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Telemachus, declaring that he did not want to take care of him, entrusted the “beggar” to Eumaeus to take him to the city while he himself would go to Penelope’s house.
Upon his arrival at the manor, he was greeted by Euryclia and then by his mother, to whom he announced the arrival of a beggar. She had to promise hecatombs to the gods if Zeus punished the suitors for their crimes. And as Penelope implored her son to give her news of Odysseus (Ulysses), he told her about his travels at Nestor’s and Menelaus’ places but did not mention his encounter with his father.
Then the soothsayer Theoclymenos “who has the divine aspect” announced to Penelope what had been revealed to him: Odysseus (Ulysses) was back in Ithaca and preparing his revenge.
While the suitors finished their games and prepared to feast, Eumaeus and the “beggar” left the pigs’ enclosure, one guiding the other to the city after supplying him with a stick because the road was slippery. They passed the spring where the city drank, with masonry built by Ithacos, Neritus and Polyctor. Then Melantheus, who led his goats for the meal of the suitors, covered them with insults, calling the swineherd the king of the raggamuffins and the “beggar” lazy and worthless. He struck the “beggar” on the hip, who held back his reaction, then continued on to the mansion and sat among the suitors in front of his friend Eurymachos.
Arriving in front of the great hall, the “beggar” and Eumaeus wondered which of them should enter first. Odysseus (Ulysses) then saw the dog Argos, which he had finished raising just before he left for Troy. The dog recognized him, but he had been so neglected in the absence of his master that he could not even move and died immediately.
Eumaeus entered first and sat in front of Telemachus who sent him to bring food to the “beggar” who had just entered, telling him that he had to go and beg among all the suitors, which Athena confirmed to him. Indeed, the hero had to know the compassionate and the unjust, knowing that none of them would escape death anyway.
Antinoos violently accused the swineherd of having brought the beggar into town. Eumaeus began to respond, but Telemachus silenced him and incited Antinoos to give the beggar food that did not belong to him anyway. The latter pretended to accept but grabbed a stool under the table.
The “beggar,” coming in front of him, told that he had once been very rich, but that Zeus had sent him to Egypt where his people had been massacred or subjected to forced labour for misbehaving. He himself was given as a gift to Dmetor, a powerful man from Cyprus, from where he now arrived after suffering a thousand evils.
Antinoos threw the stool at the “beggar” who was hit in the right shoulder. The latter did not flinch but he cursed his attacker, wishing his death before he was even married.
Penelope sent for Eumaeus and asked him to bring in the “beggar” who might perhaps be able to tell her about her husband. The swineherd told her that the beggar had confided to him that Odysseus (Ulysses) was alive and Penelope then told him that she would dress the beggar if she found out that he was telling the truth.
Eumaeus informed the beggar of Penelope’s request, but he replied that he would not find her until dusk because he feared the reactions of the suitors. Eumaeus brought back these words to the queen and then went to take care of his pigs.
At this point in the narrative, the two movements – the achievement of transparency and the pursuit of the realisations of the ancient yogas – are no longer compatible. Athena, the inner guide, has decreed the death of the suitors who, let us remember, have been bothering Penelope for only about four years. During the Trojan War and in the early years of Odysseus (Ulysses)’ absence, they each resided in their province: the seeker had therefore engaged in the integral yoga without his practice questioning the realisations and laws of the ancient yoga.
But there comes a time when the best performing part of the ancient yoga denies the possibility of “transformation” while it develops without its knowledge. It seems to be customary in yoga, even in the most advanced phases, that evolutions take place without the seeker being “aware” of it. This is either because he does not connect them to yoga, or because areas of unconsciousness create a discontinuity in the consciousness. “Holiness” and “wisdom” (and the realisations associated with them) attempt then to establish themselves as the only future paths of evolution, with the sole perspective of improving the present man.
These realisations have no way to “convert” because their goal – improving the present man – is totally foreign to the new yoga and even constitutes an obstacle to the coming of the Supramental. Wisdom and holiness, after being realized, must therefore be exceeded because it is the Divine who must think and feel in the seeker. This will result (after the death of the suitors Antinoos and Eurymachos) in a state of apparent “stupidity” and “insensitivity” which is in reality that of perfect surrender and exactness.
At this point, a total cancellation of his being has been achieved by the adventurer, confirming the announcement made by Odysseus (Ulysses) “hero of endurance” to Polyphemus that he was “nobody”. All opinions, preferences, prejudices, tastes and disgusts, etc. and above all, all spiritual constructs have collapsed; as Satprem says, it is a complete devastation of the cage. That is why Athena can turn him into an old and hideous beggar: he has apparently become a perfect “nullity”.
As Mother says, “What is necessary is to abandon everything: all power, all understanding, all intelligence, all knowledge, everything, everything, become perfectly non-existent” (Cf. Agenda of March 27, 1961).
The seeker gradually realized that certain realisations were exhausting the older ones (Penelope and Telemachus complain that the suitors destroy the assets of Odysseus (Ulysses)), but he nevertheless pursued both mo