Ramana Maharshi's humorous comparision between relatives and disease

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20th January, 1946When the personal attendants of Bhagavan were advised by doctors to give him food containing vitamins to relieve the pain in the legs they began doing so and were also massaging his legs with some special ointment. They were thus serving him to the best of their ability. Bhagavan used to say humorously, “A guest comes to your house. If you are indifferent towards him he will go away early, but if you show great respect towards him, and are very attentive he will never go. So is disease. If you attend to the disease in the manner you are doing now, why should it go? If you take no notice of it, it will disappear of its own accord.”

Sometime ago, a young man set up an establishment about a mile from the Ashram, on the road round the hill,saying he would cure diseases by giving vibhuti. People getmad over such things, don’t they? People who were diseased,possessed and the like started going in crowds to see that Vibhuti Swami, and on their way, they used to come to our Ashram also. What is there at this Ashram? No vibhuti! No magic lockets! They used to have darshan and then go away.On such occasions, if any attendants happened to be massaging his legs with medicated oil, Bhagavan used to say in a lighter vein, “Excellent, this is also good in a way. When these people see me thus, they would say, ‘this Swami himself is suffering from pains in the legs and is getting massaged by others. What can he do for us?’ and go away without coming anywhere near me. So far so good.”

Two or three years back when Bhagavan had jaundice,he could not relish his food and felt a great dislike for food.For about a week or ten days he ate only popcorns and the like. As Echamma and Mudaliar Patti have a vow that they will not eat until Bhagavan takes at least a morsel of food cooked by them he used to take a few grains from the rice brought by these ladies and mixing them with popcorn,used somehow swallow that food so that their vratam or deeksha might remain unimpaired. 

Months passed by; the jaundice persisted. A reputed doctor from Madras was called. The result was the same. After all had come and gone, and after all medicines had been tried without success,he cured himself of jaundice in no time with sonti (dry ginger),pippalu (ipecac) and other Ayurvedic herbal medicines. Let any one venture to ask him how the disease was cured!

Source: Letters from Sri Ramanasramam VOLUMES I, II & Letters from and Recollections of Sri Ramanasramam By SURI NAGAMMA Translated by D. S. SASTRI

-- Om Namo Bhagavate Sri Ramanaya

Prasanth JalasutramLove And Love Alone