A GANDHIAN SOCIAL WORKER MEETS SRI RAMANA

[Guest guest]

prof laxmi narain (prof_narain)

 

Source and courtesy: Sri Ramana Kendram, Hyderabad

This article was published in Sri Ramana Jyothi,

monthly magazine of the Kendram.

 

A GANDHIAN SOCIAL WORKER MEETS SRI RAMANA

 

K. Arunachalam hailed from Madurai. He served as chairman of the

Madurai Khadi Board.

 

In the summer of 1932, I was working with a group of young men in the

slums of Bangalore. I had been to my village in Madurai district and

was returning to Bangalore to resume my work in the Gandhi School run

by the Deena Seva Sangh. On my way back, as suggested by a friend, I

stopped at Tiruvannamalai to have Ramana Maharshi's arshan. I

reached the Ashram and went to the hall where the Maharshi was seated

on a sofa. In a corner of the hall, on the top of a cupboard, I saw

an eighteen-inch statue of Mahatma Gandhi. I sat in front of the

Maharshi along with several others in meditation. A few were reading

silently some religious literature.The Maharshi himself was in

samadhi. Some were reciting slokas in a soft melodious tone. On the

whole, the atmosphere was an elevating one.

I sat in silence for hours together. When it was time for the

night meal, all the devotees got up and walked towards the adjoining

dining hall. I also went with them. After the meal some of us went

back to the hall. I decided to sleep in the hall as some others did.

I could not sleep because I was inquisitive to know what the Maharshi

would do.

He got up from the sofa at 3 O'clock in the morning and

walked towards the pond. After the essential morning routine he had

a dip in the pond. He changed his kaupina (loincloth) and washing the

used one, let it dry outside. Then he walked back to the hall and

reclined on the sofa. After sometime, he got up, went to the kitchen

and joined the group that was cutting vegetables.He supervised the

breakfast and ate with the visitors and Ashramites.

During the daytime there was a stream of visitors who prostrated

before the Maharshi. Sometimes he opened his eyes and blessed them

with a smile. Occasionally he spoke a few words. When the daily

newspaper arrived, he glanced through its pages. Most of the time his

eyes remained half closed. There was a calm peace in the whole

environment that surpassed all understanding. I sat silently watching

and enjoying the holy presence of the Maharshi and spent a full

three-day period like this.

Before leaving, I asked the Maharshi whom to follow. He enquired

about what I was doing. I gave him an idea of the slum-settlement

work in Bangalore and told him how we were engaged in harijan uplift

and prohibition work. He blessed the work and asked me to continue it

in the manner in which Mahatma Gandhi wanted such work done. I asked

the Maharshi for his autograph. He did not agree but he wanted the

sarvadhikari who was standing nearby to write my name.When I gave him

my name without initial, the sarvadhikari asked my father's name.The

Maharshi immediately said, " How can Arunachala have a father? " And he

laughed.

I requested the Maharshi to clear a doubt of mine. He showed his

willingness by a broad smile. Taking courage, I posed the following

problem: " The Maharshi by his example directs his followers to keep

quiet, but Mahatma Gandhi whose statue is here, by his own example,

goads everyone to be continuously active. " The Maharshi's face

broadened with an unparalleled smile. He asked, " Who told you that I

am sitting quiet? " I replied in all humility that I had seen it with

my own eyes. He said, " Why do you think that what you are seeing

with your physical eyes is the truth? " I had no answer for this

question. I took leave of him and left for Bangalore.

In 1951-55, during my tour of the southern United States I

came in touch with a group of Whites who were deeply involved in the

desegregation movement. They did not differentiate between one and

another whether black or white. I found in the study room of the

leader of this group a photo of Ramana Maharshi, whom he had never

seen. He revealed that it was the Maharshi's teaching that was a

driving force in all his activities undertaken for bringing about

equality between the two races – the Whites and the Coloured. He

evinced a deep interest in the Maharshi's mode of self-enquiry for

self-realisation. Now I understood the true import of the Gita's

teaching: " He who sees inaction in action and action in inaction is

wise among men; he is a yogi who has accomplished all action. "

(Source: Face to Face with Sri Ramana Maharshi, the Kendram's

publication.)