path of righteous action rather than renunciation.

Guddu**: So both paths work?

Dadi**: That's the beautiful teaching! Some souls are ready to renounce the world immediately. Others need to live in the world, do their duties, and find God through action. Both paths lead to the same destination.

Guddu**: Dadi, can you sing me Vedantic lullabies?

Dadi**: Ha! Here's a simple one Madalasa sang: "Shuddho'si buddho'si niranjanosi" - "You are pure, you are enlightened, you are beyond all stain." Just remembering these truths is a form of meditation.

Guddu**: I am pure, I am enlightened...

Dadi**: Even if you don't fully understand it now, these seeds of truth plant themselves in the mind. One day, they bloom.

Guddu**: Like Madalasa's babies!

Dadi**: Exactly. What we feed our children - the stories, the songs, the ideas - shapes who they become. Madalasa knew this and fed her children the highest wisdom from their very first days.

Guddu**: I'll tell my children wise stories too, Dadi. Like you tell me!

Dadi**: And the wisdom continues through generations. Goodnight, my pure and enlightened Guddu!

Guddu**: Goodnight, Dadi!