Ramana and Bhakti

[Guest guest]

"At times Bhagvan's words and actions would make us wonder whether he

is a bhakta melting with love for Arunachala rather than a

dispassionate detached jnani. Once, during the Deepam festival, the

deity from the temple was being taken in a ceremonial procession around

the Hill. As the procession went past Ramanashramam, devotees of

Bhagavan offered coconuts, flowers and fruits to the Lord and performed

Aarati. Bhagavan was on his way to the cow shed at the time. Hearing

the temple drums, he came and sat on the small bridge near the water

tap. One of the devotees brought the Aarati plate with the glowing

camphor which had been offered to Arunachaleswara. Bhagavan took the

sacred ash from the plate, applied it to his forehead and remarked

softly: "The son is beholden to the Father". As he said this Bhagavan's

voice choked with emotion. His eyes glittered with unshed tears of

extacy. This incident seems to illustrate the saying, "absolute

Knowledge (Jnana) is no different from absolute Devotion (Bhakti).

 

Bhagavan's love for Arunachala was so deep that he never left it even

for a moment. He never tired of going around the Hill and visiting and

revisiting his favourite spots on and around the hill. He would sit for

hours silently gazing at the peak of the Hill, totally enraptured by

the sight. Every year on Kartigai Deepam day, Bhagavan would gaze at

the Hill through a pair of binocuars, his attention totally focused on

the spot at which the sacred Deepam would appear.

 

From "Cherished Memories" by T.R. Kanakammal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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