Janak, Is Everyone A Cobbler In Your Court?

Ashtavakra was a great saint in the era of Ram avatar. The saint's body was crooked from eight points, hence He got the name. (Aṣṭāvakra means "one having eight bends") Ashtavakra was the Guru of famous King Janak.

Once He visited the courtroom of King Janak. The people present there saw Him for the first time. Just by looking at the saint's  crooked body, the most who were present started laughing.

Ashtavakra heard the laughter and said to Janak - O Janak! Is everyone in your courtroom a cobbler (chamaar)?

Cobblers were considered very low caste people at that time, so everyone felt insulted with this remark. 

They complained to King Janak - This is our insult. Why did the sage say those words for us?

Janak was a Paramhans. He understood why His Guru used those words. But He responded to his people - Please ask the sage to explain why He said that.

And the people said - Yes, yes! We need an explanation.

Ashtavakra explained - A cobbler works with the skins of animals, so he is an expert of the skins. Just by looking at the skin, he can tell its quality. But unfortunately, he does not see or know anything beneath the skin.

Ashtavakra continued - Since you people just looked at my external appearance and ignored the fact that I am Janak's Guru and I am a sage, I qualified you people as cobblers.

Everyone understood their mistake and became silent.

 

Moral of the Story

Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj explains that we the souls are under the influence of Maya. Hence, when we see a saint, we only see a material body. We cannot see the divinity of the saint inside the body.

Hence, we should not try to judge or ridicule a saint. It is an expression of ego and may be a Naam Apraadh (the highest transgression) in certain cases.