"Praise be to you O, learned teacher of Brahmins. The son of the mighty God Zeus, Alexander, sovereign of the World, commands you to go to him.” The yogi however remained in deep meditation and did not reply. Whereupon the messenger said, “ The mighty warrior Alexander does not take kindly to refusals, if you comply, you will be richly rewarded if not, your head will be cut off."
The Yogi was neither amused nor intimidated by this rather threatening invitation. He looked up from his couch of grass and leaves and said: "You may tell your master the mighty son of Zeus that firstly all sons of Zeus are my brothers and we are all equal in the eyes of our father. Secondly that I am content with what I have so I do not need any gifts and thirdly he may be able to cut off my head, but will never be able to disturb the peace of my soul, something which clearly Alexander does not have in spite of all his conquests.”
When Alexander received the message, he was seized by the greatest desire to meet such a fearless and wise yogi, and came to him willingly to learn the wisdom of yoga.
Thus Alexander was taking the first step in his spiritual life. This all-important step is mentioned in the yogic scripture - the Bhagavad-gita, which was spoken over 5 000 years ago:
“Just try to learn the truth by approaching a self-realised soul,
enquire from him submissively and render service unto him.
The self realised soul can impart knowledge unto you
because he has seen the truth.” Bg 4.34
