Day by Day with Bhagavan - Part 6











Day by Day with Bhagavan









Bhagavan: He cannot be such an ignoramus, as you
started by saying he was a sadhaka in this line already.
23-3-46 Afternoon
Bhagavan was perusing Thirukovalur Puranam and
telling the story of Pari, the philanthropist, and about Avvai
having got his daughters married to a king. Bhagavan was
saying that in this book Pari is traced to Ceylon, whereas
in other books a Pari is mentioned as having lived in these
parts and having eclipsed by his liberality the three kings,
Chera, Chola and Pandya.
24-3-46
I referred to Swami Sambuddhananda’s last question,
what to do with those who have lost faith in God and who, if
asked to find out their source, may say, ‘Our parents are the
source from which we spring.’
Bhagavan: Fancy a man saying our source is our parents.
I asked, “But what about a pure materialist, who does
not believe in God. How are we to deal with him?”
Bhagavan: He will come gradually, step by step, to find
out the source of ‘I’. First, adversity will make him feel that
there is a power beyond his control, upsetting his plans. Then,
he will begin with rituals, ceremonial worship, and through
japa, kirtan, dhyana, go on to vichara.
I asked Bhagavan, “What is the fire that is called the
Nachiketa fire in the Kathopanishad?
Bhagavan: “I don’t know what exactly it is. It must refer to
some fire ritual. These terms are generally symbolical. Only today,
I saw in the current number of the Ramakrishna Vijayam an article
on the Five Fires.” So saying, he took up the journal and read out
to us almost the whole of the article. It refers to the svarga loka,
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the megha mandala, the earth, man and woman as the five fires,
and gives allegorical interpretations for all the details.
25-3-46 Afternoon
I again asked Bhagavan about the Nachiketa fire. “I find
from the Kathopanishad that there was already a fire sacrifice
which was supposed to lead one to heaven. After Yama explained
it to Nachiketas as the second boon, he voluntarily said, ‘Hereafter
this fire will be called the Nachiketa fire, after you.’ But later, the
Nachiketa fire is mentioned as three fires. I don’t understand
what this fire is and why it is called three fires.” Thereupon,
Bhagavan asked us to look up the commentary and we took out
Krishna Prem’s Kathopanishad and Bhagavan read out the
portion concerned. He added, “Everything is allegorical. They
gave out truths only in this way, never straight out in a simple
and direct manner. The same fire has three branches or flames,
and so is called one fire or three fires. But both the one fire and
the three branches are allegorical, the fire standing for something
and the branches for other things. The commentary says that the
one central fire has to be kindled on the three planes, bhu, bhuvar,
and suvar, or the physical, astral and mental planes.”
Colombo Ramachandra had sent two more ‘§ÚjRôi
PLm’ (Tiruttandagam) stanzas composed by him. Bhagavan saw
them this morning, passed them, and asked Muruganar to go
through them, as well as the other six stanzas already composed
by Ramachandra, and recorded in the stotra book. Muruganar
perused all the eight and had no alterations or corrections to
suggest. So, again with Bhagavan’s permission, the two stanzas
were recorded by Mr. Viswanath in the stotra book.
26-3-46
About 10-30 a.m. a gentleman from Jhansi, who it seems
teaches music to a princess, arrived here recently in a state of
great excitement and emotion, having made up his mind after
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reading about Bhagavan that he must somehow run up to him.
He told Bhagavan last evening, “Bhagavan, I have come a long
distance, travelling two days and two nights. I was not sure I
would succeed in seeing Bhagavan. I did not even take leave
from my employers. I was so mad about coming here that nothing
else entered my mind. Now that I have arrived and seen Bhagavan,
my mind is filled with bliss which I cannot express.” And he
sang a few songs. But emotion overpowered him and he could
not proceed. Bhagavan was kindly looking at him for several
minutes and showered his grace on the fortunate devotee.
26-3-46 Afternoon
A lady devotee Sitamma, a resident of Madura, read out
and then gave to Bhagavan, a kummi poem composed by her in
commemoration of the opening of Ramana Mandiram at
Madura on the 10th of the Tamil month Masi in the year Parthiva
when Bhagavan’s portrait was carried in procession through
that town. Chinna Swami told us that this lady came across the
above procession without having had any previous notice about
it, and was so overpowered with joy that she went into ecstasy
and remained in a sort of trance for about 15 minutes.
27-3-46 Afternoon
Mr. Nanavati of Bombay asked Bhagavan the meaning of
the word madhvada in the Kathopanishad. After consulting some
books, it was found out that the expression means the ego or jiva
which is the enjoyer of madhu or all the enjoyments of the world.
In this connection Bhagavan said, “There are so many vidyas
mentioned in the Upanishads. One of them is madhu vidya.
Elaborate details and rules are given for each of these vidyas.
But what is the use of all these vidyas? Still we must note that
there are some whose minds are so built that they can take interest
only in such vidyas. But the truth is, all karma of whatever kind
will lead to fresh bondage. That is why it is said in ‘I¯®p
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IÓdLm’ (Ozhivil odukkam) that Guru who prescribes fresh karma
or action of any sort i.e., rituals or sacrifices to one who after
trying various karmas comes to him for peace, is both Brahma
and Yama to the disciple i.e., he only creates fresh births and
deaths. The following stanza which says this was quoted:
¡¬ûVd ¡}jÕYkÕ úLhPYodÏf ÑmUô
§¬Vf ÑLm®}jR ºUôuÏÚYu±f
Ntú\ TûRl×j R¬àg NLmTûPdLd
Ltøàe LôXàUôe Lôi.
28-3-46 Morning
Bhagavan’s legs were being massaged by Dr. S. Rao, with
a taila, prepared by Siva Das, which was being exhausted with
today’s use. So the Asramam was thinking of preparing a taila
and to help them Bhagavan took up a book in Telugu containing
recipes and, the moment he opened it, it opened at a page dealing
with camphor liniment. The coincidence was remarkable. The
recipe contained almost all the ingredients the Asramam
intended to use and in addition tulsi leaf and something else.
Bhagavan was very particular that the bottle in which Siva Das
had sent his taila should be returned to him and gave instructions
to that effect to attendant Krishnaswami. Again when Siva Das
came to the hall later in the day, Bhagavan asked him and
Krishnaswami whether the bottle had been returned and was
satisfied only when he learned it had been done.
Afternoon
Bhagavan was looking into Arunachala Sthalapuranam,
and reading the Arunachala satakam, where the story of Pari’s
daughters being got married by Avvai is briefly told, to compare
it with the account given in Thirukovalur Sthalapuranam. The
accounts tallied more or less. But Bhagavan told us that the
Pari known as a great giver or philanthropist is supposed to
have lived near Madura, Piranmalai etc., and to have been put
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to death by the machinations of the three kings, Chera, Chola
and Pandya, who were envious of his reputation, whereas these
two books mention Pari as having ruled in Ceylon.
29-3-46 Afternoon
A visitor wrote some questions in Tamil and presented
them to Bhagavan. Bhagavan said, “He wants to know how to
turn the mind from sense enjoyments and realise that bliss which
is said to be so much above sense-enjoyments. There is only
one way, making the mind merge in That which is not senseenjoyment.
As you concentrate on That, the sense attractions
will fall of their own accord. Again, he asks, ‘When can I attain
that bliss?’ He is daily enjoying that bliss in sleep. There, no
sense object is present, and he still enjoys great bliss. We have
not got to attain bliss. We are bliss. Bliss is another name for
us. It is our nature. All that we have to do is to turn the mind,
draw it from the sense objects every time it goes towards them,
and fix it in the Self. He asks whether he will attain bliss after
death. There is no need to die to attain bliss. Merging of the
mind alone is necessary. Death is also another name for us. For
what is death but giving up the body? Our real nature is to be
without the body.”
After a pause Bhagavan added, “The story of Indra and
Ahalya in Yoga Vasishta strongly illustrates how, by the force
of the mind being merged in one thing, all other things will
cease to affect one. There Ahalya, the wife of a king, falls in
love with a rake called Indra and they passionately love each
other. The matter reached the king’s ears and attains the
magnitude of a great public scandal. The king then orders the
couple to be put through various cruel tortures. But neither of
them is affected by the tortures. Their faces do not even show a
twitch of pain but are blissfully smiling at each other. The king,
baffled by all this, asks them what the secret of their strength
and resistance is. They said, ‘What! don’t you know? We are
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looking at each other, and so engrossed are we with each other,
that our mind has no room in it for any other thoughts. So far as
we are concerned, we two alone exist, each for the other, and
nothing else exists. How then can we be affected by other
things?’ Such is the power of the merged mind.”
Night
Muruganar brought a book by Raghava Iyengar, the
famous Tamil scholar, and quoted authority to prove that,
whatever puranas like Thirukovalur Purana may say, it has
been established beyond doubt that Pari, the philanthropist
known to Tamil literature, was one who lived and flourished
near Piranmalai and not anyone who lived in Ceylon.
In the afternoon, Mr. Bose showed Bhagavan a letter he
had received from Paul Brunton. In this, Brunton says he is going
back to America and that he should have very much liked to
meet Bhagavan during the last six years, but it was rendered
impossible by the attitude of the Asramam and that therefore he
had come to accept fate in this matter and was meeting Bhagavan
only in the deep places of his heart where Bhagavan still is.
7-4-46 Night
A visitor said, “In the Pondicherry Aurobindo Ashram it
is said that the final stage of spiritual progress is to become
the purushottama and it would seem that activity is predicated
of that purushottama i.e., some vritti would seem to be
associated with that state, whereas it is believed by other
schools that cessation of all vrittis is liberation.”
Bhagavan said, “You say, all schools advise you to give
up all vrittis so that you can reach your final goal, whether it is
becoming purushottama or something else. You must cease to
be the three kinds of ordinary purusha i.e., the adhama,
madhyama, uttama and become that purushottama. This is
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accepted. Whether, when you transcend these three kinds and
cease to be the ordinary purusha, there is any vritti still left is a
matter with which you need not concern yourself now. Attain
that state and see for yourself what that state is and whether
there is any vritti in it. To speak even of brahmakara vritti, as
we sometimes do, is not accurate. If we can talk of the river
that has merged in the ocean as still a river and call it
samudrakara river, we can talk of the final stage in spiritual
growth as having Brahmakara vritti. When people from Sri
Aurobindo’s Ashram come here and ask about the differences
between our school and theirs, I always tell them, ‘There,
complete surrender is advised and insisted upon before anything
further could be hoped for or attained. So, do it first. I also
advise it. After making such surrender, i.e., complete surrender
and not any partial or conditional surrender, you will be able to
see for yourself whether there are two purushas, whether power
comes from anywhere and gets into anywhere, etc.’ For we
know nothing about God or any source from which power comes
and gets into us. All that is not known. But ‘I exist’ is known
beyond all dispute by all men. So let us know who that ‘I’ is. If,
after knowing it, there still remain any doubts such as are now
raised, it will be time enough then to try and clear such doubts.”
From this point, the talk drifted to the various schools of
thought, one saying there is only reality, others saying there are
three eternal entities such as jagat, jiva and Ishwara, or pati,
pasu and pasam. In this connection, Bhagavan observed
humorously, “It is not at all correct to say that Advaitins or the
Shankara school deny the existence of the world or that they
call it unreal. On the other hand, it is more real to them than to
others. Their world will always exist, whereas the world of the
other schools will have origin, growth and decay and as such
cannot be real. Only, they say the world as world is not real, but
that the world as Brahman is real. All is Brahman, nothing exists
but Brahman, and the world as Brahman is real. In this way,
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they claim they give more reality to the world than the other
schools do. For example, according to schools which believe
in three entities, the jagat is only one-third of the reality
whereas according to Advaita, the world as Brahman is reality,
the world and reality are not different. Similarly, even to God
or Brahman, the other schools give only one-third sovereignty.
The other two entities necessarily limit the reality of God.
So, when Shankara is called mayavadi it may be retorted,
‘Shankara says maya does not exist. He who denies the
existence of maya and calls it mithya or non-existent cannot
be called a mayavadi. It is those who grant its existence and
call its product, the world, a reality who should rightly be
called mayavadis. One who denies Ishwara is not called
Ishwaravadi, but only one who affirms the existence of
Ishwara.’” Bhagavan went on to add, “All these are of course
vain disputations. There can be no end to such disputations.
The proper thing to do is to find out the ‘I’, about whose
existence nobody has any doubt, and which alone persists
when everything else vanishes, as during sleep, and then see
if there is any room for such doubts or disputes.”
8-4-46
Most of Bhagavan’s time today was spent in listening
to Arunachala Mahatmyam, compiled by Mr. Venkatrama
Aiyar in English, with material culled from Skanda Puranam
and other books.
9-4-46
Reading of the above work was continued and finished
this morning.
In today’s post were received two books in the Czech
language, one being The Life and Teachings of Ramana
Maharshi and the other a translation of Bhagavan’s important
works. First, we could not understand in what language the
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books were written. But Mr. Osborne told us it was Czech.
Bhagavan looked into the books and the pictures it contained
of him and of the hill with the clouds above it.
Afternoon
Bhagavan found that the pages of one of the above books
were uncut. So he took a penknife and cut some pages.
Meanwhile, he discovered that the book had not even been
stitched and bound properly. So he decided to send it to the
local binder, who would also attend to the cutting, etc.
Mrs. Shroff brought a small ornamental box, apparently of
silver, and a small plate of copper with some sweets in them, and
offered them to Bhagavan as having been sent to him by her
husband. Bhagavan asked the attendants to take the sweets and
return the box and plate with one or two sweets to Mrs. S. But
when they were returned, Mrs. S. said they were all offered to
Bhagavan, not only the sweets. Thereupon, Bhagavan said, “What
are we to do with them? Send them to the office and tell them
Shroff has sent them.” This put Bhagavan in a reminiscent mood
and he said, “For many years, while I was on the Hill, we had
nothing but one or two mud-pots — no vessel at all of any sort.
After many years, one day, a woman brought me some eatables
in a small vessel, very old and battered and patched up in many
places, and when we took the eatables and returned the rotten
old vessel, she insisted on our keeping the vessel too, saying, ‘It
might be of some use to people who come here for drinking
water, etc. So please keep it here.’ That was the beginning of our
having any vessels at all. After that, gradually one vessel after
another found its way into the Asramam, till now we have all
sorts of things brought here, like this box and plate. What am I to
do with such things?” Thereupon, I remarked, “Yes. What should
Bhagavan do with these things? But when people come across
any such fancy things and like them themselves, they like to
offer them to one whom they love best. That is only natural.”
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10-4-46 Morning
Dr. Masalavala gave Bhagavan a letter addressed to him
by a friend of his. Bhagavan perused it. Some portions of it
were not cogent. With other portions there could be no quarrel.
The letter said that all is contained in asti (sat), bhati (chit),
priya (ananda), nam and rup, that the first three constitute
reality, and the rest the fleeting and unreal; that jnana consists
in seeing only the reality and not the nam-rup, that the first
three constitute aham and the next two constitute idam (this).
Bhagavan agreed and said, “‘I’ and ‘this’ between them exhaust
everything.” The letter also said that seeing Brahman alone in
everything and everywhere is jnanottara bhakti. With reference
to this, Bhagavan said, “This is a matter of mere words, whether
you call the stage of seeing only Brahman, jnanottara bhakti
or bhakti-uttara jnana. In reality, saying ‘We must see Brahman
in everything and everywhere’ is also not quite correct. Only
that stage is final, where there is no seeing, where there is no
time or space. There will be no seer, seeing and an object to
see. What exists then is only the infinite eye.”
In the afternoon Mr. Narayanaswamy Aiyar’s daughter,
married to our Sundaresa Aiyar’s son, sang a few songs and
then related the following miracle:
“In Cawnpore, we are living on the third floor of a house
and we are the only residents on that floor. We have a tap there,
but water rarely rises up to that level and we have daily to go
down several flights of stairs and climb up with all the water
necessary for us. My husband used to do this work daily for me.
It was too much for him. And I was too weak to be able to help
him in this daily task. One day, when I was alone in the house
and my husband was in his office, I was pondering over this hard
situation of ours and how we were to find a solution for this. I
had kept the empty vessel before the tap and was singing in a
pensive mood. Then I began singing the song Saranagati. (This
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is a song well-known among Bhagavan’s devotees. It was
composed by Mr. M.V. Ramaswami Aiyar and is sung by him
and the members of his family whenever they want Bhagavan to
interpose and avert evil from them or bring them good). It says,
in brief, ‘We take shelter under you and you are our sole refuge.
Who else is there to whom we can turn? If you delay to come to
our rescue, we can bear it no longer. So, come at once, end my
misery, give me happiness!’ Then the water began to trickle down
the tap and kept on flowing more as I went on with the song. So
I sang the song till all our vessels were filled with water. When
my husband returned home, he was surprised to find so much
water and could not conceive how I could have got all that water.
Then I told him, ‘I have discovered now a secret device for getting
water. If I sing Saranagati I can get water.’ My husband naturally
could not believe it and so I tried the same device again in his
presence and the water flowed from the tap. Ever since then, my
water problem has ceased. I had only to sing Saranagati, and
water will flow from the tap. I have tried other songs. But they
don’t give the same result. Afterwards, when I fell ill and father
came to see me, I told him about this and he too could not believe
it, till I again repeated the experiment before him and he saw it
succeeded. He asked me to try other songs. I did. But none of
them produced the same result.” The girl told all this with great
glee and there was such a ring of truth about the whole narration
that I consider it would be absurd to doubt the truth of the
experience.
In the night, Bhagavan asked attendant Vaikuntha Vasan
whether the monkeys were properly fed in the noon and whether
many monkeys turned up. It being ‘Sri Rama Navami’, Bhagavan
had suggested, “This is their (monkeys’) day. We must give them
food”. And accordingly about 11 a.m., when we were all having
our food, Vaikuntha Vasan seems to have taken a good quantity
of food, vegetables, vadai, payasam, i.e., all that we were taking,
all mixed up together, to the steps at the back of the Asramam for
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the monkeys. Bhagavan’s question had reference to this. Vaikunta
Vasan replied, “When I went, there were only two or three
monkeys. But after a time, all of them came and they were all
well-fed. They did not quarrel with each other or bite each other.”
Bhagavan said, “They won’t fight when there is enough for all.
All trouble arises only when there is want. They would also raise
a big cry as an indication of their joy, whenever they get plenty to
eat. We have had such experiences when I was on the Hill. They
used to be fed frequently there.”
11-4-46 Morning
About 8 a.m., as Bhagavan was entering his ‘cage’ as he
calls it, i.e., the new railing round his sofa, he was staring hard at
Dr. Srinivasa Rao who was standing near me to the south of
Bhagavan’s sofa. I was wondering why Bhagavan did so. But
after a few minutes, Bhagavan explained, “It looked to me as if
you were wearing shorts and I was wondering whether you were
about to go out somewhere. Whenever Mudaliar gets into his
pants, I know he is about to go out somewhere. So I thought you
too were preparing to get out. But I see now you had only tucked
up your dhoti in such a way that it looked as if you were in
shorts.” The Doctor said, “No, I have given up trousers now.”
About 11 a.m. after the bell had been rung for lunch as
usual, Bhagavan was trying to get up from his sofa. As usual, he
was rubbing his legs, knees and massaging them gently before
getting up; and turning to Mr. S. Doraiswamy Iyer (who arrived
here last evening), told him, “Your friend (i.e., Dr. S. Rao) is
giving such great attention to this pain of mine that it refuses to
leave me. Who will like to depart from a place where they received
all hospitality and attention?” Mr. S.D. replied, “Apparently,
Bhagavan is keeping this pain, only to benefit the doctor.”
In the afternoon, as I entered the hall, Bhagavan was
looking into the two Czech books recently received, and after
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looking at them and approving the binding done locally he
returned them to me. I showed them to Mr. S. D. Then
Bhagavan asked him if he had seen Zimmer’s book in German
on Bhagavan. Mr. S. D. replied he had not. So I went and got
the book and showed it to Mr. S. D.
12-4-46 Morning
I told Bhagavan: “Last evening when I went into the town,
a lady, who met me on the road, accosted me and asked me if
I was doing well. I could not recognise her. She felt offended
and told me she also claimed to be connected with Bhagavan.
It seems her mother, one Unnamalai Ammal was giving milk
regularly to Jadaswami when Bhagavan used to frequent
Jadaswami’s place, that then this Unnamalai Ammal would
give milk to Bhagavan also, that her father used to fan
Bhagavan, that she herself as a child of two or three had even
clung to Bhagavan’s back, that her name Rukmani was given
to her by Bhagavan and that even now whenever she goes to
the Asramam, Bhagavan enquires about her, and so on. I
wonder if all this is true.” Bhagavan said, “Yes. Yes. I knew
the mother who was attending on Jadaswami. I have known
this lady from her childhood. She comes here now too. They
are a Komutti family. The father died long ago.”
Afternoon
A visitor had given Bhagavan a piece of paper on which
he had scribbled in pencil a number of questions. When I went
into the hall about 3 p.m., Bhagavan was trying to decipher
them and turning round to me said, “Here is a question paper.”
Question 1: How to get rid of credulousness? The visitor’s
problem was that he starts with some ideal recommended to
him, but when others come and recommend other ideals, he
feels inclined to believe them and give up his old ideals.
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Bhagavan: Yes. Yes. Our whole trouble is that we are
credulous. We believe in everything except the reality. We
must give up all our false beliefs, and that is the only thing we
have to do. Then the reality will shine by itself.
Question 2: I start with great keenness towards some
ideal. But gradually I get slack. What should I do to prevent
it, and what is the reason for this happening?
Bhagavan: Just as there must have been a reason for your
keenness at one time, there must be a reason for getting slack
also later on.
Question 3: There are a number of spiritual teachers,
teaching various paths. Whom should one take for one’s Guru?
Bhagavan: Choose that one where you find you get shanti
or peace.
Question 4: What is the best way of dealing with desires,
with a view to getting rid of them — satisfying them or
suppressing them?
Bhagavan: If a desire can be got rid of by satisfying it,
there will be no harm in satisfying such a desire. But desires
generally are not eradicated by satisfaction. Trying to root them
out that way is like pouring spirits to quench fire. At the same
time, the proper remedy is not forcible suppression, since such
repression is bound to react sooner or later into forceful surging
up with undesirable consequences. The proper way to get rid
of a desire is to find out “Who gets the desire? What is its
source?” When this is found, the desire is rooted out and it will
never again emerge or grow. Small desires such as the desire to
eat, drink and sleep and attend to calls of nature, though these
may also be classed among desires, you can safely satisfy. They
will not implant vasanas in your mind, necessitating further
birth. Those activities are just necessary to carry on life and are
not likely to develop or leave behind vasanas or tendencies. As
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a general rule, therefore, there is no harm in satisfying a desire
where the satisfaction will not lead to further desires by creating
vasanas in the mind.
Question 5: What is the meaning of ‘Om’?
Bhagavan: ‘Om’ is everything. It is another name for
Brahmam.
I was looking into the January issue of Vision and came
across a story about Kulasekhara Alwar. Having heard during a
kalakshepam that Ravana had taken away Sita, Kulasekhara
identified himself so much with the situation in the story that
he thought it was his duty as a worshipper of Rama at once to
hasten to Lanka and release Sita, that he ran up and had entered
the sea to cross over to Lanka, that then Rama appeared with
Sita and Lakshmana showered His grace on him. I remembered
another version, that Kulasekhara started on a campaign with
his army to succour Rama, that meanwhile the Bhagavatar doing
the kalakshepam, sensing the situation, passed on at once to
Rama emerging victoriously from the battle, killing all his
enemies, etc. Bhagavan also thought the version I had in mind
was the correct one and that the matter referred to Rama’s battle
with Khara and Dushana and not with Ravana for Sita. Bhagavan
looked up a history of the Alwars and told us that both incidents
are found in Kulasekhara’s life. This led me to make the
following remark, “Some Maratha Saint also did a similar thing.
He leaped up to the roof, I think.” Thereupon, Dr. S. Rao asked
Bhagavan, “I don’t know that story. What is that story?”
Thereupon Bhagavan said, “Ekanath was writing the Ramayana
and when he came to the portion in which he was graphically
describing that Hanuman jumped across the ocean to Lanka,
he so identified himself with his hero Hanuman, that
unconsciously he leaped into the air and landed on the roof of
his neighbour. This neighbour had always a poor opinion of
Ekanath, taking him for a humbug and religious hypocrite. He
heard a thud on his roof and, coming out to see what it was,
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discovered Ekanath lying down on the roof with the cadjan
leaf in one hand and his iron stile in the other, and the cadjan
leaf had verses describing how Hanuman leapt across the sea.
This incident proved to the neighbour what a genuine bhakta
Ekanath was and he became his disciple.”
After a pause, Bhagavan also related, “God appeared in
a dream to Ekanath and asked him to go and repair the tomb
of Jnaneswar. When Ekanath went there accordingly, he found
a contractor ready to do all the work and take payment at the
end. The contractor opened a big account, in which all
expenses were entered, with the names of all the workmen
and wages paid to them. Everything went on systematically
and when the work of repairs having been completed, the
accounts had to be looked into and the contractor paid his
dues, the contractor and his big account book totally
disappeared. Then alone Ekanath came to know God was his
contractor and did the work. Such things have happened.”
13-4-46
Today is Tamil New Year Day. The panchangam for the
New Year was read out by our Sastriar in Bhagavan’s presence
in the afternoon.
14-4-46 Afternoon
Attendant Sivananda was reading out the Tamil Siva
Sahasranama found at the end of Tiru Arul Mozhi. When I entered
the hall about 3 p.m. Bhagavan was trying to correct S. as the
latter went on reading. So I ran up to my room and brought my
copy of the same book and gave it to Bhagavan, so that it would
be easier for him to follow S. and correct him. Bhagavan said,
“No. It is impossible to correct him. He makes so many mistakes.”
Thereupon I offered to help S. and the reading went on for some
time. In the course of this reading I found out how much it goes
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against Bhagavan’s grain if poems are not read out according to
ºo’ (prosodic feet) and in the proper way in which each kind of
verse is to be read, or if mistakes are made. After some time S.
himself thought he would stop reading and did so.
Nagamma returned the Telugu journal Bharati and
Bhagavan asked me if I had read Chinta Dikshitulu’s Asal Neevu
Evaru (In reality who are you?) which appeared in that journal.
I said, “Yes”. Bhagavan suggested that an English translation
of it might be useful. I was under the impression that Mauni
had already translated it into English. For, I remembered that
Balaram in the hall translated ‘Asal’ as ‘In reality’ and that later
Mauni translated it as ‘In the first instance’ and I preferred the
latter. So I ran up to Mauni and asked if he had not made an
English translation. He said he had only translated the title of
the article. So, I told Bhagavan I would myself translate it.
Meanwhile, we requested Viswanath to translate it into Tamil
with the help of Subba Rao.
15-4-46 Morning
About 8 a.m. Nagamma came into the hall and prostrated
herself before Bhagavan, after having gone round the hall a
few times. Bhagavan said, “Ah! you too have started going
round. Have you learnt it from Ravanamma? She used to go
round and round, till I spoke to her about it the other day. If
one goes round like that, everybody who comes here thinks
‘Apparently the proper thing here is to go round’ and starts
going round. Thus all people go round. After all, the proper
pradakshina is going round the Self, or, more accurately, to
realise that we are the Self and that within us all the countless
spheres revolve, going round and round, as described in the
following stanza of Ribhu Gita (3rd Chapter, 39th Verse).
éWQYô SkRôuUô YLùUu ù\iQp
×Lr×hTôg N-VôÏ USkR úLô¥
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Lô¬VUôm ©WUôiP ùUu² PjúR
Lt©RUônf ÑZÛùU]k §Vô]k Rôú]
úSWÕYôn YXmYWXô ùUuß ùUu{
¨¡XÚúU Yk§lTôo Sôù]l úTôÕ
UôûWÙúU Yk§dúL ù]uàk §Vô]
UôuUULô -eLj§{ YQeLXôúU.
An English translation of this stanza is as follows:
Reflecting “I am the all-blissful Self”
Is worship as with words and flowers.
True circumambulation is the thought,
“In me the million universes roll”,
He who knows all beings bow to him
And he to none,
He bows before the Mahalinga-Self.
“Some go on doing a number of namaskarams, e.g. that
Janaki, she goes on striking her head down countless times
along with namaskarams. She goes round a number of times.
At each window she falls down and does a number of
namaskarams. However much I tell her, she won’t leave off
such practices.” Somebody here interjected, “It seems she is
known to Bhagavan since her childhood.” Bhagavan said,
“Yes, yes,” and continued, “There are others who come and
fall before me while I am moving. They lie prostrate for some
minutes. I cannot stand for them on account of my physical
infirmity. So I walk on, telling myself, ‘Only if we do
namaskarams we will be benefited. After all, true namaskaram
is only the giving up the ‘I’-sense, or killing the ego’.”
I said, “Bhagavan himself advises us to go round the Hill,
for instance. I know Bhagavan is also not against going round
the image in a temple. There are people here who have the faith
that going round Bhagavan is as good as going round the
temple-image or the Hill. How can we object to that?” Bhagavan
said, “I don’t say such things should not be done. But the best
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going round is going round yourself, or the bhava expressed in
the verse quoted. The other pradakshinams are not condemned.
The jnani, though he knows that meditation on the Self is the
best worship, will join in all the other kinds of worship for the
good of others and as an example to them. In fact, he may observe
all the other ways even more correctly and steadfastly than those
who follow only those paths and know nothing of jnana. That is
referred to in the following verse, also occurring in Ribhu Gita.
RkûRØRu UWQj§t TkÕ ®u±j
R[oR]Vu ±W®VúU RkR ûZjÕ
YkRN] UÝ¡u\ ¿§ Vuúöu
YZeÏR]l ùTôÚhPu± ÙiûU Vuú\
VkR®R Uô£¬Vu ºP àd¡e
LjÕ®Rm ×LÛeLôt ßR®R úUôRp;
ûUkR®§ ~Vª~ VRöt ùøtR
U\kùRuß UjÕ®R Y¥úY VôYôn.
The gist is, “If the Guru refers to dvaita when teaching
advaita to the disciple, it is not to be regarded as his real
teaching any more than one should regard as real the grief of
one who weeps because he is paid to do so.”
When Bhagavan quoted the first verse above extracted, I
went and brought the book for his reference. He took it in his
hand and opened it. The book opened exactly where the passage
is found. Such a thing has happened many others times too.
In the afternoon I was reading a recent issue of Prabuddha
Bharata. There I found that one disciple asked Shivananda, a
direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, “It is said
Paramahamsa once said, ‘Those who have come here will have
no more births.’ Did you hear him say so? What does it mean?
Will only those who came to him and saw in the flesh and
worshipped him be saved, or even those who have only heard
about him and worshipped him?” It is said Shivananda replied,
“The above remark of Paramahamsa is found in all the books,
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and it means that both classes of people will be saved, provided
however they have surrendered unto him.”
I pointed out, “All that Paramahamsa said was, ‘Those who
have come here will have salvation.’ Why do these people make
this addition, ‘provided they surrender unto him?’ If a man makes
complete surrender to God, Self or Guru he is of course saved.
That is well known. To a man who is able to make complete
surrender, sat sang is superfluous.” Bhagavan said, “When
Paramahamsa said ‘People who come here’ the words really imply
‘People who have come and surrendered themselves here’.” I
said, “If he meant it, would he not have said so? I believe there
are people, to approach whom, is to obtain salvation, whether
we are able to surrender completely or not. Did not all the crowd
that went to attend Saint Sambandar’s marriage, including the
pipers and drummers, get salvation? The drummer and piper had
no idea of making complete surrender.” Bhagavan remained silent.
Then he said, “It is said Sundarar got a vimana and went to heaven
and that he invited others to join him, but that none came forward.
But in Tukaram’s life it is said that he went to heaven with his
body and that he took twenty-one people with him.” To look up
this last reference, I brought Bhakta Vijayam in Tamil and
Bhagavan read how Tukaram, before going to heaven with his
body, invited everyone to go with him and, after seven days, he
went with twenty-two people to Heaven.
In this connection, I told Bhagavan, “It has come down as
a sort of tradition, and I have also heard it said, that Bhagavan
once told some disciples that those who are here (i.e., with
Bhagavan) need not worry about their salvation, even as upper
class passengers, having informed the guard, may quietly go to
sleep in their berths and will be awakened and detrained at
their destination by the guard. I have not been able to find out
when, where and to whom Bhagavan said words to the above
effect.” Bhagavan said nothing in reply. But so far as I am
concerned, the fact that he did not deny it in words or by facial
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expression is enough to convince me that Bhagavan must have,
in some unguarded moment, uttered these words (of great hope
to lazy men like me).
16-4-46
In the evening, after parayana, Muruganar brought a Tamil
book and gave it to Bhagavan saying that the author had sent
two copies of the book through Padananda. Thereupon
Bhagavan asked M., “When did Padananda arrive?” and he
replied, “Last night”. On enquiry, Muruganar told me it was a
book by Tiruttani Chengalroya Pillai, comparing the two famous
poet-saints Tirumoolar and Arunagirinathar. Bhagavan said, “It
is a short book and can be read out now either by you or
Viswanath.” V. was sitting in the front row before Bhagavan. I
looked at all the rows behind, standing near the first row, and
told Bhagavan, “V. is not here.” Then Bhagavan showed V. to
me and laughed saying, “Why, he is here.” I said, “Then, let us
ask him to read it. I have not got my glasses with me.” Bhagavan
remarked, “I see that is why you could not see Viswanathan.”
Then V. read out the pamphlet and we all heard it. Some Telugu
visitor got up and requested Bhagavan that the matter should
be translated or summarised in Telugu. But such translation
seemed neither necessary nor feasible. The book did not strike
any of us as worth all the trouble it must doubtless have entailed.
17-4-46
Yesterday morning itself, Viswanathan had given to
Bhagavan a Tamil rendering of Asal, Neevu Evaru, Ramana
Bhagavan? Bhagavan asked me yesterday afternoon if I had done
the English translation. I had to say ‘No’. So I sat down last night
and revised the English translation which one Mr. Sitarama Rao
had done for us and left with me. I fair-copied the revised draft
and gave it to Bhagavan at 10-30 a.m. today. Soon after he began
to peruse it, the second tapal arrived and he had to attend to it.
After finishing it, though it was then five minutes to eleven,
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Bhagavan took up the English translation for perusal and went
on with it till the bell rang for lunch at 11 a.m.
Afternoon
Bhagavan continued reading the English translation and
finished it after suggesting about half a dozen corrections.
18-4-46 Afternoon
Mr. Nanavati of Bombay asked Bhagavan, “In the fifth
stanza of Arunachala Pancharatna reference is made to seeing
‘Your form in everything’. What is the form referred to?”
Bhagavan said, “The stanza says that one should completely
surrender one’s mind, turn it inwards and see ‘you’ the Self
within and then see the Self in ‘you’ in everything. It is only
after seeing the Self within that one will be able to see the Self
in everything. One must first realise there is nothing but the
Self and that he is that Self, and then only he can see everything
as the form of the Self. That is the meaning of saying, ‘See the
Self in everything and everything in the Self’, as is stated in the
Gita and other books. It is the same truth that is taught in stanza
4 of the Reality in Forty Verses. If you have the idea that you
are something with form, that you are limited by this body, and
that being within this body you have to see through these eyes,
God and the world also will appear to you as form. If you realise
you are without form, that you are unlimited, that you alone
exist, that you are the eye, the infinite eye, what is there to be
seen apart from the infinite eye? Apart from the eye, there is
nothing to be seen. There must be a seer for an object to be
seen, and there must be space, time, etc. But if the Self alone
exists, it is both seer and seen, and above seeing or being seen.”
19-4-46 Morning
After Krishnaswami had been massaging for seven or
eight minutes, Bhagavan said, “You have been massaging me.
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It seemed to me as if I was not being massaged.” And turning
to me, he said, “Sometimes, when they are not massaging
me, I feel as if I was being massaged. What to say?”
Somasundaram Pillai of Cuddalore returned after a visit to
Tiruchuzhi, Madura, and other places, and was telling Bhagavan
that the day he was at Madura it happened to be Punarvasu
Nakshatra, and that devotees gathered in the Ramana Mandiram
there, had bhajan, etc., and that there was milk and vadai for
naivedyam which was afterwards distributed to all those who
were present at the function. Just as he was saying this,
Santhamma entered the hall, with milk for naivedyam and
distribution, because she had just entered her new house.
Bhagavan said, “You say milk was offered as naivedyam, and
distributed to you. Here comes milk for the same purpose.” S.
continued to tell Bhagavan about his trip and Bhagavan asked,
“Did you enquire in Tiruchuzhi, whether on Masi Makam, which
was only a little before you went there, water rose in the temple
tank as it used to do in my boyhood?” S. replied, “No. I took it
for granted that even now the water rises and so did not make
any enquiries.” Then Bhagavan said that the water of the temple
tank is reputed to cure many skin diseases and added, “That is
certain. We have seen as boys that when we bathed in the tank
our silver bangles all turned black, and we had to rub them well
with mud before going back home, lest our parents should blame
us for bathing in the tank. The water contains sulphur.”
20-4-46 Afternoon
A Muslim visitor put some questions and got the
following answers:
Question: This body dies. But there is another
imperishable body. What is it?
Answer: ‘Imperishable body’ is a contradiction in terms.
The term sariram means that which will perish. Of course,
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there is something imperishable, something which exists even
after the body dies.
Question: It is said the Lord’s light resides in the eye.
Answer: The eye does not see. That which gives light to it
is the reality, whether we call it Lord’s light or anything else.
Question: The Lord has created all this, has He not? What
was created first? It is said light or sound was created first.
Answer: All these things, which you say have been created
have to be seen by you before you say they exist. There must
be a seer. If you find out who that seer is, then you will know
about creation and which was created first. Of course various
theories as to what came into existence first from God are given
out. Most, including scientists, agree that all has come from
light and sound.
Question: Can we call anything created, like this piece of
wood, for example, God? It is said it is very wrong to do so.
Answer: Even this piece of wood, does it exist apart from
God? Can we confine God to any time or place, since He is
everywhere and in everything? We should not see anything as
apart from God. That is all.
22-4-46 Afternoon
Nagamma told Bhagavan the two latest poems in Telugu
by Naganariya Skandasrama Santarsanam and Ghooha jnani
had not yet been read out in the hall and that Athai (i.e.,
Bhagavan’s sister) and others wanted to hear them, and took
permission from Bhagavan and read out the same.
Later, Mr. Rajagopala Sarma, Sanskrit Pandit in Maharajah’s
College at Pudukottah, came and introduced himself to Bhagavan,
saying that he was well known to our Lakshmana Sarma, and
that, though he had often heard about Bhagavan, he had got the
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privilege of seeing Bhagavan only now, for the first time. Then
he read out three slokas composed by him in praise of Bhagavan,
and also explained the same to us in Tamil. In these slokas the
Pandit compares Bhagavan to the moon but finds him superior
in some respect. Here is a gist of the slokas: “Like the moon, you
bring coolness and pleasantness to all. If there is a difference
between you and the moon, it is in your favour. The moon brings
sorrow to separated lovers. But you give pleasure to all without
exception by your kind grace. The moon has its dark fortnight.
But you are ever shining.
“The moon is eagerly awaited by the chakora bird which
feeds on the nectar flowing from the moon. So are all the
bhaktas gathered here, eagerly awaiting, and being benefited
by the nectar of your presence and speech.
“The flower kuvalaya blossoms on the moon rising. The
hearts of the entire kuvalaya (the world), or the hearts of all
men, blossom on seeing you.
“Moonlight disperses the gloom of the night which hides
the objects in the world. Thy light dispels the darkness of
ajnana which hides the reality from us.
“The moon is worn by Siva on the crown of His head.
All creation or Brahma bears you on His head.
“The moon was born in the Milky Ocean. You are born
in the ocean of Vedanta.”
24-4-46 Afternoon
When Chinta Dikshitulu’s Ramana Gopalan first came
here, Mr. D.S. Sastri sent us an English translation of the
article. It was read out before Bhagavan and we thought at
the time a few corrections were needed. Mauni took the
translation for the above correction. But it seems to have
lain long with him, without being attended to. So, Nagamma
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brought it back three or four days ago and gave it to me and
asked me to do the revision. Bhagavan asked me this
afternoon if I had finished the work. I replied, “I had the
Telugu read out to me by Nagamma only last evening and
started writing the revised translation this morning. When I
came to the sentence in which thaga, thaga occurs I wanted
to see how our Viswanath had rendered it in Tamil. I got the
Tamil rendering only at 11 a.m. I am going on with the work
and shall finish it soon.” Then we discussed the words mutte,
thaga thaga, eppatiki appudu, etc., occurring in the original
article. I finished the revision and gave it to Bhagavan. He
asked me to keep it along with the other translations. I gave
them to Nagamma and requested her to bind all together for
future reference. Nagamma asked Bhagavan for the three
slokas in Sanskrit by the Pudukottah Pandit and offered to
write them down in the stotra notebook. We found they had
already been copied by Viswanath. Bhagavan took up the
slokas and read them out. I took advantage of this, to read my
summary of the first of these slokas as given in this diary and
see if Bhagavan thought it fairly correct. Bhagavan gave me
the compliment of remarking, “How did you manage to
remember all this and write them down in your notebook?” I
had omitted reference in my account to Bhagavan having been
born in the ocean of Vedanta, while the moon was born in the
milky ocean. During this reading I added this also.
While I was at Nagamma’s place on the 23rd evening, to
get the Telugu Ramana Gopalan read out to me, she said in the
course of conversation, “You are filling up book after book. But
I have written only little.” (This was with reference to accounts
of significant utterances by Bhagavan about which she has been
writing letters regularly to her brother at Madras, and keeping
copies herself). I told Bhagavan now, “Nagamma says I am
writing all sorts of rubbish and filling up book after book; and
that she will record only important events or statements.”
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This I said somewhat in jest. Poor Nagamma came out
“Can you utter lies like these, even in Bhagavan’s presence?”
I replied laughing, “They are not exactly lies.”
Evening
Throughout the day the Sarvadhikari has been inviting
all bhaktas to have a look at a clay model of Bhagavan which
the Madras sculptor engaged to make Bhagavan’s statue,
has prepared here. After parayana, Mr. Narayanaswami Iyer,
retired drawing master, came to Bhagavan and expressed
his opinion that the model was not satisfactory. He wanted
Bhagavan’s opinion. Bhagavan only said, “Don’t ask me.
How can one know one’s own face? How can I judge this
clay model?” Poor N. Iyer was disappointed. Bhagavan
added after a while, “Each person has a different opinion.
Rangaswami says the nose is too big, and the sculptor
actually measures it and shows it is correct. But R. says, the
nose looks too big. What are we to do? Supposing someone
produces the most exact possible resemblance, I wonder
whether even then if all those who look at the result will
give the same unanimous verdict.”
Mr. N. Iyer again came when we were all starting with
Bhagavan for the night meal, and pleaded that he must give
his opinion to please his bhaktas. He said he would produce
two big mirrors and that Bhagavan could first study his own
face standing between the two mirrors and then judge the
clay model and give his frank opinion. Bhagavan stoutly
refused to do any such thing.
25-4-46 Morning
When Bhagavan returned from his stroll about 7-30
a.m. and entered the hall, he said, “As I was getting up
the steps to get into the Asramam compound I was saying,
‘How is it Dr. T.N.K. has not arrived? If he came by the
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morning train, he should have arrived by now.’ Before I closed
my mouth, I find T.N.K. before me. I wonder if it was his
being here that made me think of him. I think of him and
there he is before me.” Then Bhagavan told T.N.K., “It must
have been a great inconvenience for you to rush up like this
now. These people wouldn’t listen to me. They wired to you.
They wired to the sthapati. The sthapati replied he could not
come now. They have now sent a man to fetch him. I don’t
know if the sthapati is going to come after all. All this is quite
unnecessary. But they won’t heed me.”
When discussing some days ago the meaning of dakshina
parsam occurring in Asal Neevu Evaru, Bhagavan wanted to
know if the image of Dakshinamurti in the Madras museum
has its head turned to the right, looking at the heart-centre there.
Bhagavan then remarked, “If we write to Dr. T.N.K., he will at
once take a photo of the image and send it.” Nagamma reminded
Bhagavan of this in the hall this morning, soon after Dr. T.N.K.
left the hall. So, soon after, I brought Dr. T.N.K. again into the
hall and Bhagavan asked him to take and send a photo of the
image or images of Dakshinamurti in the museum. Bhagavan
also enquired if the museum authorities would object. Dr. T.N.K.
replied they would not, and that they might even have photos
of the image or images already with them. He also wanted to
have for reference with him, the sentence in the article describing
the image of Dakshinamurti. So I gave him the extract, with a
translation in Tamil.
A visitor asked Bhagavan, “When I try to be without all
thoughts, I pass into sleep. What should I do about it?”
Bhagavan: Once you go to sleep, you can do nothing in
that state. But while you are awake, try to keep away all
thoughts. Why think about sleep? Even that is a thought, is it
not? If you are able to be without any thought while you are
awake, that is enough. When you pass into sleep, that state, in
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which you were before falling asleep, will continue and again,
when you wake up, you will continue from where you had
left off when you fell into slumber. So long as there are
thoughts of activity, so long would there be sleep also. Thought
and sleep are counterparts of one and the same thing.
Bhagavan quoted the Gita and said, “We should not sleep
very much or go without it altogether, but sleep only moderately.
To prevent too much sleep, we must try and have no thoughts
or chalana (movement of the mind), we must eat only sattvic
food and that only in moderate measure, and not indulge in too
much physical activity. The more we control thought, activity
and food the more shall we be able to control sleep. But
moderation ought to be the rule, as explained in the Gita, for
the sadhak on the path. Sleep is the first obstacle, as explained
in the books, for all sadhaks. The second obstacle is said to be
vikshepa or the sense objects of the world which divert one’s
attention. The third is said to be kashaya or thoughts in the
mind about previous experiences with sense objects. The fourth,
ananda, is also called an obstacle, because in that state a feeling
of separation from the source of ananda, enabling the enjoyer
to say ‘I am enjoying ananda’ is present. Even this has to be
surmounted and the final stage of samadhana or samadhi has
to be reached, where one becomes ananda or one with the reality
and the duality of enjoyer and enjoyment ceases in the ocean
of sat-chit-ananda or the Self.”
26-4-46 Morning
Bhagavan asked me if I had seen Colombo
Ramachandra’s letter received by the Asramam yesterday. I
said, “No.” Thereupon he told me, “R. has written enclosing
Gunaratna’s letter. He says that this is the first time any saint’s
life is written in the Sinhalese language. It seems, if they try
to bring out the book in time for the Jubilee occasion here, it
may have to be greatly abridged. I don’t know what they are
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going to do. The Ashtakam, which R. wrote when here, has
also been given for publication, and he will be getting the
printed copies in a day or two.”
I told Bhagavan, “Yes. Even when here, R. already sent it
to the press, while he had written only five of the poems. He
wanted it as a folder with Bhagavan’s picture on the first page.
But he had asked me not to mention it to Bhagavan just then.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Somasundaram Pillai said that in R.’s
letter it is stated that the Ramakrishna Mission, after coming
to know of what we have done about the Tiruchuzhi house,
are taking steps to secure the house where the Paramahamsa
was born, and make it a place of pilgrimage and worship.
Then Bhagavan said, “The bhattar at Tiruchuzhi might have
been expecting Ramachandra at Tiruchuzhi on his way back from
here to Colombo. Does he know of R. having gone back?”
Somasundaram Pillai: I told him all about R. and how I
had to escort him as far as Dhanushkodi.
Bhagavan: It seems the bhattar has been invited to
Vadapuri to attend some special function there, in celebration
of Saint Manikkavachagar.
Then we began talking of Vadavoor, which Bhagavan
said was only about twenty miles from Madura, and also of
Perundurai; there is much controversy among research
scholars whether Perundurai of Tiruvachakam is the place
called Avudayarkoil where there is a temple, and a tradition
that Saint Manikkavachakar built it, or whether it is some
place farther west. Bhagavan said, “All sorts of theories are
put forward, with ingenious and far-fetched arguments both
for and against.”
Later, the Mauni wanted for reference the poems composed
and left here by Dilip Kumar Roy of Aurobindo Ashram, when
he was here last, and also the poem by Mr. Chadwick in which
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he had addressed Bhagavan, “You will not let me go.” I searched
in the files and could get only D.K. Roy’s. Then I got from Mr.
Chadwick a copy of his poems which, we found, had been
composed in 1941. I gave both Roy’s and Chadwick’s poems to
Mauni.
Evening
After parayana, when the monkeys were getting their usual
parting gifts of fruit of the day, Bhagavan recounted his old
experiences with monkeys at Skandasramam, and how his
favourite Nondippaiyan (the lame one) hurt him twice. After
the monkeys were supplied, there was one plantain left, and
Bhagavan said “Give it to these children” pointing to four of
them who were there and adding, “these are tail-less monkeys.”
27-4-46 Morning
The priest of a temple at Dwaraka, returning from
Aurobindo’s Ashram, visited Bhagavan and asked him in Sanskrit,
“I wish to get sakshatkara of Sri Krishna. What should I do to
get it?” This question was put while Bhagavan was reading a
rather long letter from Lt. Shroff, which his wife had brought.
The letter closed with the sentiment: “Do what you will to me.
Send me health or sickness, riches or poverty.” Bhagavan said
with reference to the priest’s question, “I did not want to disturb
his faith, but wanted to tell him ‘Just leave it to Sri Krishna, —
even this sakshatkara of Krishna.’ And this letter of Shroff
contains the same thing.”
After saying this, Bhagavan added, “What is your idea
of Sri Krishna and what do you mean by sakshatkara?” On
this, the priest replied, “I mean the Sri Krishna who lived in
Brindavan and I want to see him as the Gopis saw him.”
Bhagavan replied, “You see, you think he is a human
being or one with a human form, the son of so and so, etc.,
whereas he himself has said, ‘I am in the Heart of all beings,
214
I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all forms of
life.’ He must be within you, as within all. He is your Atman
or the atman of your Atman. So if you see this entity or have
sakshatkara of it, you will have sakshatkara of Krishna. Atma
Sakshatkara and sakshatkara of Krishna cannot be different.
However, to go your own way, surrender completely to Krishna
and leave it to Him to grant the sakshatkara you want.”
29-4-46 Afternoon
Mr Nanavati asked Bhagavan, “What is the heart referred
to in the verse in Upadesa Saram where it is said ‘Abiding in
the heart is the best karma, yoga, bhakti and jnana’?”
Bhagavan: That which is the source of all, that in which all
live, and that into which all finally merge, is the heart referred to.
Nanavati: How can we conceive of such a heart?
Bhagavan: Why should you conceive of anything? You
have only to see wherefrom the ‘I’ springs.
Nanavati: I suppose mere mauna in speech is no good;
but we must have mauna of the mind.
Bhagavan: Of course. If we have real mauna, that state
in which the mind is merged into its source and has no more
separate existence, then all other kinds of mauna will come
of their own accord, i.e., the mauna of words, of action and of
the mind or chitta.
Bhagavan also quoted in this connection, the following
from Thayumanavar.
£jR UÜ]g ùNVpYôd ùLXôUÜ]g
ÑjR UÜ]ùUuTôp úRôu±t TWôTWúU
[If I get pure mauna (quiescence), I shall have mauna of
chitta, mind, word and deed]. Bhagavan added, “Such mauna
is not inertness but great activity. It is the most powerful speech.”
215
Mr. Ramasubba Iyer was taking out a book from the
Asramam Library. Bhagavan asked him what book it was. He
said he was taking a copy of Nannool, because he wanted to
learn ‘Vôl©Vp’ or prosody. Bhagavan thereupon advised him
to take another book dealing with prosody called
Vôl©XdLQm’ or, ‘@¦«XdLQm’, as Nannool gives only
a brief treatment of prosody. Bhagavan then fell into a discourse
on various metres and told us something about Tamil prosody
and how there are six parts in Tamil poetry — FÝjÕ, @ûN,
ºo, R}, @¥ & ùRôûP. Bhagavan continued, “Venba is very
difficult to make, even more difficult than the arya vrittams in
Sanskrit, as Kavyakantha himself had to admit once to me. Venba
is described as a ‘tiger’ even to pandits. It will overcome even
great poets. Of course, all this is only spoiling one’s peace of
mind. When great effort is put forth to do all sorts of literary
gymnastics, what is the result but loss of peace of mind?
Sometimes, the first ‘ºo’ in all the four lines will appear to be
the same word or words. But, when with great skill the words
are split up differently in each line, the meanings would be found
to be different.” From this the talk drifted to how by training the
mind people achieve such wonderful things as satavadhana
(attending to a hundred things at the same time) and Bhagavan
described how Nayana (Kavyakantha Ganapati Sastri) used to
do satavadhana in Bhagavan’s presence, how it was really
wonderful, how Nayana used to say that, what he was exhibiting
was only a thousandth part of the powers of memory and mind
he had developed, and how Nayana once composed three hundred
stanzas of his Uma Sahasram between eight and twelve one night
dictating different chapters to different writers at the same time.
2-5-46 Morning
A visitor asked, “I have been visiting various shrines in
a pilgrimage, and worshipping various images. What exactly
is God’s true form?”
216
Bhagavan: The only thing to know is that there is an
entity who is in all these forms, but who is not these forms.
We see the One in the many. We see the One as many, the
Formless in the forms.
In the afternoon, T.P.R. asked Bhagavan where the EokÕ
Ï¥fNôu Ñ{ (the name of a spring) is on the Hill and
Bhagavan described the locality and said it was first shown to
him by a woodcutter. Bhagavan continued, “In those days I
used to go all by myself. For answering calls of nature I used to
stroll along, taking no water with me, but going wherever water
may be available. It was on one such occasion, on one morning,
that I came across the banyan tree of which I have spoken often.
“As I was walking in the bed of a hill-stream, I saw a big
banyan tree on a boulder, with big leaves, and crossing the
stream I wanted to get to the other bund and view from there
this big tree. When I accidentally put my left foot near a bush
on the way to the other bank, the hornets clustered round my
left leg up to the knee and went on stinging. They never did
anything to my right leg. I left the left leg there for some time,
so that the hornets could inflict full punishment on the leg which
had encroached on their domain. After a time, the hornets
withdrew and I walked on. The leg got swollen very much and
I walked with difficulty and reached ‘Ezhu Sunai’ (Seven
Springs) about 2 a.m., and Jadaswami, who was camping there
then, gave me some buttermilk mixed with jaggery which was
all that he could provide by way of food. This is what actually
happened. But afterwards, people have gone and written that I
had purposely set out to explore and find out the banyan tree
described in the purana as the one on the northern peak of the
Hill, where Arunachala is said to be residing as a siddha. I
never had any such idea. When I saw for the first time a
remarkable banyan tree on a huge and precipitous boulder, I
was prompted by curiosity to have a look at it. Meanwhile, the
hornets stung me and I forgot all about the tree.”
217
In the afternoon, an European walked into the hall, sat in
a corner and walked away after a few minutes. Bhagavan turned
to me and asked me if I didn’t know him. I told Bhagavan I had
seen him here before, but I had forgotten his name. He is a
friend of Mr. McIver. Bhagavan said, “His name is Evelyn. His
wife — don’t you know he married that Parsi girl who used to
come and stay with Mrs. Taleyarkhan — has written to
Viswanathan to look after her husband, saying he had come
out of the hospital and that he is better now.”
5-5-46 Afternoon
Mr. Kasturi Chetti brought news that Ganapati Sastri had
passed away that morning, and that hernia was the cause.
Talking about G. Sastri, Bhagavan said he was a great friend
of Grant Duff, that he was a great lover of books, and that he
would promptly buy (not necessarily read) all good books
that came out and keep them in his library.
Bhagavan said, “Some rare books, which could not be
got elsewhere, were available with him.” Mr. T.P.R. said
Bhagavan was once waylaid and taken to G.’s house to see
the library he had collected. Bhagavan said, “It was he who
got the Ramana Gita written in Nagari characters. Nayana
wrote it down in Telugu characters.”
Evening
About two days ago, four books in French were received
from Swami Siddheswarananda in Paris. In the letter the Swami
wrote, “I hope the French devotee Mrs. Sen is still there. I meet
her friends here. If she is there, she may be able to tell Bhagavan
about the references in those books to Bhagavan.” So Bhagavan
asked me to give those books to Mrs. Sen for perusal. This evening
she came and said, “In these books reference is made to Bhagavan
as a perfect sthita prajna, though some other words in French
218
are used for sthita prajna.” Thereupon, Bhagavan read out to her
the verses in Vivekachudamani (from the English translation)
which describes a sthita prajna. Bhagavan also told us how the
Bhagavad Gita describes the same man as sthita prajna in Chapter
II, later on in dealing with bhakti, as bhagavat bhakta, later still
as gunatita (or beyond gunas). This Bhagavan said when I read
in Vivekachudamani the verses that follow those that describe a
sthita prajna. These deal with the jivanmukta (one liberated while
yet alive). A sthita prajna is described as one who has attained
steady illumination in Vivekachudamani. I asked Bhagavan if
these terms were not intended to denote the same class. It was
then that Bhagavan referred to the Gita passages.
5-5-46
In answer to a visitor, Bhagavan said, “Find out to whom
is Viyoga. That is yoga. Yoga is common to all paths. Yoga is
really nothing but ceasing to think that you are different from
the Self or Reality. All the yogas — karma, jnana, bhakti and
raja — are just different paths to suit different natures with
different modes of evolution and to get them out of the long
cherished notion that they are different from the Self. There is
no question of union or yoga in the sense of going and joining
something that is somewhere away from us or different from
us, because you never were or could be separate from the Self.”
In the afternoon I showed Bhagavan the passage in
today’s Sunday Times where Dr. T.M.P. Mahadevan, in his
radio talk, quotes Sri Shankara’s reference to his own
experience as proof of the existence of the jivanmukta and
about the controversies concerning various kinds of mukti.
He read out passages from a Tamil book called @jûYR
DiûU (The Truth of Advaita) in which all doubts about the
state of the jivanmukta are raised and answered. Then he said:
“Various illustrations are given in books to enable us to
understand how the jnani can live and act without the mind,
although living and acting require the use of the mind. The
potter’s wheel goes on turning round even after the potter has
ceased to turn it because the pot is finished. In the same way,
the electric fan goes on revolving for some minutes after we
switch off the current. The prarabdha which created the body
will make it go through whatever activities it was meant for.
But the jnani goes through all these activities without the notion
that he is the doer of them. It is hard to understand how this is
possible. The illustration generally given is that the jnani
performs actions in some such way as a child that is roused
from sleep to eat, eats but does not remember next morning
that it ate. It has to be remembered that all these explanations
are not for the jnani. He knows and has no doubts. He knows
that he is not the body and is not doing anything even though
his body may be engaged in some activity. These explanations
are for the onlookers who think of the jnani as one with a body
and cannot help identifying him with his body.

















(Continued  ...)




(My humble salutations to the lotus feet of Bhagavan Sree Ramana Maharshi
and also gratitude to great philosophers and others     for the collection)



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