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then is my soul untouchable? And you are the man who has been teaching that God is in everybody's soul -- is he more in you and less in me? Is there some difference of quantity or quality? Or does he exist only in you, and in me there is no God, no satchitanand, no truth, no consciousness, no bliss?
"And remember, you are standing near the Ganges and the sun is rising. Don't lie! And this is not a philosophical discussion; it is a question of my life and death."
Shankarcharaya moved all around the country, winning great debates with great scholars, but he remained silent before this sudra. His question was very simple: Bodies are bodies, made of the same stuff, and consciousness is consciousness, made of the same stuff. Where is the distinction?
Seeing Shankaracharya silent he said, "If you have understood me, then just go back, no need to take another bath. If you take another bath -- then answer my question!"
And you will be surprised -- in his whole life this was perhaps his only defeat. He had to leave the place and to go back to the temple without taking another bath. Of course he was not courageous enough to say the truth. The question was simple, but he could see that whatever he said was going to be against his own philosophical teachings, against his own religion. It was better to keep silent, not to say anything.
But the untouchable man -- nobody knows his name -- must have been of tremendous intelligence. He managed to get the answer because he made it clear that, "If you take the bath I am going to touch you again. If you accept my standpoint that there is no difference, then simply go back to your temple -- it is time for your morning prayer."
Seeing the situation, Shankarcharya went back to the temple. But that destroys his whole philosophy; within five minutes his whole life's effort is destroyed. And the reason is that his philosophy is against existence; this unknown man was simply stating a fact -- that the outer is material, the inner is spiritual, and there is no conflict.
Have you seen any conflict between your soul and your body -- fighting, wrestling, beating each other? There is tremendous
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