Spiritual Stories: Post #37 “Brahma’s Pride”

April 6, 2007

MURUGA SARANAM

18th March 2007

Spiritual Stories: Post #37 "Brahma's Pride"

Dear Members..

There is yet another story in the series that enhances our spiritual knowledge (or rather removes certain misconceptions of longer life) by Bhagwan Ramana Maharishi. Lord Brhama himself is taken as an example in this story. When such a great being who created all of us has such limitations how much limitations we must be having? But not to worry for any of them as long as you have taken refuge in Him, The Beautiful Lord of Sikkal – The Singara Vela, who is capable of removing all our ignorance with His radiant shining deep, broad and sharp Vel - The Spear. If every day, that has passed, has contributed to some knowledge in us that helps us advance in our spiritual wisdom, then I would say that we have lived longer, but not simply by the number of days we have lived.

May All Glories be to The Beautiful Lord of Sikkal !

Sikkal Singara Velanukku Arohara !!!

Muruga Saranam

With Best Regards

Meyyappan S

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The Story begins here

Brahma's Pride

A family came from a distant place to seek solace from the grief of losing six sons; the last child had recently died. As though Bhagavan had inspired the question, a devotee asked about using

pranayama and other practices to prolong life to enable them to become realised souls, jnanis.

Bhagavan gently replied, "Yes, people do live long if they do these practices, but does a person become a

jnani, a realised soul, by living long? A realised soul has really no love for his body. For one who is the embodiment of bliss, the body itself is a disease. He will await the time to be rid of the body."

A devotee said, "Some people say we have lived for fifty years, what more is needed? As though living so long were a great thing!"

"Yes," said Bhagavan with a laugh, "that is so. It is a sort of pride and there is a story about it."

IT SEEMS THAT in the olden days, Brahma once felt proud of the fact that he was long-lived. He went to Vishnu and said, "Do you not see how great a person I am! I am the oldest living person (

chiranjeevi)." Vishnu told him that was not so and that there were people who had lived much longer than he. When Brahma said that could not be, since he was the creator of all living beings, Vishnu took him with him to show him people older than him.

They went along until, at a certain place, they found Romasa Mahamuni. Vishnu asked him his age and how long he expected to live. "Oho!" said Romasa, "you want to know my age? All right, listen then and I will tell you. This era (

yuga) consists of so many thousands of years. All these years put together make one day and one night for Brahma. It is according to these calculations that Brahma's life is limited to one hundred years. When one such Brahma dies, one of the hairs of my body falls out. Corresponding to such deaths as have already occurred, several of my hairs have fallen out, but many more remain. When all my hairs fall out, my life will be over and I shall die."

Very much surprised at that, they went on to Ashtavakra Mahamuni, an ascetic with eight distortions in his body. When they told him about all the above calculations, he said that when one such Romasa Mahamuni

dies, one of his own distortions would straighten, and when all the distortions had gone, he would die. On hearing this, Brahma was crestfallen. Similarly, there are many stories. If true realization is attained, who wants this body? For a Realised Soul who enjoys limitless bliss through realization of the Self, why this burden of the body?

Ends

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