THE MAHARSHI 11-12/1998

December 26, 2004

THE MAHARSHI

Nov./Dec. 1998Vol. 8 - No. 6

Produced & Edited byDennis HartelDr. Anil K. Sharma

Eternal BhagavanBy Shantammal - Part II

THE NEXT YEAR I wanted to go to Ramnad for Devi Puja. When sitting in the Hall in meditation, I saw, instead of Bhagavan, a little girl of about two years old. She was full of charm and splendor, intensely alert and powerful, radiating a golden brilliance. Soon the vision vanished and I saw Bhagavan again. I understood that he was the goddess I wanted to worship in Ramnad. Where was the need of a pilgrimage to a goddess when I was daily serving him from whom all gods eternally were born.

One morning a European came on a horse carriage to the Ashram and went straight to Bhagavan. He wrote something on a piece of paper and showed it to Bhagavan. Bhagavan did not answer; instead he gazed at the stranger with unwinking eyes. The stranger was staring back at him. Then Bhagavan closed his eyes and the stranger also closed his. They stayed without moving. At mealtime the meals were served, but Bhagavan would not open his eyes. Madhavaswami, the attendant, got Bhagavan's water pot and stood ready to lead Bhagavan out of the Hall. Bhagavan would not stir. We felt afraid to go near, such was the intensity around him. His face was glowing with a strange light. The guests in the dining hall were waiting and the food before them was getting cold. Chinnaswami was talking loudly to attract Bhagavan's attention. Even vessels were banged about, but all in vain. As the clock was striking twelve, Bhagavan opened his eyes. They were glowing very brightly. Madhavaswami took up the water jug. The European got into the carriage and went away. It was the last we saw of him. We did not even get his name. Everybody was wonder struck at the great good fortune of the man to have received such immediate initiation from Bhagavan.

During those days I had a dream. A resplendent lady with a luminous face was seated by Bhagavan's side on the sofa and Bhagavan was adorning her with meticulous care. Another lady, as beautiful and full of light and splendor, was moving about the Ashram, doing all kinds of service. I asked Bhagavan how it was that he was giving so much attention to one and none to the other. Then I woke up. When I told my dream to Muruganar, he told me that it was true that an invisible being was always near Bhagavan. She was the Goddess of Salvation and Muruganar had composed several songs about her.

In the afternoon, Bhagavan, Muruganar, and I were sitting around a big brass plate, preparing sweets for the coming festival. I asked Muruganar to tell my dream to Bhagavan. When he started, Bhagavan said: "What are you, her attorney? Let her tell her dream herself." When I had finished, he added: "When I was on the hill, the lady who used to bring me food would serve a second plate by my side. When I asked whom it was for, she would answer, 'For the Mother.' She had a similar vision."

Once the Maharaja of Mysore visited the Ashram. He would not visit Bhagavan in the Hall and asked for a private interview. We were perplexed, for Bhagavan never allowed such a thing. Whatever had to be said was said in public, by letter, or in the mind. Finally, it was decided to bring the Maharaja in when Bhagavan was having his bath. The Maharaja entered the bathroom and we were all standing outside. Trays and trays of costly presents and all kinds of sweets and dainties were offered at Bhagavan's feet. For ten minutes the Maharaja just stood looking and then prostrated before Bhagavan. Tears flowing from his eyes actually made Bhagavan's feet wet. He sobbed for some time and went away.

A few days later the Maharani of Travancore also came to the Ashram. When Bhagavan was sitting alone in the dining hall after lunch, I asked him: "The Maharani was here. What did she do?"

"She asked many questions and went away."

"And the Maharaja of Mysore?"

"Oh, he is a ripe fruit," said Bhagavan, and with great felling he re-enacted the scene. We could almost see the Maharaja's eagerness, his humility and sadness. The Maharaja had told him: "They made me a Maharaja and bound me to a throne. For the sin of being born a king I lost the chance of sitting at your feet and serving in your glorious presence. I cannot stay here and I do not hope to come again. Only these few minutes are mine. I can only pray for your grace."

After some time the Ashram received a long letter from the Maharaja in his own handwriting. At the end he wanted to know where he could get the incense sticks used in the Ashram. They were Mysore incense sticks, but what could not be purchased was their fragrance when they were glowing in Bhagavan's presence.

A villager had a dream in which he was told to offer his next calf to Ramanasramam. He brought his cow and the calf to Bhagavan. The jungle around the Ashram was thick at that time and there were cheetahs. The Ashram people were perplexed and refused the offer, but the villager was taking his dream seriously and would not take the calf away. The mother cow had to remain with the calf to feed her. Finally, the cow and the calf were entrusted to a devotee in the town. The calf became the famous cow Lakshmi. She grew up and had three calves within a few years. She would come daily to the Ashram to have her meals, graze on the Ashram land, enter the Hall and sit contentedly near Bhagavan. In the evening, she would go back to the town as other women did.

Once Lakshmi came into the Hall. She was pregnant at that time. It was after lunch time when Bhagavan was reading the newspapers. Lakshmi came near and started licking the papers. Bhagavan looked up and said: "Wait a little, Lakshmi." But Lakshmi went on licking. Bhagavan laid his paper aside, put his hands behind Lakshmi's horns and his head against hers. Like this they stayed for quite a long time. I stood nearby looking at the wonderful scene. After some ten minutes or so, Bhagavan turned to me and said: "Do you know what Lakshmi is doing? She is in Samadhi."

I looked at her and tears were flowing in streams down her broad cheeks. Her breathing had stopped and her eyes were fixed on Bhagavan. After some time Bhagavan changed his position and asked: "Lakshmi, how do you feel now?" Lakshmi moved backward, as if reluctant to turn her tail towards Bhagavan, walked round the Hall and went out.

On the fourth day Lakshmi gave birth to a calf. The man with whom Lakshmi used to stay brought her with her progeny and left them in the Ashram for good. Lakshmi, with her three calves, came into the Hall and lay down by the sofa. Bhagavan saw her and said: "All these days Lakshmi had to go in the evening to the town and she was always leaving in tears. Today she is delighted for she need not go away anymore. She knows that her home is here now. We have to look after her. Look at her. With what self-assurance she has stretched herself out!"

One year I had to go to Ramnad and my train was in the evening. At noon I asked for Bhagavan's permission to leave. "Why do you ask so early?" enquired Bhagavan.

I said, "Lest I should forget to ask for it in the hurry of departure."

Bhagavan laughed and turning to Sri G. V. Subbaramaiah, remarked: "There is a sloka for it." He then recited a Sanskrit verse which runs: "O, my Lord, at the time of leaving this world I may not remember your name, so I am pleading with you now. Take charge of me at the time of my death."

In the end, I could not go that night. The next morning when I was serving the breakfast iddlies, Bhagavan said to Sri Subbaramaiah: "Look at her. She took my permission to go, but she did not ask for permission to stay."

In the early days of the Ashram, a pariah (a man of the lower caste) used to stand near the well and accompany Bhagavan whenever he would go up the hill. One day Bhagavan called him near and said: "Go on repeating 'Shiva, Shiva'." It was very unusual for an untouchable to receive this kind of initiation. He could never have secured it without Bhagavan's infinite grace. After that the man disappeared.

Once a sannyasi came and stayed in the Ashram for three weeks. On the last day he came near Bhagavan and said: "Swami, I am satisfied in every way with my stay in the Ashram. Now I pray, fill my heart." Bhagavan got up and held the sannyasin's hands. They stood thus for a long time. Then the sannyasi prostrated before Bhagavan and said: "Now I am blessed." With that he departed. Thus would Bhagavan give enlightenment with a word, a look, a touch or in deep silence.

In those days, before Bhagavan took his meals he would go around and see if all the animals, like dogs and birds, had been properly fed. Then he would go and see if the cattle were looked after well. Even iddlies had to be given to the cows and calves. Sometimes the Ashram iddlies were all eaten up by the cows and we had to send to the town for more, lest Bhagavan should reproach us for stingy cooking. Then he would see that the beggars at the Ashram gate were also fed. If there was no bean soup (rassam) ready for the beggars, to go with their rice, he would order sambar to be distributed.

During the Kartikai festival beggars from all over South India would collect at Tiruvannamalai in vast crowds and they would flock to the Ashram for an assured meal. Once they became so unruly that the attendants refused to serve them. The matter was discussed among the workers and it was decided to abandon the distribution of food to beggars. That night I had the following dream: Bhagavan's Hall was full of devotees. On the sofa appeared a small creature which gradually grew until it became a huge, bright-red horse. The horse went round the Hall, sniffing at each devotee in turn. I was afraid he would come near me, but the horse went to Bhagavan, licked him all over the body and disappeared. Bhagavan called me near and asked me not to be afraid. A divine perfume emanated from him. He said: "Don't think it is an ordinary horse. As soon as the flags are hoisted at Arunachaleshwara Temple for the Kartikai festival, gods come down to partake in the celebrations. They join the crowd and some mix with the beggars at the Ashram gate. So never stop feeding sadhus and beggars at festivals." I told the dream to Chinnaswami Swami, and that day he ordered seven measures of rice to be cooked for the beggars.

- (To be continued) - From Ramana Smrti Souvenir

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