108 Facets of The Inimitable Guru
108 Facets of The Inimitable Guru
108 Facets of The Inimitable Guru
Inimitable Guru
भवन्नामभावावलीपद्ममालाम ।्
प्रणम्यार ्पयावो भवच्छ्रीपदाब्जे ॥
(Having paid obeisance we submit at Your glorious lotus feet, this
garland of lotuses, which is the series of meanings of Your very nāmas.)
Salutations to the Jagadgurus
1. अद्वैतविद्यारविकः Advaita-vidyā-rasikaḥ
One who delighted in the knowledge of Advaita
To the question, ‘Who is that Sadguru whom a disciple desirous of knowing
the Truth should seek?’ the Vedas categorically answer, “One who is learned
in the Śāstras (śrotriya) and is established in Brahman (brahma-niṣṭha).”1
His Holiness is described in this nāma as rasika, One who delighted in, the
vidyā, knowledge, of advaita, that is the advaita-vedānta-śāstra. That His
Holiness delighted in the Vedānta-śāstra automatically affirms that He had,
in the first place, learnt and understood it thoroughly. Therefore, the nāma
asserts that His Holiness was a śrotriya.
The Māṇḍūkya-upaniṣad indicates that the word advaita means the Ātman,
the Supreme that ought to be known.2 The import of the term ‘advaita-vidyā’
is that Advaita or the Supreme Brahman Itself is of the nature of vidyā,
Knowledge. The Śruti indicates this by saying, ‘Brahman is Truth,
Knowledge and Infinite’.3 Thus, this nāma has the deeper import that His
Holiness was rasika, One who delighted in, advaita-vidyā, Brahman that is
Knowledge Itself.
The Śruti reveals that Brahman is of the nature of bliss as well, through
statements such as ‘Brahman is of the nature of Knowledge and Bliss’.4
About reveling in the Bliss that is Brahman, Bhagavatpāda says, “When,
having become ripened by incessant practice, the mind becomes absorbed in
Brahman, nirvikalpa-samādhi (the acme of yoga) ensues, which by itself,
effortlessly brings about the experience of non-dual Bliss,”5 where rasa or
enjoyment is verily (the Bliss that is) Brahman.6 Now the term ‘advaita-
vidyā’ meaning ‘Brahma-vidyā’ essentially refers to the mental vṛtti or
modification that removes the ignorance about Brahman. Hence, the nāma
conveys that His Holiness delighted in that vṛtti, which exists in nirvikalpa-
samādhi and has as its basis the oneness of Ātman-Brahman. Bhagavatpāda
says, “One who always has this jñāna-vṛtti that never undergoes
modifications and is pure consciousness, is called a jīvanmukta (one
liberated while living).”7 The nāma thus indicates that His Holiness was a
brahma-niṣṭha or in other words a jīvanmukta, who revelled in the rasa or
Bliss that is Brahman, and that He particularly did so in nirvikalpa-samādhi.
It is the traditional practice to begin any text with a prayer to God or the
Guru, or at least with an auspicious word. This aṣṭottara-śata-nāmāvali
begins with the word ‘advaita’. It has already been seen that the word
‘advaita’ denotes Brahman. In the mantra of the Māṇḍukya-upaniṣad
quoted above, it is also said that advaita is verily ‘Śiva’, meaning
auspiciousness. It is significant that this nāmāvali on His Holiness begins
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 7
with a word that indicates the most auspicious among all auspicious entities,
Brahman.
[The following forms His Holiness’s reminiscence of His attainment of
nirvikalpa-samādhi on 10th December, 1935. He was eighteen years old at
that time. His Holiness had the practice of meditating atop a hill near
Narasimhavana, Sringeri. His abode, Sacchidananda Vilasa, is situated in
Narasimhavana.]
“I reached my place of meditation on the hill around one and a half hours
before sunset. Sitting in the siddhāsana, I performed two cycles of
prāṇāyāma together with the jālandhara, uḍḍīyāna and mūla bandhas to
promote mental tranquillity. Then, as usual, I directed my gaze towards the
centre of my brows and chanted the Praṇava (Oṁ). That day, I beheld an
unbounded expanse of blue, resembling the sky.
“The notion, ‘I am the non-dual Brahman apart from which nothing
whatsoever exists’ that was prominent and naturally persistent since the
previous evening had been intensified by my savikalpa-samādhis (the
exalted stage of yoga preceding nirvikalpa-samādhi) of the morning and by
my reading and reflection of the afternoon. So, I did not have to cultivate it.
I had barely seen the soothing expanse of blue when it vanished. I felt Myself
expanding and becoming like space. The sense of ‘I’ nearly vanished and
my mind entered savikalpa-samādhi.
“The bliss was very great. However, with effort, I restrained Myself from
being overwhelmed by it and thought, “I am not the one experiencing bliss
but am bliss itself.” In a trice, a sharp change occurred. Awareness of the
distinction of the concentrator, concentration and the object of concentration
completely disappeared. No more was there any sense of individuality or of
space, time and objects. Only Brahman, of the nature of absolute existence,
pure consciousness and ultimate bliss, shone bereft of the superimposition
of even a trace of duality.
“After about two hours, the mind descended to the level of savikalpa-
samādhi and mild awareness of the distinction of the concentrator,
concentration and the object of concentration reappeared. Though the bliss
of savikalpa-samādhi was by far greater than the joy of any worldly
enjoyment, it was nothing compared to the absolute, non-dual bliss of
nirvikalpa-samādhi.”
[The following account forms the recollection of His Holiness about His
attainment of jīvanmukti (liberation while living). This happened on the
evening of 12th December, 1935.]
8 1. Advaita-vidyā-rasikaḥ
“The conviction about the falsity of duality and of my being of the nature of
changeless consciousness was so strong and steady that almost no notions of
the non-Ātman, based on avidyā (ignorance), cropped up. Those few that did
were neutralised swiftly. The knowledge that Brahman alone is all this had
almost fully fructified. This was my state when I went in the evening to the
summit of the hill one and a half hours before sunset.
“I directed my gaze to between the brows and, without any premeditation,
chanted, ‘oṁ namaḥ śivāya (Obeisance to Śiva)’ rather than just the
Prāṇava. Soon, I beheld a moon-like disc of light between my brows. The
mind became increasingly quiet, the sense of “I” faded away and,
effortlessly, nirvikalpa-samādhi ensued. When I opened my eyes, the sun
was about to set. Two birds were seated on my shoulders.
“That Brahman is all was as clear as a fruit in one’s palm. My mind
automatically went into nirvikalpa-samādhi once again a few minutes later
and remained in that state for nearly an hour. Shortly after I regained
awareness of the body and the surroundings, a big monkey bounded up to
me and positioned itself on my lap. After being cuddled for a while by me,
it left. I started walking down the hill.
“By the grace of my Guru and God, the “svanubhavo brahmātmanā
saṁsthitiḥ (direct realisation of Brahman and firm establishment in
Brahman)”,8 spoken of in the Viveka-cūdāmaṇi occurred at one stroke that
evening, and there has been no deviation from the Reality ever since.”
When His Holiness was returning from the hill after attaining jīvanmukti, He
saw His Guru, the renowned jīvanmukta, Jagadguru Śrī Candraśekhara
Bhāratī Mahāswāmin, standing outside Sacchidananda Vilasa and looking
in His direction. The senior Jagadguru beckoned to Him and went inside.
When He went to the room of His Guru, the latter, who was standing there,
rushed to Him and embraced Him even before His Holiness could prostrate
before His Guru or say anything. Holding Him by His shoulders, the senior
Jagadguru said, “I am so very happy.” He then voiced a mantra of the
Muṇḍaka-upaniṣad, a passage of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka-upaniṣad and a verse
of the Bhagavad-gītā, all of which are about an enlightened person, a
jīvanmukta.
The import of the Muṇḍaka-upaniṣad mantra is, “When the supreme Ātman,
which is both high and low, is realised, the knot of the heart (comprising the
host of tendencies and impressions of ignorance in the form of desires) is
destroyed, all doubts come to an end and one’s actions become dissipated.”9
The cited passage of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka-upaniṣad conveys, “He who was
subject to death then becomes deathless and attains identity with Brahman
while living in this very body.”10 The import of the cited words of the Lord
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 9
in the Bhagavad-gītā is, “But that man who rejoices only in the Ātman, is
satisfied with just the Ātman and who is contented in just the Ātman - for
him, there is no duty to perform.”11
The senior Jagadguru then said, “Such declarations of the śruti and smṛti
are applicable to you who abide as the Supreme Brahman.”
A disciple once asked His Holiness if there had ever been an occasion over
the years when intense anger, worry or grief appeared in His Holiness’s
mind, unaccompanied, even for a while, by the awareness of its falsity. His
Holiness responded, “No, never. Even during excruciating pain, there has
been the clear awareness that it pertains only to the illusory mind and that I
am the changeless witness of the nature of pure consciousness.” Such
instances leave no room for doubt about His Holiness’s firm establishment
in the Truth.
Jagadguru Sri Bhāratī Tīrtha Mahāsvāmin once recollected about His Guru,
“When His Holiness expounded texts on Advaita-vedānta such as the
Upaniṣads, the Brahma-sūtras and the Bhagavad-gītā, along with Ādi-
śaṅkara-bhagavatpāda’s commentary, His face would be flushed with joy.
The kind of joy He had when reading the Advaitic scriptures, would be
unmistakeable to anyone who saw Him. On some occasions, He would close
His eyes and slip into complete silence for a while, His face lit up with a
smile. On occasion He would share His delight with me, saying, ‘See how
wonderfully Bhagavatpāda has expounded this portion!’”
2. ु
अनकम्पािवरत्पवतः Anukampā-saritpatiḥ
One who was an ocean of compassion
A person who is a śrotriya and brahma-niṣṭha, as His Holiness was, would
be pre-eminently capable of gracing disciples to cross the ocean of saṁsāra.
However, he would actually do so only if he were to have unbounded
compassion. It is for this reason that Bhagavatpāda, while delineating the
characteristics of a Guru, says, “He is one who has realized the Truth and
who ever strives for the welfare of his disciples.”12 That this characteristic
too fits His Holiness perfectly, is borne out by this nāma.
Bhagavatpāda eulogizes the Sadguru by saying, “There is no illustration
whatsoever in even the depths of the three worlds for a Sadguru, the giver
of knowledge.”13 He goes on to explain that even the (now mythical) sparśa
gem (philosopher’s stone), that can convert an ordinary piece of iron to gold,
does not stand a chance of being a fit enough parallel. This is because the
10 2. Anukampā-saritpatiḥ
sparśa transforms iron only to gold and not to another sparśa that in turn
would be capable of producing more sparśas, whereas a Sadguru converts
an ordinary human being into a Sadguru. The Sadguru, being a brahma-
niṣṭha, has achieved all that has to be achieved. For him the entire world is
but illusory, just as a dream is for one who has woken up, and the Supreme
Brahman alone exists. When this is the case, there can be only one cause -
compassion - for a Sadguru to descend to the level of the disciple who has
surrendered to him, and grant him his own state of establishment in
Brahman. Surely, such compassion must be exceptional.
His Holiness’s compassion is compared here to sarit-patiḥ, the ocean,
implying that His Holiness’s edifying compassion was constantly available,
infinite, never diminishing and ever unprejudiced.
A question that would arise here is why such compassion of the Sadguru
does not prompt him to grant the state of liberation to all, unprejudiced as it
is. At any rate such total lack of prejudice would not only bring into question
the validity of Śāstraic injunctions regarding the sādhanā (means or
practices) to be pursued for liberation, but would also deal a body blow to
the fundamental principles of natural justice. After all, ‘liberation for all’
would imply that a person who has strived for liberation as well as a sinner
would both be granted liberation. It is obvious that no Sadguru so grants
everyone liberation, for if it had happened, then everyone in the world would
have become liberated. So the counter question that would arise is whether
his compassion is really so unprejudiced after all.
Bhagavatpāda answers, ‘Having accepted as his own disciple, one who takes
refuge in his pair of feet, the Sadguru grants him his own state (of being
established in Brahman)’.14 Essentially, the Sadguru’s grace extends to
those who seek it; he does not grant liberation to everybody, because giving
knowledge to one who is not prepared for it can be disastrous. This is just as
the ocean, referred to here as the lord of rivers, is available as refuge to any
river that seeks it, but does not go out to rivers to engulf them for that would
indeed be cataclysmic. Total surrender at the feet of the Sadguru by the
disciple is the minimum that is necessary to earn his grace and also turns out
to be all that is required. Thus, the Sadguru’s compassion does not depend
on whether the person who approaches him is greatly qualified for
knowledge or is an abject ignoramus - all that matters is that the person has
truly taken refuge in him. The Viveka-cūḍāmaṇi wraps it up thus: ‘The
Sadguru is an ocean of cause-less compassion; He is a friend (one who gets
rid of misery) to those noble ones who have totally surrendered to him’.15
This ocean-like compassion of His Holiness made Him an inimitable
Sadguru, the giver of the Supreme knowledge.
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 11
prayed to Him for pure devotion. He had said, ‘Abidance in the Self is indeed
considered the highest devotion. May you have that true devotion.’”
3. ु
अवतमानषचावरत्रः Atimānuṣa-cāritraḥ
One whose conduct transcended that of mortals
This nāma conveys that in spite of seeming to be a human being who attained
jīvanmukti through spiritual sādhanā and who shone as a compassionate
16 3. Atimānuṣa-cāritraḥ
Sadguru, His Holiness was in fact an incarnation of the Lord, for His conduct
transcended the ken of the human intellect. Alluding to a statement of the
Upaniṣad,17 Jagadguru Śrī Bhāratī Tīrtha Mahāsvāmin versified this very
fact about His Guru poignantly as, “I take refuge in that Lord of all,
Vidyātīrtha, who is described by the Śruti as the One God who created
heaven and earth.”18
Not only are these dual views about His Holiness - as a jīvanmukta and as
the Lord incarnate - not mutually exclusive and indeed only complement
each other, they also afford people a glimpse of multiple facets of His
Holiness’s glory. Importantly, each of these views has its own profound
benefit. What His Holiness Himself said about Rāma in a benedictory
discourse is instructive in this context: “Rāma can be viewed either as a man
or as God. If He is viewed as a man, then we can improve our lives by
emulating Him. After all, He too faced trials and tribulations like us. In spite
of difficulties He emerged triumphant. If He is meditated upon as God, we
can get liberation.”
His Holiness had to stay at Bengaluru for some time, while His Guru stayed
on at Sringeri. Before His Holiness left for Bengaluru in 1936, the senior
Jagadguru referred to His Holiness’s extraordinary vision of Śiva (described
under nāma 10) and enlightenment (vide nāma 1) in December 1935 and
told Him, in private, “I know that you are God Himself and ever perfect.
Your engaging in sādhanā and apparently attaining enlightenment were only
a part of your divine sport. Your vision of Śiva and your receiving His
blessings and instruction a few days before your taking your sādhanā to its
culmination were on the same footing as the vision, blessings and instruction
of Śiva obtained by Kṛṣṇa (described in the Droṇa-parvan of the
Mahābhārata).”
The senior Jagadguru even composed eight verses about His Holiness, in
one of which He explicitly described His Holiness as One who is known by
means of the Praṇava (Om) and who is the manifestation of the Supreme
Brahman.146 Giving the verses to His Holiness, the senior Jagadguru said,
“I have written only what I definitely know to be true about you. There is no
exaggerated praise here.”
Sri D. S. Subbaramaiya, who, as described under nāma 2, was an intimate
disciple of the senior Jagadguru, once recalled, “When I had once gone for
the darśana of the senior Jagadguru, His Holiness came to have a necessary
word with Him. As His Holiness was leaving, respectifully walking
backwards so as to not show His back to His Guru, the senior Jagadguru
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 17
the most Merciful.”) His subsequent chant started with “Alam nashrah laka
sadrak.”
[His Holiness had chanted Surah 94 of the Quran, called “ash-Sharh (The
Opening),” that comprises eight lines that convey: “1) Have We not opened
your breast for you 2) And removed from you your burden 3) Which
weighed down your back? 4) And have We not raised high your fame? 5)
Verily, along with every hardship is relief, 6) Verily, along with every
hardship is relief. 7) So when you have finished (your occupation), devote
yourself for Allah’s worship. 8) And to your Lord turn (all your) intentions
and hopes.”]
The two Muslims were awestruck. They quickly held their hands in the
Muslim gesture of prayer, with their open palms held towards their faces.
When His Holiness ended His chant, the elder of the two said, in Urdu,
“Bābā, how wonderfully you chant the Quran!” His Holiness ignored the
compliment and asked, in Urdu, “What is the purpose of your visit?” The
younger man said, “My child is very ill.” Without waiting for him to
continue, His Holiness said, “Bring the boy.” The man said, “I shall do so.
He is with his mother in the car.”
As he went out, the elder person told His Holiness, “I teach the Quran in a
madrasa and my son does so in another. Both of us, his wife and child are
on a sightseeing tour and arrived at Mangalore (Mangaluru) a few days ago.
We took a taxi and proceeded through Agumbe to the Jog Falls near
Shimoga (Shivamogga). We then wanted to proceed to the origin of the river
Tuṅgā. However, as we were nearing Koppa, my grandchild began to scream
in pain, clutching his abdomen. My daughter-in-law tried her best to pacify
him but could not. We took him to a doctor at Koppa. He examined the child
and suggested that we admit him to a hospital there. We did so. Despite
several tests and treatment, there was no improvement. The child was
suffering much and could not eat or drink anything. He threw up even water.
At night, due to exhaustion, my daughter-in-law must have dozed off for a
few minutes. She dreamt that the child was dead and was inconsolable after
waking up. Three years ago, her first son, when aged two, had clutched his
abdomen and screamed. Later, he died in a hospital as his appendix had
ruptured. Understandably, this child’s suffering severe pain in the abdomen
and that too at the age of two was terrible for us. As there was no
improvement even by this morning, we decided to shift the child to some big
hospital in Mangaluru and got the child discharged, against the advice of the
doctor at Koppa.
“As we were starting, the taxi driver suggested that as we would be passing
through Sringeri en route to Mangalore, we should get the child blessed by
you. He was sure that with your blessings itself, the child would get relief.
20 3. Atimānuṣa-cāritraḥ
salaam to Bābā.” The child smiled and did so. His Holiness smiled back. The
elders profusely thanked His Holiness. He just said, “Be thankful to Allah
and not to me,” and permitted them to leave. As they were about to leave,
the elder Muslim said, “It is because of the driver that we came to you.
Would you see him?” His Holiness said, “Yes. Send him in.”
In a couple of minutes, the driver entered. He had removed his upper
garments. He was having kuṅkuma on his forehead and seemed to be in his
fifties. On seeing him, His Holiness smiled and said, in Kannada, “You have
come here before.” The man confirmed that he had and performed
namaskāra. As he was getting up, His Holiness asked him, “Do you continue
to chant ‘sumukhāya namaḥ’ and the rest?” The driver replied, “I do so every
day, without fail. After I started chanting the twelve names as taught by Your
Holiness and offering worship through them to the picture of Vināyaka that
Your Holiness had blessed me with, my problems ceased and I am living
happily since then.” His Holiness asked, “How is that picture now?” The
driver apologetically said, “As I travel much and carry it with me in my car
everywhere I go, it has faded.” Giving the driver the Vināyaka idol that had
been submitted to Him earlier in the day, His Holiness told him, “Hereafter,
worship this instead of the picture.” He then gave him a fruit and permitted
him to leave.
His Holiness was once camping at Kotekar, near Mangaluru. It was about
2:30 p.m. He was seated in His private room. He was telling a disciple about
an event when He abruptly got up, walked to the door leading to the open
veranda in the front of the building and opened it. In moments, a man came
rushing there. He was sweating, his shirt and trousers were dirty and his
forehead was bandaged.
His Holiness gently asked him who he was and what he wanted. The man
blurted out, in Kannada, “Please save,” but could not proceed further as he
began to sob. Even without his having said anything more, His Holiness told
him, “Your son will be alright soon. Do not worry.” Then gesturing to him
to wait, He went inside and brought two big packets of cashew nuts and one
large pack of almonds. He gave them to him, saying, “Give some of these to
your son daily, after some days.” Having respectfully taken the dry fruits, he
told His Holiness, “My son is in hospital. The doctor told me today that my
child is suffering from cancer.” “No, he does not have cancer. He will come
home soon from the hospital and be well,” His Holiness stated emphatically.
The man joined his palms, thanked Him and left. His Holiness shut the door,
resumed His seat and continued to talk to the disciple.
The next evening, when He was completing His evening walk, He saw the
man standing at a distance, with palms joined. He smiled at him and entered
22 3. Atimānuṣa-cāritraḥ
the building. The man walked up to the disciple and said, “Last evening,
after I had returned to the hospital from here, the doctor came and said,
‘There was a mistake; reports had got mixed up. Your son does not have
cancer. We can discharge him in two days. After taking him home, give him
good nourishment.’ Please convey this to Swami. I am very thankful to Him.
As I did not wish to disturb Him today, I stayed at a distance.” The disciple
replied that he would submit this information to His Holiness. As the disciple
was starting to leave, he added, “I am a Christian. When I was shell-shocked
on hearing that my child has cancer, a Hindu friend told me to approach
Swami for blessings. That is why I rushed here yesterday. I am glad that I
did so.” Later, when the disciple reported the matter to His Holiness, He just
heard him in silence.
In the year 1974 Sri P. Subramaniam, a close devotee of His Holiness from
Kolkata, escorted a team of devotees to Sringeri during cāturmāsya. On
reaching Bengaluru, the group was accommodated in the Shankara Math.
The devotee narrates: “Around midnight, my wife and I saw His Holiness
standing near us and looking around the room where many of the devotees
who had travelled with us were sleeping. We got up and prostrated at the
lotus feet of His Holiness. We saw Him giving a benign smile and blessing
us with His outstretched right hand. We saw Him walking away and
disappear. We were amazed at having seen His Holiness there when we were
expecting to have His darśana only at Sringeri. Our mind dwelt on the vision
and wondered how and why it had happened.
“Next day, when we reached Sringeri and had darśana of His Holiness, I
said to Him that we had had His darśana the previous night at the Shankara
Math at Bengaluru. His Holiness smiled and said, ‘Since you were bringing
a number of devotees from Calcutta (Kolkata), I wanted to see whether they
were comfortably accommodated and properly looked after last night.’
“These words of His Holiness sent a thrill through us. He had not only come
to Bengaluru, but had also given us eyes to have His divine darśana there.”
The following is a narrative by Smt. Vaikuntam Anantarama Seshan: “His
Holiness once planned to visit Narasiṁha-parvata, a hill at the top of which
Jagadguru Śrī Nṛsiṁha Bhāratī Mahāsvāmin (the 33rd pontiff) had
performed protracted penance. My husband and I wanted to accompany
Him. He initially dissuaded us as it was raining heavily and the path was
arduous, but finally granted permission. On the way, His Holiness performed
pūjā at the Ṛṣyaśṛṅga temple at Kigga. We reached the summit of
Narasiṁha-parvata and stayed there for the night.
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 23
“At 3.00 p.m. the next day, everybody was ready to descend. Ominous dark
clouds began to gather and a downpour was expected any moment. “Let us
start immediately. It will not rain till we go down,” remarked His Holiness,
with a tone of finality. As we descended we saw that it was raining heavily
on the hills to our right and left. However, we were not caught in the rain.
The most intriguing part of the phenomenon was that the rain could be seen
following us but it never caught up with us as we climbed down. As soon as
we had reached the vehicles, His Holiness said, “All of you board the
vehicles immediately. Testing of nature is sufficient.” No sooner had we
taken our seats in the vehicles, than it began to rain cats and dogs. What
better illustration is needed to show His Holiness’s total mastery over
nature?”
At times, His Holiness took totally unexpected decisions, the reasons for
which were unapparent to the officials of the Maṭha; generally, these were
prompted, as per His own admission, by the ‘preraṇā, divine inspiration’
that He received. For instance, in 1977, during His second all-India tour, He
was scheduled to proceed to Delhi from Varanasi. Extensive arrangements
were initiated at Delhi on the basis of the prior information available to the
devotees there about His tour programme. Suddenly, He changed His stance
and revealed His wish to proceed towards Kolkata. None could understand
what had prompted Him to say so nor did He give any explanation.
Since commitments had already been made for Him to visit Prayagraj, He
decided to go there from Varanasi and thereafter proceed towards Kolkata.
All agreed later that His Holiness’s decision had been very timely and wise.
The then President of India, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, expired about the time
His Holiness was scheduled to have arrived at Delhi. It would have been
rather odd if His Holiness entered the capital at a time when there was State
mourning. Postponement of the visit to Delhi enabled the devotees there to
put in extra efforts to hasten and complete the constructions in Shankara
Vidya Kendra, the Sringeri Math branch in Delhi, prior to His Holiness’s
arrival. Hence, when He came to Delhi, He could perform the
kumbhābhiṣeka (consecration) of the temples there. Had He arrived at Delhi
as scheduled earlier, this would not have been possible as the works could
not have been completed by then. Thus, the sudden change in itinerary not
only did not inconvenience anybody, it only proved advantageous to all
concerned.
wearing a coat, trousers and shoes, the guard tried to stop him. He simply
brushed the sentry on duty aside and sprang forward. As he neared the pūjā-
maṇḍapa, several others and I gathered around him and tried to prevent him
from advancing further. Being a well-built man, he overcame the opposition.
His Holiness noticed this. He gestured to us to let him be. On being freed,
he moved closer to the dais. His Holiness directed him to sit down. He
obeyed like an innocent child and squatted in Vajrāsana, with joined palms.
He quietly watched the pūjā with rapt attention. After finishing the pūjā, His
Holiness asked him to come the next day at eight in the morning. He said,
‘His Holiness is an embodiment of compassion but the people around are
rude. What am I to do if I am treated by them in the same way as today?’
His Holiness understood his predicament and advised him to come wearing
a dhoti and an upper cloth.
“The next day, after finishing His morning āhnika, His Holiness told His
attendant, ‘The Sethji who was here yesterday will be coming to see me.
Usher him in.’ Later, the person came wearing a dhoti and a shawl, with
sandal paste on his forehead as also vibhūti and a tilaka! We were pleasantly
surprised to behold him thus. He was taken to His Holiness. After some time,
he emerged, beaming.
“On his way back, he met me. I conveyed my apologies to him for the
inconvenience caused the previous night. I then asked him what brought him
to His Holiness. He gave the following account. He was having a host of
difficulties and was struggling to overcome them. One night he had an
unusual dream. A sage with a brilliant and smiling countenance appeared in
front of him. On waking up, he wondered who that might be. After some
days, when he was in his shop, he accidently spotted a child carrying a large
photograph. To his surprise, he found that it was a photograph of the sage
whom he had beheld in the dream. On enquiry, he learnt that the photograph
was that of the Jagadguru of Sringeri who was then camping in the city.
Filled with joy, he immediately rushed to have darśana. My companions
and I had tried unsuccessfully to stop him. His Holiness had duly blessed
him and infused new strength into him.”
4. अमृतोपमभाषणः Amṛtopama-bhāṣaṇaḥ
One whose speech was like nectar
The compound word ‘amṛta-upama-bhāṣaṇaḥ’ meaning ‘One whose speech
is like nectar’, specifically employs the word ‘upama’ (like), though even
without its explicit use, the meaning implied would only be ‘One whose
speech is like nectar’. The significance of this may gleaned from the
following example.
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 25
started to cook some more. Her husband noticed this and told her, “You are
sick and in pain. Why do you want to strain yourself? The rice that is ready
is quite eatable.” “I want to give my son only the kind of rice that he is used
to and likes. As for the overcooked rice, I shall consume it,” replied the wife.
Out of deep love for her child, the woman did her very best for him.
Likewise, a karma-yogin, by virtue of his devotion to God, performs his
duties to the very best of his ability and refrains from adharma.
Two students appeared for an examination. In spite of having prepared well,
they fared badly because the questions were very tough and some of them
fell outside the scope of the prescribed syllabus. One of them, who did not
practise karma-yoga, became highly dejected because of his inept
performance. When he went home and sat down to prepare for the next day’s
subject, his mind kept reverting to that day’s question paper. His worry
greatly hampered his preparation. The other boy, being a practitioner of
karma-yoga, did not experience the least anxiety. This is because, in the
examination hall itself, he had dedicated his performance and its fruit to God.
After returning home, undisturbed by worry, he focused his attention on the
next day’s subject.
On the following day, the first boy became flabbergasted on encountering a
tough question. The karma-yogin read the question carefully and answered
it to the best of his ability without getting perturbed in the least. It is hardly
surprising that the first boy secured a lower rank than his friend. This
example shows that the efficiency of a karma-yogin exceeds that of a person
who acts with a longing for the fruits of his actions.
The Lord has declared in the Bhagavad-gītā, “Perform your prescribed
duties, for action is superior to inaction. Moreover, even the maintenance of
your body will not be possible through inaction. Man becomes bound by all
his actions except those done by him for the sake of God. O son of Kuntī,
perform actions for the sake of God, without being attached…. By
performing his duty without attachment, a person attains liberation (through
the purification of his mind).”21
[The following are extracts from benedictory discourses of His Holiness in
which He spoke on the practice of meditation.]
Dhyāna or meditation is the one-pointed fixation of the mind on the object
of concentration. Bhagavatpāda, in His Bhagavad-gītā-bhāṣya (commentary
on the Bhagavad-gītā) speaks of dhyāna as the proximate means to Self-
realisation. Dhyāna is of two types. In saguṇa-dhyāna, one meditates on a
form or sound while these are absent in nirguṇa-dhyāna. The final aim of
dhyāna is to bring the spiritual aspirant face to face with the Truth. Saguṇa-
dhyāna must be practised till one is competent to perform nirguṇa-dhyāna.
28 4. Amṛtopama-bhāṣaṇaḥ
This does not, however, preclude the possibility of one who is an adept in
nirguṇa-dhyāna performing saguṇa-dhyāna. The actual method of spiritual
discipline to be practised is to be decided only by the Guru and the procedure
is likely to vary from person to person on account of differences in
temperament, state of spiritual development, circumstances and the like.
This being the case it is not possible to describe a way of practising
meditation common to all.
One method of performing saguṇa-dhyāna, which is suitable to many, is
concentration on one’s iṣṭa-devatā (favourite form of God) as seated in a red
lotus in one’s heart. One should imagine the red-petalled lotus in full bloom
with the iṣṭa-devatā seated in it in the manner described in the appropriate
dhyāna-śloka (verse describing the divine form associated with a mantra).
Concentrating one’s mind on the form of the iṣṭa-devatā one should perform
japa. An easier method for some is to imagine the iṣṭa-devatā as seated in
front of one. Another method is to meditate upon a jyotis (effulgence) in the
space between the eyebrows, while performing nāma-japa. Meditation on
the Guru can also be practised.
For some who are unable to mentally, clearly visualise their iṣṭa-devatā, a
simple method would be to sit in front of a picture of the iṣṭa-devatā, look
at the picture and perform japa. Japa may be done audibly, with the lips
moving but without sound coming out, or mentally, the last one being the
best. As one gains in concentration, one can begin to close one’s eyes for
brief periods of time and visualise the iṣṭa-devatā as seen in the picture. With
due practice, meditation can be performed without the aid of the picture.
Saguṇa-dhyāna can also be done by concentrating one’s mind on the mantra
alone, without taking recourse to the form of the iṣṭa-devatā.
Two difficulties generally encountered when people practise dhyāna are
extraneous thoughts disturbing the meditation process and the aspirant
feeling sleepy. The inability to keep one’s mind fixed on the object of
meditation is a difficulty which almost all sādhakas face. The method of
tackling this problem consists in being vigilant at the time of meditation. If
the mind wanders, it should be brought back to the object of meditation. In
most cases, it is futile to attempt to simply force the mind to remain on the
object of meditation. Therefore, as and when the mind goes out, one has no
other choice but to watch its movement and bring it back. An aid to block
the mind from going outwards or at least reduce the tendency, is to hold
one’s breath for a moment or two when one finds the mind going out.
Another aid is to visualise the presence of the iṣṭa-devatā in whatever object
the mind chooses to think about, so that the mind is made to think of the iṣṭa-
devatā. Uttering the japa with somewhat greater vigour also helps one in
gaining control. If one notices the commencement of distraction, more than
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 29
half the problem is solved as one can fixate the mind again on the object of
meditation. In most cases people become aware that the mind has deviated
from the object of concentration only after some time has elapsed. Vigilance,
stressing on the mind about the transitory nature of external objects, and their
inability to produce any happiness should be practised in order to hold the
wandering mind. Perception of faults in the objects towards which the mind
runs, acts as a brake on the wandering mind.
It must be borne in mind that these aids are, as it were, emergency measures
adopted during the course of the meditation period. Brahmacarya (celibacy),
complete faith in the Guru, bhakti (devotion), vairāgya (dispassion) and
practice are all very necessary to achieve success in meditation.
In nirguṇa-dhyāna, the mind is focussed on the Supreme Ātman which is
beyond all name and form and defies any positive conception. To perform
nirguṇa-dhyāna, one should initially look at a light for a few moments.
When one does so, worldly concerns are forgotten. Even the thought, ‘I am
forgetting’, will be absent. At that juncture, the eyes should be closed. Next,
one should feel, ‘The eyes are seeing within.’ Spontaneously, an effulgence
will manifest. Unlike common illumination, it is generally blue-hued. At
times it resembles moonlight. Feeling that the gaze is in-drawn, one should
hold on to the thought, ‘I am pure consciousness’ and realise consciousness
as all pervasive. If one does so, the process will culminate in nirvikalpa-
samādhi, and by this method one can attain the realisation of the Self.
5. अनेकमठवनमााता Aneka-maṭha-nirmātā
One who established many branch Maṭhas
In order to sustain and propagate Sanātana-dharma, Bhagavatpāda
established four Maṭhas in India. In accordance with the mandate given by
Bhagavatpāda, the pontiffs in the unbroken line of traditional succession in
the Maṭha of the south, Sri Sharada Peetham, Sringeri, have, over the
centuries, continued to spread the message of Sanātana-dharma and the
teachings of the Upaniṣads among the masses. In the process, they also
established branches of the Maṭha at various locations in the country for
efficacious dissemination of the teachings of Bhagavatpāda. Much like its
headquarters at Sringeri, a branch Maṭha may have shrines of Śrī Śāradāmbā
and Bhagavatpāda among others, Veda and Śāstra pāṭhaśālas, community
halls for conduct of religious and spiritual activities including satsaṅga,
bhajans and religious discourses, and accommodation for the stay of
pilgrims. Branch Maṭhas serve as links between the local community and
the Jagadgurus at Sringeri. In some branches, saṁnyāsins too are engaged
in spreading the teachings of Bhagavatpāda.
30 6. Aneka-darśana-marma-vit
Under His Holiness, the Sringeri Math saw stupendous growth in terms of
establishment of new branch Maṭhas, all of which thrived under His watch.
Some of the branch Maṭhas newly established by His Holiness:
Location Date
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 04.12.1959
Karur, Tamil Nadu 14.12.1959
Chennai (T. Nagar), Tamil Nadu 14.01.1961
Guntur, Andhra Pradesh 02.07.1961
Gobichettipalayam, Tamil Nadu 02.04.1962
Chickmagaluru, Karnataka 19.04.1964
Srivilliputhur, Tamil Nadu 18.07.1964
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala 05.12.1964
Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu 21.01.1965
Chennai (IIET Campus, Kodambakkam), Tamil Nadu 27.10.1965
Srisailam, Andhra Pradesh 03.02.1966
Kolkata, West Bengal April, 1967
New Delhi 22.06.1967
Shivamogga, Karnataka 04.02.1968
Gokarna, Karnataka 19.01.1969
Sagara, Karnataka 20.01.1969
Chennai (Raja Annamalaipuram), Tamil Nadu 09.02.1969
Thenkarai, Tamil Nadu 23.02.1969
Karwar, Karnataka 16.03.1978
Bengaluru (Malleswaram), Karnataka 17.09.1978
Tumkuru, Karnataka 09.05.1980
Salem, Tamil Nadu 12.05.1980
Chennai (Kripashankari Street, West Mambalam), Tamil Nadu 22.01.1982
Mumbai, Maharashtra 25.03.1982
Kollur, Karnataka 23.02.1986
Kotekar, Karnataka 06.04.1986
Bengaluru (Lingarajapuram), Karnataka 27.07.1987
6. अनेकदर्ानममावित ् Aneka-darśana-marma-vit
One who knew the hidden import of many schools of knowledge
The word ‘darśana’, though usually used for traditional systems of
philosophy, also means ‘schools of knowledge’ in general. It can therefore
be taken here to include other oriental and occidental philosophies or schools
of thought, as also science and metaphysics, while the traditional darśanas
are spoken of in nāma 46.
The term ‘marma-vit’ means one who knows the hidden import. His
Holiness is described here as a knower of the hidden import of not one, but
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 31
aneka or many darśanas. This implies that His Holiness could answer
profound questions and untie intricate knots not merely within a single
domain, but also across multiple such domains. He was indeed a master at
doing so in an integrated and seamless manner. His deep knowledge
mothered insight into several domains. He had the unique ability to convey
complex concepts, integrating and distinguishing between various schools
of thought, in the simplest of ways, to even a lay person.
In 1975, a Physics professor from Bihar in his forties, had a conversation
with His Holiness in Hindi.
Professor: I am interested in showing that what was said in our ancient books
is what modern science is now saying about the universe. It is now largely
accepted that the universe is expanding. Its origin can be traced back to a
time when it was a point. I believe that the universe will start shrinking after
reaching a maximum size. This is because of the pull of gravity associated
with the matter in the universe. It will return to the state in which it was when
it originated. Then it will start expanding again. I think that this is exactly
what is said in the Bhagavad-gītā and the Purāṇas.
His Holiness: You said that the universe will start shrinking because of the
amount of matter in it. Has that much matter been discovered?
P: Not yet, but I am confident it will be.
HH: Let us suppose that it will be. Will the next cycle of expansion then be
identical to the present one or bigger or smaller? If the next cycle of
expansion is larger, more time will be required before the universe fully
shrinks than will be needed for it to do so in the present cycle. Hence,
ultimately, the universe will not shrink back, no matter how long one waits.
Even if the next cycle of expansion is smaller than the present one, then too
there will not be infinite cycles. If your position is that the scriptures speak
of infinite cycles of expansion and contraction of the universe and that that
is exactly what science is arriving at, you must not only have enough matter
to cause the universe to shrink but it must also be that the next expansion
must match the present one. Any evidence to the contrary will be fatal to
what you are trying to establish.
P: I do not think such a contingency will arise.
[In 1975 when this conversation took place several physicists had shown that
as per the second law of thermodynamics, the universe would not go through
infinite cycles; even if there were to be cycles, the expansion of one cycle
would not be the same as that of the preceding cycle.]
32 6. Aneka-darśana-marma-vit
P (continued): If it turns out that the cycles will not be identical, I will have
to go through our texts again and see how they exactly predict what
conforms to the new data.
HH: In that case, you will be altering your interpretation of the scriptural
texts to suit the scientific position of the day, whereas your aim is to start
with texts and establish that that is what modern science has discovered. Let
us suppose that nothing fatal to your present view is noticed now or in the
near future and hence, no reinterpretation of the texts by you is needed for
the present. Even then, what guarantee is there that even after a decade or
two, data will not necessitate a major rethink? For instance, what would
happen if scientists were to come across data that shows that the universe is
expanding faster and faster? In that case, how would even the present
expansion be followed by a contraction? Would you then reinterpret the texts
to assert that they speak of the universe expanding faster and faster and not
of it having infinite cycles of expansion and contraction?
P: I do not think that there is any reasonable possibility of data for an
increasingly fast expansion turning up but I see the point that Your Holiness
is making.
[As it turned out, the professor was wrong. Accelerated expansion of the
universe was discovered in 1988 by two independent research teams and
three scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize for this discovery in 2011.]
HH: I fully appreciate your interest in seeing scientific findings in the light
of our ancient texts. The only point I was trying to make is that if you equate
an interpretation of the scripture with a popularly held scientific view, as
scientific interpretations are subject to change with new data or ideas, you
may, in time, have to reinterpret the scripture to conform to the new
scientific position.
P: I value our ancient culture and accomplishments. That is why I wanted to
tell my students that modern science’s universe with infinite cycles of
expansion and contraction was made known very long ago, in the Bhagavad-
gītā and the Purāṇas.
HH: There is much that can make us proud of our ancients in the scientific
realm. The concept of zero is an instance. Our ancients were the first to
understand it. Suśruta performed surgery on the eye to remove cataracts (the
word His Holiness used was netra-paṭala) over 2000 years ago. If you see
the Śulba-sūtras, which deal with the construction of sacrificial altars, you
will find that thousands of years ago itself, our ancients had an impressive
knowledge of mathematics. For example, a Śulba-sūtra of Bodhāyana states,
“A rope stretched along the diagonal of a rectangle produces an area that the
vertical and horizontal sides make together.”22 When His Holiness explained
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 33
the meaning of the sūtra, the professor exclaimed, “Amazing! This is the
Pythagoras theorem. That means that we knew of this much before
Pythagoras of the sixth-century B.C.” His Holiness proceeded to give some
more examples about the discoveries in ancient India.
P: I did not know all this. I shall gather such information and present it to
my students. I know Sanskrit and shall study the Śulba-sūtras.
After the professor left, His Holiness remarked to the disciple who was
witness to the conversation, “He is sincere. He is, however, mistaken when
he takes it that the Bhagavad-gītā and the Purāṇas specify that the universe
endlessly expands and contracts. What they actually teach is compatible with
a universe that has infinite cycles, a universe that can be traced back to a
point and also with a universe that expands faster and faster.”
A person who came to have the darśana of His Holiness, had an objection
to Lord Kṛṣṇa’s statement, “Taking the form of the gastric fire and residing
in bodies of all beings, I digest, in association with prāṇa and apāna, the
four types of food (the foods that are ingested by masticating, by swallowing,
by sucking and by licking).”23 He said there is no fire in the stomach; there
is only acid.
HH: How do you specify the energy of an item of food?
Man: In calories.
HH: One method of determining the calories in an item of food involves
putting the item in a container surrounded by water, burning it and noting
how much hotter the water becomes than before.
Man: I did not know this.
HH: The stomach serves to digest food, the body receives energy from the
food digested and this energy can be associated with the burning of the item
of food. Hence, is it wrong to speak, at least figuratively, of a fire in the
stomach, the gastric fire?
Man: No.
HH: When you say that the acid in the stomach digests the food and the Lord
says that, being in the stomach, He digests the food in the form of fire, is it
not discernible from the Lord’s words that He digests food by taking the
form of gastric acid and the digestive processes? It is worth bearing in mind
that our ancients were not such ignoramuses that they thought that some
actual fire, like in the kitchen, burns in the stomach. They did know what the
stomach contains.
34 7. Annapūrṇā-pratiṣṭhātā
7. अन्नपूणााप्रवतष्ठाता Annapūrṇā-pratiṣṭhātā
One who consecrated Goddess Annapūrṇā (at Varanasi)
The darśana of Śrī Annapūrṇā Devī at Varanasi is considered as important
as that of Śrī Viśvanātha. It is an age-old tradition in India to pray to Goddess
Annapūrṇā before partaking of food, chanting the verse that means, ‘O
Annapūrṇā who is ever perfect and the beloved of Lord Śiva! O Pārvatī!
Bestow alms upon me for the attainment of knowledge and dispassion.’24
The legend goes that when there was a great famine in the land, Goddess
Pārvatī came to earth to provide food for all beings. She opened a kitchen in
the holy city of Varanasi, and provided food to all. Parameśvara Himself
came to Her with His bhikṣā-pātra (vessel for bhikṣā) asking for food, which
She readily served. She has since been celebrated at Varanasi as Śrī
Annapūrṇā Devī, the Divine Mother of the universe who provides food to
all. To this day, Her temple provides food every day to all who come,
irrespective of caste, creed, gender and religion. Her food stock never
diminishes for She is ‘pūrṇā’, full, with ‘anna’, food, and none is sent away
from her temple without food. It is said that Goddess Annapūrṇā does not
eat until all Her devotees are fed in the temple for the day.
In this nāma, His Holiness is described as the pratiṣṭhātā, One who
consecrated, Śrī Annapūrṇā Devī at Varanasi. This consecration happened
in 1977. Perhaps it was divine will that the Jagadguru, Preceptor of the
world, consecrate the idol of the Jaganmātā, Mother of the world, so that
She may continue to grace devotees with not only food and prosperity, but
also liberation, which gives ‘pūrṇatā’, the ultimate satiation.
When His Holiness first visited Varanasi in 1967, the idea of temple
renovation was mooted. Once the intended work was completed, the Mahant
in-charge of the temple was resolute that His Holiness perform the
consecration. He waited for more than four years for this and visited Sringeri
many times to request the Jagadguru to come to Varanasi. Much to the
Mahant’s joy, His Holiness acceded to perform the kumbhābhiṣeka in 1977.
The consecration was slated for 24th January, 1977, the sacred Vasanta-
pañcamī day. Atirudra and Sahasracaṇḍī yajñas were performed over three
days, with the pūrṇāhutis (final oblations) slated for the 24th morning. The
aṣṭabandhana (process of affixing an idol to its pedestal) was completed on
the night of the 23rd itself.
On the morning of the 24th, His Holiness along with His successor-designate,
Sri Bhāratī Tīrtha, and the Jagadguru of Puri, Śrī Nirañjana Deva Tīrtha,
who had specially come for the kumbhābhiṣeka, were received with temple
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 35
honours. They entered the temple after attending the pūrṇāhutis. The
consecration of Śrī Annapūrṇā Devī by His Holiness took place at 9:15 a.m.
Then His Holiness Himself performed special pūjā to the deity amidst Vedic
chanting by the ṛtviks (priests) and to the accompaniment of maṅgala-vādya
(auspicious music).
When His Holiness broke a coconut to offer as naivedya, He found a coconut
flower inside. He regarded this as rather auspicious, and even held up the
coconut for all to see. His Holiness then delivered an anugraha-bhāṣaṇa in
Hindi and blessed the devotees.
8. ु
िन्नतेु र्पदाम्बजः Sannuteśa-padāmbujaḥ
One who praised Īśvara’s Lotus Feet
The feet, pada, of Īśa, Śiva, are likened to the ambuja, lotus, not only
because the Lord’s feet are beautiful, but also because they are, akin to the
lotus that is the source of the Creator Brahmā, the very source of creation.
Worshipping the feet of the Lord is equivalent to propitiating the Lord
Himself, and in fact signifies a high degree of surrender to Him. After all,
when Bharata considered Rāma’s pādukas as Rāma Himself and placed
them on the throne, what need be said about Rāma’s feet! The word ‘nutaḥ’
means praise and refers here to kīrtana, the second among the nine forms of
devotion to the Lord enumerated by Prahlāda.25 Kīrtana includes chanting
verses composed by oneself or by others, singing His glories through songs
and chanting His nāmas.
The scriptures extol kīrtana as a lofty means to worship the Supreme. They
variously state as follows. “Whatever is attained in kṛta-yuga through
meditation, in tretā-yuga through yajñas, and in dvāpara-yuga through
worship of the Lord, is attained in kali-yuga through singing of the glories
of Keśava.”26 “What wonder is there that the Imperishable One seated in the
minds of the pure-hearted grants them liberation, when sins are destroyed
where that Acyuta’s glories are sung!”27 “By the kīrtana of Vāsudeva done
with or without knowledge, the universe completely vanishes, just as salt
when placed in the midst of water.”28
Bhagavatpāda states with finality, “The worthy tongue is that which utters
the name of Śiva.”29 The Tamil saint Manickavachakar says in a devotional
outpouring, “Obeisance to the feet of the Lord of the universe, obeisance to
the feet of the Father of all, obeisance to the feet of the effulgent One,
obeisance to the red-hued feet of Śiva, obeisance to the feet of the untainted
One who is full of love, obeisance to the King who destroys births caused
by Māyā.”30
36 8. Sannuteśa-padāmbujaḥ
His Holiness is spoken of in this nāma as not just ‘nutaḥ’, but ‘saṁ-nutaḥ’,
One who praised well, the lotus feet of Śiva.
[What follows is His Holiness’s description of what happened immediately
after Śiva vanished after granting Him darśana (vide nāma 10).]
“In a state of ecstasy, I began to pay obeisance to and extol Parameśvara
through verses that occurred to me spontaneously. My voice kept choking
and had any musician been around, he would have been appalled at my
unmusical singing.”
At this point, the disciple to whom His Holiness was narrating this, requested
Him to kindly grace him with these verses. The following was His
Holiness’s response: “I never bothered to put down those verses in writing
and do not remember them either. Not attaching any importance to them, I
did not subsequently think of and memorise them. They were, after all, just
the prattle of an ignorant boy and not the compositions of any mahātman or
of literary value.”
His Holiness’s Guru had Himself taught Him the Ardhanārīśvara-stotra
(that glorifies Śiva in His form as half-male and half-female) and so He used
to chant it every day without fail. He also revelled in chanting the Śiva-
pañcākṣarī-mantra. The call, ‘Śambho Mahādeva!’ was very often on His
lips while in the midst of activity; He would also chant the same thrice before
going to sleep at night. He would sometimes loudly intone, ‘Śivāya gurave
namaḥ (Salutations to the Guru who is Śiva)’.
His Holiness invariably commenced His discourses with an invocatory verse
about God. He often chanted the verses that mean “Obeisance to Śiva, who
has a body constituted by pure consciousness, is conversant with the Vedas,
possesses a divine eye, bears the crescent moon and is the means to attain
liberation”31 and “I pay obeisance to the consort of Śiva whose tresses are
decorated with the crescent moon and who is a river of nectar that removes
the intense heat of transmigratory existence.”32
He also always ended every benedictory discourse by chanting, in effect,
“Victory to the Lord” and getting His audience too to do so; the exact words
that He normally chanted were, “hara namaḥ pārvatī-pataye; hara hara
mahādeva. jānakī-kānta-smaraṇam; jaya jaya rāma rāma.” He thus not only
chanted the Lord’s name but also induced others to do so. He thereby
indicated that one should constantly think of God or do so at least at the start
and end of every activity.
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 37
In Dewas, Madhya Pradesh in January 1983, while His Holiness was seated
giving darśana to the public in the morning, some started to sing a Hindi
bhajan. Soon, numerous others joined in. As He heard the words to the
effect, “This is my prayer that my mind should remain centred every moment
on Your feet; on Your feet, O Bhagavān,” tears of joy began to well up in
His eyes. As the singing progressed, He became increasingly moved and
soon plunged into meditation. He opened His eyes only some time after the
singing was complete. He then appreciated the crowd and blessed that their
hearts be ever full of devotion.
9. अहन्ताममताहीनः Ahantā-mamatā-hīnaḥ
One devoid of the feelings of ‘I’ and ‘mine’
The notion of ‘I’ as in ‘I am tall’, ‘I am young’, ‘I am blind’, ‘I am hungry’,
‘I am sad’, etc., is due to mistaken identity, because in reality, the body,
mind, etc., do not constitute the Self. Bhagavatpāda says, “When a person
deems himself distinguished by superimposing upon his Self, qualities that
are present as also those that are absent, it is called ahaṅkāra or the sense of
‘I’.”33 The feeling of ‘mine’, as in ‘This is my spouse’, ‘This is my child’,
‘This is my house’, ‘This is my wealth’, etc., is again due to false association.
These two illusory notions of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ are the causes of bondage.
Hence Lord Kṛṣṇa counts freedom from them among the characteristics of a
true devotee and teaches that having been freed from the notion of ‘I’ in the
body, etc., one who is bereft of the perception of ‘mine’ and is of tranquil
mind is rendered fit for realising Brahman.34
Bhagavatpāda explains that the absence of the notion of ‘mine’ is enjoined
for an advanced spiritual aspirant with respect to even the means for the
sustenance of the body and living.35 He lauds those blessed ones who have
renounced the two notions of ‘mine’ and ‘I’ that cause bondage, thus: “They
view both praise and censure alike.”36 He further says that on account of the
natural destruction of the mind, when the sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ are shaken
off, the foremost of self-controlled ones attain the state that transcends the
mind, is devoid of wind-like activity and is the residue after even space is
negated,37 thereby indicating that freedom from these false notions leads to
liberation. His Holiness was hīna, bereft of, any feelings of ‘I’ and ‘mine’.
Jagadguru Śrī Bhāratī Tīrtha Mahāsvāmin once reminisced thus: “My Guru
was never One to stand on personal ego or give room for self-importance.
He once said to me, ‘When we strive for the betterment of the pīṭha, we
should not be concerned about whether people are giving us personal
respect, how many svāgata-patrikas (welcome addresses) have been read
38 10. Agajāpati-bhaktimān
out for us, etc. Even if respect comes from people, we should not think that
it has come to us, but must view it as shown to Śāradāmbā alone.’”
the other hand, God is ever captivating, constantly available and totally free
from blemishes. Further, what or who can be as loveable as God who is the
repository of all good qualities? So bewitching are His glories that even
sages who have realized the Truth and have nothing to achieve go into
raptures on thinking of Him.”39
While His Holiness was described earlier as having praised Śiva (nāma 8),
His devotion to Śiva is brought out here, by saying that He was bhaktimān,
One with devotion, to agajā-pati, the consort of the daughter of the
mountain, that is Pārvatī. Perhaps the reference to the steadfast, massive
Himalayas suggests that His Holiness’s bhakti to Śiva had similar qualities.
The Upaniṣad declares, “For the great one who has supreme devotion to God
and similar devotion to the Guru, the teachings that are verbalized as well as
those that are not, shine forth.”40 This was the case with His Holiness, whose
devotion was supreme, without motive and unswerving.
His Holiness was exhausted when He retired for the night on 22nd May 1931,
the day He was initiated into saṁnyāsa. He was thirteen years of age at that
time. As was usual, He fell asleep almost the moment He shut His eyes. That
night He had a dream that He could vividly recall even decades later. In it,
He found Himself on the amazingly scenic summit of a tall, ice-clad
mountain. Though the mountain was icy, He felt no cold. In front of Him, at
a distance of about twenty feet, He saw a huge, crystal Śivaliṅga. A torrent
of water was falling on it in a column from above. He could not see the
source of the water. He could hear the chanting in chorus of the Vedic Rudra-
praśna (Śrī-rudra) but no chanter was visible. Suddenly, there was a great
flash of light and from the liṅga, Lord Śiva manifested.
The Lord appeared as possessed of one face and two arms. He was extremely
fair and radiant. His hair was matted and was tawny in hue. On beholding
Śiva, His Holiness was so struck with awe that He stood unmoving. The
Lord smilingly looked at His Holiness and raised His right hand in a gesture
of blessing. His Holiness felt a great power entering into Him.
Automatically, He began to chant ‘Om’ mentally. Śiva gestured to Him to
sit down. A seat of deer skin with an ochre cloth spread on it appeared where
His Holiness was standing. He did namaskāra and, strictly in obedience to
the Lord’s wish, sat down even though Śiva was standing.
The Lord came near Him. A big tiger skin appeared on the ground and Śiva
sat on it. He positioned His legs in the padmāsana and told His Holiness to
do the same. While His Holiness knew even earlier how to adopt the
padmāsana, Śiva’s approach was particularly graceful and His Holiness
imitated it as best as He could. Then Śiva assumed the siddhāsana. In
40 10. Agajāpati-bhaktimān
response to the Lord’s directive, His Holiness copied Him. With His hands,
the Lord corrected His Holiness’s posture.
The Lord then demonstrated to His Holiness, on that night and the next six,
continuing on each successive night from where He left the previous night,
haṭha-yoga, consisting of prāṇāyāma, āsanas, kriyas and finally the
khecarī-mudra and then nāda-anusandhāna. After demonstrating the latter,
the Lord raised His right hand in a gesture of blessing and got up. His
Holiness promptly prostrated before Him, placing His head on Śiva’s lotus
feet. As His Holiness rose, the Lord walked towards the crystal liṅga from
which He had manifested. A flash of light preceded His disappearance into
that liṅga. At this point, His Holiness’s dream ended. The Lord had not left
His seat at the close of the preceding six extraordinary dreams. Hence, when
His Holiness woke up at His usual time, He knew that this was the last of
this series of dreams.
After narrating the details of the first dream to a disciple more than four
decades later, His Holiness said, “I had no words to express my gratitude to
Bhagavān for having extraordinarily graced me in spite of my being so
unworthy and that too on the very day of my new life. I did not have an iota
of doubt that the Lord would ever take care of and guide me. All I needed to
do was not give room to egoism.
“The Lord had, by His blessing, initiated the mental chanting of the Praṇava
(Om) and given me an understanding of how natural, uninterrupted and
delightful it can be. I felt that the Lord intended that I should practise such
chanting to the extent of it becoming effortless. Accordingly, I began to
engage voluntarily in mental Praṇava-japa within a minute of my
awakening. By Bhagavān’s grace, within a year, such japa became as
effortless and uninterrupted as in the special dream. It continued even in
dreams and while I conversed.”
[The following is excerpted from the reminiscences of His Holiness of the
thrilling happenings of 5th December, 1935. Having sat down in the
siddhāsana at His usual place of meditation on the hilltop that evening, His
Holiness commenced meditation and went into savikalpa-samādhi on Śiva
in consonance with Pārvati (vide nāma 17 for details).]
“After about one and a half hours, as I discerned later but what then seemed
to me to be just a moment, I became lightly aware of the body. I opened my
eyes. I could see the sun close to the horizon and feel a gentle breeze. I could,
at the same time, clearly apprehend the Lord associated with Ambā (Divine
Mother) in my heart-lotus. The Lord appeared to be emerging from within
and expanding. A deep long sound of Om was audible. I then definitely
beheld Śiva in front of and facing me. Oh, what a glorious sight that was!
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 41
“Tears of joy flowed from my eyes and my hairs stood on end. The Lord’s
lips moved and I heard His very sweet voice. His words were: ‘vatsa śvaḥ-
prabhṛtyatra nirākāre pare tattve manaḥ samādhatsva | acireṇa brahma-
saṁstho bhaviṣyasi | (O child, from tomorrow, fix your mind on the
Formless, Supreme Reality here. You will soon become established in
Brahman).’
“Then Śiva blessed Me by placing His hand on my head. Having done so,
He disappeared. How compassionate He is to grace in such abundance one
so insignificant and lacking in devotion as I! No sooner had He vanished
than there was a drizzle. In a matter of seconds, the sun set; simultaneously,
the light rain stopped. The sky had been quite clear when I sat for meditation.
Even when the sun set, clouds were not apparent. The sun having been quite
visible when it rained there, to me it appeared that the Lord was blessing me
with a light bath in the Gaṅgā.”
After having thus received the special grace and instruction of Śiva, His
Holiness commenced nirguṇa-dhyāna the next evening. Cogitating and
meditating on the Supreme Reality (as described under nāmas 59, 67 and
72), He attained enlightenment and establishment in the Supreme. It was
only years later, that His Guru formally taught Him Vedānta, and those
teachings only served to confirm to Him what He already knew as a matter
of experience. Such was the excellence of His Holiness’s devotion to Īśvara
and the Guru, that He knew the true import of the passages of the Upaniṣad
and Smṛti without being explicitly taught.
Once His Holiness attained establishment in Brahman on 12th December
1935, His mind kept plunging into nirvikalpa-samādhi on the 13th, and the
mind became so intoxicated with bliss that He found it difficult to do His
routine activities on the 14th. On the night of the 14th He did not feel like
partaking of anything before retiring to His room, and no sooner had He sat
down there than He again went into nirvikalpa-samādhi. He descended from
samādhi on becoming vaguely aware of the intonation of the Praṇava by
His Guru. When His Holiness opened His eyes, He found the senior
Jagadguru seated next to Him and gently stroking His disciple’s head with
His hand.
As per His Guru’s instructions, His Holiness eschewed samādhi, had His
bath, finished His āhnika (religious rites), and went to His Guru’s presence.
Once He offered namaskāras, the senior Jagadguru directed Him to sit down
and then said, “I knew that your mind was becoming more and more
absorbed in nirvikalpa-samādhi. Though you have transcended any need for
samādhi, I did not interfere. Last night, however, the Lord made it clear to
42 11. Āgamārtha-parijñātā
me that your samādhi had become so intense that you would not emerge
from it on your own. Unless aroused from samādhi, you would remain in it
till physical death. As impelled by Him, I came to your room before the night
ended. Telling your attendant to remain outside, I entered alone. The Maṭha
staff have been under the impression that you have been unwell since
yesterday. So the attendant assumed that I had come to check on your
condition. I found you seated motionless, deep in samādhi. With great
difficulty, I succeeded in awakening you.
“Regulate your samādhi and the introversion of the mind. Else, today itself,
your nirvikalpa-samādhi will become such that you cannot be aroused from
it at all by anybody. Do not leave me by entering irreversible samādhi and
discarding your human form. There is so much to be done by you for me, for
others and for the Maṭha.”
Śiva had taught His Holiness haṭha-yoga in a series of dreams, had specially
graced Him by appearing before Him, placing His hand on His head and
directing Him to perform nirguṇa-dhyāna, and had now directed His Guru
to rouse Him from nirvikalpa-samādhi before it could become irreversible.
All this bears testimony to His Holiness’s great devotion to Śiva.
Sri Rajagopalan, an ardent devotee and an Income Tax Officer at Erode, was
falsely implicated in a significant financial fraud committed by his
subordinate. He requested his friend who was going to Sringeri during the
cāturmāsya of 1989, to submit to His Holiness the information regarding the
ongoing investigation and seek His blessings.
On hearing of the issue, His Holiness exclaimed, “Oh! Our Rajagopalan who
is an ITO at Erode! He is our devotee. He is a very good man, and not one
to commit such offences.” His Holiness then went on to say, “Let him
perform Caṇḍī-homa. He will have no problem thereafter. The homa can be
performed either at his place or at Sringeri.” The devotee went to Sringeri
and performed the homa. He was soon acquitted of all charges and retired in
peace the same year.
The following was narrated by the prolific Kannada writer, Sri T. R. Subba
Rao, better known by his pen name, ‘Ta-Ra-Su’.
“Once when His Holiness camped at Mysuru, He graced my house in
response to my request. Having blessed the assembled ones, He entered the
pūjā room of the house. He asked my wife and me to come in and dismissed
my relatives saying, ‘I want to talk to them alone’. His Holiness then
instructed me to chant, regularly, a sahasranāma and a particular hymn, and
to also perform a certain homa. Thereafter, having spoken to us for a few
minutes, He gave mantrākṣatā and left.
44 11. Āgamārtha-parijñātā
“I had not asked anything, and He had, of His own accord, proffered us those
instructions. We did not know for what He had asked us to perform those
rites. Yet, since it was the Guru’s command, we followed His instructions.
“A few days passed, and a peculiar illness afflicted me. An erudite astrologer
scrutinized my horoscope and concluded that a certain planetary position
was causing my problem. He prescribed a set of rites to be performed to tide
over the difficult period. I was stunned to note that the astrologer had
prescribed exactly the same set of expiations that His Holiness had!”
Sri Niranjan Kumar recalls, “I was driving His Holiness’s car and was
following a conversation going on between His Holiness and a devotee who
was also in the car. Efficacy of mantras was the topic of discussion and the
devotee was listing a number of mantras and the diseases that each such
mantra was meant to cure. When there was a slight pause in their
conversation I stepped in and asked His Holiness, ‘Is it possible to know all
the mantras?’ His Holiness said, ‘First of all there is no need to know all of
them. The Viṣṇu-sahasranāma alone is sufficient. It is a remedy for all
diseases. There is no problem that cannot be solved by it.’ Subsequently too,
when I sought His blessings for my friend ailing from cardiac problems, He
was quick to say, ‘Ask your friend to chant the Viṣṇu-sahasranāma.’”
sculptor to modify the remaining portion of the tail. With the modification,
the tail of Hanumān ended up being curled downwards, precisely as His
Holiness had indicated. And this came about without derailment of the
kumbhābhiṣeka.
His Holiness never let down anyone who served the Maṭha sincerely. A case
in instance is that of Sri Padmanabha Upadhyaya. Upadhyaya was, when
young, a student of the pāṭhaśālā at Sringeri. He came to the favourable
notice of His Holiness. For some reason unapparent to others, His Holiness
instructed the cook to supply him some milk every day. The cook grew
jealous and started mixing some salt in the milk before giving it to the boy.
Upadhyaya never uttered a word of protest; he did not complain about this
to His Holiness either. His Holiness Himself discerned what was happening
and, pleased with the boy, took him into His service. Perhaps, His Holiness
had wanted to test the lad, aware of how the cook would balk at the idea of
specially supplying him milk.
His Holiness personally trained him to handle Maṭha affairs with dexterity
and, in particular, to establish rapport and get things done. He became His
Holiness’s Personal Assistant, who reported directly to Him and whose job
primarily consisted in carrying out whatever task His Holiness gave him. He
46 12. Āśritākhila-rakṣakaḥ
served His Holiness with great sincerity and was at His Holiness’s side at
any time he was required, be it day or night. In 1974, he had to go to Delhi
in connection with some Maṭha work. His Holiness intuitively felt that the
trip should not be made as planned by Upadhyaya. Pressed to permit the trip,
He gave His half-hearted consent. Upadhyaya passed away in an accident
during that trip.
His Holiness had Upadhyaya’s body flown to Bengaluru and transported to
Sringeri by road. At that time, Upadhyaya’s three sons were young and his
two daughters were unmarried. His Holiness continued to provide them
accommodation in Narasimhavana itself and took full care of them. In due
course, all of them became comfortably settled in life. His Holiness
remarked, “Upadhyaya did so much for the Maṭha. It would have been
highly unjust if I had not taken care of his family.”
His Holiness had, some years before Upadhyaya’s death, given him
suggestions that proved to be monetarily beneficial to him. There had been
a dispute in his family regarding a division of property. His Holiness had
asked him to stake his claim for a particular plot of land in Mangaluru and
not to bother much about the rest. Upadhyaya had obeyed. Later on, the city
developed in such a way that that land’s value shot up.
Shortly after His Holiness became the pontiff in 1954, He wished to meet
Sri Chennakeshava, a former employee, who, for some time prior to and
after His Holiness’s saṁnyāsa in 1931, used to prepare and serve food to
Him. He had subsequently retired and settled down in Kota, a small town
not far from Sringeri. His Holiness directed a person to go and fetch him.
The emissary went to Kota and, after making some enquiries locally,
managed to locate and reach Chennakeshava’s house. The man was in a very
pensive mood and recalled that he used to covertly divert much of the milk
and curds meant for His Holiness to his family. He continued to do so till he
left the Maṭha and settled down in Kota. He told the emissary that a strange
disease had then crippled his limbs. He attributed this to his misdeeds. He
felt that he could never set foot in Sringeri since His Holiness would be
extremely angry with him and would never forgive him.
The emissary comforted him by saying that he had come on His Holiness’s
instructions for the very purpose of taking him to Sringeri. Chennakeshava’s
fears only increased and he flatly refused to come to Sringeri. Helplessly,
the emissary returned alone and reported back to His Holiness. His Holiness
sent him again to Kota, this time in a vehicle of the Maṭha and told him to
bring Chennakeshava at any cost, adding that if Chennakeshava still refused
to come, He would be forced to go to Kota Himself.
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 47
When the emissary went and informed this to Chennakeshava, the latter
became very apprehensive but, left with no option, accompanied him to
Sringeri. As soon as Chennakeshava was ushered into His Holiness’s
presence, he broke down and, falling at His feet, confessed that he had
wronged Him, and sought His pardon. His Holiness quickly assuaged him
and told him that he was like a father to Him since he had fed Him during
His boyhood days in Sringeri. He added that He wished to reward him for
his services and gave him what was a very significant amount in the mid-
1950s. Taken aback, Chennakeshava again referred to his usurping what was
earmarked for His Holiness and said that he was in no way worthy of
receiving the money. His Holiness completely comforted him.
Chennakeshava then accepted the reward and received His Holiness’s
bountiful blessings. He returned to Kota in peace, relieved of his
psychological and financial burdens.
It is pertinent that in the 1930s His Holiness did not initiate any remedial
measures even though He knew that Chennakeshava was largely taking
away what he had been officially instructed to serve Him in view of His frail
health at that time. He also did not give anybody any inkling of what was
happening. Even when sending an emissary in the mid-1950s, He did not
assign any reason; it was Chennakeshava who confessed what he had done.
Such was His utter indifference to any wrong done to Him.
One can only conjecture that His Holiness had intuitively discerned that
Chennakeshava was contrite, burdened with guilt and badly off. Moreover,
in His unbounded compassion, He decided to make him psychologically and
financially unburdened and therefore sent a person to him not once but twice
and had been prepared to Himself go to Kota, if required. His Holiness
overlooked a wrong done to Him but was satiated to the extent of telling
Chennakeshava, “You are like a father to me,” just because Chennakeshava
cooked and served Him food when young.
When Sri Challa Annapoorna Prasad, another attendant, had come to the
Maṭha as a lad, he had been unable to speak normally. His Holiness had
intervened and set right his shortcoming. Some time later, His Holiness
assigned him the job of preparing the bhikṣa. Challa had never before tried
his hands at cooking and had absolutely no idea how to go about it. When
recounting this episode, Challa said that it was only by His Holiness’s grace
that he learnt cooking and was able to cook the bhikṣa partaken of by His
Holiness. He recounted how His Holiness used to encourage him by
commenting that the food was tasty.
When Challa got to speak to His Holiness for the last time, just before His
Holiness attained Mahāsamādhi (shed His mortal form), His Holiness told
48 12. Āśritākhila-rakṣakaḥ
him, “You will be prosperous”. Challa confirms that His Holiness’s words
proved true and remain so to this day. After Challa left the service of the
Maṭha and returned to his hometown Varanasi, he became a supervisor of
cooks working under him. Further, not only was there never any dearth of
work, but clients would themselves come searching for him.
Sri Mahabala Bayari was a young boy who had lost his father and had no
possessions when He came to the Maṭha seeking work. He served His
Holiness as His personal attendant and was present with His Holiness till
His Holiness’s last breath.
Once when Mahabala’s relative told him to go to a particular village to
finalize a particular marriage proposal that had come for him, Mahabala
submitted the matter to His Holiness and sought His permission to go. His
Holiness told him, “Do not go on the date you mention. Go a couple of weeks
later.” Mahabala did accordingly. When he went to the village, he discovered
that had he made the trip on the initially planned date, it would have been
rather awkward because there had been a death in the girl’s family, and his
arrival with a marriage proposal would have been considered inauspicious.
Mahabala now leads a prosperous life with his entire family of wife, children
and grandchildren at Bengaluru, and unreservedly expresses that he owes his
prosperity and happiness to His Holiness.
His Holiness frequently made enquiries about the welfare of the staff and
did whatever was possible for their well-being. For instance, His Holiness
once questioned the Kiledār (Estate Supervisor), Sri Sitarama Bhatta,
regarding his health. Sitarama Bhatta mentioned that he experienced
abdominal pain and indigestion. After suitable questioning, His Holiness felt
that the likely cause was gastric ulcer and had him examined by a competent
doctor. The doctor confirmed that Sitarama Bhatta had gastric ulcer and
prescribed medication for it and some dietary restrictions. His Holiness
made the necessary arrangements and also ordered that a glass of milk be
supplied to Sitarama Bhatta every morning till his ulcer abated.
Years later, Sitarama Bhatta recalled, with gratitude, that His Holiness’s act
of kindness had resulted in his suffering ending and his health being restored.
The second son of Sri Ganesha Bhatta employed in the Maṭha’s cowshed
was greatly handicapped; he could not see, hear, speak or walk and
everything for the boy had to be done by someone else. The worker did not
know whether upanayana (sacred thread investiture ceremony) should be
performed for his son or not. The paṇḍitas whom he consulted were not able
to give a definitive answer and so he decided to ask His Holiness. His
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 49
13. ु त्ता
आर्ापार्िमच्छे Āśā-pāśa-samucchettā
One who completely rent asunder the fetters of desires
Lord Kṛṣṇa explains the mechanism of the rise and consequences of āśā,
desire, thus: “As one thinks of sense objects, one develops attachment
towards them. From attachment springs desire and from (frustration of)
desire, anger. From anger is born delusion (marked by the loss of the power
of proper discrimination between right and wrong); due to delusion, the
recollections of what one has been taught regarding righteous conduct is lost.
This destruction of memory disrupts the functioning of the intellect and a
person in this state is as good as destroyed.”45 The Lord proceeds to caution,
“It is desire and it is anger, born of the guṇa rajas, all devouring and sinful.
Know that to be the foe here.”46
Elsewhere, Bhagavatpāda’s compelling words are, “On deep analysis it is
seen that there is a sharp contrast between Yama, the God of death, and
Kāma, the God of desire. Yama does what is beneficial despite being
unpleasant, whereas Kāma, while being pleasing, wreaks havoc. Yama
brings adversity only upon the vile but confers happiness on the virtuous,
whereas Kāma, by hindering the progress of the virtuous, brings disaster
50 13. Āśā-pāśa-samucchettā
upon them. What then need be said of the fate of the vile in Kāma’s hands!”47
Surely, longing is a terrible foe.
This foe cannot be conquered by enjoying the objects of desire because such
enjoyment only causes the desire to grow in strength, thereby leading to
greater disaster. At any rate, enjoyment of objects of desire are themselves
fraught with fears such as the fear of losing the object. Further, joy got from
sense objects is but momentary and only leads to greater craving. Thus,
objects of desire are, by their very nature, sources of sorrow. Indeed, desire
is a dangerous snare, comparable to pāśa, fetters, that bind one.
The Bhāgavata-purāṇa drives home this point assertively through the
interesting story of a pigeon couple that perish in a hunter’s snare owing to
extreme attachment. In that context, the avadhūta teaches King Yadu, “He
who, even on attaining a human birth, which is verily an open door to
liberation, remains attached to his family, is known as one who has fallen
from a lofty state. O King! Pleasure born of the senses is got equally in hell
and in heaven, just as misery too is had in both places. Therefore, amongst
embodied ones, he who does not desire is a wise man.”48 Moreover, a person
chained by desires is incapable of pursuing higher goals, for the Lord
pronounces that the ultimate tranquillity is never achieved by a person given
to desires49.
Since it is well known that an effect is completely annihilated only when its
cause is eliminated, it follows that comprehensive removal of desires is
achieved only when its cause, thinking of an object of desire as a source of
joy, is uprooted. It is in this precise sense that the prefix ‘saṁ’, meaning
‘completely’, is used for the word ‘ucchettā’ meaning ‘One who rents
asunder’. This nāma states that His Holiness was samucchettā, One who
completely rent asunder, the pāśa, fetters, of āśā, desires, of disciples.
While I never misbehaved with any woman, bad thoughts troubled me off
and on. This was the situation till a few months ago, when I met a Bābā and
posed my problem to him. He gave me a large packet of medicinal powder
and said that if I consumed a little of it every day, I would obtain relief. I
have been sincerely following his advice. My desires have largely vanished.
I think that I have gained a great spiritual benefit. However, my muscular
strength has come down and my chest has become a little like that of a
female. My companion is in need of help to deal with lust. He is hesitant to
take the Bābā’s medicine because he fears that his muscles will become
weak. He wanted to ask Guruji whether in the interest of spiritual growth,
he should overcome his hesitation and resort to the medicine. I wanted to
ask Guruji if I should continue with this medicine or whether Guruji would
give me some other medicine without the side effects. We have, however,
not had the good fortune of being able to talk to Him. Would you like to
keep and use some of the medicine that I have? I can replenish my stock
from the Bābā who gave it to me.’ I declined his offer.
“The second person asked me, ‘You are young. Are you not troubled by
sexual thoughts?’ I answered that I was not. At this, both of them asked,
almost in unison, ‘Will You please help us and tell us what we should do?’
I answered, ‘Do not use the medicine. You cannot gain any spiritual benefit
by checking the sexual instinct through it. Kings employed eunuchs in their
harems because they were confident that the eunuchs would not be tempted
and misbehave with the women. However, none regards those eunuchs as
great celibates. None deems that they became spiritually great on account of
castration. On the other hand, all of us regard sage Śuka as established in
continence and as spiritually great. His body was intact but he was so free
from desire that even damsels in the nude did not care to cover themselves
when he passed by them. A dumb person cannot utter a lie but because of
that he is not looked upon as one who never lies. A person who is
unconscious is not revered as a yogin just because he is free from all thoughts
of the world. Incapacity does not confer spiritual benefit. The medicine with
you temporarily and partially renders you equivalent to a eunuch. It is, as far
as gaining spiritual benefit is concerned, no better than castration. I shall
provide you a medicine that will enable you to be rid of lust and to gain
spiritual benefit.’
“I asked them to go to Śāradāmbā’s temple, spend half an hour gazing at Her
with devotion and to pray to Her with faith to rid them of lust. They returned
after half an hour. I told them, ‘In the Durgā-saptaśatī it is said that all
women are the Divine Mother’s forms. Whenever you are tempted by the
sight of a woman or think of a female with desire, immediately think of the
gracious Divine Mother. Feel that it is She who is in the form of all women.
52 13. Āśā-pāśa-samucchettā
Also implore Her now and then from the bottom of your heart to free you
from lust.’
“‘Need not contempt for women be cultivated to combat lust?’ asked the
muscular Bairāgī. I replied: ‘No. Just as desire is bad for your mind, so is
hatred. Both likes and dislikes are impurities that agitate the mind. The
scriptures speak of seeing the defects in an object just to neutralise a pre-
existing attachment born of the notion that the object is pleasurable. The aim
is definitely not to generate hatred. Śuka certainly did not hate or look down
upon any woman. He looked upon everything as the Supreme Brahman.’
The Bairāgīs left Sringeri shortly thereafter. “They returned after about a
year. This time, both of them looked healthy and muscular. On seeing me,
they joyfully said, ‘Swamiji, your ‘medicine’ is very effective and has no
side effects.’ I clarified that Śāradāmbā’s grace and their dedicated efforts
were what had cured them. During this trip, they had the great good fortune
of getting my Guru’s darśana and blessings.”
The following was narrated by a disciple of His Holiness who was serving
Him at the Maṭha. This episode happened on the evening of 16th September,
1989. His Holiness shed His mortal frame on the 21st.
“His Holiness was seated in the semi-open veranda on the first floor of
Sacchidananda Vilasa. Sri C. V. Giridhara Sastry, His Private Secretary, and
I prostrated before Him, sat facing Him and brought up, one by one, the
letters received. A letter read out by Giridhara Sastry was from a devotee
who sought His Holiness’s guidance on how he could control his senses and
tackle distractions.
“Looking at Giridhara Sastry and giving His response, He said, ‘As long as
an object is perceived as pleasing, it is but natural that a want develops
towards that object. By discrimination, when one recognizes its inherent
worthlessness, the craving, and hence, the consequent distractions, cease by
themselves. ‘doṣa-dṛṣṭyā muhur-muhuḥ (By the repeated discerning of the
defects)’50 – this is the means to be adopted. No matter what the object is, it
is sought after only if one sees positive attributes in it, sees it as pleasurable.’
Then turning to me, He said, with His countenance and tone leaving me in
no doubt that He was instructing me, ‘What else? That is all. ‘doṣa-dṛṣṭyā
muhur-muhuḥ (by the repeated discerning of the defects).’ An object
perceived as a cause of unhappiness does not generate desire.’ Continuing
to look at me, He nodded his head, as if to ensure that what He had stated
had been grasped by me. ‘Yes,’ said I, meaning that I had paid attention to
what I felt were His personal and direct instructions to me. This turned out
to be the last day that letters were presented to Him.”
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 53
Personal Assistant, and Sri Kalasha Shamanna occupied the front seat apart
from the devotee driving the car. The driver of the pilot vehicle that was in
front of His Holiness’s car realized that he was on the wrong road and,
intending to make a U-turn, suddenly stopped the vehicle. Noticing the
sudden stopping of the pilot vehicle, the driver of His Holiness’s car also
stopped. His Holiness, who was discussing some important issues with
Upadhyaya and Shamanna, took it for granted that He had reached a
devotee’s house and immediately alighted. He walked straight into the house
after opening the gates by Himself; the front door of the house was open.
Upadhyaya and Shamanna blindly followed. What His Holiness had entered
was the house of a Muslim family. He quickly sensed this and that there was
some slip-up. The people in the house were mourning an unfortunate death
that had occurred a few days back. His Holiness did not turn back and leave.
Instead, addressing a middle-aged woman who was weeping inconsolably,
He enquired kindly as to what the matter was. The people in the house stood
up and one of them mentioned the cause of their grief.
His Holiness spent some time with them, uttering soothing and consoling
words. Such was the way in which He freely interacted with them that they
spoke with Him as if they had been intimate with Him for long. In a matter
of minutes, not only was there no weeping in the house but the inmates
appeared cheered up. His Holiness asked for fruits to be brought from the
car and gave them to the family members. Having virtually become one of
them and assuaged them, He started to leave. The entire family followed
Him to the car and saw Him off.
After He left, neither did His Holiness chide His staff for the mix up nor did
He even show any sign that something had gone amiss; it was as if He had
been to a devotee’s house and left as He would normally have done.
A man who had served in the army came to have His Holiness’s darśana.
He was suffering from severe depression. He considered himself the cause
of the gruesome death of hundreds of people and this was tormenting him
no end. Belonging to a traditional Hindu family, he had learnt, by rote, the
Lakṣmī-nṛsiṁha-karāvalamba-stotra and while entering His Holiness’s
room, he loudly chanted the stotra. His Holiness spoke to him
compassionately. In response he lamented, “Swamiji, I have killed many
people in cold blood. I have thus committed an unpardonable sin. I feel that
I deserve to die now. Will there be any expiation for my acts?” When he
finished his emotional outpouring, His Holiness did something unexpected.
He placed both His hands on the person’s head and declared, “You will be
alright. Do not worry.” The man was overjoyed at this unexpected blessing
and left with peace of mind.
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 55
complex. When he reported the matter to His Holiness, He told him, “You
need not have taken the trouble of measuring various steps. I would have
told you that the highest step is the first one in the Vidyāśānkara Temple,
counting from the surface for doing pradakṣiṇa. Its height is twelve and
three quarter inches. The top step there is ten and three quarter inches high.”
His Holiness then mentioned the step-height at the Samādhi of His Guru and
that in the front of Sacchidananda Vilasa. The disciple found that every
measurement that His Holiness had provided was completely accurate. This
was mind-boggling. It is noteworthy that His Holiness had never got the
steps in the Vidyāśaṅkara Temple measured. He must have spontaneously
and accurately judged their heights when swiftly climbing them in the past -
such was His power of observation and accuracy of judgement. Similar was
the case with the other steps. Moreover, He had been able to recall
effortlessly what He had judged perhaps decades back.
Every day, His Holiness attended to a large number of letters from His
various devotees, not only from India but also from abroad. The way He
attended to the missives was a treat to watch. He would be reading one letter,
writing something and dictating a reply to a second letter read out to Him
earlier while not failing to accord by a nod, permission to sit down to some
person who had been sent for – all at the same time. He often grasped the
essence of a letter even when only a portion of it was presented to Him.
The first three examples above show, apart from other facets, how sharply
attentive His Holiness was whether the activity bore religious significance
or was a casual activity or even a mundane one. The fourth shows not only
how attentive He was even while doing mundane tasks such as climbing
steps, but also how quickly He grasped information from around Him with
great accuracy. The last example shows how He could multitask with ease.
In spite of His mind being so sharp and capable of engaging in intense
activity, He could keep it quiet, at will, in between activities. This is revealed
by His own words below.
His Holiness once remarked, “People say that thoughts keep coming to their
minds. They can hardly conceive of a situation where the mind is quiet.
However, this surprises Me. As I see it, the mind should be quiet and just
rest on the Self, unless a thought is needed for any task. When the necessity
ends, the mind should revert to the state of tranquillity. Even when a task is
at hand, active thinking is generally not needed all the time. For instance,
when reading a book, the mind ought to become quiet when a page is being
turned.”
Dr. G. Lakshmipathy, a general physician, recollected, “His Holiness was
ever in a state of equipoise and total peace. Once, in Coimbatore, His
58 16. Ibha-vaktra-supūjakaḥ
Holiness visited the Śāradā Temple and I went to have His darśana. A
function was in progress. I was finding it difficult to sit amidst the din and
bustle of the nādasvara and other instruments, crowd, smoke and sweat.
However, His Holiness was sitting on the dais, eyes half closed, completely
at peace, with a beautiful smile on His face. I thought that this was the
greatest sight I had ever seen because I could not take my eyes off Him.
“When I went to see Him some time later in Sringeri, I was thinking that it
would be nice if I saw Him again in that state. At that time, He was very
busy and was also ill. I told Him, ‘Gurunātha, I think You are exerting too
much and should take rest. If You were not a Jagadguru, I would not have
allowed You to take up all these responsibilities.’ He said, ‘What can I do?
Left to myself, I would like to sit like this and meditate.’ Saying so, He went
into a trance. I did not know what to say. Once again, I had the opportunity
to behold Him as He was when seated on the dais, glowing with tejas.”
Accordingly, with a heart full of love and a spoonful of water, Sri Srinivasa
Sastry satiated the Lord’s appetite.
chanted the mantra, ‘oṁ namaḥ śivāya.’ As usual, He felt a strong tingling
sensation between His eyebrows. He soon began to behold an attractive and
soothing moon-like disc of light within Him in that region. Such a disc had
made its appearance only on a few earlier occasions. What manifested often
was a blue hue; much less frequently, a green hue used to manifest. With
His mind having become greatly tranquil and attentive, He imagined His
heart-lotus in full bloom. As described in the dhyāna-ślokā of the mantra,
He visualised Śiva therein as associated with the Divine Mother and as
possessed of five heads and ten arms. The meaning of the said dhyāna-śloka
is: “I salute Pārvatī’s Lord, who is tranquil, is seated in padmāsana, has the
moon in His crest, has five faces (four in the four directions and one upward-
turned), has three eyes (per face), bears a trident, thunderbolt, sword, axe
and the symbol of granting freedom from fear (open upraised palm) in the
(five hands on the) right side and bears a snake, noose, bell, the fire of cosmic
dissolution and a goad in the (five hands on the) left side, is variously
adorned and resembles (in complexion) a crystal gem.”
As He focused on the form, His awareness of the surroundings and the body
vanished. Soon, His mental chanting of the mantra came to a stop and His
mind thoroughly locked on to the divine form in the heart. Suddenly, the
form became extraordinarily vivid. No effort to concentrate was needed any
more. He could then literally experience the immediate presence of Śiva. He
was overwhelmed with joy, particularly enthralled by the affection and smile
He apprehended in the Lord’s īśāna-mukha (upward-turned face).
18. ु ावनःस्पृहः
इहामत्रार् Ihāmutrārtha-niḥspṛhaḥ
One who was free from desires for objects of this world and the next
Bhagavatpāda lists ‘ihāmutrārtha-phala-bhoga-virāgaḥ’ or dispassion with
respect to the enjoyment of objects that are fruits of actions, as the second of
four basic qualifications that a spiritual aspirant must necessarily possess.
These objects may be of this world (iha), or the next (amutra) like heaven.
Bhagavatpāda also explains exactly what freedom from desire or dispassion
is, and simultaneously specifies the means to cultivate it: “Vairāgya is the
absence of longing for objects of desire here and in the hereafter, born out
of repeated perception of faults in them”54 (vide nāma 13).
For the one who has realised the Supreme, however, such dispassion is
complete. Bhagavatpāda summarises this when He says, “A knower of
Brahman has attained all that has to be attained; there is no possibility of a
desire arising for such a person, all of whose desires are fulfilled.”55 In fact,
Bhagavatpāda’s definition of the word ‘niḥspṛhaḥ’ is, “One for whom the
62 18. Ihāmutrārtha-niḥspṛhaḥ
desire even to merely keep the body alive, has completely gone.” 56 This is
the zenith of dispassion.
While His Holiness was described in nāma 13 as one who freed others from
the great foe that is desire, He is described here as Himself being niḥspṛha,
free from desire, for iha-amutra-artha, objects of this world and the next.
As a young boy not yet in His teens, Sri Srinivasa Sastry used to regularly
express to His friends, His desire to renounce the world. At first His
companions found His longing ludicrous but soon realised that He was
inexorably resolved. One boy asked Him, “What use is there in becoming a
saṁnyāsin? By becoming a great king, one attains an exalted position.” Sri
Srinivasa Sastry responded, “Do not think thus. What long-lasting benefit is
there in becoming a monarch? An emperor can enjoy only when he is in
power. That state of affairs must come to an end, sooner or later. If, however,
I become a saṁnyāsin, I can constantly meditate and be without any worries.
There will be a wonderful opportunity to behold God and I shall remain ever
protected by Him.”
After the completion of His upanayana at Sringeri, Sri Srinivasa Sastry and
members of his family crossed the river Tuṅgā and went to Narasimhavana
to behold Jagadguru Śrī Candraśekhara Bhāratī Mahāsvāmin. Looking
compassionately at Sri Srinivasa Sastry, the Jagadguru said, “Now you are
a brahmacārin. It may be necessary for you to go home and perform the
ordained duties.”
“I would like to remain here,” Sri Srinivasa Sastry responded, with
reverence. The Jagadguru asked, “Do you not have to study English and
take up a job to earn your livelihood? If yes, it is imperative that you go.”
Undaunted in His resolve and frank in His expression, Sri Srinivasa Sastry
said, “I desire neither that education nor a job. I wish to study Sanskrit here.”
When His Holiness was in His late forties, a disciple happened to see His
Holiness waking up from sleep one night, eating a small, shrivelled plantain
that was kept on a windowsill, drinking some water and then going back to
bed. The disciple felt bad that His Holiness had eaten a banana that was fit
to be thrown away.
When he had the opportunity to talk to Him next morning, the disciple gave
vent to his feelings and said, “Why did Your Holiness choose to eat the fruit
that was in such a bad state?” “Why not?” asked His Holiness. “There are
boxes full of luscious grapes from Australia that were submitted to Your
Holiness. Leaving those aside, why did Your Holiness have to eat that
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 63
particular shrivelled plantain?” queried the disciple. His Holiness said, “It is
advised that one has to eat something when feeling pain due to peptic ulcer.
The plantain served the purpose adequately. Just because better quality fruits
are available today, do I have to eat them? Do you know what virakti
(dispassion) is? It is not the dispassion that you have towards an object in its
absence. Even when the object of desire is in front of you and is also
rightfully yours, you should not enjoy it. Even the thought, ‘I want it’ should
not be there in your mind. That alone is true virakti.”
His Holiness continued, “Even though I may not attempt to procure the
object, if I were to entertain a desire for it, the very longing will remain in
my mind as a residual saṁskāra (tendency). On a different occasion, such a
saṁskāra may impel me to act even without my being conscious of it. This
is not true vairāgya.”
Dr. H. C. Visvesvaraiya recalled, “During one of His Holiness’s visits to
Delhi, I was desirous of making a special wooden cot for Him to sleep on,
as the weather was extremely chill. Later, I found that His Holiness did not
lie on it but on the floor. Anxious, I submitted, ‘I have arranged for the cot
exclusively for Your Holiness’s use. It is brand new and no one has used it
so far. I will be very happy if Your Holiness uses it.’ His Holiness smiled
and said, ‘Yes, I will.’ Later, I was surprised to find that He used it only to
keep His articles on and to occasionally sit on, but not for sleeping. He
continued to sleep on the floor, unmindful of the testing weather.”
20. ु
कीतानीयगणोज्ज्वलः Kīrtanīya-guṇojjvalaḥ
One who shone with qualities worthy of veneration
This nāma states that His Holiness was ujjvala, radiant, with guṇas,
qualities, that were kīrtanīya, fit to be venerated, praised or celebrated. This
implies that His Holiness possessed certain qualities that could be only
wondered at and not fathomed, only worshipped and not possibly emulated.
His Holiness suffered an attack of angina in 1982, with severe pain in the
chest and dull pain in His left arm. He was administered an intramuscular
injection of morphine. Soon, He was in a state of semi-torpor. Only two of
His close disciples were in the room with Him. Though hardly conscious of
what He was saying, His Holiness muttered a verse, ending with the words,
“mati-kṛta-guṇadoṣā māṁ vibhuṁ na spṛśanti (The meritorious and faulty
doings of the intellect do not touch me, who am all-pervading.)” This was
the affirmation of His being centred in Brahman, that came from His
Holiness even while experiencing intense pain and being just semiconscious.
It was not just that His Holiness could attain and regulate His meditative
state and also the duration of His nirvikalpa-samādhi at will (as can be
gleaned from nāmas 15, 27 and 40), but He also had the power to bestow
samādhi on others at will. Not just this, He could do so without even being
physically present and using another as an instrument.
Once a disciple mentally requested His Holiness to give nirvikalpa-samādhi
to a certain youngster. His Holiness appeared in a vision and agreed. The
disciple and the boy sat facing each other, and the disciple mentally asked
His Holiness what should be done. His Holiness appeared before the disciple
and asked him to place his left thumb in the space between the person’s
eyebrows and right palm on the centre of the person’s chest. He then
instructed the disciple, “Now concentrate and resolve strongly that he should
get samādhi.” The disciple acted accordingly and found that the person
began to close his eyes and slowly his breathing rate decreased. The disciple
simultaneously noticed a sort of vibrating sensation in his right hand and
also the feeling of a great śakti flowing through it into the person’s chest.
The disciple’s palm became increasingly warm but His Holiness urged him
to concentrate more. At a point His Holiness’s instructions came through
66 21. Kāmitāśeṣa-phaladaḥ
clearly: “Concentrate even more and then you yourself go into nirvikalpa-
samādhi.” The disciple obeyed.
After some time the disciple emerged from samādhi and opened his eyes.
The person had his eyes half closed, did not have any noticeable breathing,
and was about nine inches completely off the ground. He seemed oblivious
of his surroundings and was an epitome of tranquility. His Holiness
instructed the disciple to press the person’s thighs down. On the disciple
doing this, the person gradually came into contact with the āsana spread on
the floor. His Holiness then said, “He is now in nirvikalpa-samādhi.” After
the lapse of some time, His Holiness finally decided to bring him out of
samādhi. He told the disciple that He would be erasing the memory of the
samādhi because the time was not yet ripe for the state, which He had
granted in response to the disciple’s wish. He said further, “He will feel as
if only a few minutes have elapsed and that he never went into any firm
concentration at all, for he continuously heard other sounds.”
When the person came out of samādhi, what the person expressed as his
experience was exactly as His Holiness had stated. Thus, His Holiness was
not only able to bestow the highest state through someone else, but also to
withhold its memory.
that without his even intending to ask His Holiness for such a pendant, His
Holiness had, of His own accord, blessed him with it and fulfilled his
innermost desire.
The following was narrated by Smt. Susheela of Erode.
“On His way to Coimbatore, His Holiness’s car entered the colony where
our rented house was situated. When the car stopped in front of our
compound gate, His Holiness got out of the car, removed His pādukās and
started walking barefoot. I was worried as to why His Holiness had to
remove His pādukās, as the place was full of sand and sharp stones. His
Holiness walked slowly and, on His entering the house, I could find the dust
from His feet forming footmarks on the floor! He then looked at me with
His characteristic smile and said, ‘See, I have come. Are you happy now?’
“Only then did I realize that He had, in letter and spirit, fulfilled my earlier
request to Him, of gracing my house with the dust of His feet. Choked with
emotion, I apologized, ‘Just to get my wishes fulfilled, I have committed the
sin of making Your Holiness walk on sharp stones.’ His Holiness said, ‘It
was not a problem at all. I am quite used to such terrain.’”
His Holiness’s tenderness was a mere external display marked by kind words
and actions, but that it was something that emanated from His heart. The
Veda explains, ‘What the mind contemplates the tongue speaks and that is
what the body does,’65 implying that if a trait is had at the mental level, it
automatically percolates to the instruments of speech and action. Thus the
meaning that emerges is that His Holiness’s heart, speech and actions were
all endowed with tenderness. By the use of the word yutaḥ, endowed with,
the nāma emphasizes that His Holiness was tender at heart by nature.
Further, this quality in His Holiness, even though congenital, did not suffer
from the lacunae of diminishing or changing with time or with circumstances
or from any possible dichotomy between speech and action due to change of
mind. It is to convey precisely this aspect, that the nāma employs the suffix
‘saṁ’, implying fullness, constancy and firmness. Indeed, the saying, “The
mind, speech and action are in harmony for a mahātman,”66 forms an apt
description of His Holiness. Thus, His Holiness’s absolute tenderness of
heart, which also translated into tenderness of speech and action, was innate
to Him and was steady, undiminishing and uniform. His Holiness naturally
and spontaneously felt empathy for others’ pain and would do no harm
whatsoever to whoever He dealt with, irrespective of time, person and
circumstances. This is exemplified in innumerable instances of His dealings
with devotees and Maṭha staff and indeed, all living beings.
Sri Srinivasa Sastry was playing blind man’s bluff one day at Sringeri with
some other vidyārthins. Sri Ramaswamy Avadhani had a cloth tied over his
eyes and was the one who was supposed to touch the others who were
moving around to evade him. As he came near Sri Srinivasa Sastry, the latter
dexterously stepped aside. Ramaswamy struck himself mildly against a
pillar there. Infuriated, he loosened the cloth that veiled his vision, struck Sri
Srinivasa Sastry a blow and shouted, “You are the cause of this injury.”
His hitting and accusing Sri Srinivasa Sastry were decidedly unjustified.
Someone else in Sri Srinivasa Sastry’s place might have chosen to retaliate
with sharp words or, if possible, with a blow. He was made of finer stuff. He
gave no room to anger. On the contrary, noting that Ramaswamy had injured
himself slightly, He patiently pacified him and attended to his injury.
Thereby, He won the heart of Ramaswamy, who was able to recollect this
incident vividly even after the lapse of over fifty years.
When His Holiness was once camping at Dharwad, He readily consented to
visit an orphanage at the request of its headmistress. The lady showed His
Holiness around the place. She then introduced her wards to Him one by
one, saying, ‘I found this child abandoned in a railway station at the age of
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 71
three. This one was picked up from a dustbin...’ As He listened to her and
saw the orphans, His heart melted and He was visibly moved.
He later blessed the children whole-heartedly and greatly appreciated the
lady who had rescued so many children and was taking care of them as her
own. Such was His tenderness of heart and compassion that He could not
withstand even listening to tales of suffering.
One afternoon, a disciple saw His Holiness working alone in the garden in
front of Sacchidananda Vilasa, the abode of His Holiness. He was wearing
gloves and was holding a pair of shears; near Him was a knife, a can of water
and some tape. He noticed the disciple and gestured to him to come. He told
the disciple that He was about to graft roses and that He would be using a
method called “T-bud”; having said this, He jokingly commented, “By ‘T’,
I did not mean the tea that people drink.” He then proceeded with the
grafting; as He did so, He explained the steps.
He mentioned that before the disciple had come, He had sterilized the shears
and the knife to avoid causing infection. Such was His love for the plants
that before cutting, He addressed the rosebushes saying, “Forgive me for
causing you pain. I will take good care of you. You will recover soon and be
more beautiful than you are now.” The disciple saw tears in His eyes as He
said so. He worked quickly but gently and soon the work was complete. His
Holiness’s tender heart could not withstand the pain that the rose bush had
to go through.
His Holiness’s tenderness of heart manifested even when punishment had to
be meted out to an erring staff. Once, an employee of the Maṭha was
extremely careless and this resulted in a substantial loss. Sri Giridhara
Sastry, as the Administrator, decided to recover the lost amount in
instalments from that person’s salary and fixed the rate of recovery. When
he reported the matter to His Holiness, He felt pity for the person and said,
“I concede that punishment has to be given but what you have imposed is
too much. Care should be taken to ensure that no trouble is caused to his
family and to him. You have been recovering some fine until now. That is
sufficient. No further recovery need be done.” His orders were duly carried
out, though the remission meant that hardly ten percent of the lost amount
was recovered.
On an occasion, a staff poured ghee from the Maṭha’s kitchen into a vessel
that he had brought from home. As he had to attend to some work, he kept
the vessel at a particular spot. This was observed and the matter brought to
His Holiness’s attention. His Holiness could have very easily exposed the
72 22. Komala-svānta-saṁyutaḥ
concerned person and put him to shame but He did not wish to do so. He
asked another worker of the Maṭha to give the ghee to the kitchen and to
replace the vessel at the exact spot where it had been left. When the culprit
returned, he must have been in for a shock. He would have known that his
theft had been discovered but would have been thankful that it was not made
public. At any rate, he was in no position to complain, “I had kept some ghee
in my vessel. It is missing now.” His Holiness thus unobtrusively and gently
gave the staff an opportunity to mend his ways.
Dr. Lakshmipathy once reminisced as follows.
“His Holiness had some breathing trouble and was under the treatment of an
Āyurveda-vaidya (physician qualified in Āyurveda) in Bengaluru. He told
me that the vaidya’s medicine was giving Him great relief. Being an
allopath, I felt jealous. When I went to see Him later, He said that His trouble
had recurred. I queried, ‘What about the āyurvedic medicine?’ With some
satisfaction, I thought that that medicine was ineffective. However, He said,
‘I stopped taking it because the vaidya is aged and has to put up with
difficulty to prepare it. Of course, he is quite willing to do it for me but I do
not want him troubled. Hence, let me take your medicine. Your medicine is
also effective.’ Such was His compassion that He was more concerned about
the physician’s strain than His health and was willing to satisfy me in spite
of my jealousy.”
Once during the daily darśana time, His Holiness was, as usual, seated in
the forecourt of Sacchidananda Vilasa at Sringeri giving darśana. An old
lady among the crowd of devotees came to His Holiness and poured out her
tale of woe to Him. His Holiness consoled her and gave her prasāda. The
old lady went and sat down among the crowd, but in a few minutes was up
on her feet again. She went back to His Holiness and repeated the description
of the very same problems. His Holiness listened to her patiently, as if He
was hearing it all for the first time, and with words of consolation, gave
prasāda to her again. Feeling reassured, the lady went back to her place and
sat down. This sequence was repeated several times with His Holiness
listening with the same empathy and tenderness of heart that He had in the
first instance. Such was His tenderness of heart that He would not even tell
the lady that she had already apprised Him of the matter and that He had
already given His blessings.
Hurting dogs with stones is a pastime of many sadists. His Holiness
vehemently opposed and prevented such unwarranted cruelty. When He was
once addressing a group of school students in Bengaluru, the howl of a dog
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 73
was heard. It prompted Him to promptly remark, “Someone has pelted a dog
with a stone. It is improper and indeed sinful.”
The spontaneity of His reaction bore testimony to His concern for animals
and disapproval of people sadistically causing injury to them.
His Holiness was extremely considerate to people and abhorred causing any
kind of disturbance to the public. During a visit to Coimbatore in the early
1970s, His Holiness was set to deliver a benedictory address at a venue,
when He noticed that loud speakers had been mounted not only within the
hall but also outside, on the sides of the road. His keen power of observation
led Him to realize that it would be possible to decouple the speakers outside
the venue of the talk without difficulty.
He said, “Please disconnect the loud speakers on the road. It is sufficient and
in fact appropriate that my speech be heard only here and not outside. This
is because people who are interested are already seated inside. It is not right
that people on the road be subjected to the nuisance of having a speech they
are not interested in dinned into their ears. Often, during marriages, loud
speakers are connected in such a way that music blares into the ears of those
on the road. They wonder, ‘What a pain this function is!’ Instead of receiving
the good wishes of everyone, the bride and the bridegroom unnecessarily
earn the ill-will of some whom they do not even know. Functions, be they
weddings or ones such as this, ought not to cause noise pollution.” The
organisers were able to easily implement what His Holiness had suggested.
His Holiness’s consideration for the public and His keenness on avoiding
noise pollution, a problem that was largely overlooked in India in the early
1970s, unlike now, are noteworthy.
His Holiness was taken ill a few days before He shed His mortal form on
21st September 1989. On the 18th, at about 11:15 p.m., He was observed as
having pain in both His arms and it was radiating to His back. He was forced
to lie only on His back and was unable to sleep. Dr. Vasudeva Herale of the
Sharada Dhanwanthari Hospital at Sringeri was contacted over the phone
and informed of His Holiness’s condition. The doctor soon arrived, checked
His Holiness’s blood pressure, recorded His ECG and administered an
injection of Calmpose. The doctor came again at around 7 o’clock the next
morning. He found that His Holiness continued to be in pain. He
administered an intramuscular injection of Pethidine.
His Holiness expressed His discomfiture at the doctor having had to come
for His sake at night (at 11:30 p.m.) and again in the morning; it did not
weigh with Him that it was only a ten-minute’s drive from the doctor’s house
74 23. Kālaṭyādi-pariṣkartā
to Sacchidananda Vilasa and that between his two visits, the doctor could
have slept for over six hours.
A few nights prior to 21st September, 1989, Sri Giridhara Sastry slept outside
His Holiness’s room to attend to Him if required. As he was entering His
Holiness’s bedroom at night to check on Him, His Holiness asked, “Did I
disturb you by saying, ‘Nārāyaṇa’ loudly?” When in pain, He used to repeat
the name of God, but without any expectation whatsoever. He had done so
that night and that was the basis of His question. He was so considerate that
He did not want to disturb anybody’s sleep even by voicing the Lord’s name
in the privacy of His room and that too, at a time when He was quite unwell
and in pain.
thread with a special set of knots), saying, ‘You are my friend. Protect my
strength. You, my friend, are Indra’s vajra (thunderbolt) that destroyed Vṛtra
(the demon). May you bring me happiness. Prevent that which is sinful.’”70
The sacred daṇḍa, also considered on par with the Śiva’s trident, was vilasat,
an adornment, in His Holiness’s karābja, hand that was beautiful like a lotus.
On the day of taking saṁnyāsa, after completing the Virajā-homa, Sri
Srinivasa Sastry proceeded to Sandhya-mandapa situated at the riverside in
Narasimhavana. There, He entered the river and stood in waist-deep water.
He then performed sāvitrī-tyāga in the course of which He chanted the
Gāyatrī-mantra once, for the final time, and discarded into the flowing water
His yajñopavīta (sacred thread) and tuft. By this act, He renounced His
entitlement to perform scriptural rites and to chant the Gāyatrī-mantra. He
discarded His upper garment, lower garment and even His loincloth and
stood stark naked.
He then did praiṣoccāraṇa (the declaration of renunciation) and abhaya-
pradāna (the granting of freedom from fear), and with that He became a
saṁnyāsin. He then moved towards the north in the river. The Jagadguru
had been silently watching the scene. When His disciple had taken a few
steps, He called out to Him and on His Holiness approaching Him, gave Him
an ochre kaupīna (loincloth), kaṭisūtra (thread tied around the waist to hold
up the loincloth), lower garment and upper garment. His Holiness donned
the ochre clothing and applied vibhūti, sacred ash. The senior Jagadguru
then gave His Holiness, who was clad in ochre, the daṇḍa and then a
kamaṇḍalu (water-pot).
26. काषायाम्बरिंित
ृ ः Kāṣāyāmbara-saṁvṛtaḥ
One who was clothed in ochre robes
His Holiness was saṁvṛta, clothed, in kāṣāya-ambara, ochre robes, as
prescribed for saṁnyāsins.
The scripture states the following procedure in the context of acceptance of
the ochre robes at the time of taking saṁnyāsa: “Accepting the kaṭisūtra,
kaupīna and robe after having done ācamana while uttering, ‘kaṭisūtra that
is the supporter of the loincloth, Om; kaupīna that is the cover for the private
parts, Om; the robe that is the single protection against cold, wind, and heat,
Om,’ and having been conferred a yoga-paṭṭa (monastic name), he shall be
intent on following the rules of his (saṁnyāsa) āśrama, considering himself
fortunate.”71
80 27. Guru-pādāmbuja-dhyāyī
27. ु
गरुपादाम्ब ु
जध्यायी Guru-pādāmbuja-dhyāyī
One who meditated on His Guru’s Lotus Feet
From utterances of our ancients such as, “The Guru alone is the entire
universe and is the essence of Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva; there is none greater
than the Guru. Therefore the Guru should be worshipped devoutly,”72 that
establish the greatness of the Guru, and the discussion under nāma 8 about
the Lord’s lotus feet, it can be inferred that the Guru’s lotus feet are also
Supreme. In fact, Bhagavatpāda vouchsafes this when He asks rhetorically,
as the refrain in each of the verses of the Gurvaṣṭaka, “If the mind is not
focussed on the Guru’s lotus feet, then what is the use (of any
achievement)?”73 Bhagavatpāda’s poignant verse in the Svātma-nirūpaṇa
sums up the glory of the Guru’s feet as follows: “There is the foot of the
Guru. In His glance, there is limitless compassion. There is something that
has been said by Him. What else is there that constitutes the summum bonum
of life?”74 Thus, the Guru’s feet are sufficient to dispel the disciple’s
ignorance and grant liberation.
His Holiness once clarified, “A man had two servants. One of them was
particular about eulogising his employer but not in executing his master’s
instructions. The other sincerely carried out the tasks assigned to him; he
also held his master in high esteem. The employer obviously preferred the
second servant to the first. A devotee who, like the second servant, sincerely
performs the duties ordained for him by God and specified in the scriptures
and, further, does so in a spirit of dedication, pleases God greatly and
receives His grace in abundance.” From this it is clear that a disciple
worshipping or meditating on the Guru’s feet would signify true devotion
only if he were to act in accordance with the Guru’s explicit and implicit
instructions at all times. Therefore, when His Holiness is described here as
a dhyāyin, one who meditates, on the pādāmbuja, lotus feet, of the Guru, it
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 81
implies that He had the greatest reverence and the most intense devotion for
His Guru, marked by implicit obedience to Him.
Śrī Vedānta-deśika spells out the qualities of a model disciple in a verse that
means, “The ideal disciple has a pure mind, resorts to the holy, has good
conduct, is desirous of knowing the Truth, is intent upon serving (his Guru),
is free from vanity, greatly values offering prostrations (to his Guru), waits
for an opportune moment to pose his doubts (to his Guru), is of controlled
mind, is of regulated senses, is free from envy, has surrendered (to the Guru),
is possessed of faith in the Śāstras, is successful in tests and is grateful (to
His Guru). Such a disciple is fit to be unconditionally taught what is
desired.”75 These attributes found complete fulfilment in His Holiness.
As described under nāma 18, after Sri Srinivasa Sastry’s upanayana at
Sringeri in May 1930, He, along with His family, had darśana of the
Jagadguru, after which His mind was made up to be with the Jagadguru and
not go back home. He was then a boy of just thirteen. Arrangements were
made for Him to commence His studies along with a small group of boys in
Narasimhavana directly under the watch of the Jagadguru.
In the first quarter of 1931, Sri Srinivasa Sastry developed high fever one
night and became delirious. He started to speak incoherently. When the
matter was reported to the Jagadguru, He neither authorised medical
attention nor did He give vibhūti as prasāda as He had done in the case of
the other students when they had taken ill. He, however, specifically
instructed Sri Vaidyanatha Sastry, the boys’ tutor, to note whatever Sri
Srinivasa Sastry uttered while delirious, and inform Him.
Sri Srinivasa Sastry’s words primarily comprised an unusual combination of
dedication to the Jagadguru and a declaration of the Truth. He kept saying,
“sadguro śaraṇaṁ śivo’haṁ śivo’ham (O Sadguru! You are my refuge. I am
Śiva. I am Śiva).” Three days passed without His condition improving. He
was awaiting vibhūti-prasāda from the Jagadguru. To assuage Him,
Vaidyanatha Sastry told Him a lie to the effect that the Jagadguru would be
gracing Him in person. Thereafter, He started to continuously chant,
“sadguro pāhi, sadguro pāhi (O Sadguru, protect me. O Sadguru, protect
me).”
When the Jagadguru was proceeding the next day, an ekādaśī, to the river
for His afternoon bath, He heard Sri Srinivasa Sastry’s chant. After
ascertaining that only Vaidyanatha Sastry was around, He abruptly entered
the room where Sri Srinivasa Sastry lay. On seeing the Jagadguru, Sri
Srinivasa Sastry got up and then prostrated in such a way that His forehead
rested on His Guru’s feet. Vaidyanatha Sastry was shocked as it was not
customary for anyone to touch the Jagadguru like this. The Jagadguru,
82 27. Guru-pādāmbuja-dhyāyī
Holiness to break these rules. Further, the large number of people who had
gathered in the streets of Sringeri to witness the procession could not be
expected to know the reason for His Holiness occupying the golden
palanquin and could have censured Him, at least mentally, for this apparent
breach of propriety. Notwithstanding such considerations and though He
was just thirteen years of age at that time, He experienced no confusion
whatsoever. He just did as He was told and occupied the golden palanquin.
In the 1980s, a disciple referred to this incident and asked His Holiness,
“What did Your Holiness feel on receiving such a difficult instruction from
the senior Jagadguru?” “What was there to feel? My Guru’s command is
inviolable. As a disciple, it is my duty to carry it out. That was my only
thought then,” He replied.
His Holiness devotedly and impeccably served His Guru not only in normal
circumstances but also in extremely trying ones, where patience, dexterity
and tact were a sine qua non. After 1928, the senior Jagadguru entered now
and then, for varying durations, a state that has been referred to in some
books on Him as ‘antarmukha-avasthā (inward-turned condition).’ During
these periods, His behaviour was unpredictable. Punctilious as He used to
be in all His actions and habits, this change to an uncommon state was quite
beyond the comprehension of many. There was no regularity in His bath or
meals. Time did not count with Him and the ordinary rules of conduct,
worldly or spiritual, were no more for Him. It would happen that for days
together He remained without bath, food or sleep but the lack of these did
not seem to affect Him, for He was ever beaming with spiritual lustre; His
body, however, showed signs of emaciation.
His Holiness told a disciple in later years, “He did not take exception to my
meeting Him occasionally during His periods of seclusion and even spoke
to me. However, His words were few and He did not permit any prolonged
conversation.” So intense was the senior Jagadguru’s love for His Holiness.
86 27. Guru-pādāmbuja-dhyāyī
During His state of withdrawal from normalcy, the senior Jagadguru had to
be particularly cared for. In general, the Maṭha staff feared to approach Him
since His reactions were unpredictable. Sometimes, He used to go away to
the river bank and people feared that He might accidentally drown Himself
or move away into the forest. None dared to approach Him, for He would
drive them away. It was only His Holiness who was able to bring His Guru
back to the safe interior of Sacchidananda Vilasa. His Holiness told a
disciple how He did so once when His Guru was walking away into the
forest.
The senior Jagadguru (observing His Holiness approaching Him): Why
have you come?
HH: To request Your Holiness to come back to Sacchidananda Vilasa.
The senior Jagadguru: Why should I come back?
HH: I feel lonely without Your Holiness.
The senior Jagadguru: Why? Others are there.
HH: I feel thoroughly comfortable only with Your Holiness.
The senior Jagadguru: Very well.
Saying so, He accompanied His Holiness back to Sacchidananda Vilasa.
His Holiness concluded His account of this episode to the disciple by saying,
“Since He responded to my requests to return, some humorously remarked
that I was like a she-elephant that could calm down a tusker in rut.”
There were even times when the senior Jagadguru’s transition from the
normal to the other state took place rather abruptly. One hot day, when He
was crossing the temporary wooden bridge across the Tuṅgā to proceed to
Goddess Śāradā’s temple, He started casting off His clothes, and walked on,
naked and nonchalant. As soon as His Holiness learnt of this, He picked up
spare clothes for His Guru and also the senior Jagadguru’s pādukās
(wooden sandals) and ran behind Him. By the time He caught up with His
Guru, the latter had rapidly traversed much of the main street of Sringeri.
On seeing Him, the senior Jagadguru’s first words were, “Why are you not
wearing pādukās?” He was unaware that He was naked but could not brook
His Holiness’s bare feet treading the hot path! His Holiness told Him, “How
could I wear them when Your Holiness is walking barefoot?” The senior
Jagadguru then acceded to His Holiness’s request and donned the clothes
that His Holiness gave Him and wore His pādukās. By this time, an attendant
came running with His Holiness’s pādukās. Insisting that His Holiness wear
them pronto, the senior Jagadguru returned to Sacchidananda Vilasa with
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 87
His dear disciple. There, He once again became indifferent to His body and
His surroundings and remained so for days, but in the confines of a room.
His Holiness firmly opined that as the senior Jagadguru was a jīvanmukta
par excellence, neither His normal behaviour nor His abnormal state affected
His steady abidance in the Supreme Brahman in any way.
Shortly after Jagadguru Śrī Candraśekhara Bhāratī Mahāsvāmin had attained
Mahāsamādhi in 1954, a lady from North India came to Sringeri and had
His Holiness’s darśana. She expressed some of her doubts on religious
practices to Him and also said that she had been unable to get satisfactory
replies to them. His Holiness gave His clarifications in His inimitable style.
The lady joyfully stated that her doubts had been fully resolved.
Prompted by His innate lack of ego and very great regard for His Guru, His
Holiness said, “Had you come sometime earlier, you could have had the holy
darśana of my Guru. You had to express your doubts to me and hear my
replies. But if you had just beheld my Guru, that would have been sufficient
for the answers to have become known to you. Such was His greatness.”
[As can be seen under nāma 68, for instance, what His Holiness said about
His Guru was perfectly applicable to Him too.]
The following are verses composed by His Holiness on His Guru.
1 I extol Śrī Candraśekhara Bhāratī who is ever immersed in the
contemplation of the Ātman, is withdrawn from sense objects and is well-
versed in the Śāstras.76
2 My salutation to the ascetic whose mind is absorbed in consciousness
and the lustre of whose feet destroys the blinding darkness of avidyā.77
3 I pay obeisance to the cloud-like Guru, who abides in the (sky that is)
the Supreme Brahman, pours forth the nectar of Vedānta and terminates
the sufferings of people.78
4 Bowing low with humility, the disciple-bee gently touches, with constant
faith, the celebrated Guru’s feet that are lotuses with the nectar of
mercy.79
5 I daily prostrate with devotion before the pre-eminent Guru’s feet, which
are merciful to devotees and an infinitesimal exposure to whose lustre
always destroys the entire darkness (of ignorance) of the mind.80
6 I salute the glorious, foremost of Gurus, who is highly gracious to those
who pay obeisance and a wee bit of the kindness of whose feet is itself
the saviour in the forest of saṁsāra.81
88 28. Gaṇanīya-guṇojjvalaḥ
7 I seek refuge in the lustrous preceptor, whose lotus feet are embellished
(glorified) by the Upaniṣads and who eradicates the sorrows of those
who pay obeisance to Him.82
8 I place as a crown on my head Your, my preceptor’s, pair of pādukās,
the remembrance of which certainly terminates the mental darkness of
mankind. 83
9 I prostrate before the pair of lotus-like feet of the glorious king of
preceptors by paying obeisance to whom even a dullard becomes akin to
the Guru.84
10 To those in the darkness of ignorance, He is the sun that is infinite as also
within. To the multitude of drooping lilies that are the hearts of scholars,
He is the moon. To those trapped in the forest of sense-objects and
without a friend in the path to the Supreme, He is the flaming torch that
lights the way. Victorious is the luminous Guru who confers joy on all.85
11 I prostrate before the greatest Guru, who is a wish-fulfilling tree to those
who bow, who is worthy of being saluted by pre-eminent knowers of the
Truth, who is the fresh sprout of bliss and who is the ocean of the Śāstras
(that is, fully conversant with the Śāstras.)86
12 I yearn to behold the Guru who is the divine antidote for the malady of
transmigration and on beholding whom, one attains peace.87
The following is His Holiness’s advice regarding the Guru’s pādukās:
“Whatever reverence a person has towards his Guru should be there towards
the pādukās also. Everyday, after devoutly prostrating before them, he
should place sandal paste and flowers on them. It may seem good to perform
abhiṣeka to them daily. If, however, they be made of wood and if the disciple
desires that they be with him for long, he himself can decide how sensible it
would be to offer abhiṣeka daily. If he pays respects to his Guru’s pādukās
with sincerity or if he prays to them with true devotion, he shall get the fruits
of the very same actions done directly in his Guru’s presence. Hence, he
should never be careless as regards the pādukās. If a person wants to
meditate on the pādukās, He can meditate on the Guru’s feet as adorned by
the pādukās.”
28. ु
गणनीयगणोज्ज्वलः Gaṇanīya-guṇojjvalaḥ
One who was radiant with noble virtues
This nāma describes His Holiness as being ujjvala, lustrous, with guṇas,
qualities, that were gaṇanīya, worthy of regard. Nāma 20 described Him as
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 89
One with qualities that could only be venerated, while this nāma indicates
that His Holiness possessed many qualities that not only inspire awe but are
also meant to be imbibed to whatever extent possible.
Sri Gudalur Krishna Sastrigal, who was staying in Narasimhavana during a
visit to Sringeri, asked His Holiness one morning, “I noticed last night that
the lights of Your Holiness’s room were on even past midnight. Did Your
Holiness not sleep last night?” His Holiness replied, “I was unwell, running
high temperature, and so I could not sleep. Hence, rather than wasting time,
I was reading a book on Vedānta.”
Simple living and high thinking characterise Mahātmans. His Holiness was
particular about doing His personal work Himself. He took His attendant’s
assistance only when that was essential or related to His pontifical duties.
He maintained His things methodically, and being meticulous and tidy was
innate to Him.
He arranged His books so well that He could locate a book placed by Him
even years later, without the least difficulty. Sri Mahabala, His personal
attendant, recalled that when His Holiness wanted him to fetch a book, rather
than telling him the name or the author of the book, both of which would
have been unfamiliar to him, His Holiness specified to Him the room where
that book was, in which bookshelf in that room, the shelf in that bookshelf,
the relative position of the book in that shelf and even its size and colour.
Whenever Mahabala searched as per His directions, he invariably located
the desired volume.
His Holiness was an avid lover of nature. Not just pleasant scenery, trees,
flowers, and crops but also animals, birds, fishes and even insects interested
Him. One day, when He was nearing sixteen years of age, He beheld a wasp
in the course of His walk. It was bringing a motionless grasshopper to the
mouth of a hole prepared by it. His keen power of observation and
knowledge of insects led Him to know that the grasshopper was not dead; it
had been paralyzed by a sting of the wasp. The wasp entered the hole,
emerged and then dragged the grasshopper in. Thereafter, it closed up the
hole and went away. He had heard that the wasp lays an egg and provides a
grasshopper as food for the larvae that emerge from the egg. He desired to
see the developments within the hole but did not want to partially uncover
it. Nature, however, favoured Him. The next time He came to the spot, He
found that the mud cover of the hole had a small opening. He brought His
face close to it and peeped in. He saw the larvae that looked different from
an adult wasp. He decided to examine the larvae and the grasshopper in
greater detail. For this purpose, He required a magnifying glass but had not
90 29. Citta-nairmalya-sandāyī
brought one. He did not want to put off His study to another day. Being
resourceful, He picked up a dried leaf, poked a small hole into it and put a
droplet of rain water on the hole He had made. Suitably holding the leaf, He
used the water drop as a magnifying glass and conducted His studies.
On another occasion, He beheld a monkey sitting seemingly pensively with
its hand in the small gap between two very low-lying, horizontal branches
of neighbouring trees. He placed His head close to the ground to see what
was in the monkey’s hand. He noticed that it held an apple which,
apparently, someone had dropped there. As the monkey was unwilling to let
go of the fruit, it was unable to extricate its hand and leave. “In spite of its
intelligence, this simian does not choose to let go of the fruit, withdraw its
hand and then pick up the same fruit by grasping it from below the gap,”
thought His Holiness. He felt pity for the monkey. With a plan to free it from
the bondage of its own making, He peeled a banana and took the fruit near
its mouth. The monkey leaned forward and began to eat the fruit but
continued to hold on to the apple. He peeled a second fruit. This time, He
kept it at some distance from the monkey. The simian had no choice but to
release the apple in order to get the banana it wanted. As it was eating the
banana, He pulled out the apple and presented the same back to the monkey.
His Holiness has said, “God’s creation is so fascinating. Nature reminds us
of God and is, in fact, His manifestation before all. When one watches the
ocean, one is overcome with peace and when one looks at the starry sky at
night, one experiences tranquillity and becomes conscious of how very
miniscule one is in the enormous cosmos. Sun-rays playing on the ripples in
water, green fields, the pranks of monkeys, the affection of cows etc., are
delightful. Even insects that many tend to spurn have so much to teach us.
Nature is a free, lovely show available for all to experience. Strangely, many
ignore it and, spending much money and time, corrupt their minds by
watching vulgar movies and listening to music with cheap lyrics.”
free from all mental blemishes Himself, His Holiness granted others
antidotes to mental impurities through His conduct, instructions, teachings,
writings and grace.
Once a group of devotees came to meet His Holiness. As one of them started
to speak, He unexpectedly closed His eyes and said, “Before you start, I
would like to make one thing clear. I cannot do anything that would hurt
anyone’s feelings. So please do not put me in that situation.” He then opened
His eyes and told them, “Yes, you can proceed.”
The devotees had wanted to complain about a person but were effectively
denied the opportunity to do so. They spoke about other matters and left.
Later, His Holiness solved their problem on His own in a diplomatic way,
ensuring that all were satisfied.
He thus conveyed by His conduct that he was unwilling to lend His ears to
backbiting or prejudiced nit-picking, thus driving home the lesson that such
destroyers of mental purity are not to be indulged in.
His Holiness once explained, “It is always better to understand the meaning
of stotras that we chant. Knowledge of the meanings helps us in focussing
our minds. However, if certain mistakes occur without our knowledge, we
need not be unduly concerned. Īśvara considers only what is in the heart. He
is not swayed by external appearances. An ignoramus may say viṣṇāya
instead of viṣṇave, as would be uttered by a learned man. Both secure the
same puṇya, as Īśvara grasps only the inner feeling.
“Śrī Nīlakaṇṭha Dīkṣita has explained this by means of an illustration.
Devotees offer flowers to Īśvara and attain liberation. Manmatha wanted to
shoot an arrow made of flowers at Śiva. By doing so, he sought to hinder
Śiva’s penance. The Lord did not accept the flowers. On the contrary, He
reduced Manmatha to ashes. In spite of the commonness in the use of
flowers, devotees obtain the highest end, while Manmatha perished. The
inner attitude is thus of prime importance.”
His Holiness once asserted, “All eligible persons should definitely learn the
Śrī-rudra, Camaka and the Sūktas that are chanted during pūjā. Mantras,
such as the Śrī-rudra, are very sacred. If the mind does not long for what is
prayed for, purity of the mind and the grace of Īśvara are obtained. Everyone
can chant the name of God. Bhagavatpāda has said, ‘The Bhagavad-gītā and
the Viṣṇu-sahasranāma should be chanted.’89 Such chanting greatly purifies
the mind.”
92 30. Cintā-leśa-vivarjitaḥ
His Holiness took the matter in His stride. When the loss of income was
mournfully related to Him, He cheerfully replied, “The Maṭha had been
functioning well even before the lands were granted. There is no cause for
worry.” His stand was thoroughly vindicated, for the patronage of the
devotees took over the patronage of the former kings. He firmly held,
“Īśvara is there to take care of everything. Whatever He decides is indeed
the best.”
The following are teachings of His Holiness about the cause of worry and
the importance and ways of getting rid of it.
“Normally, when people are unable to remedy some unpleasant experience,
they worry and lament. The spiritual aspirant who is endowed with true
forbearance is different. A mind that is tainted by anxiety, lamentation, etc.,
is unfit to successfully enquire about the Truth.
“We should dedicate everything to God and be without any worry. If we do
so, the Lord Himself will fully take care of us; He will provide us what we
lack and preserve what we have. He will give the realization of the Supreme
too. The deathlessness that we desire would then be ours. Attaining God is
alone the ultimate attainment and the highest good.
“A sincere devotee has no cause for any worry, for he has surrendered his
body and mind to God and left everything in God’s hands.”
His Holiness arrived in Prayagraj (then Allahabad) for the first time on 3rd
May, 1967. Early in the morning of the 4th, His Holiness went to the triveṇi-
saṅgama and took a holy dip there. He worshipped the akṣaya-vaṭa-vṛkṣa,
sacred banyan tree, Goddess Sarasvatī and other deities. Then He gave away
gifts to the priests assembled. On 18th January, 1977, His Holiness again
visited Prayagraj in the course of His tour. The kumbhamelā was being
celebrated there, with close to 15 million people thronging the place. The
special features of the kumbhamelā this time was that the Pīṭhādhipatis of
all the four Āmnāya-pīṭhas had converged at the holy place. On 19th January,
1977, the sacred mouni-amāvāsyā day, the Jagadgurus had a holy bath at 5
a.m. in the Prayāga. His Holiness’s third visit to Prayagraj was in May, 1977
and the fourth in September, 1982.
His Holiness left for Guptkashi the next afternoon and reached there by
about 8 p.m. The important temple in this place is dedicated to Lord
Viśvanāth. His Holiness worshipped Lord Viśvanāth and also visited other
places of religious importance in the vicinity.
The distance from Guptkashi to Kedarnath is about 47 kilometres and in
those days had to be covered either on foot or on horse-back. His Holiness
left on foot for Kedarnath on 24th May, 1967, with a pick of His camp
followers. The trek from Guptkashi began on the morning of the 24th. En
route, the halting places were Phata on the 11th kilometre, Rampur on the
22nd, Sitapur on the 24th, Gauri Kund on the 32nd and Rambara on the 41st. It
was 4 p.m. when Rampur was reached. After ablutions and bhikṣā there, the
journey towards Gauri Kund was resumed. This was a strenuous journey,
but the constant rustle of the river, the intermittent roar of the wayside
cascades and the exultation of walking with His Holiness, provided relief for
all. By the time the party reached Gauri Kund at 9:00 p.m., it was raining
cats and dogs. In spite of the late hour and the inclement weather, the local
inhabitants turned out en masse. His Holiness immediately had His bath in
the tapt-kuṇḍ (hot spring) and commenced the Candramoulīśvara-pūjā,
which concluded by midnight.
The last lap of the journey to Kedarnath commenced just before noon the
next day. His Holiness climbed the 14.5-kilometre-long steep and
mountainous path barefooted and reached Kedarnath in the night. Here is
His recollection of this experience:
“In the meandering and constantly ascending path to Kedarnath, the terrain
was strewn with pebbles, boulders, smooth granite slabs and offered variety.
Sharp pebbles pricked the feet; the heels were sore due to hard rocks; at
places, it was slippery due to thin films of streaming water. As the day wore,
the vagaries of weather - sharp afternoon sun, rain during dusk and a chilling
wind with light snowfall as the night advanced - were in full view.
“Accompanied by growing darkness, the fall of snowflakes was like a
shower of ‘droṇa-puṣpa’ (Leucas aspera or Thumbai / Tumbe) on the face
and a bed of sugar for the feet. The snowfall was incessant. The leg joints
were stiffening. It was nearing 9 o’clock at night. On one side of the narrow
path was a ravine, over 500 feet deep, with the torrential Gaṅgā below. On
the other was the rocky steep mountain. Diminishing visibility led to
uncertainty regarding where to tread. To compound this, having briskly
trekked far ahead of the entourage, I was alone, with none in sight or earshot.
Turning back was not an option. Catastrophe was just one false step away -
either bang on the butting rock or fall on the lap of Mother Gaṅgā! Lo and
behold, a person approached me from the direction of the temple with a
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 97
lantern and escorted me! What else if not the glorious divine sport of Śaṅkara
Bhagavatpāda?”
On the evening of the 27th His Holiness personally performed pūjā to Lord
Kedārnāth. After the pūjā was over, He stood before the Lord in enraptured
silence, His mind filled with adoration in the presence of the Supreme Lord
of the Himalayas.
After staying for a day at Kedarnath, His Holiness started on His downward
journey and reached Guptkashi on the evening of 28th May, 1967. On the
morning of the 29th, He had His sacred bath in the Gaṅgā and Yamunā-dhārā
opposite the temple and worshipped Lord Viśvanāth.
He started for Joshi Math through Rudraprayag and reached the place late at
night. He was received by Śrī Śāntānanda Sarasvatī Mahāsvāmin, the
Jagadguru of Jyotir Math, with much joy. He visited the the Nṛsiṁha temple
that has a śālagrāma said to have been worshipped by Bhagavatpāda, and
also temples of Navadurgā, Kṛṣṇa and Viṣṇu on the 30th. He visited the
various shrines and other important places in and around the Maṭha and after
a long and cordial conversation with the Jagadguru of Jyotir Math, left for
Badrinath (described under nāma 53).
After visiting Rishikesh and Haridwar, His Holiness proceeded via
Dehradun, Ambala and Jallandhar, to Jammu and Kashmir. He stayed in
Jammu for two days, and granted audience to administrators, military
commanders and tourists who flocked to see Him and take His advice. Early
in the afternoon of the 9th June, 1967, He left for Ramban and there He
worshipped at the Rāma Temple. On the 10th, His Holiness reached Srinagar.
On the 11th, He visited Sri Shankaracharya Temple, situated on the
Shankaracharya Hill in Srinagar, and worshipped the massive Bāṇaliṅga
there. In the afternoon, He proceeded to the Mārtāṇḍa Temple, dedicated to
the Sun God, which is situated about 64 kilometres from Srinagar. He
proceeded to Abhedananda Ashram on the 13th, where He addressed a public
meeting of the citizens. He delivered a benedictory address on the 14th, to
listen to which, military and civil officers had congregated apart from the
general public.
34. ु
तङ्गास्नानिम ु क
त्स ु ः Tuṅgā-snāna-samutsukaḥ
One who was extremely enthusiastic about bathing in River Tuṅgā
The river Tuṅgā originates from a spot called the Gaṅgā-mūla situated on a
hill called Varāha-parvata of the Western Ghats. The sacred river is famous
98 34. Tuṅgā-snāna-samutsukaḥ
for the sweetness of its water, and as per the popular saying, “Tuṅgā-pāna,
Gaṅgā-snāna,” drinking from the Tuṅgā produces as lofty a result as bathing
in the Gaṅgā. The Tuṅgā beautifully meanders through the valleys as she
flows through Sringeri, which is not far from her place of origin. The
Sringeri Math is located on both banks of this river.
When His Holiness first came to Sringeri in 1930 as a brahmacārin of twelve
years, He did not know swimming, but gradually mastered it to the extent
that He was as much at home in water as on land. He swam with the grace
of a fish and the more torrential the current, the greater was His affinity to
the flow. Even into His sixties, He never let go of an opportunity to plunge
into the Tuṅgā, especially when it was in spate. He is therefore spoken of
here as sam-utsukah, One who was extremely enthusiastic, about Tuṅgā-
snāna, bathing in the Tuṅgā.
His Holiness used to jump into the Tuṅgā from high trees and swim long
distances even when the river was swollen because of rains. Years later,
when He went on tours as the pontiff, He did not let slip the opportunity to
swim in various mighty rivers such as the Gaṅgā, Yamunā, Godāvarī,
Narmadā and Kāverī, as well as the ocean in many places.
The 33rd pontiff, Jagadguru Śrī Sacchidānanda Śivābhinava Narasiṁha
Bhāratī Mahāsvāmin, was an expert swimmer. Any stretch of water,
dangerous though it be, was an irresistible invitation to Him. He had the
ability to hold His breath for a protracted period of time and, on occasions,
used to frighten His attendants by diving under water and remaining there
for a long time. His Holiness was like Him.
Perhaps because of His ignorance of swimming and His intense love for His
Holiness, the senior Jagadguru used to become jittery whenever His
Holiness plunged into the river. He did not expressly forbid His pupil from
having the Tuṅgā for His companion but was heard remarking when His
Holiness swam in the swollen Tuṅgā, “Oh! What is he up to? How dangerous
all this is. I really hope nothing untoward happens.”
His Holiness once told a disciple, “Barring three things, I do not remember
having done, even in a dream, on even one occasion, anything that did not
meet with my Guru’s approval. The three things were swimming, climbing
trees and going for long walks in the forests. I requested Him in person on
two occasions to kindly forgive me for these three irresistible transgressions,
and sought pardon once in writing, referring implicitly to these three acts.
“The first time I sought His forgiveness was in the early part of 1936, before
I went to Bengaluru. He just smiled and patted me on the cheek. I did so the
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 99
second time in a letter from Bengaluru. He did not write back anything about
this point. The second time I apologised in person was a year after His return
from Kalady (that is, in 1941). In response to this, He told me, ‘I cannot even
imagine them to be transgressions, for these are exactly the three things my
Guru Himself could not resist. Hence, what is there to forgive? Just as fire
cannot give up its heat, you cannot give up these, at least for the present.
Therefore, it is I who must learn not to worry about what cannot be changed.’
I did not apologise to Him about these thereafter.”
The written apology alluded to by His Holiness was in the form of a verse
in a letter penned by Him on 19th September, 1937. The verse carries the
meaning, “Because of childishness or fickleness, I have, knowingly or
unknowingly, committed transgressions. May the revered Guru deign to
forgive them.”95
soon began wailing. Sri Srinivasa Sastry heard the piteous cries and rushed
to the spot. Addressing the father, He said, “You are older than me and wiser
too. Your son is in great pain. Please let him rest, at least for a while. You
may place the stone on my back instead and I shall support it for him.” The
father was moved by Sri Srinivasa Sastry’s heartfelt concern and relieved
his son of the burden imposed. Thus, Sri Srinivasa Sastry was willing to even
put up with suffering to relieve others of their distress.
The following episode took place on 19th September, 1989. His Holiness
shed His body on 21st September.
His Holiness was unwell that day. Some orange juice was what was to be
His intake that afternoon. The attendant on duty was, however, unfamiliar
with the use of the juice extractor. He ended up preparing juice mixed with
significant solid residues. Though His Holiness noted this, He raised no
objections. A disciple present there, however, suggested that the juice be
filtered out. His Holiness guided the attendant and soon pure orange juice
was ready, with not a drop spilt or left behind.
Unexpectedly, His Holiness told the disciple to taste it and see how he found
it. As His Holiness never concerned Himself with the tastiness or otherwise
of what He consumed, this was unusual. The disciple poured a little juice
into his palm, swallowed it and reported, “It is nice.” “As it is tasty, have
some more,” said His Holiness and directed His attendant to fetch a clean
tumbler. Half the juice readied was poured into the tumbler. The disciple
drank it. Not stopping with having given away half of what was to be His
meagre intake, His Holiness happily instructed the disciple to consume the
balance too. With no choice, the disciple obeyed. What served that afternoon
as the substitute for His Holiness’s liquid diet was His joy in fully giving
away to a disciple what the disciple found nice.
When His Holiness was camping at Hyderabad, a devotee who hailed from
an area that was approximately 50 kilometres away, came to have darśana
of His Holiness. The devotee submitted to His Holiness that the
kumbhābhiṣeka of a temple that had been built in his locality was going to
take place, and requested His Holiness to grace the occasion. His Holiness’s
schedule was, however, already tightly packed. Further, many devotees were
of the opinion that a trip to the place, taking part in the functions and
returning would be physically demanding as also time-consuming.
However, His Holiness did not desire to refuse the invitation of the devotee
and cause him unhappiness. So He set aside time for the event and not in the
least minding great personal strain, went to the place on the appointed day
and graced all the devotees there before returning.
104 38. Dāntyādi-pariśobhitaḥ
His Holiness graced a devotee’s house in Delhi. The devotee’s aged father
who stayed with him, had very poor eyesight, and so he could not see His
Holiness. When the devotee mentioned this misfortune to His Holiness, He
asked him to shift his father to an open space in front of the house. His
Holiness then stood at a spot where the sunlight fell directly on His form and
asked the devotee’s father if he could see Him. His Holiness kept adjusting
His position so as to ensure that the aged man could have a fairly clear sight
of His form. His Holiness stood for long doing this, unmindful of the
scorching heat, until such time when the elderly man expressed his complete
satisfaction with the darśana.
During His Holiness’s visit to Bengaluru in 1989, Dr. Lakshmipathy saw
Him one day seated in a room giving darśana to a politician. The doctor was
watching from the veranda and could not make out what the politician was
telling His Holiness, but was sure it was bothering Him. When the politician
left, the doctor went in and started a conversation with His Holiness.
Doctor: Your Holiness was disturbed by this man. Isn’t this so?
HH: Yes. This man does things in a reckless manner and wants me to find a
solution for him. How is it possible?
Doctor: I personally feel that Your Holiness should not allow these people
to come close to Your Holiness.
HH: What you say is not correct. See, this man has a guilty conscience and
he comes to me hoping that I will find a solution for him. If I also chase him
away to whom will he go? Don’t you think I should at least try sincerely to
make him curb his evil deeds and put him on the correct path?
The following was narrated by His Holiness to drive home the importance
of doing good to others and refraining from harming others, which to Him
was the most important dharma.
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 107
is free from kalmaṣas.”112 Here, good and bad actions are both impurities
because they lead to bondage, that is rebirth. Past actions are completely
destroyed on the dawn of knowledge, and since the jīvanmukta has gone
beyond actions, whatever actions he does in the world do not bind him. Only
prārabdha or the actions that have started to fructify remain for the
jīvanmukta. In this context the Lord says, “Always remaining reposed in this
yoga (that is eschewing everything other than such yoga) the yogin who is
free from kalmaṣas effortlessly attains the superlative bliss that is associated
with Brahman.”113 Here kalmaṣas are the obstacles to experiencing samādhi,
and it is in the sense of destroying these obstacles caused by prārabdha, that
samādhi is said to ‘free’ even the jīvanmukta from kalmaṣas; sins or, for that
matter virtues, in no way act as any bondage for the jīvanmukta.
His Holiness became a jīvanmukta through the royal path of yoga that
culminates in the practice of dhyāna leading to nirvikalpa-samādhi (vide
nāma 76). Even from the time when He started to meditate as a young
saṁnyāsin in His teens, He was an adept at it, as described under nāmas 1,
27, 59, 67, 69 and 76. After jīvanmukti, He used to be able to go into and
come out of even nirvikalpa-samādhi at will, for durations perfectly
determined by Him. It is therefore apparent that none could be more suited
than His Holiness to be described by this nāma.
[The following account shows how His Holiness could regulate the duration
of His meditation even at a stage when He had just started His meditative
practices.]
In January-February 1934 (when His Holiness was sixteen years old), the
senior Jagadguru taught His Holiness a method to start meditation (vide
nāma 15). Initially, His Holiness meditated twice a day - in His room in the
afternoon and at the Kālabhairava Temple in the evening. The idea of
meditating just before or immediately after His morning āhnika and of going
for His bath earlier than usual to facilitate this appealed to Him. However,
He did not implement it for a couple of weeks. The reason was that He was
not in a position then to predict or regulate the duration of His meditation.
As He used to go after His morning āhnika to the senior Jagadguru’s
presence to offer namaskāras, He did not want to take the risk of becoming
delayed because of unintentionally meditating for too long.
With regard to the estimation and regulation of the duration of meditation,
He reflected as follows: “Once I lose awareness of the body and the
surroundings and my mind locks on to the divine form, I have no awareness
of the passage of time. So I am not in a position then to decide how long
more I am to continue meditating. Even during deep sleep, I am unaware of
the passage of time and am in no position to determine how long more to
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 109
remain in that state. Yet, it is not as though the duration of my sleep is quite
unpredictable. Further, it is not that I cannot, on my own, alter the time for
which I normally sleep.
“Habit influences how long a person sleeps at night. Other factors being the
same, he is likely to sleep at night for as many hours as he usually does.
Moreover, if he has the habit of sleeping for half an hour every afternoon,
he is likely to awaken on his own after a half-an-hour siesta. Presumably, if
I were to regularly meditate for fixed periods in the mornings, afternoons
and evenings, my mind will spontaneously emerge from deep meditation at
the end of these periods. Just as one can choose to go back to sleep, I should
be able to revert to a state of deep concentration. By doing so for some days,
I should be able to increase the time after which my meditation tends to
lighten.
“When, on some night, I decide before sleeping that I must get up at a
particular time, I awaken at that time on my own notwithstanding my having
slept much less that night than usual. In like manner, I should be able to
influence the duration of a session of meditation by making a resolve about
the duration before beginning to meditate.” His experiences of the first two
weeks accorded with this analysis. Confident that He could now estimate
and regulate the duration of His meditation, He ceased to have any inhibition
about having a session of meditation before going for His Guru’s darśana.
[The sequel gives a glimpse of the level of mastery over meditation that His
Holiness had even in the early stages of meditation.]
It was just a few months later the same year, that His Holiness gained
proficiency in readily setting, at the time of beginning to visualise a form
during meditation, the level of His concentration. For instance, He could
adjust the intensity of His focus to block out the sound of a loud peal of
thunder, or to allow a loud peal of thunder to be heard but not the sound of
rain or a not-so-loud peal of thunder. If He felt like chanting a mantra
throughout a session of meditation, He pegged the intensity of concentration
on the form at a lower level than otherwise.
He had heard people say that their minds wander when they perform japa or
when they try to meditate on a form. From the time He began meditating,
He had not experienced this difficulty. To appreciate the problem of mental
wandering, He experimented with progressively lowering the level of His
concentration on the form. He found that when the concentration fell to a
level far below that during His normal meditation, His mind started to
wander a little to extraneous sounds. By deliberately keeping the intensity
of focus low enough to allow some distractions, He determined, during a
couple of sessions, over a dozen aids to deal with the disturbances. Chanting
110 40. Dhyāna-nirdhūta-kalmaṣaḥ
the mantra with greater vigour, temporarily holding the breath and stressing
the importance of meditation were some of them.
A disciple of His Holiness once had a strong desire to behold His Holiness
in nirvikalpa-samādhi. The disciple did not express his wish to His Holiness
but what can be hidden from the omniscient One? One day, He asked the
disciple to accompany Him to the Kālabhairava temple (atop a hill in
Narasimhavana) and there, He sat down for meditation. He asked the
disciple to sit close to Him and then remarked, “We will meditate.”
The disciple saw His eyes close partially. Slowly, the heaving of His chest
became slower and slower and soon, no trace of breathing was discoverable
by the disciple, though he was seated very close to Him. He seemed to
radiate peace. Suddenly, the disciple felt a force dragging him into
meditation. He too closed his eyes and his mind soared to the heights of
concentration.
The disciple opened his eyes after what seemed to him to be a moment, and
observed His Holiness. Slowly, His breathing commenced and in a few
moments He opened His eyes. Turning to the Kālabhairava idol, He called
out the Lord’s name and after prostrating, came out of the temple. Actually,
over half-an hour had elapsed. On coming out of the temple, He said,
“Nirvikalpa-samādhi is very nice. Is it not?” His Holiness was such a master
of nirvikalpa-samādhi, that He had perfectly regulated the duration of His
own state of nirvikalpa-samādhi, to coincide with the disciple’s.
A disciple once asked His Holiness whether the transition to nirvikalpa-
samādhi during meditation could be effected by merely stilling the mind.
His Holiness answered in the negative and then said, “Let us try it out. You
try to go rapidly into nirvikalpa-samādhi by stilling your mind and I too shall
do the same.” They sat face to face with one another. After about 45 minutes,
the disciple gradually opened his eyes, only to find His Holiness doing the
same. His Holiness had maintained perfect rapport with him and had
duplicated his every move; this was unmistakable from the conversation that
followed.
HH: Narrate one step of what you did and I shall state the next.
Disciple: I fixed my gaze between my eyebrows.
HH: Today, a light green hue manifested there.
D: Yes. I then started stilling my mind.
HH: The hue vanished and an expanse was perceived.
D: Yes. The mind then became progressively calm.
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 111
towns connected by good roads, but also remote villages. He thereby reached
out to millions, blessing them regardless of their caste, creed or religion. He
relentlessly drove Himself to the verge of exhaustion, only to inculcate
dharma and spirituality in the hearts of people.
On His tours, it was customary for His Holiness to give at least one
benedictory discourse at every city, town or village that He visited. Though
He delivered thousands of discourses, not one of them was discordant with
another, even when the verses taken up by Him for exposition had dissimilar
meanings. This was because He put things in the proper perspective.
Another aspect of His benedictory addresses was His practical approach. For
instance, speaking on the study of the Vedas, He said, “A parrot and a man
may utter the same words. A person goes to another in response to the latter’s
call but does not give the same weightage to the same words uttered by a
parrot. The chanting of a Veda-paṇḍita and that being played back by a tape
recorder may sound similar. However, the former is chanting the Veda, while
the latter is not. The scriptures specify that the Veda must be learnt only from
a Guru if it is to be efficacious. It may be possible to learn by rote Vedic
passages by employing a recorder. However, this will not confer the puṇya
that learning from a Guru would. Nowadays, however, some have difficulty
in finding a good Vedic scholar to teach them regularly and for long; also,
because of their hectic work schedules, they seem to find it difficult to go to
a Veda-vidvān’s place every day for long. Even such persons will do well to
learn at least a few times from a teacher and get the words and intonations
right. Thereafter, it does not matter if they employ recordings to strengthen
and refresh their memories.”
He met members of the armed forces in numerous places and conversed with
them to answer their questions (vide episode under nāma 39) and solve their
problems (vide episode under nāma 14). He also addressed large gatherings
of them in many places and by exhorting them to diligently discharge their
duties, boosted their mental strength and resolve.
For instance, addressing the armed forces at Hyderabad in 1967, He said, “I
am pleased to see you all here to receive me in your midst. The purpose of
life must be clear in your perspective. Man is bound by his duty. What is
your duty? In ancient times, the task of protecting the nation and its people
was enjoined on the kṣatriyas. That duty has now been entrusted to you.
Whatever subgroup you may belong to, all of you of the armed forces have
a paramount duty and that is to guard the nation. In this, you should not be
half-hearted, come what may. Śrī Kṛṣṇa has said in the Bhagavad-gītā that
fortunate is the warrior who gets an opportunity to wage a war against evil
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 113
and for righteousness, and that the doors of heaven are thrown open to him.
Do keep this in mind and execute the tasks assigned to you, diligently and
to the best of your ability.
“To attain the objective of life, salvation, one should cultivate qualities such
as compassion to all beings. You should practise them to the extent possible,
with a clear understanding of their essence, taking into consideration the
context. There is a teaching that is pertinent to all of you who have chosen
to render the yeomen service of protecting the nation. Śrī Kṛṣṇa advised
Arjuna on the battlefield, ‘Think of Me and fight.’ You too should do so.
Pray to God before you set out to do anything and then perform your duty.
That is enough for you and will fetch you great good. By your very
performance of your duty duly accompanied by the thought of God and
acting with sincerity and whole-heartedness, you will have served God
well.”
On another occasion, He told a soldier who was troubled by the thought that
he would incur sin because of his having killed many people in war, “You
would not incur sin. You only did your duty and followed the orders given
to you. You did that action for the sake of the nation and not for your own
sake. If you had killed anyone out of animosity or for your selfish end, you
would have been a sinner. However, you stuck to your duty for the sake of
the nation. Lord Kṛṣṇa told Arjuna, ‘For a kṣatriya, waging a righteous war
is an act of virtue and not a sin.’ You soldiers are in the position of the
kṣatriyas referred to by the Lord.”
His Holiness pointed out, “Since time immemorial, we have been one as a
nation, despite the fact that there were many kingdoms ruled by many
monarchs of varied dispositions. The oneness of the nation was never lost
on us. What was the spirit that held us together? It was the underlying
dharma practised by the vast majority that unified us. Thus, though divided
by kingdoms, we were united by the spirit of dharma.
“A glorious demonstration of that spirit can be seen in the life of Śrī Ādi-
Śaṅkara Himself, centuries ago. He established four monasteries to sustain,
uphold and propagate Sanātana-dharma. He was born in Kalady in Kerala.
However, He chose to establish His monasteries in the four corners of India
– Sringeri in the south, Dwaraka in the west, Puri in the east and Badri in the
north. Moreover, He had no petty concerns such as regionalism. His actions
are an illustration of this. Look at His choice of His principal disciples as the
first pontiffs of those Maṭhas. He appointed Sureśvarācārya who was from
the current Bihar to head the southern Maṭha at Sringeri; Padmapādācārya,
a southerner, was appointed to head the western Maṭha at Dwaraka.
114 42. Dhik-kṛtākhila-durmataḥ
His Holiness’s aim in all cases was only to correct and not to censure. His
openness, acceptance of people as they were, willingness to listen with
patience, sharp intellect that enabled Him to swiftly gauge the intellectual
ability of the person, His intense practicality, impeccable logic, purity of
purpose, gentleness, kindness and compassion (vide nāmas 22, 37 and 106)
made Him effectively and comprehensively, and yet tenderly, eradicate
misconceptions of people.
A popular saying teaches, “A wicked person’s learning leads to
argumentation, wealth to arrogance and power to oppression of others. On
the other hand, a good man’s learning is for acquiring knowledge, wealth for
performing charity and power for protecting people in difficulty.” 116 His
Holiness personified the latter category.
Sri Nagendra Rao reminisced, “In the summer of 1967, at the end of my
first-year classes at the Indian Institute of Management in Kolkata, I went to
Delhi to visit my parents. His Holiness was camping in Delhi at that time
and my mother was very particular that I should go to seek His blessings. I
mentioned to her that I was extremely allergic to meeting and wasting time
on holy men and saṁnyāsins. However, after much persuasion by her, I
agreed to go but told her that under no circumstances would I go in the
traditional mode of visiting Him (which is wearing a dhoti and aṅga-vastra).
I would go just as I was, in a shirt and a pair of trousers, or I would not go
at all. My mother had little choice and she accepted what I said with a
somewhat heavy heart.
“We went to visit His Holiness. At that time, He was staying in the house of
the then Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha. People had congregated to meet
Him but somehow, we were called in immediately for a personal audience
with Him. His Holiness was seated on a silver āsana in a corner of a fairly
large room in the front portion of the house. When we were ushered into the
room, He immediately beckoned to us to come to Him. It was at this point
that, suddenly, a spontaneous transformation came over me. The innate
purity of His nature and the great power of His tapas were such that I
suddenly felt unclean and rather out of place in the vestments that I had come
in and, therefore, was extremely reluctant to go forward. He was kindness
itself and repeated several times that I should come forward, and made me
sit within a couple of feet from Him. His first response on my sitting down
was, ‘Why did you not come to see me in Calcutta (Kolkata), my son? Your
mother had shown me a photograph of yours and I was watching every day
to see whether you were among the hundreds of people who came by.’ This
was but one more surprise, which left me totally dumbfounded. In the first
instance, I never really thought we could get in to see Him so quickly. And
in the second instance, I certainly did not expect that He would remember
116 42. Dhik-kṛtākhila-durmataḥ
me from the photograph that He had seen. Of course, at the time I had no
idea of His Holiness’s phenomenal memory and His punctilious attention to
even matters of the smallest detail. Ordinary people often imagine
limitations in great souls which are really not there, because they judge them
by their own limited abilities and attitudes.
“As I started to recover my power of speech, I felt one should be very honest
in the presence of one who, I now started feeling, was a very unusual person
and one of great spiritual magnitude. I launched into my explanation as to
why I had not come to see Him in Kolkata. I explained to Him rather tersely
that I had heard that He saw only people of wealth and high social standing
and that I had really little use for meeting such personalities, no matter how
spiritual or famous or eminent they were considered to be. There was pin-
drop silence from everyone around. In my estimate never before had anyone
been quite so irreverent and that too in so explicit a manner, in front of His
Holiness. I fully expected to be told to leave the room, never see His face
again - some form of the Hindu equivalent of excommunication on the spot.
“His Holiness’s response was totally unexpected. He just smiled and said, ‘I
am told you are a student of business administration. Are you?’ I said, ‘Yes.’
He then asked me if it was not true that I had to study some elements of law
as part of my course work. I again said, ‘Yes.’ And He said, ‘Is it not also
true that in law, as it is practised in the land, hearsay information is not
considered evidence?’ I began to see what He was driving at and said He
was correct. He then asked me that as a man endowed with considerable
education and a fair degree of discrimination, was it not expected of me to
have come there personally to see whether the allegations were true or
unfounded. He was so logical and reasonable that I had really nothing left to
say and I agreed with Him. What I also found remarkable at the time was
that His Holiness used not the arcane letter and word of the traditional
Śāstras of which I knew little at the time and for which I had even less
regard. He used the very branches of secular learning with which I was fairly
conversant and for which I had high regard, to make His point. This was
another surprise to me. I had really not expected His Holiness to have such
an immense understanding of and familiarity with the various branches of
secular knowledge.”
Noticing the priest’s inability to grasp the subject, His Holiness resorted to
catechism to drive home the points that He expounded earlier.
HH: Who are you?
Priest: I am so and so.
HH: No, I did not ask your name. Who are ‘you’?
P: I am the son of so and so.
HH: No, no, not that. Who are ‘you’?
P: I am the priest of…church.
HH: I did not mean that. Tell me who ‘you’ are.
P: (Confused) I don’t know.
HH: (Smiling) See, this is the problem. We do not know who we really are.
Your name, relationship to someone else and your profession – all these
pertain to your body and not to you. Now, tell me, what are you called when
you are starving?
P: A hungry man.
HH: Correct. What are you known as when you are overeating?
P: A glutton.
HH: That’s right. Well, when you are travelling?
P: A traveller.
HH: Yes. Now consider this. Descriptions like ‘hungry man’, ‘glutton’ and
‘traveller’ are based on actions, again, pertaining to your body. Do you get
the feeling that you are a different man every time you are called by a
different name?
P: No, it is ‘I’ known by various names and relationships.
HH: There you are. ‘You’ are that unchanging common entity behind all
these changing names and forms. That indeed is your true identity.
His Holiness then expounded the unreality of the universe according to the
tenets of Advaita and the underlying Supreme Reality, the substratum of all
names and forms. The delighted Christian priest profusely thanked His
Holiness and was happy that he had received a valuable teaching that day.
When His Holiness decided in the early 1980s to put up a permanent bridge
across the river Tuṅgā, He entrusted the construction of the bridge He
envisioned to Gammon India. In the planning stage, a superstitious
118 42. Dhik-kṛtākhila-durmataḥ
was far below that of the oil. I have read that a foreigner dips his hand briefly
in molten metal. Unfortunately, molten metal is not accessible to me right
now or else I would have duplicated his feat for you,” elaborated His
Holiness.
“Feel my pulse,” He continued. As the disciple did so, He closed His eyes.
Soon, the disciple was unable to detect any pulse in His left wrist. A little
later, the pulse was again detectable and He opened His eyes. “You might
have imagined that because I went into a state of deep meditation, my pulse
ceased to be detected by you. Actually, I did not meditate. Instead, it was
through a strictly physical means that I briefly inhibited the blood flow to
the hand. My heart continued to beat normally.”
He then closed His eyes once more and began to speak in a variety of
markedly dissimilar voices. It would have been impossible for anybody to
discern that the voices were from a single source. In fact, to the disciple,
some of the sounds clearly seemed to be those of females with high-pitched
voices. His Holiness opened His eyes and said, “What passes off as
possession by a spirit is normally not so. It is easy for a person to consciously
speak like different people. So a deceitful man can pretend to be possessed
by some divine being and earn name, fame and money. People often do not
realize that their faces and, in particular, their eyes betray far more than they
imagine, about the workings of their minds. This and information gathered
through assistants can help a fraud to pass off as a mind-reader. The
behaviour of a person in the grip of hysteria may give rise to the impression
that he has been possessed by some spirit.”
He then went on to explain how it was possible for a charlatan to make some
vibhūti-like powder form gradually on his photograph. Finally, He told the
disciple, “Till today, I have not demonstrated these tricks to anyone. I just
wanted to show you some of the means people employ to fool the gullible
and to pass off as persons endowed with special powers. I am, of course, not
saying that genuine miracles do not occur. Yoga-siddhis do manifest but
saints do not care for them.”
[The following parable was narrated by His Holiness in a benedictory
discourse.]
“Once a proselytizer told a man that he had changed the latter’s religion and
caste. A few days later, the ‘converted’ person invited the proselytizer to
dinner. The convert served pork to his guest. The guest asked, ‘What is this?’
The host replied, ‘It is pork, sir.’ ‘What! Pork!’ exclaimed the guest. ‘Take
it away from my plate. I do not eat such things.’ The host was not to be put
off. ‘You told me that you had converted me. Why should you not accept
what I give you?’ he objected. ‘Pork is impure’, replied the proselytizer.
120 42. Dhik-kṛtākhila-durmataḥ
‘Just as you changed my religion and caste by sprinkling water on me, I have
also changed pork into mutton by sprinkling water on it. So, from your
standpoint, it should be mutton, and not pork. It is surprising that you are not
prepared to eat it’, argued the host. The proselytizer had no reply.
“The Śāstras do not accept that a Hindu can be genuinely converted to any
religion by some process, such as sprinkling of water. If a person ceases to
follow Sanātana-dharma, he becomes a bhraṣṭa, a fallen one. For various
sins, expiations are prescribed. One can expiate for having discarded one’s
scripturally-prescribed duties and carry on as if the ‘conversion’ had never
taken place.”
[In the following lucid explanation given by His Holiness, He throws light
on the significance of idol worship, and sets at rest the objections of many
who consider idol worship meaningless.]
A person purchased a mud idol of Vināyaka and began worshipping it on
Vināyaka-caturthi. At the end of three days of pūjā, he carried the idol and
immersed it in a river. This was seen by a friend of his who had hardly any
knowledge of idol worship and was puzzled by what he saw.
Friend: You were worshipping the idol with great faith. Yet, now, you have
thrown it into the river. Why?
Worshipper: Originally, the idol had no sanctity and was just a beautifully-
shaped piece of mud. Then, at the commencement of worship on Vināyaka-
caturthi day, I duly invoked Lord Gaṇeśa into it. Thereafter, it became
sacred. Treating it as the Lord Himself, I performed pūjā to it. At the end of
the stipulated period of worship, I requested the Lord to withdraw His
special presence in it. The idol lost its sanctity and became just a piece of
mud. It was that mud piece which I immersed into the river.
Friend: How is it possible for a mere piece of mud to become holy and to
then revert to its original state? Further, how can a devotee have the capacity
to effect such transformations?
Worshipper: Consider an example. There is an ordinary man with whom we
are all familiar. We are able to meet him whenever we wish. If he desires to
see a high-ranking government official, he has to struggle to get an
appointment. At the suggestion of people like us, he contests an election and,
because of our votes, wins. He then gets appointed as a minister. Thereafter,
if we want to see him, we have to fix up an appointment. The very officials
whom he had difficulty in meeting, now come to him and carry out his
orders. He is provided with security and good accommodation. After his
tenure as minister, he contests an election again. This time, the people do not
vote for him as before and hence he loses. Thereafter, as before, he becomes
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 121
a common man. The special privileges and the authority of a minister are not
his any longer.
People like us, by our votes, cause this ordinary man to become a minister
and then we revert him to his earlier state. Likewise, in response to the
devotee’s āvāhana, invocation, the Lord specially graces an idol and the idol
then becomes holy. Having accepted the devotee’s worship, the Lord
withdraws His special presence in response to the devotee’s request; the idol
loses its sanctity.
An idol in a temple may have originally been a part of a rock on a hill; people
might have walked over that rock and may have even urinated on it. A
sculptor fashions what is an ordinary rock into a beautiful idol by chiselling
it. Even then, it does not become holy. It, however, becomes sanctified when
it is duly consecrated in a temple. Thereafter, people worship it. The very
sculptor, who earlier delivered hammer blows to it, prostrates before it and
does not so much as touch it.
Friend: Why did you make reverential offerings to the idol during your
worship? After all, it did not even move a millimetre to accept anything.
Worshipper: When a venerable guest comes to our house, it is in our holy
tradition to receive him with honour. He is offered a seat and his feet are
washed. He is fed.
Devotees see in the idol not just mud or stone but the living presence of God.
They hold that God does accept what is offered to Him, though the idol itself
does not stretch out its hand to take what is given. That is why, in the course
of my worship, I offered God a seat, just as I would, to a holy one who comes
to my house. Then, I offered pādya, water, to wash His feet. Subsequently,
I fed Him; this was my offering of naivedya.
Suppose a guest proves unworthy of the respect that is shown to him by
misbehaving with a female in the host’s house or by pilfering costly items.
It is likely that the host will hand him over to the police. In the case of God,
there is no possibility of His ever proving unworthy of the devotee’s
worship. Hence, devotees never discard the idol they worship in the middle
of the pūjā.
Friend: On Vināyaka-caturthi day, Gaṇeśa is worshipped in many places at
the same time. Which idol does He choose to specially abide in? What
influences His choice?
Worshipper: All idols wherein God is properly invoked become sanctified.
Wherever there is a drop in pressure, air rushes there. Likewise, God, who
is everywhere, specially occupies all the idols where He is worshipped,
regardless of the number and the location of such idols.
122 42. Dhik-kṛtākhila-durmataḥ
Friend: In some places, the food that is offered is very small in quantity and
in others, it is very large. Is not the former insufficient for a deity and the
latter excessive?
Worshipper: No. In the Vedas, it is said that the offering gets modified in
accordance with the wishes of the devatā to whom it is offered. What is
important is that if a devotee were to resolve to offer a certain number of
modakas, say 1000, in a Gaṇapati-homa, that is the number he must offer.
He should not think, “This is too much for Gaṇeśa to eat”, and offer less.
Actually, the Lord needs nothing but accepts and becomes sated with
whatever is offered by a worshipper with devotion.
[What follows is a selection from different dialogues had by devotees with
His Holiness in which He answered questions about religious practices and
their relevance in the modern world.]
D: Yāgas are being performed at several places. Expenditure is incurred for
them. Some people raise the objection that the money could have been
utilised to uplift the downtrodden instead of wasting it on yāgas. Is the
objection valid?
HH: The expenditure on yāgas is but an insignificant fraction of what we
spend on material pleasures. How can we object even to this? Further,
gratified by the holy offerings, the Lord showers on us His returns that are
many times greater than our meagre offerings. For instance, pleased by the
yāga, Īśvara brings about sufficient and timely rains. It cannot therefore be
said that expenditure on yāgas is a waste.
We sow seeds and reap the crop. As against this, is it sensible to say that
sowing seeds is a waste and that we could have eaten the seeds instead? Like
seeds sown, yāgas yield precious fruits. The Śāstras do not expect a poor
person to perform a yāga involving much expenditure. That the scriptures
command us to adhere to dharma to the maximum extent possible by us is a
pointer to this. The expenses in yāgas are therefore only for our betterment.
It is improper to look upon these expenses as wastage.
D: Will it not be convenient to have a single dharma, common for all? Is it
necessary to have it as, “This is dharma for one; that is dharma for another?”
HH: Suppose shirts of the same size are distributed to a motley group of
people. Then each one is required to wear the shirt received. Is it feasible for
everyone to do so? No. Different physical sizes must be considered.
Likewise, different dharmas have been prescribed for people of varied
competence. However, sāmānya-dharmas are common to all though there
are differences in the viśeṣa-dharmas (special dharmas). [Sāmānya-
dharmas are explained under nāma 105.]
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 123
D: Those who are not brāhmaṇas do not have the opportunity to attain
mokṣa. Some raise such an objection. Is the position really so?
HH: Whoever said that only a brāhmaṇa can get jñāna and, hence,
liberation? Vidura, for instance, was a great, enlightened soul. He was not a
brāhmaṇa. That formal study of the Veda is traditionally done after
upanayana does not imply that the path to liberation is not available to all.
We can find the essence of the Upaniṣads in texts like the Yoga-vāsiṣṭha and
Vicār-sāgar (Hindi). All can study such works and acquire jñāna. Everyone
is competent to get jñāna. Śaṅkara-bhagavatpāda has said this conclusively.
43. ु
नतलोकिमद्धताा Nata-loka-samuddhartā
One who completely uplifted those who paid obeisance
A disciple seeks a Guru to solve His problems, either worldly or spiritual.
In the case of the disciple filled with dispassion and tormented by saṁsāra,
his imploring the Guru to save him would be on the following lines: “O
Master! O kinsman of those who pay obeisance! O ocean of compassion!
Pray uplift me who has fallen into the ocean of transmigration!”117 The Guru
would then accept him with the assurance, as Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Jagadguru,
did: “Giving up all dharma (and adharma) seek refuge in Me alone. I shall
liberate you from all sins; grieve not.”118
His Holiness is described here as the sam-uddhartā, One who uplifted well,
nata-loka, those who paid obeisance. The ‘loka’ or people who sought Him
were of varied temperaments and had varied problems. To those who
approached Him with spiritual problems, He provided invaluable guidance
for them to surmount the impediments and march on. However, what was
even more remarkable was that those who approached Him with worldly
problems returned not only with their problems solved, but also elevated by
Him in the spiritual dimension.
Expatiating on the characteristics of a genuine and competent Guru, His
Holiness said in a benedictory address, “A true Guru is an enduring friend,
for he never abandons a pupil.” This facet found total consummation in His
Holiness. There is His ultimate assurance in His own words, with a tone of
finality: “I will never abandon one whom I have accepted.” Whatever the
temperament of the person accepted by His Holiness, He uplifted him on the
spiritual plane appropriately, through both His guidance and His grace.
After he opted for voluntary retirement, Sri Anantarama Seshan came with
his wife Smt. Vaikuntam to Sringeri in 1963 with the intention of settling
124 43. Nata-loka-samuddhartā
down there. His Holiness gave them a place to stay in Narasimhavana itself
and also took care of their spiritual well-being.
During the cāturmāsya that year, His Holiness expounded, in chaste
Sanskrit, the Vedānta-paribhāṣā (an authoritative, technical primer on
Advaita-Vedānta) to the couple, several scholars and a saṁnyāsin. After the
first day’s class, the lady approached Him in the evening and said, “I am
blessed to attend Your Holiness’s class. However, unlike all the others, I am
not knowledgeable in Sanskrit and, hence, am unable to understand Your
Holiness’s exposition.” Blessing her, He compassionately responded, “You
will be able to comprehend the text.”
The lady found, much to her own amazement, that from the next day
onwards, she was able to follow His exposition and, that too, without any
difficulty. Even the portion of the text that had been covered in the first class
became clear to her. Later, His Holiness started expounding the Vedānta-
pañcadaśī to the couple. Though He did so in Sanskrit, she was able to
clearly follow His teaching. After covering a portion of this text, He told
them that they could read the book by themselves and that it would be clear
to them. That is what came to pass.
Decades later, the lady even demonstrated that she had understood the texts
concerned by explaining correctly, in Tamil, the import of some textual
portions that were read out to her.
His Holiness’s spiritual advices were not only unfailingly lucid and effective
but also specific to the individuals who sought His guidance.
A sādhaka, practitioner of spiritual disciplines, once came to His Holiness
and said, “I experience acute breathlessness during meditation. As I begin
concentrating, my breathing rate gradually decreases and soon respiration
stops. Good focus of the mind accrues but in a matter of moments, I feel
suffocated. What am I to do?”
His Holiness replied, “You are aware that control of breath and regulation
of the mind are related. Hence, you make an involuntary effort to still your
breath to improve your meditation. Your dhyāna is, however, not deep
enough to warrant almost no breathing. To rid yourself of the problem of
gasping for air, forcefully take a deep breath. Above all, ensure that you
make no voluntary effort to alter the breathing pattern. Just pay attention to
fixing the mind on the object of mediation. That is quite sufficient for you
and you do not have to resort to any independent steps to lower your
respiratory rate.” The person implemented His advice and found that his
problem disappeared and his meditation improved.
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 125
Another sādhaka asked His Holiness, “As I meditate, the Lord’s form
becomes increasingly clear. Saliva secretion appears to wax and I am forced
to swallow. Since this occurs every few minutes, it is quite a hindrance. What
should I do?” His Holiness said, “In your case, folding the tongue such that
its tip is turned towards the gullet and rests lightly on the upper palate will
be helpful. Secondly, do not consciously or semiconsciously anticipate the
necessity to swallow.” On the first day, the sādhaka found the folding of the
tongue somewhat inconvenient but got used to it from the next day. The need
to repeatedly swallow started decreasing and, in less than a week, ceased.
A young man approached His Holiness and reported, “I find my head feeling
very heavy within a few minutes of my commencing dhyāna. The uneasiness
gives way to pain and I end up with an acute headache.” His Holiness’s reply
surprised the questioner. He said, “The problem will automatically vanish in
one week. Till then ensure that you do not even accidentally direct your gaze
to the tip of your nose or to the middle of your eyebrows. Further, do not
conjecture the form of your Iṣṭa-devatā (chosen deity) in the heart. Visualise
it in front of you. You can resume your normal procedure after one week.”
The specified period passed and the difficulty ceased to be.
A couple once went to His Holiness and complained about one of their sons.
They told Him, “This son of ours is unruly and disobedient. We are very
worried about him.”
His Holiness told the boy to come forward, and holding his hand, queried,
“Now, will you behave well? Will you listen to the words of your parents?”
From that very day the boy’s disruptive behaviour disappeared. He became
obedient and in due course His upanayana too was performed.
44. ु ः
वनयमाचरणोत्सक Niyamācaraṇotsukaḥ
One who was an enthusiastic adherent of the niyamas
The second limb of the eight-limbed Yoga is niyama or observances. (Yama
or restraints constitute the first limb, and are covered under nāma 105.)
Maharṣi Patañjali’s Yoga-sūtras list śauca (purity), santoṣa (contentment),
tapas (austerity), svādhyāya (study) and Īśvara-praṇidhāna (dedication to
God) as the five niyamas.119 Śrī Sadāśivendra Sarasvatī explains śauca as
external and internal purity, santoṣa as contentment with whatever is
obtained, tapas as emaciation of the body through performance of prescribed
austerities such as fasting, svādhyāya as the recitation of mantras such as the
Gāyatrī, and Īśvara-praṇidhāna as the dedication of all actions, both
prescribed and prohibited, to Īśvara, without consideration of results.120
126 44. Niyamācaraṇotsukaḥ
others. [It was only in 1982, fifty-two years later, that His Holiness
compassionately blessed a disciple with these particulars in response to his
asking Him about His initial weeks in Sringeri as a brahmacārin.]
He once said, “At the time of giving me saṁnyāsa, my Guru initiated me
into the Praṇava (Om) and the mahāvākyas. During my three āhnikas every
day, I used to engage regularly in chanting them for protracted periods of
time. That gave me great satisfaction.”
Apart from the mantras necessary for saṁnyāsins, the pontiffs of the
Sringeri Sri Sharada Peetham are also initiated into special mantras such as
the Narasiṁha-mantrarāja, Śiva-pañcākṣarī, Bālā-tripurasundarī and
Śrīvidyā. Since His iṣṭa-devatā was Narasiṁha, the chanting of the
Mantrarāja accompanied by the contemplation of Narasiṁha’s form,
particularly appealed to Him. He also found special delight in chanting the
Bālā-mantra.
His Holiness read the Brahmānucintana of Bhagavatpāda every day. He also
read Bhagavatpāda’s Śataślokī often. He committed to memory and chanted
the Ātma-vidyā-vilāsa of Śrī Sadāśivendra Sarasvatī regularly on every
pradoṣa (thirteenth day of the lunar fortnight, considered sacred to Śiva).
After recalling to a disciple the momentous initiation He had into the
Narasiṁha-mantrarāja (described under nāma 102), His Holiness said,
“Throughout that day, offering everything to Narasiṁha was extremely easy.
For instance, when I had my afternoon bath, I automatically felt that I was
performing abhiṣeka to Narasiṁha who abided within me. During my bhikṣā
(meal), I promptly visualised Him as accepting from within and eating
whatever I put into my mouth. When I read a book after bhikṣā, He appeared
to be listening from inside my heart as if I were reading to Him. As I walked,
it spontaneously seemed that I was taking Him, who was within me, for a
stroll.
“The next day onwards, however, I needed to consciously practise
dedicating all my activities and their fruits to Him. I also started spending
some time every day just for offering Him mental worship. The experiences
of the day of initiation greatly facilitated both these and served as models.
In a few months, karma-yoga became natural.”
45. ु
न्यायमागाानिारी Nyāya-mārgānusārī
One who followed the path of justice and law
Nyāya-mārga, the path of justice and law of the land, serves to regulate the
actions of its citizens as well as the functions and powers of institutions; it
128 45. Nyāya-mārgānusārī
stipulates both their duties and rights, and penalties for violations. All are
expected to act in accordance with the law to ensure that law and order,
justice, peace, harmony and prosperity reign.
His Holiness, an anusārin, One who acted in accordance with, the nyāya-
mārga, scrupulously acted in accordance with the law, never ever faltered
from the path of justice and inspired others in the same direction.
A person had donated a stretch of land to the Maṭha. As years went by, an
adjacent portion too came into the possession of the Maṭha. The heir of the
donor wanted to retake that ungiven land. The then administrator of the
Maṭha declined the claim and the matter went to court. Legal opinion was in
favour of the Maṭha winning the case by virtue of adverse possession.
At this juncture, the claimant wrote directly to His Holiness seeking His
intervention. His Holiness examined the facts and remarked, “Withdraw the
case. Give back what was not donated to the Maṭha.”
The fact that the Maṭha had already spent thousands on the case and was
likely to get a favourable verdict did not deter Him from taking this decision.
In the meantime, the person concerned wrote a letter expressing his
willingness to pay a sum of Rs. 12,000 to effect an out-of-court settlement.
It was also learnt that the Maṭha’s lawyer was negotiating the offer. His
Holiness instructed that not a single paisa should be collected and that the
disputed land should be returned forthwith. His instruction was complied
with.
His Holiness was consistently apolitical. He held and expressed the view
that whoever was genuinely committed to the welfare of the nation deserved
the support of the people. In the course of a discourse in Kannada in
Bengaluru, He stated, “People ask me to which pakṣa (party) I belong. I am
niṣpakṣa (neutral). Whoever works for the welfare of the people at large
deserves our support. Violent agitations and repeated moves to disrupt the
proper functioning of a duly elected Government must be eschewed.”
At a time when communal harmony was challenged over reports of
conversions in southern Tamil Nadu, His Holiness issued the following
message.
1. No one must act in such a way as to harm another.
2. The Śāstras do not recognise conversion of a Hindu to another religion.
As such, those who have ‘changed’ their religion, if they are remorseful,
may be treated as if no change has occurred.
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 129
3. None should impose restrictions on the use of wells, places of prayer, etc.,
that are meant for the use of common people. People imposing restrictions
as to who should use these may be penalised.
The Śāstra says: “Dharma protects one who protects it,”121 and “There is
higher good in performing one’s own dharma.”122 These precepts should be
borne in mind and acted upon accordingly.
On another occasion, when His message to the nation was sought during an
outbreak of communal disharmony, He said, “All Indians must owe
allegiance to the Constitution of India, which we have given ourselves. We
have set procedures to legislate through our elected representatives. We have
the judiciary to adjudicate as per the law of the land. Attempts at settling
disputes between communities, sects or regions by taking recourse to
unlawful means are totally unacceptable.”
With regard to the diversity in religious and social practices, He said,
“Whatever practices one may wish to have in private is left to the individual,
so long as they do not infringe on the others. One must abstain from
fermenting quarrels with and creating trouble for other individuals or
communities. Verily, everybody has a right to happiness. The prayer our
ancients have taught us is: ‘May all beings be happy.’123
incisive arguments concerning the various philosophies and His ruling was
recognized as final by scholars across the country.
His Holiness personally taught the texts of Nyāya (Tarka) several times and
produced, in batches, scholars fully versed in Tarka and themselves
competent to teach it in its entirety to others. While Tarka serves the end of
scholars, His Holiness, being interested in the spiritual uplift of people, laid
particular emphasis on expounding Vedānta, be it for the general public
through His anugraha-bhāṣaṇas or through formal classes.
His Holiness’s studies in Tarka were as yet incomplete when a Tarka scholar
from North India came to Sringeri to seek some clarifications from the senior
Jagadguru. The senior Jagadguru directed the paṇḍita to His Holiness but
the scholar was hesitant and sought help from the senior Jagadguru Himself.
“Let him give the necessary explanation. If your doubts are still not
dispelled, I shall clarify,” said the senior Jagadguru. Unconvinced, but not
in a position to say anything, the scholar settled down to hear what he
presupposed would be the inept mumblings of a novice. He was taken aback
when he heard a torrential flow of intricate points from His Holiness; all his
doubts were resolved. He realised his folly in underestimating His
Holiness’s expertise and, after due apology, returned home satiated and
wiser in more ways than one.
During His Holiness’s visit to Kochi and surrounding areas of Kerala in
1964, Dr. C.A. Cuttat, the Swiss Ambassador to India, had His darśana.
Well-versed in the Advaita philosophy, the Ambassador sought His
Holiness’s clarifications on spiritual practices, topics such as the difference
between suṣupti and samādhi states, the distinction between various stages
of samādhi and the role of devotion in Advaita philosophy. Much to the
Ambassador’s delight, His Holiness responded to each one of his questions,
providing all the clarifications the Ambassador sought. His Holiness also
appropriately guided him on his spiritual practice.
[In a benedictory discourse, His Holiness explained in very lucid terms, the
basic philosophical aspects of the traditional schools of philosophy and
established the superiority of the Vedānta school that propounds the Advaita
philosophy. What follows are excerpted from the discourse.]
Tārkikas (followers of the Nyāya school) say that the Ātman undergoes joys
and sorrows. However, what has a beginning must also come to an end.
Hence, if joy and sorrow come to a person, they must also necessarily leave
him at some time. Now if both happiness and sorrow leave, then what
happens to the Ātman? The Ātman will become like an inert stone. Does this
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 131
mean that we, who are in a state superior to a stone now, have to strive to
become a stone? If we ask this question to the Tārkikas, they will not be able
to answer it.
The Sāṅkhyas say that the Ātman is of the nature of knowledge and bliss.
However, they say that there are multiple Ātmans that get liberated. If there
are several muktas (liberated ones), then for such persons there may arise the
feeling, “Am I the greater mukta or is this other person a greater mukta?”
While the notion of multiplicity is still there, there is no question of
liberation. Hence, there is a problem with this philosophy too.
The proponents of the Yoga school of philosophy teach that there are two
entities, jīva and Īśvara. They say that prapañca, creation, which is different
from the Ātman, is real. Since liberation cannot be had while the notion of
duality persists, this philosophy is also not acceptable.
Even if we do not know who Īśvara is, we know that there is someone who
has created this universe. The Sāṅkhya says this creator of the universe is
prakṛti (Nature), while the Vaiśeṣika says it is paramāṇu (subatomic
particle). The Advaitins, however say “Let it be prakṛti or paramāṇu.
Without consciousness, no entity can create anything, and hence the enabler
for the entire creation is a caitanya, that is a consciousness.” That we should
take refuge in this caitanya is what we Advaitins say.
The Upaniṣad says, “There is fear indeed from a second entity (other than
oneself).”124 Then how is it that we are not afraid of the world that is different
from us? If we ourselves were to create a ghost and have it in front of us, we
would not be scared of it. It is only if a new ghost comes our way, that we
may be afraid. According to Advaita, even though this whole world is like a
big ghost, it is like our very svarūpa or nature. How can we be afraid of
ourselves? This delight of non-dual Brahman is not there in any other
philosophy.
Śivarātri and Navarātri, and the various vratas (vows) He undertook during
cāturmāsya bore testimony to this.
Numerous are the specific forms of worship and meditation prescribed by
the Vedas for those who seek worldly benefits as well as for those who desire
liberation. The essence of even the former, however, is to eventually lead
the individual to liberation through the realisation of Brahman. As the
Upaniṣad says, “I will tell you succinctly about that attainment, which is
proclaimed by all the Vedas and spoken of by all austerities, and desiring
which people practice celibacy. It is this – Om.”126 His Holiness was a tattva-
jña or a knower of this essence too of the nigamāgama.
[In His benedictory discourses, His Holiness would often stress on the
importance of performing karma in accordance with the Vedic injunctions.
Here are a few extracts from some of His discourses.]
People ask, “Why are veda-vidhis (Vedic injunctions) so insistent on the time
of doing karmas? The Vedas are too strict and do not allow for any relaxation
in the rules – in today’s world how can we follow all the rules to the fullest?
Isn’t it enough to do sandhyā-vandana whenever possible? Why insist that
it be done at a specific time? Similarly, it is said that during an eclipse one
must have a bath and perform anuṣṭhāna such as japa and have another bath
after the eclipse ends. At winter time, how inconvenient it is to have a bath
in the middle of the night! In summer we can even have multiple baths!”
Veda-vidhis have to be followed strictly. It is said, “What is done at the
wrong time is as good as not done.”127 When people are able to take out time
for other activities like watching plays in the evenings, why are they not able
to spare a few minutes to do sandhyā-vandana? The reason is only that they
do not give it the importance they give to other activities. Similar is the case
of naimittika-karma such as those that are to be performed during an eclipse;
these are as important as nitya-karma such as sandhyā-vandana. The Veda
teaches us like a mother, and hence it is in our own supreme interests to
follow Vedic injunctions sincerely to the best of our ability.
Some may feel, “So long as sandhyā-vandana is performed, what does it
matter whether the scripturally-prescribed procedures relating to cleanliness
and the like are observed or not?” The following example reveals the need
to do things the way they are required to be done. A person has to use the
prescribed application form to apply for a Government job; only then is
one’s job-application considered. We may choose to reject the prescribed
form and prepare one using paper of better quality. However, the authorities
will not accept it; they will insist that we use the standard printed form. If
we keep stressing the superiority of our form, the authorities may tell us,
“Keep your fine paper with you; we will keep our ordinary forms with us!”
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 133
48. ु
वनत्यिन्तष्टमानिः Nitya-santuṣṭa-mānasaḥ
One whose heart was ever absolutely contented
Santuṣṭi means contentment or satiation. It may seem as if contentment is
born of desiring, attaining and enjoying more and more objects. However,
the Śāstra explains the true position as follows: “Never does desire subside
through the enjoyment of desired objects. Instead, it only grows more and
more as does fire because of clarified butter.”129
Now this may seem to be contradictory to people’s experience in general.
After all, when one attains the objects of one’s desire, one does experience
joy and satisfaction. Bhagavatpāda explains the mechanism in detail as
follows: “The Ātman is changeless and is of the nature of Supreme Bliss.
The non-Self, Māyā, is just the opposite – ever agitated and of the nature of
sorrow. The mind, the limiting adjunct of the Ātman, takes on the steadiness
and bliss of the Ātman or the agitation and misery of Māyā, depending on
the circumstances. When the mind is seized by desire for an object, it gets
agitated and the agitation gives rise to misery. When the desired object is
attained, the mind becomes calm and steady and the bliss of the Ātman is
experienced. The happiness that comes from sense objects in this manner,
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 135
continues only as long as the mind remains calm and steady, that is until the
mind is again agitated by the next desire.”130 Clearly, the mind can be
maintained in a state of steady contentment only if divorced from sense
objects and turned inwards.
This nāma says that His Holiness was one whose manas, mind, was nitya,
always, not just tuṣṭa, contented, but saṁ-tuṣṭa, completely contented.
Complete contentment is marked by satiation with whatever is got. The
completeness of His Holiness’s contentment stemmed from the fact that it
was undecaying and steady, unconditioned as it was by desire.
Śrī Sadāśiva Brahmendra contrasts the bliss of true contentment with the
joys had from worldly objects: “On account of the excellence of sattva,
unsurpassed internal joy arises for the contented yogin. Pleasure stemming
from sense objects becomes unfavorable like poison. It is said, ‘The
unequaled grandeur of enjoyment seems like poison for those tranquil ones
who have attained the satiation of drinking the nectar of contentment.’”131
His Holiness was a yogīśvara nonpareil, ever of absolutely contented mind.
Even as a child, Sri Srinivasa Sastry was contented with whatever He got
and never craved for anything. While He was a brahmacārin studying at
Sringeri, Jagadguru Śrī Candraṣekhara Bhāratī Mahāsvāmin used to ask the
brahmacārins, in general, questions such as, “Was the food satisfactory
today? Was it tasty? Was it excessively salty or pungent?” The boys used to
enthusiastically express their views on the food eaten by them. Sri Srinivasa
Sastry, however, remained silent on these occasions.
One day, the Jagadguru asked Him, “While all the others readily comment
on their food when I ask these questions, why is it that you remain silent?”
He replied, “All that we get is Your Holiness’s prasāda. As such, it is always
tasty.”
Justice Somnath Iyer (who retired as the Chief Justice of Karnataka and had
been the Governor of the State for some time) once asked His Holiness,
“Your Holiness can have all the comforts in the Maṭha. Instead of
experiencing any comforts, Your Holiness strains Yourself so much every
day, from early in the morning to late at night. What does Your Holiness get
out of this?”
His Holiness smiled at him and said, “Suppose you are offered a choice
between plain jaggery and badam halwa (a sweetmeat made of almonds),
which one would you choose?” Somnath Iyer said, “Where is the doubt
here? I would choose badam halwa.” “Likewise,” responded His Holiness,
136 49. Niṣkalaṅka-sucāritraḥ
“those who have tasted the bliss of the Supreme will not seek mundane
comforts.”
49. ु
वनष्कलङ्किचावरत्रः Niṣkalaṅka-sucāritraḥ
One of spotless conduct and blemishless reputation
The word cāritra means conduct as well as reputation. The reputation of an
individual is the opinion that others hold about him, which builds over time
and is based on his conduct. ‘Su-cāritraḥ’ means ‘one of good conduct’ as
also ‘one of good reputation’. A person whose conduct is good most of the
time but not necessarily always, is generally also considered a sucāritra. The
good reputation of a person built over time due to his good conduct is seen
to acquire a blemish because of just one bad act of his. The explicit addition
of the term ‘niṣkalaṅka’ in this nāma conveys that His Holiness’s conduct
was absolutely spotless, and His reputation, ever blemishless.
It would not be surprising if those devoted to His Holiness or associated with
Him had a high opinion about His conduct and reputation. What is
significant, however, is that the same opinion was held even by those who
did not see eye-to-eye with Him.
His Holiness’s sense of justice was well-known. A particular saṁnyāsin was
asked to take charge of the branch Maṭha at Rajahmundry in Andhra
Pradesh. He regularly rendered accounts to Sringeri. Before he passed away,
he requested a person, Nageshwara Rao, to attend to the branch Maṭha. With
the passage of time, Nageshwara Rao claimed that the property belonged to
him. The matter went to court.
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 137
One day, Nageshwara Rao met His Holiness. His Holiness asked him, “Why
should we unnecessarily take such matters to a court of law? Will not an out-
of-court settlement be better?” “Yes, indeed,” responded Nageshwara Rao.
His Holiness then proposed, “Why not we present the facts to a common
arbitrator? You may choose any judge or lawyer. We will submit all our
papers. You too submit your documents. Let the arbitrator examine the case.
If the decision is in our favour, you may relinquish your claim. Otherwise,
we will hand over the property to you.”
The proposal was of course fair and in fact, advantageous to Nageshwara
Rao since the choice of the arbitrator was to be his. Surprisingly, he replied,
“This will not be of any benefit to me. Your Holiness is a Jagadguru and is
held in high esteem by the Hindus. As such, any Hindu arbitrator will decide
in your favour.”
“You may select a Christian or Muslim as the arbitrator. There is no reason
why such a person should be biased in my favour,” reasoned His Holiness.
Nageshwara Rao was not agreeable to even this. He said, “It will make no
difference even if I select a non-Hindu. Your Holiness’s fairness and sense
of justice are very well-known. Whomsoever I select will decide only in
Your Holiness’s favour.” The case continued. The court decided in the
Maṭha’s favour.
(The following episode was narrated by Sri A. Ramaswamy.) When His
Holiness was touring in North India for the first time, a highly influential
and scholarly monk decided to test His sense-control. So, he arranged for a
belle to try to tempt His Holiness. She entered the room where His Holiness
was giving darśana just as the last of the devotees was leaving and remained
till she alone was left. However, when she observed His Holiness, she was
so overwhelmed by His patent purity that she became disconcerted. His
Holiness compassionately asked her, “Mother, what is it?” At this, the girl
simply broke down. She was about to confess and seek His Holiness’s
pardon when the monk who had sent her himself entered.
The monk told His Holiness, “I knew that Your Holiness is a scholar par
excellence. However, I wanted to ascertain whether Your Holiness is also a
master of the organ of taste and are free from fondness for valuables. So,
some time back, I sent you tasty dishes and jewels through people. However,
Your Holiness turned down the offers. I finally wished to examine Your
Holiness’s brahmacarya and, hence, sent this beauty to try to tempt Your
Holiness. I now realise that Your Holiness is so pure, self-controlled and
beyond temptation. I truly acknowledge Your Holiness’s greatness and pay
my obeisance.”
138 50. Nīti-tattva-subodhakaḥ
50. ु
नीवततत्त्विबोधकः Nīti-tattva-subodhakaḥ
One who was an effective teacher of the essence of ethics
That His Holiness adhered meticulously to ethics and morality in the form
of dharma and the law is brought out in nāmas 45 and 74. That He was also
a su-bodhaka, effective teacher, of the tattva, essence, of such nīti, ethics, is
expressed in this nāma.
It is noteworthy that His Holiness often drove home aspects of dharma,
morals and ethics by narrating parables, an effective way of reaching out to
both children and adults. He would narrate stories from sources such as the
Itihāsas and Purāṇas, apart from texts like Nīti-cintāmaṇi. Besides this, He
had the ingenuity to come up with charming parables of His own that He
narrated with gripping detail and great lucidity.
As a child in Bengaluru, Sri Srinivasa Sastry and His friends used to
assemble after play and relate morally relevant stories. He proficiently
narrated stories from the Purāṇas, Mahābhārata and the Nīti-cintāmaṇi.
When narrating the story of Hariścandra, He stressed the importance of
veracity and the advantages of being truthful. The dire consequences of
attachment described in the story of Jaḍabharata and the soul-stirring
devotion of Prahlāda were driven home by Him in some of His presentations.
problems were not adequate, the creeper began to give way; some insects
were busy at work on it.
Unexpectedly, a drop of honey from a beehive on the tree overhead, fell on
his nose and began to slowly flow down towards his lips. The boy stretched
out his tongue and licked it. The honey seemed like ambrosia to him. He
then heard the roar of a distant lion. The tusker felt terrified and swiftly left
the place. The boy began to climb up the creeper. As he neared the top of
the pit, the creeper gave way. But, somehow, he managed to hold on to the
pit’s edge.
In moments, he felt his hands slipping. However, to his surprise, he found
himself being lifted up by the woodman who had advised him not to venture
into this region. “When I heard the trumpetting of the elephant, I knew that
you were likely to be in danger. I am far more familiar with this forest than
people like you are. So, I rushed in the direction you had proceeded, to help
you. I see that I have arrived just in time.” The lad thanked him profusely.
Still possessed by the longing for gold, he explained the reason for his
coming there and sought the forester’s help to locate the banyan tree in that
region. His saviour told him that he was not going to find any gold and tried
to persuade him to return before the tusker chose to come back. However,
finding the boy adamant, he led him to the banyan tree. They searched there
for the gold but did not find any.
Finally, the boy returned to his native place. He described his misadventure
in detail to an elder. The elder laughed and informed him that what he had
overheard was only a portion of the tale authored by a group of boys for a
competition. He then proceeded to tell the lad, “You felt that the monkey
and the frog had behaved thoroughly foolishly because of their longing.
Your behaviour was far worse. The poor monkey refused to let go of the
fruit that was in its hand. You, on the other hand, were led on by intense
longing for gold that was actually non-existent. The frog stretched out its
tongue at the moment of its death but possibly did so purely by instinct. You,
on the other hand, are a human being endowed with discrimination. Yet,
when you were about to perish, you savoured the drop of honey that fell on
your nose. See the power of longing.” The boy realized the devastating force
of longing and hung his head in shame.
Vasiṣṭha observes about Rāma, “I could not discern even an iota of change
in His countenance when He was invited for coronation and when banished
to the forest.”133 Much like Vasiṣṭha’s characterisation of Rāma, His
Holiness’s Guru told Him the following: “Only tranquillity and happiness
can be seen in your face. Even if I, to whom you are deeply devoted, were
to cast off my body right now, your facial expression would not change. No
matter how much you may be provoked, not a trace of anger would be
visible.” Hence, most appropriately, His Holiness is characterized here as
being ati-gambhīra, extremely unruffled, like the ocean. The ocean’s
imperturbability stems from its great depth, which is in fact the literal
meaning of the word ‘gambhīra’. His Holiness was, like the ocean,
immensely gambhīra, deep, in terms of knowledge and wisdom.
Sri Chandramouli of Bengaluru had once gone to Sringeri for darśana of His
Holiness, along with some others. During their stay, they accompanied His
Holiness to Narasimhapura, where His Holiness asked them to accompany
Him on His usual evening stroll. The place was a little marshy, and since the
visitors were unfamiliar with such terrain, His Holiness told them to walk a
few yards ahead of Him so that He could keep an eye on them.
All of a sudden, the visitors rushed back towards His Holiness. Terrified,
they told Him that a big cobra had just crossed their path. Totally
unperturbed, His Holiness consoled them, and telling them that their fear
was unnecessary, closed His eyes, folded His hands and chanted,
“Subrahmaṇyo’ham (I am Subrahmaṇya). Subrahmaṇyo’ham.
Subrahmaṇyo’ham.” The snake, which had been quietly gliding across the
path, immediately stopped, turned towards the group and raised its hood. It
then came towards them, and passing between the visitors and His Holiness,
circumambulated Him. Then, after raising its hood once again, this time at
His feet as if in a final salute, the snake went its way. All the while, His
Holiness was just calmly observing the snake.
His Holiness then continued on the stroll after casually commenting to the
flabbergasted visitors, “Oh, it is nothing. The snakes in Sringeri are
harmless, that is all.”
In the course of His tour of Kerala, His Holiness graced a temple in Pattambi
on 6th December, 1979. About that time, some statements of His Holiness
had been misrepresented in a section of the press and a hornet’s nest had
been stirred. A strong crowd gathered outside the temple demanding that
they see His Holiness and talk to Him. They were armed with sticks and
seemed belligerent.
142 52. Prāṇāyāma-parāyaṇaḥ
basis, that the Lord’s kumbhaka lasted four times His pūraka, while His
recaka was twice His pūraka. He made this determination during the Lord’s
second round of prāṇāyāma. Having demonstrated the practice of
prāṇāyāma in the siddhāsana, the Lord did it in the padmāsana.
After this the Lord cited three passages, the combined import of which is,
“When breath is active, so is the mind. When breath is still, the mind is
calm.136 As a result of prānāyāma, the mind becomes fit for fixed
attention.137 Just as the impurities of ores are burnt by the furnace-blast, the
faults of the organs are singed by the restraint of prāṇa.138” As His Holiness
heard the Lord’s words, the understanding that automatically dawned on
Him was, “When the mind is agitated, breathing is not slow and rhythmic.
On the other hand, the breathing is gentle and rhythmic when the mind is
calm. This common observation suggests that there is a relationship between
one’s mental state and breathing. Not only does one’s mental state influence
one’s breathing, the converse is also true. Breathing is a gross manifestation
of the activity of prāṇa. The correlation is fundamentally between the
activities of the mind and prāṇa. By controlling prāṇa, the mind can be
controlled. Through the control of breath, the practitioner of prāṇāyāma
checks the activity of prāṇa and thereby that of the mind. Prāṇāyāma is a
great purifier.” The Lord remained silent for the few moments during which
all this spontaneously registered in His Holiness’s mind.
Thereafter, Śiva demonstrated how prāṇāyāma can be done with breathing
being suspended after exhalation rather than after inhalation. Finally, He
showed His Holiness the various kinds of restraint of prāṇa like
sūryabhedana, ujjāyī, sītkārī, śītalī and bhastrikā in such a way that His
Holiness could clearly understand and distinguish them.
When the Lord finished His demonstration of bhastrikā, His Holiness’s
dream ended and He awakened. The time was about two o’clock in the night.
His mental chanting of the Praṇava, which had begun when the Lord blessed
Him in the dream, persisted throughout the dream, inclusive of when He
heard the passages voiced by the Lord. On waking up, He noticed that He
spontaneously continued to recite in His mind the Praṇava.
Impelled by some force, He stood up, with His legs somewhat apart. He
slightly bent forward and gripped His thighs with His hands. He gradually
exhaled and pulled His abdomen towards His back and upwards to adopt the
uḍḍīyāna-bandha in a standing posture. Though He could not understand
why He was doing all this in the middle of the night, He felt amazed to see
the extent to which a deep cavity had formed in the region of His abdomen.
After some moments, He gradually exhaled and straightened up.
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 145
Directed further by the force, He sat down in the siddhāsana and started to
perform prāṇāyāma. He inhaled for a shorter duration than had the Lord.
This simplified the practice; however, it was not the result of any decision
of His. At the end of pūraka, He adopted not only the jālandhara-bandha
but also the mūla-bandha, characterised by the contraction of the anus. He
had not identified the Lord’s performance of the mūla-bandha in His dream
and was unfamiliar with it.
His Holiness’s having practised the uḍḍiyāna-bandha in a standing posture
facilitated His doing it during prāṇāyāma. Though His pūraka was shorter
than the Lord’s, as in the Lord’s case, His kumbhaka lasted four times the
pūraka and recaka two times the pūraka. Having performed two
prāṇāyāmas in the siddhāsana, He did the same in the padmāsana.
Throughout, there was no planning on His part and the mental chanting of
the Praṇava proceeded without any interruption. After doing prāṇāyāma in
the padmāsana, He lay down and fell asleep. He awoke very fresh, well
before sunrise. The dream was crystal clear in His mind. After spending
some minutes practising the different kinds of restraint of prāṇa, such as
śītalī, His Holiness went for His ablutions. No one knew about His having
done prāṇāyāma at night or before daybreak.
That night, Lord Śiva continued His teaching. Śiva first gave a
demonstration of kevala-kumbhaka. His breathing stopped all of a sudden
and He remained motionless for some time, with His eyes closed. His
Holiness began to experience tremendous peace. His breathing too stopped
without any reference to the preceding state of inhalation or exhalation.
Gradually, the Lord started to breathe again and opened His eyes. As Śiva
did so, His Holiness realised that this kumbhaka is superior to and is the fruit
of the practice of restraint that considers pūraka and recaka.
After detailing to a disciple how Lord Śiva taught Him prāṇāyāma in the
dreams, His Holiness said, “I initially did prāṇāyāma and the bandhas
secretly at about three in the night and then went back to sleep.
Subsequently, for some time, I did them privately during my āhnika. It is
only after having supposedly learnt them from others that I practised them
without being secretive. I believe, I only did as God intended me to.”
His Holiness went on to tell the disciple, “I performed prāṇāyāma every day
with the three bandhas. I did 16 cycles with pūraka, kumbhaka and recaka
lasting for 16, 64 and 32 seconds or eight cycles with the timings being 32,
128 and 64 seconds. Over the course of every week, I also briefly
accommodated the forms of restraint of prāṇa such as śītalī. After
146 53. Puryādi-kṣetra-yātrā-kṛt
53. ु वदक्षेत्रयात्राकृ त ्
पयाा Puryādi-kṣetra-yātrā-kṛt
One who travelled to places of pilgrimage such as Puri
Puri on the east coast of India, in the state of Odisha, is one of the catur-
dhāmas (popularly called ‘Char-dham’ or four sacred pilgrimage spots), and
home to the great temple of Lord Jagannātha. The other three places included
under the catur-dhāmas are Dwaraka, Badrinath and Rameswaram.
Bhagavatpāda chose three of these, namely Puri, Dwaraka and Badrinath to
establish the Pūrva-āmnāya Sri Govardhana Math (eastern pīṭha), Paścima-
āmnāya Sri Kalika Math (western pīṭha) and Uttara-āmnāya Sri Jyotir Math
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 147
On 30th May, 1967, His Holiness reached Badrinath (as mentioned under
nāma 33). He had His first darśana of Lord Badri-nārāyaṇa in splendid
isolation. Early in the morning of the 31st, He again proceeded to the temple
and witnessed the ārati. He offered flowers at the feet of the Lord and
performed arcana. He then went on to visit the important places in and
around Badrinath along with half a dozen saṁnyāsins from different parts of
India. He also offered worship at the shrine of Śrī Mahālakṣmī within the
Temple. He had a dip in the tapt-kuṇḍ as well.
His Holiness visited the Pañca-śilas and Pañca-tīrthas of Badrinath. After
visiting several holy places in and around Badrinath, His Holiness proceeded
to Brahma Kapal which is the spot sacred to the pitṛs (ancestors). Finally,
He visited the Mātā Mūrti temple, dedicated to the wife of Dharma-prajāpati
who was the mother of sages Nara and Nārāyaṇa. He also visited Charan
Paduka, where the feet of Lord Badrinārāyaṇa are etched. On the 1st of June,
He proceeded to the Vasudhāra-tīrtha where the eight Vasus are said to have
performed penance. The path leads to Mana Village, the last village before
148 53. Puryādi-kṣetra-yātrā-kṛt
Chinese territory. Here, His Holiness met some Buddhists and acquainted
Himself with their language and their way of life.
His Holiness visited the temple town of Rameswaram a total of four times.
His first visit was in 1957, with His Holiness reaching the sacred place on
5th November. His Holiness reached Pamban by steam boat. Then from the
outskirts of Rameswaram Town where He was received with pūrṇa-kumbha,
His Holiness walked through the main streets, in torrential rain, till He
reached the Devasthanam Thiruppani Buildings, where He was to stay for a
week. He performed the Candramaulīśvara-pūjā in the south-western corner
of the famous third corridor of the temple. On the 7th, He took a sacred bath
at Dhanushkodi during the lunar eclipse. On the 11th, He offered pūjā on a
grand scale to Śrī Rāmanātha and Śrī Parvatavardhinī at the temple.
His Holiness’s second visit to Rameswaram was on 2nd February, 1965. He
worshipped at the shrines of Śrī Rāmanātha and Śrī Parvatavardhinī. An
utpātaśānti-homa was performed on His instructions to allieviate the
sufferings of people affected by the cyclone that had hit the place earlier. His
Holiness then went to the Rama Setu as described in the context of nāma 32.
His next visit was to perform the kumbhābhiṣeka of the Rameswaram temple
scheduled for 5th February, 1975. His Holiness, along with His successor-
designate, arrived at Mandapam and took a steamer to Rameswaram on the
3rd. After the ceremonial reception They were received at the temple with
pūrṇakumbha and other temple honours. The Jagadgurus personally visited
the yāgaśālās on the 3rd, as well as on the 4th and supervised the rituals. On
the 5th, the kumbhābhiṣekas of the temple towers were conducted in the
august presence of the Jagadgurus. Subsequently, His Holiness personally
performed an elaborate pūjā with His lotus hands at the shrine of Śrī
Rāmanātha. This was followed by the worship performed by His Holiness
at the sanctum sanctorum of Goddesses Parvatavardhinī and Viśālakṣī.
His Holiness visited Rameswaram again in 1980, again with His successor-
designate. The Jagadgurus reached Rameswaram on 11th February, 1980.
On the 14th, the Mahāśivarātri-pūjā was performed by His Holiness. The
Jagadgurus had a holy bath in the ocean on the occasion of the solar eclipse
on the 16th. They then left for Dhanushkodi where They bathed in the sea,
after which His Holiness sat in meditation for a while by the sea.
His Holiness’s first visit to the holy city of Varanasi was on 30th April, 1967.
On 1st May, He proceeded to the river Gaṅgā very early in the morning for
a bath. He performed His morning ablutions and prayers on the banks of the
sacred river, sitting in silent contemplation for nearly three hours, lost to the
world and in communion with the Infinite. During His four days’ stay at
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 149
Varanasi, He took holy dips in the Gaṅgā in various ghats, worshipped at the
shrines of Lord Viśvanātha, Goddess Annapūrṇā, Dhuṇḍi Vināyaka and
other deities, presided over two vidvat-sadas events and honoured nearly
160 scholars with cash prizes. Apart from blessing numerous devotees, He
also visited the Varanaseeya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya, the Sangaveda
Vidyalaya and the Banaras Hindu University.
His second visit to Varanasi was in January 1977, to perform the
kumbhābhiṣeka of Goddess Annapūrṇā (vide nāma 7). He made a brief halt
at Varanasi again in May 1977. He visited Varanasi for the fourth time on
14th September, 1982, and stayed there for five days.
54. ु
पराणागमतत्त्ववित ् Purāṇāgama-tattva-vit
One who knew the essence of the methods of Purāṇic worship
The Veda or Śruti, which manifested from the breath of Īśvara, is akin to
prabhu-sammita, the laws laid down by a king. Similar is the case with the
Smṛtis written by sages to elaborate on the Śruti. The Śruti and Smṛtis are
expounded through stories in the form of Purāṇas to facilitate easy
comprehension – these are like suhṛt-sammita, the advice of a friend.140
Knowledge of the Purāṇas is very important because it is said, “If a learned
man were to know the four Vedas with its limbs as also the Upaniṣads, but
is not versed in the Purāṇas, he is not at all wise.”141 The Purāṇas contain
descriptions of creation, genesis of Brahmā, lineages, the epochs of various
Manus and the stories of the lineages.142
Āgama means method of worship, as in nāma 47. The methods of worship
laid down in the Purāṇas are based on the Vedas but are easier for the lay
person to practice. Further, anyone can practice them to attain the highest.
These methods include karma-yoga, bhakti, observances such as fasting,
control of the senses and mind, and meditation on various forms of the Lord.
The Purāṇas each extol a form of the Supreme such as Śiva, Viṣṇu and
Ambā. But the essence of all of them is this: the devotee, by worshipping
the Lord in a form dear to him, attains purity of mind and finally by that very
Lord’s grace, attains knowledge of the oneness of the Ātman and Brahman.
As a tattva-vit, knower of the essence, of purāṇa-āgama, the forms of
Purāṇic worship, His Holiness practiced and reached the highest through
them and was thoroughly competent to guide devotees and spiritual
aspirants.
The following is excerpted from the recollections of His Holiness about His
meditative experiences on divine forms at the age of sixteen. He was
150 54. Purāṇāgama-tattva-vit
go about teaching the wrong meanings to others, thereby causing the very
Veda to fear that a situation may arise in which the entire world is shrouded
by this darkness of ignorance!”
mortal form, and regardless of even whether they have had His darśana in
His physical form or not.
His Holiness giving the unequivocal assurance, “I will never abandon one
whom I have accepted,” quoted in the context of nāma 43, begs recollection
once again here. Being totally committed to truthfulness, His Holiness
would never have intended any element of untruth or hyperbole while giving
such a categorical and momentous assurance that totally disregards factors
such as time, place and extent of the devotee’s devotion. There are many
instances of devotees continuing to receive His grace and guidance even
after He shed His mortal body. His grace is undiminished and His guidance
available as ever to those who genuinely seek and need it.
Dr. A. G. Ramesh and his sisters planned to celebrate their father, Dr. A. R.
Govinda Rao’s ṣaṣṭyabdapūrti (completion of 60 years) at Dharwad, where
the latter lived. From among the few priests available at Dharwad, there were
only a couple who were known to do a good job and were therefore in great
demand. When Dr. Ramesh approached one of them, he finally agreed after
a lot of fuss. The invitations were printed and dispatched. The family then
went to Sringeri to seek His Holiness’s blessings for the function.
His Holiness looked at the invitation and said, “This muhūrta… is there not
another one on which you can celebrate the function?” Ramesh replied with
reverence, “This was fixed according to my father’s birthday.” His Holiness
said, “Alright. Why don’t you consult the local priest and ask him if the
function cannot be conducted on another date?” Those were tense moments
for Ramesh and his family - they had already sent out the invitations, the
date was close at hand and their father had acceded with great hesitation to
the very idea of a celebration. However, since it was His Holiness’s
directive, they approached a local priest, who confirmed that the date had
been fixed correctly. The family heaved a collective sigh of relief and
returned to report the matter to His Holiness. His Holiness then suggested,
“Why don’t you ask the Maṭha purohit about this?” Once again they were
apprehensive, but much to their joy, the Maṭha purohit too gave his stamp
of approval. His Holiness then said, “Fine. But instead of celebrating this
function in Dharwad, why not conduct it here at Sringeri?”
The family was pleasantly surprised at the idea of celebrating the function
at Sringeri, and gladly agreed to do so. They got new invitations done
immediately. A large number of relatives gathered at Sringeri for the
function. Several of the relatives who had never visited Sringeri before were
blessed with a private audience with His Holiness and He blessed them all.
The happy family then returned to Dharwad.
154 55. Pālitāśeṣa-bhaktaughaḥ
Ramesh felt a little guilty that they had pleaded so strongly with the priest in
Dharwad to officiate at the ceremony and had then conducted the function
at Sringeri without even informing him. So he decided to visit the priest with
some prasāda from Śāradāmbā’s temple, and explain that they had changed
their plans based on His Holiness’s advice. When he reached the priest’s
house, however, he was shocked to hear that the man had passed away a few
days ago. On further enquiry, Dr. Ramesh discovered that the end had come
on the very day of the function.
He realized that His Holiness had taken the trouble to persist with the family
in spite of their unwillingness. His Holiness had thereby compassionately
protected the family from the event of the officiating priest passing away on
the day of the auspicious function, which would not only have been very
unpleasant, but would have also jeopardized the very function.
The following was narrated by Smt. Vaikuntam Anantharama Seshan, who
had settled down at Sringeri along with her husband (vide nāma 43).
“My husband once underwent a major surgery to fix a fracture in his leg.
Just before the surgery, I received prasāda and blessings from His Holiness.
The surgeon wanted to stay back with us at the hospital on the night after the
surgery. Though I tried to dissuade him, he stuck to his decision. It was only
in the morning that he told me, ‘The pulse rate was dangerously high at night.
Only now it has improved.’ It was obvious to us that it was His Holiness’s
grace that had seen my husband through. Later, His Holiness, of His own
accord, told us, ‘I had told Candramaulīśvara that I wanted Seshan to walk
normally and that I did not regard it as proper to abandon one who had come
to me.’”
The following is a personal experience of a disciple of His Holiness, who
was serving Him at the Maṭha. The episode happened on 19th September,
1989. His Holiness shed His mortal form on the 21st.
“That day, His Holiness directed me to read out select compositions of
Bhagavatpāda. He had placed bookmarks in the pertinent volume of the
‘Śāṅkara-granthāvali (Series of works of Śaṅkara)’; this volume contained
Bhagavatpāda’s stotras (hymns). As I was reading from the book, I could
hear His Holiness saying, ‘Hm,’ ‘Hm,’ in between when I was going fine.
When I faltered, however, He promptly corrected me. Upon completing the
Brahmānucintana, I looked at Him for His next directive. He said, ‘In the
normal course, I would have read the Ṣatpadī-stotra, Lakṣmī-Narasiṁha-
karuṇārasa-stotra, Moha-mudgara (also called Bhaja-govindam), Kaupīna-
pañcaka, and others. Since I am not in a position to read them on my own
today, you read them aloud for me.’ I proceeded to read them out and then,
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 155
sarpanch standing there! He came into the house and fell at my feet and
asked for pardon for all the trouble he had caused me, prompted by evil-
minded advisors. He even assured me of his complete help thereafter. Later
that evening, I got to know that His Holiness had shed His mortal form that
day. His Holiness had carried out, even on the day of His Mahāsamādhi, the
assurance given by Him.”
An aged disciple living over a thousand miles from Sringeri once came to
Sringeri in the late 1980s and expressed a mental disquiet caused by
conjecturing a time in future when His Holiness may not be present in His
physical form. Having promptly pointed to the spot where His samādhi is
now located, His Holiness assured the disciple, “When I am not physically
present, you may come here to see me. I will be here.”
After His Holiness’s Mahāsamādhi, a devotee once approached Jagadguru
Śrī Bhāratī Tīrtha Mahāsvāmin asking for His Holiness’s pādukās. The
Jagadguru said, “How is it possible now that His Holiness is not physically
present?” Then, on seeing the devotee’s genuine intentions, the Jagadguru
added, “If your devotion is so firm, the pādukās will arrive on their own.”
After a few days, two ladies came for the Jagadguru’s darśana. They handed
over a pair of His Holiness’s pādukās to the Jagadguru, saying that since
there was none left to do pūjā in their family, they thought this was the
appropriate course of action. After they left, the Jagadguru called the
devotee who had earlier made the request for the pādukās, and saying with
a smile, “They have arrived,” blessed him with His Guru’s pādukās.
56. ु िः
वपङ्गलाब्दिमद्भ Piṅgalābda-samudbhavaḥ
One whose divine birth occurred in the cyclical year Piṅgala
His Holiness’s birth in the abda, cyclical year, Piṅgala (the 51st year in the
list of 60) is hailed as a sam-udbhava, divine birth. He was the Lord Himself.
The child was born to Sri Rama Sastry and Smt. Venkatalakshmamma at
6:45 a.m. on 13th November, 1917, corresponding to kṛṣṇa-caturdaśī of the
month of āśvayuja of the cyclical year Piṅgala, with the child’s lagna (sun-
sign) being vṛścika (Scorpio), rāśi (moon-sign) being tulā (Libra) and the
nakṣatra (birth-star) being svātī. Almost as if to mark a divine advent, there
were widespread joyous celebrations with religious fervour; dīpāvalī was
being celebrated at that time in several parts of India.
It is interesting that His Holiness’s Paramaguru, Śrī Saccidānanda
Śivābhinava Nṛsiṁha Bhāratī Mahāsvāmin (1858-1912), the pīṭha’s 33rd
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 157
pontiff (from 1879 to 1912), was also born in the cyclical year Piṅgala. His
Holiness was very often likened to His Paramaguru in more ways than one.
During her second pregnancy, Smt. Venkatalakshmamma stayed for some
time at her sister’s house in Hosakote, near Bengaluru. While there, she
bathed daily in the Pennar River and, with wet clothing, repeatedly went
around an aśvattha-vṛkṣa (peepal tree), regarded as sanctified by Lord
Viṣṇu’s presence. Her prayer was that she should give birth to a good son.
This supplication was heard by the Lord and He graced her with an
exceptional male child, who went on to become none other than His Holiness
Jagadguru Śrī Abhinava Vidyātīrtha Mahāsvāmin.
The child was born at Basavangudi in Bengaluru in a small room in Sri Rama
Sastry’s sister’s house. As fate would have it, it was not given to Sri Rama
Sastry to be around when the child was born. He was then an inpatient at a
hospital, having been admitted there for the surgical treatment of an
abdominal condition. Relatives attributed Sri Rama Sastry’s quick recovery
and early discharge from the hospital to the benign influence of the child.
57. ु ः
बहुवर्ष्यिमायि Bahu-śiṣya-samāyuktaḥ
One who was intimately bonded with numerous disciples
It is said of Emperor Aja, “Every subject felt, ‘I am the favourite of the
emperor.’”149 All those who came to be associated with His Holiness had a
similar connect with Him – He was samāyukta, intimately bonded, with
bahu-śiṣya, numerous disciples. His Holiness placed no constraints on who
qualified to be His disciple. He readily accepted and was equally accessible
to devotees of all dispositions, irrespective of their past or religious beliefs.
In the course of His first tour, His Holiness was camping in Chidambaram
between 25th and 29th June, 1959. Sri R. Krishnaswamy Iyer, Advocate,
Madurai, sent a letter dated 26th June, 1959, to His Holiness, which was
delivered at the camp by hand. In the letter, he updated His Holiness about
various matters relating to the Maṭha, and also mentioned his desire that His
Holiness’s grace should turn on him for a while in sacred Chidambaram.
Sri N. Lakshminarayana Sastry, then Private Secretary to His Holiness, in
his reply dated 28th June, 1959, wrote stating that Krishnaswamy Iyer’s letter
was received and its contents submitted to His Holiness. The reply further
contained the following lines (reproduced verbatim here): “His Holiness was
immensely pleased with your desire that His Holiness’s thoughts should turn
on you for a while in this sacred Kshetram Chidambaram. His Holiness has
158 57. Bahu-śiṣya-samāyuktaḥ
directed me to inform you that He has not only thought of you in this place
but you are ever in His mind.”
Sri Shiv Kumar, an advocate from Bengaluru, was not the typical traditional
type of person. In fact, he was quite the opposite – flamboyant, flashy and
extroverted. Shiv Kumar’s father had a daily pūjā of his own, and Shiv
Kumar used to do the worship on days that his father could not, with great
sincerity and concentration. He once desired a liṅga for himself, and wrote
to His Holiness’s Private Secretary, requesting for a Śiva-liṅga blessed by
His Holiness for his daily worship. On the request being submitted to His
Holiness, He readily acceded and instructed that Shiv Kumar be asked to
come on a kārtikā-somavāra day (a Monday of the Kārtika month that was
then round the corner) after prior intimation.
Shiv Kumar duly intimated the Maṭha that he would come to Sringeri on a
particular Sunday and would like to receive the liṅga from His Holiness the
following day. On being told of this, His Holiness had a liṅga placed in His
pūjā, and offered sandalpaste and flowers to it.
When Shiv Kumar arrived at Sringeri, he wanted to talk with an official of
the Maṭha before he had darśana of His Holiness. He confessed to the
official that he had asked His Holiness for a liṅga, but was now wondering
if it was right for him to have asked at all in the first place; he felt that he
was not eligible for it, because of his flamboyant lifestyle.
The official advised Shiv Kumar to frankly place the matter before His
Holiness. “Is it all right for me to ask Him this?” queried Shiv Kumar
incredulously. The official replied, “Why not? And in any case, whom else
will you ask?”
So Shiv Kumar made his way to the room upstairs where His Holiness was
giving darśana, and was back in barely two minutes, with tear-filled eyes.
He told the official, “I told His Holiness, ‘I had requested Your Holiness for
a Śiva-liṅga and Your Holiness had also acquiesced.’ ‘Yes,’ His Holiness
replied, ‘it is ready. I will give it to you tomorrow.’ I then hesitatingly said,
‘But I do not know if I am eligible,’ at which He dismissed me with the
words, ‘That you want it is eligibility enough.’”
During His visit to Coimbatore in the 1960s, His Holiness sent word to Sri
G. D. Naidu, an industrialist, teacher and inventor referred to as the Edison
of India, that He would like to visit the G. D. Naidu Industrial Exhibition.
Naidu welcomed Him and, though His visit was meant to be for a few
minutes, His Holiness spent, as Naidu said in a talk (on 10th March, 1969), a
few hours, observing everything in the exhibition minutely.
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 159
So impressed was Naidu with His Holiness’s interest, grasp and knowledge
and, as reported by him, His Holiness’s “many constructional works”, that
he named the training institute that he subsequently started, as “Sringeri
Jagadguru Sankracharya (sic) Vidhyatheertha Training Institute.”
He later named after His Holiness a hall that he built, as also one of the two
big bore wells that he set up to supply water to more than 1500 families.
Such was the impact that His Holiness had on Naidu, an atheist.
Interestingly, Naidu had the institute named after His Holiness inaugurated
by ‘Periyar’ E. V. Ramasamy Naicker, the well known social reformer and
diehard atheist of Tamil Nadu. His Holiness, for His part, inaugurated, on
23rd April, 1971, the “E. V. R. Periyar Hall” constructed by Naidu.
Naidu said in a speech on 10th March, 1969, “One may be tempted to ask as
to what connection there is between Periyar and Swamiji, who are poles
apart in religious matters. I am a śiṣya of Periyar and at the same time I am
also a śiṣya of the Swamiji.”
The meeting between the senior Jagadguru and the President took place in
Goddess Śāradāmbā’s temple. His Holiness, who was present, translated
into Sanskrit for His Guru what Dr. Rajendra Prasad said in Hindi, and
translated for him into chaste Hindi what the senior Jagadguru spoke in
Sanskrit. The President was highly impressed and the senior Jagadguru was
pleased.
In the course of His first all-India tour, His Holiness reached Madurai on
18th February, 1965, and camped there for a little over a month. Śrī Nirañjana
Deva Tīrtha, the pontiff of the Govardhana Peetham of Puri visited Him
there. The two Jagadgurus sat side-by-side on the same platform and
delivered their discourses.
The Śaṅkarācārya of Puri spoke fluently in Sanskrit. One of the paṇḍitas
who was present was asked to render the speech in Tamil. He, however,
began to meander and the rigmarole was not faithful to the thoughts of the
Ācārya. His Holiness relieved the paṇḍita by saying, “I shall translate the
speech myself.” He gave a precise and clear rendering of the Puri Ācārya’s
discourse. Those familiar enough with Sanskrit to follow the original
discourse were surprised to note that His Holiness had made a sentence-by-
sentence translation, despite the speech having been long. The next day, both
the Jagadgurus delivered their discourses in the famed Meenakshi Amman
Temple. On this occasion, His Holiness straightaway volunteered to
translate the Puri Ācārya’s speech so as to avoid any confusion. This time
too His translation was accurate.
The following was narrated by Sri Jandhyala Narayana Murthy.
“Until the year 1961, I had not even heard the name of Sringeri. I happened
to purchase a book on Jagadguru Śrī Candraṣekhara Bhāratī Mahāsvāmin
and found it to be rather attractive, but did not pursue it further.
“That year, His Holiness stopped by at Vijayawada, my hometown, for just
one day, while on His way from Hyderabad to Chennai. It was during that
night’s Candramaulīṣvara-pūjā that I had my very first darśana of Him. His
Holiness came to Vijayawada again in 1965, and this time I invited Him to
grace my house. He acquiesced.
“After His afternoon bhikṣā at my place, He sent for me and spoke with me
for a while. He then noticed some photographs that were on the walls of the
room. Pointing to one, He asked, ‘Who is this person?’ ‘My late father,’ I
answered. ‘What was His name?’ He queried. ‘Shivanna Shastri’ was my
answer. His Holiness asked, ‘Is it the same Shivanna Shastri who authored
the Hindi-Telugu Dictionary?’ When I replied in the affirmative, His
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 161
Holiness exclaimed, ‘Aha! I did not know that you were Shivanna Shastri’s
son! Why didn’t you tell me earlier? It is only with the help of his book that
I learnt Telugu! See! I have the volume here with me!’ Saying so, He picked
up the dictionary He had next to Him and showed it to me. From that moment
onwards, I felt that His Holiness’s affection for me increased manifold.”
59. ु
ब्रह्मतत्त्वानिन्धाता Brahma-tattvānusandhātā
One who was absorbed in cogitation on the Truth that is Brahman
Brahma-tattva means the Truth that is Brahman, and anu-sandhāna, deep
cogitation or absorption in cogitation. When His Holiness was running on
sixteen, He was initiated into contemplation on the Ātman by His Guru. This
contemplation became effortless in a few months, prior to His completing
sixteen years of age.
It was when His Holiness was eighteen that, as described under nāma 10,
Lord Śiva manifested in front of Him and instructed Him to commence
nirguṇa-dhyāna on the Supreme. The next day His Holiness commenced
meditation on the Supreme Reality as devoid of attributes, supported by deep
cogitation on Brahman, which led to His becoming established in Brahman.
What follows is His Holiness’s recollection of how His Guru initiated Him
into contemplation on the Ātman and His account of how He engaged in such
contemplation thereafter.
“When staying in Narasimhavana with my Guru, I used to go every evening
to behold Śāradāmbā and remain there for up to an hour. On my return, He
once asked me, ‘You have crossed the river and come. What thought arose
in your mind?’ ‘What thought?’ I wondered and replied, ‘I perceived various
objects.’ He asked, ‘What was new?’ I replied, ‘Nothing. I saw what was in
front of me.’ ‘Must you see whatever is in front of your eyes?’ He queried.
I said, ‘If the eyes be kept closed (to abstain from perceiving objects), it
would not be possible to walk.’ He said, ‘You must see and yet not see,’ to
which I queried, ‘How is that possible?’
“To this, He said, ‘ātmāmbhodhes-taraṅgo'smyahamiti gamane150 (When
walking, one should think that one is a wave in the ocean that is the Ātman).’
This is how we should conduct ourselves. When we get up from a seated
position and start walking, the feeling should not be, ‘We are walking and
going somewhere.’ In the big ocean - the Ātman - a wave has arisen. That
wave is moving forward. This is the supposition. There is no difference
between the wave and the ocean. Yet, because one walks (and thus moves
forward like the wave), one should think of oneself as the wave. When the
162 59. Brahma-tattvānusandhātā
into practice. I did not think it appropriate to delay doing so even slightly.
However, though I promptly generated the thought, ‘I am a gem strung in
the thread of consciousness,’ the intensity of my contemplation was poor. A
reason was that I was then primarily concentrating on what my Guru was
telling me about the attitudes relating to perception and sleep. Further, while
karma-yoga and japa had become effortless for me at that time, such
contemplation was new to me. As I walked to my room after my Guru had
finished, I contemplated, ‘I am a wave in the blissful ocean that is the
Ātman.’ The intensity of this contemplation was much better.
“While I sincerely strove to practise what my Guru had taught Me, I did
experience two difficulties. This contemplation clashed now and then with
my karma-yoga (involving dedicating all actions and their fruits to God).
My Guru resolved this difficulty by telling me two days later, ‘The time has
come for you to go beyond the stage of karma-yoga, which you have
mastered. Now, direct your efforts to contemplating on the Ātman.’ The
second difficulty I had was that this contemplation partially came in the way
of my enjoying the presence of Śāradāmbā in the temple, mentally
worshipping Narasiṁha and the like. This is because I did these while seated
and now I had been advised to contemplate when seated that I am a gem
strung in the thread of consciousness.
“My Guru Himself clarified, ‘While the knowledge of the Ātman of a
jīvanmukta (one liberated while living) remains undisturbed by any thoughts
and bodily activity, the case of contemplation by a spiritual aspirant is
different. Hence, for the present, do your mental worship and the like as
before and practise contemplation on the Ātman at other times.’
“Though I no more had any fundamental problems, my contemplation
suffered from occasional discontinuities. Such breaks mainly occurred when
I was speaking and when I got carried away by the beauty of the river and
the surroundings. One evening when I went to my Guru’s presence, He
asked, ‘Where are you coming from?’ ‘From Ambā’s temple,’ I replied.
‘What did you see on the way?’ He queried. A break had occurred in my
contemplation while crossing the river Tuṅgā. Understanding the thrust of
His question, I said that I beheld fish playing in the Tuṅgā. ‘Did you
contemplate correctly at that time?’ was my Guru’s next query. ‘I was
contemplating before and after that but, for a few moments, the process
became disrupted,’ I admitted. My Guru said, ‘Never give room for such
breaks.’ I hung my head in shame and resolved that I should not be such a
useless disciple. Thereafter, by my Guru’s grace, such discontinuities in
contemplation did not occur. In a few months, the four forms of
contemplation became effortless.”
164 59. Brahma-tattvānusandhātā
indeed the Supreme Brahman, the Ātman of all. I never was, am or will be
otherwise.”
His aforesaid enquiry into the Truth lasted for about 45 minutes and resulted
in great clarity of understanding, freedom from doubts, and conviction.
Though He did not choose to keep His eyes closed during His deep
reflection, He hardly noticed anything external. He felt ready to deeply focus
on the Supreme. He initiated His meditation and mentally uttered the words,
“aham-eva paraṁ brahma vāsudevākhyam-avyayam,”154 as they captured
the essence of His scripture-based reflection; these words convey, “I am
indeed the Supreme Brahman, the One free from decay and known as
Vāsudeva (He who resides in and shines in all).” Without repeating the
words, He strongly held on to the idea conveyed. Immediately, He felt
himself expanding and becoming pervasive like space. By countering the
notion of being limited by the body and the like, this experience intensified
the impact of His earlier contemplation. A great wave of joy arose and
submerged Him and He remained in this state of deep meditation for what
seemed a trice, but was actually about 30 to 45 minutes.
He mentally repeated the enquiry of that day twice in the course of the next
day, the 7th of December, and went to His meditation spot as usual in the
evening. He pondered on the fact that having falsely identified the Ātman
with the mind, one deems oneself to be an agent and treats as valid, notions
such as, ‘I see this,’ ‘This is mine,’ ‘I am happy’ and ‘I am unhappy.’ He
concluded that decidedly, only right knowledge can annul ignorance and
misunderstanding. He reasoned that since the Ātman is the witness of all
thoughts, if He would stand back from a thought as a disinterested witness,
the thought would be deprived of stimulation and should soon die out. He
affirmed to Himself that He was pure consciousness unlimited by space, time
and objects and started His meditation. He experienced no difficulty in
initiating contemplation on the Ātman as the witness of this desire. Almost
immediately thereafter, the mental activity serving as the object vanished.
An essentially isolated ‘I’ thought remained. He maintained the attitude of
being a witness characterised by pure, unlimited consciousness. Very soon,
even the sense of ‘I’ almost completely faded away. The mind was then quite
still and no effort was needed to keep it so. Consciousness shone clearly
without any object and without limitations. He was overwhelmed by bliss,
which was far greater than on the previous evening. The awareness of any
distinction between the bliss and Himself was almost absent. About an hour
passed thus but He was totally oblivious of the passage of time. As He
emerged from this state, His first experience of savikalpa-samādhi on the
formless Reality, He gradually became aware of the body.
166 60. Brahma-vidyopadeśakaḥ
Further that evening and over the next two days, He repeatedly attained
savikalpa-samādhi on the attribute-less Brahman based on the reasoning of
the first day, as the witness of the hue perceived while commencing
meditation, and by turning attention to a sentence of Bhagavatpāda’s
Pañcīkaraṇa, the passages of which He had deeply considered while
reflecting on the Truth. He then called to mind the passage of the
Chāndogya-upaniṣad that conveys, “A modification (of clay, such as a pot
or jar) has speech as its origin and exists only in name; as clay alone, it is
real.”155 He went on to reflect on it and concluded that every object has
existence only as Brahman; the name and form of the object are its illusory
aspects. Were such not to be the case, the scripture would not have
emphatically taught that on knowing Brahman, everything becomes known,
just as on knowing clay, all products of clay become known. Having
reflected in this manner, He started His meditation, taking the sun as the
object of relevance and ignoring names and forms and focussing on just its
being, attained savikalpa-samādhi. The next morning He attained savikalpa-
samādhi by focussing on the being of the wall in front of Him in His room.
In the evening on the hill, He mentally said, “sarvādhiṣṭhānabhūta-
sanmātra-brahmāsmi”; this means, “I am Brahman of the nature of absolute
existence, the substratum of everything.” He intensified the resulting notion
by disregarding names and forms in general, and attained savikalpa-samādhi
after everything was stripped to bare being without attributes, and His sense
of individuality faded with an upsurge in the intensity of concentration. The
next morning, 10th December, after the apprehension of a hue, He promptly
became absorbed in the Supreme and was in savikalpa-samādhi, for since
the previous evening, attention to the Truth had been persisting effortlessly,
being uninterrupted even during dreams.
to Him that it was getting late for the 8 o’clock pūjā. It was around 9 p.m.
before His Holiness finished answering all their questions. He then gave
them His complete blessings and prasāda. They were visibly overjoyed and
expressed their gratitude. They left spiritually charged, with joyful hearts
and fond memories. In the middle of the discussion His Holiness turned to a
disciple present there and said, “How sincere they are! It is delightful to be
of some help to them. It does not matter however much my bath is delayed.
Their requirements deserve top priority.”
One day, His Holiness was not keeping well and darśana had been highly
restricted. A spiritual aspirant in his twenties had travelled a long distance
to see His Holiness and was to leave the next day. When the matter was
made known to His Holiness, He had him called in. Unmindful of strain, He
heard the aspirant thoroughly and then gave him invaluable spiritual advice.
Dr. Gandhi Bai, a retired District Medical Officer from Madurai, was very
devoted to His Holiness. On one of her visits to Sringeri, His Holiness asked
her what she wanted. She promptly replied that she sought Vedāntic
instruction from Him. Pleased, His Holiness remarked to those around Him,
“Various people ask for this and that, whereas this Doctor-ammā seeks
Vedāntic instruction. While all others seek what is anitya, ephemeral, she
seeks what is nitya, permanent, which is what is most essential in life.”
Thereafter, over the next twenty minutes, His Holiness instructed her in the
essence of the Upaniṣads, and kindled in her a keen interest in Vedānta.
After this initiation, she studied Vedānta deeply and also shared her
knowledge with many others who came to listen to her expositions. She had
an idol of Bhagavatpāda installed at her residence, which His Holiness
graced during one of His visits to Madurai.
This guṇa of tamas is resident in the mind and is hence referred to as hārda-
tamas here. His Holiness was a bhetta, destroyer, of this hārda-tamas of His
bhaktas, devotees, thus weaning them away from sloth and dullness as well
as from the tendency to commit sin.
The following is His Holiness’s response to the question as to what is to be
done if the mind becomes tāmasika, that is dull or sleepy during meditation.
“If a person is alert, he can discern that his mind is becoming passive and
dull. By sensing the onset of torpor and awakening and focussing the mind,
he can deal with dullness. The japa that is being done may be intensified. If
this is done, the mind will become alert. But if, in spite of effort, the mind
continues to drift into the state of torpor, it is advisable to take a small break,
have a walk and then recommence dhyāna. On certain occasions, the mind
should not be forced to meditate. If there is tiredness, it is advisable to
commence dhyāna after a break. But, if indolence is the reason for the
dullness, one should force the mind to continue with meditation.”
[What follows is His Holiness’s exposition on the duties of children towards
parents, neglecting which will lead only to sin.]
Parents strive for the welfare of their children. They put up with innumerable
sufferings and inconveniences for the sake of their offspring. So it is not
surprising that the Veda declares, “Revere your mother as a god. Revere your
father as a god.”162 Manu states that the mother is ten times more venerable
than the father. A mother’s love for her child is intense and unconditional.
In any case, it is impossible for a person to repay his debt of gratitude to
either of his parents. Were he to be ungrateful to them, he would be
committing a heinous sin for which there is no expiation. The scriptures
speak of the duties of a son towards his parents.
When his parents are alive, he should obey them. After they have passed
away, he should perform the śrāddha ceremony every year. The
performance of śrāddha at least once at Gaya is deemed laudable. It is well
known that money sent through money-order remains at the post-office but
an equivalent amount of cash is delivered to the intended recipient.
Likewise, by the power of God, what is offered by a man with faith at a
properly-performed śrāddha ceremony reaches those for whom the offering
is intended in a form beneficial to them, regardless of whether they dwell in
the world of manes or have been reborn on the earth. The śrāddha ceremony
benefits the performer too, for he obtains much puṇya and the blessings of
the manes, while abstaining from performing śrāddha only brings him sin.
170 62. Bhikṣukottama-rūpa-dhṛt
62. ु त्
वभक्षकोत्तमरूपधृ Bhikṣukottama-rūpa-dhṛt
One who donned the form of an ascetic of the highest order
The scripture describes four orders of bhikṣuka, ascetics: kuṭīcaka,
bahūdaka, haṁsa and paramahaṁsa, each successive one being superior to
its predecessor. There are rules specified for each of these orders of
saṁnyāsa, with the following being the external marks of the mendicants of
the highest order, paramahaṁsa-saṁnyāsin: “The paramahaṁsa ascetic is
devoid of tuft and sacred thread... wears a single loincloth and a single
(lower) garment, has a bamboo daṇḍa (staff), wears a single (upper) garment
or is intent on smearing bhasma (sacred ash) on the body and has renounced
everything.”163 Paramahaṁsa-saṁnyāsins are not supposed to chant the
Gāyatrī-mantra; Praṇava-japa, that is the japa of ‘Om’, is for them.
His Holiness was One who rūpa-dhṛt, donned the form, of a bhikṣuka-
uttama, an ascetic of the highest order. The scripture states that the ascetic
of the fourth (and highest) order, the paramahaṁsa-saṁnyāsin, is verily
Lord Nārāyaṇa.164
On 21st May, 1931, Sri Srinivasa Sastry did sandhyā-vandana and then paid
His respects to His Guru and received His blessings and consent for all
functions of that day and the next. After the completion of a Gaṇapati-homa,
He paid obeisance at the samādhis of the previous pontiffs and at the temples
of Bhagavatpāda and Goddess Śāradāmbā. He performed the aṣṭa-śrāddhas
that day as part of which He made offerings even to Himself as done to the
manes, and with this, He completed once and for all His ritualistic
obligations to His progenitors and became decoupled, as it were, from His
life so far. His head was then tonsured; just a few strands of hair were left
unshaven in His tuft. Having bathed in the river, He performed some
purifying rituals. He fasted that day. He kept vigil in front of a sacred fire
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 171
the whole of that night, with His mind on God; He mentally repeated the
Gāyatrī-mantra.
After bathing in the river the next morning and completing His sandhyā-
vandana, Sri Srinivasa Sastry performed the Puruṣa-sūkta-homa and Virajā-
homa. Standing in waist-deep water in the river He discarded the sacred
thread, tuft and clothes, and then took the vow of saṁnyāsa. With this He
became a paramahaṁsa-saṁnyāsin. When He had taken a few steps towards
the north in the river, the Jagadguru called out, “bho āyuṣman, ita ehi (O
long-lived one, come here).” On His Guru calling Him, His Holiness
approached Him with all humility. As described under nāma 25, the senior
Jagadguru then gave Him ochre clothes, and later a daṇḍa and kamaṇḍalu.
HH: An analogue can never match the original perfectly. If it does, then it
will be non-different from what is sought to be illustrated. The rope-snake
example is advanced only to show that one thing can falsely appear as
another. Only this aspect of the illustration should be considered and not the
existence of a perceiver different from the rope and snake.
Q: For a person to mistake a rope for a snake, he must have seen a real snake
earlier. Else, the wrong notion of a snake cannot arise in him. Thus, the
mistake presupposes the existence of a real snake. In the same way, if the
Supreme Being is to be mistakenly seen as the world, there should be a real
world. Is it wrong to argue in this manner?
HH: Yes. It is wrong. To mistake a rope for a snake, knowledge of a snake
is necessary. It is incorrect to say that only a real snake can produce such
knowledge. I will give an example. A person mistakes a tree to be a ghost.
He saw a ghost in a dream had by him earlier. When he sees the tree now,
he misapprehends it to be the ghost dreamt of by him. Did that ghost really
exist? No, because it was seen only in a dream. Everyone knows that
whatever is seen in the dream is unreal. So, it is only the knowledge of the
snake that is necessary and not a real snake. Similarly, for the Supreme
Brahman to appear as the world, there is no need for a real world to exist.
Q: Is Māyā real? If it is, then it will be wrong to say that Brahman is advitīya
(non-dual). Nor can we assert that Māyā does not exist, since we are able to
see the effects of Māyā. What is the nature of Māyā?
HH: Māyā cannot be said to be ‘sat (absolutely real)’ because it is destroyed
the moment true knowledge dawns, just as a dream disappears when we
wake up. Hence, there is no second entity called Māyā, different from
Brahman, just as there is no dream-object apart from the dreamer. Māyā
cannot also be termed ‘asat (non-existent)’ as we can see its effects in the
form of the world. That is why it has been said, with logic as the basis, that
Māyā is neither sat nor asat.
Q: It is said that everything except Brahman is false. Then, are not the Vedas
also false? If so, will not Advaita philosophy, which is based on the Vedas,
be untrue?
HH: Advaitins say that the world is untrue from the standpoint of the
Absolute. They do not, however, deny the empirical validity of the world.
From the vyāvahārika (empirical) standpoint, to the extent that the world is
admitted to be true, so are the Vedas. The Vedas, whose reality is no less
than that of the world, give rise to the knowledge that is potent enough to
sublate the ephemeral world. What shines thereafter, is just the non-dual
Brahman. Thus, Advaita-vedānta is quite in order.
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 173
Further, no damage will be done even if it is postulated that the Vedas are
not real. This is because even an unreal thing can give us a real effect. For
example, assume that a tiger chases us in our dream. We may wake up due
to the fear produced. Here, the unreal tiger brings about the real effect of
waking up. Hence, even if we say that the Vedas are unreal like the world,
undoubtedly liberating knowledge can arise from its teachings. In this way
too, it can be seen that Advaita philosophy is quite in order.
64. ु विप्रदायकः
भविम ु Bhukti-mukti-pradāyakaḥ
One who specially bestowed both worldly good and liberation
Lord Kṛṣṇa says, “O Arjuna, four types of blessed people worship Me - the
afflicted, the seeker of knowledge, the seeker of wealth and the knower.”170
Bhagavatpāda blessed with a shower of golden gooseberries, the poor lady
who gave Him her only possession, a dried up gooseberry; He blessed with
liberation, His disciple, the greatly devoted but not very bright Giri.
Likewise, people from diverse walks of life having different temperaments
and requirements approached His Holiness for not only mukti, liberation, but
also for bhukti, worldly prosperity.
His Holiness is described here as not just a dāyaka, giver, but a pra-dāyaka,
special giver, of bhukti-mukti. The Tantra-śāstra says of the Mother
Goddess, “Where there is worldly prosperity, there is no liberation, and
where there is liberation there is no worldly enjoyment. However, for those
who are intent on serving the gloriously beautiful Goddess, worldly
prosperity and liberation are indeed both in the palm of their hand.”171
Similar to the Mother Goddess, His Holiness blessed His devotees with not
just either, but both, bhukti and mukti. After all, spiritual sādhanā could be
adversely affected when basic worldly needs are not met or problems not
handled, and His Holiness took care of His devotees’ well-being completely.
Sri P. S. Venkatasubba Rao once recalled, “After studies, I took up
employment. I worked as a manager in a company headquartered at
Bangalore (Bengaluru), but I had to travel frequently and tour large estates.
I began to get dissatisfied with my conditions of work, for I found the
environment non-traditional. Dejected, I sought His Holiness’s advice. ‘Do
not quit your job,’ He instructed, ‘for if you do so now, you will stand to
lose not only materially but also spiritually.’ I did as instructed, and only
stood to gain in precisely the manner He had indicated. Soon, the company’s
management changed and the official climate improved to my satisfaction.”
174 64. Bhukti-mukti-pradāyakaḥ
smilingly queried, ‘What is the matter?’ I replied that I had certain problems
that I wished to place before His Holiness. He said, ‘Go and have darśana
at all the shrines. We will talk thereafter’, and dismissed us.
“After having visited all the shrines, we went for His darśana at about 2
o’clock. He gave us prasāda in the front hall of Sacchidananda Vilasa, and
said, ‘You have to reach Mangaluru by tonight, isn’t it? That would mean
that you need to start now itself, else you will have to navigate through the
forest roads at night and would be attracting the attention of wild elephants.
Hence, you may start now.’ Having said so, He turned to go back inside. I
immediately said, ‘I have come with the firm decision that I will not leave
without solutions to my problems from Your Holiness.’ Turning around, His
Holiness smiled at me and asked, ‘What are your problems?’
“I said, ‘My first daughter’s marriage is not getting fixed, in spite of us
having searched for a suitable groom for long.’ His Holiness said, ‘Do not
worry. In one week this problem of yours will be solved. Next problem?’ I
said, ‘My factory was burnt down by a major fire. Production has therefore
come to a standstill and the losses are huge.’ His Holiness blessed, ‘The
losses will be made up and you will begin production. Your turnover will
soon cross Rs. 100 crores per year. Do not worry.’ Every word He said came
true, with the insurance company making good the losses due to the fire.”
During His Holiness’s first All-India tour, a young boy once darted across
the road in front of the pilot van. The driver slammed the brakes and the van
screeched to a halt directly over the boy, who had slipped and fallen flat.
Fortunately, he fell between the wheels and escaped uninjured though the
vehicle was stationed atop him. The villagers who beheld the scene
presumed the boy dead and rushed in a rage towards the hapless driver, who
was already stricken with trepidation. Meanwhile, the boy crawled under the
van, emerged from the rear and took to his heels, without the others noticing
him. Not finding the boy, the irate crowd began to rain blows on the driver.
In moments, he was bleeding. The security guard got out of the vehicle to
rescue the driver but that was not to be his day. He grappled with a villager
who attempted to snatch his rifle and soon, both went tumbling down the
slope. The workhand managed to run away with the rifle, leaving the pitiable
security guard not only injured but also very insecure.
In the meantime, His Holiness’s car arrived there. He immediately identified
the head of the group and beckoned to him. Tempers ran high and villagers
rushed towards His Holiness’s car, gesticulating wildly. His Holiness was
not in the least afraid. The force of their ire was spent the moment His
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 177
His Holiness got rid of the agony caused by the fear that Sri Narahari
harboured, using a powerful analogy that the young lad could visualize,
understand and relate to. Thus, He struck at the very root of the boy’s fear
by getting rid of his underlying delusion through the enunciation of fact.
[The following parable presented by His Holiness shows how the mind is
the cause of both saṁsāra and liberation.]
A three-year-old boy asked for an apple. As there was none at home, his
mother offered him other fruits instead. He refused them and insisted that he
be given only an apple. His mother told him that she would procure one for
him in the evening. He, however, began to cry and continued wailing till his
indulgent mother took him to a shop and allowed him to pick an apple of his
choice. It was when his desire was gratified that he smiled joyfully.
His seven-year-old sister, who had witnessed all this, desired to have some
fun at his expense. She informed him with assumed gravity, “Without
realizing it, you ate a seed. I saw you do so. Do you know what will happen?
An apple tree will start growing in your stomach. It will cause you great pain
and, emerging from your nose and mouth, make you look funny.” He
swallowed her tale hook, line and sinker and turned pale with fright. Seeing
him petrified, his mother ascertained the cause and did her best to pacify
him. She emphasized more than once that his sister had been pulling his leg.
But her explanation fell on deaf ears. He continued to remain terror-stricken
and did not take even a drop of water for hours. His mother started to worry
about him. So, the moment her husband returned from work, she informed
him about what had happened.
He held his son in his arms and said in a gentle reassuring voice, “Normally,
no tree grows inside the stomach when an apple seed is swallowed. Even
when it does, it is small. In fact, it is so tiny that it does not cause any pain
and cannot be seen by others. So, even if a tree develops within you, you
will neither suffer nor become the butt of ridicule. You like apples. Once
there is a tree within you, you will have a constant supply of apples. You can
put your fingers inside your mouth and pluck out a small fruit which you can
then chew and swallow. It would be wonderful to be able to get delicious
apples any time you desire them. Is it not?”
The boy nodded, with the traces of a smile forming on his face. “Do you
want the tree to grow or not?” queried the father. “Definitely I do”,
responded the boy. “The seed may not sprout. But if it does, then, to help it
develop into a tree, you will have to eat food and drink water. If you starve
yourself, the tree will die,” declared the father. Promptly, the boy ran to his
mother and asked for his meal and a glass of water. His terror was
completely replaced by joy and enthusiasm.
180 67. Mahāvākya-viveka-jñaḥ
The boy was initially unhappy because of his unfulfilled desire for an apple.
Thereafter, he was overcome with trepidation owing to his foolishly-
imagined future danger to the body he was intensely fond of. His mind was
thus the cause of his unhappiness before and after he obtained an apple.
The Maitrāyaṇī-upaniṣad declares, “The mind is of two kinds, pure and
impure. It is impure when with desire; it is pure when devoid of desire....
The mind indeed is responsible for the bondage and liberation of humans.
When attached to objects, it brings about bondage. When devoid of the
thoughts of objects, it leads to liberation.”183
enlightened and devoid of all variety’188 and, specifically, the part ‘vigalita-
sarva-vikalpaḥ (devoid of all variety)’ therein, He reflected as follows.
“Even in samādhi, I have not realised the Ātman as shining totally free from
diversity. After all, the sense of ‘I’ and the awareness of the distinction of
the concentrator, concentration and the object of concentration also shine,
no matter how feebly. I do understand from the words of the scripture,
supportive reasoning and my savikalpa-samādhis that I am pure
consciousness. The ripening of my present understanding and conviction
into firm realisation would be greatly facilitated by the disappearance of
even the vestige of duality during samādhi, leaving just the Ātman as residue.
The thorough vanishing of duality during samādhi would, for me, be helpful.
“Further, while I almost become identified with bliss in samādhi,
nonetheless, I do, to a minute degree, stand apart from it as the one who
enjoys it. Infinite bliss is, on the authority of the scripture, my very nature.
What is my very nature cannot, undoubtedly, be known objectively by me.
It is avidyā that conjures diversity in the Truth, which is non-dual. Thus, no
matter how great it may be, bliss experienced by me as an object lies in the
realm of avidyā. It must not be savoured but transcended.”
He discerned that by establishing His mind on the Ātman and remaining
without any thought, He would be acting in accordance with the Lord’s
instruction in the Bhagavad-gītā, ‘One should gradually withdraw by means
of the intellect endowed with firmness; making the mind established in the
Ātman, one should not think of anything.’189
He then opened Bhagavatpāda’s Viveka-cūdāmaṇi at random. His eyes fell
on a verse in which nirvikalpa-samādhi is spoken of. He read it and also the
succeeding three verses; they too deal with nirvikalpa-samādhi.
The import of these four verses is, “When thus purified (of misunderstanding
and the like about the Truth) by continuous practice, the mind merges in
Brahman (by remaining without any thought, in the form of Brahman), then
there is nirvikalpa-samādhi, which brings about the effortless experience of
non-dual bliss. By this samādhi, there occurs the destruction of the knot of
impressions (rooted in ignorance), the annihilation of all one’s actions
(leading to rebirth) and the manifestation, without effort, of one’s true
nature, within and without, everywhere and forever. Reflection (on the
Truth) is a hundred times superior to hearing (the Truth). Meditation (on the
Truth) is a hundred thousand times greater than reflection. Nirvikalpa-
samādhi is infinitely superior to that. Brahman, the Reality, is realised
clearly, with steady certitude, by means of nirvikalpa-samādhi but not
otherwise, for, then, because of the inconstancy of mental activity, the
realisation would be mixed up with other notions.”190
182 68. Mahā-mahima-saṁyutaḥ
His reading enhanced his keenness on going beyond the stage of savikalpa-
samādhi.
That evening on the hill when He started His dhyāna, His mind entered
savikalpa-samādhi. Though the bliss was very great, He restrained Himself
from being overwhelmed by it and thought, “I am not the one experiencing
bliss but am bliss itself.”
Suddenly there was a sharp change, and He plunged into nirvikalpa-samādhi
(as described in the context of nāma 1).
After about two hours, when He opened His eyes, He could see the scene in
front of Him and yet did not see it, for He was quite indifferent to the
apparent diversity rooted in names and forms. So clear was the realisation
that He was of the very nature of absolute existence that He apprehended
nothing whatsoever as existing apart from Him. Everything was like bubbles
on the ocean that was Himself. When He rose after some time, His body felt
light like cotton wool and as He walked down the hill, it seemed as if He
were on a moving canoe.
directly or in Your absence, for the sake of frolic, while walking, lying down,
sitting or eating. O Infinite One! Deign to forgive these transgressions of
mine.”193
The following episode brings out the great glory of His Holiness’s mind.
In 1984, His Holiness was scheduled to leave Sringeri for Bengaluru. A
brahmacārin from Rishikesh came a little after noon for His darśana, when
He had already left for His afternoon bath. The brahmacārin told a disciple,
“I have seven questions pertaining to Yoga and Vedānta which I wish to pose
to His Holiness. They are very important to me. I contacted numerous
scholars, practitioners of Yoga and saṁnyāsins at Rishikesh, Uttarkashi,
Haridwar and Kashi but none was able to satisfy me. A scholar at Kashi
directed me to Sringeri, saying, ‘If the Jagadguru of Sringeri cannot
satisfactorily answer you then there is none in the world who can.’ That is
why I have come most eagerly to Sringeri.”
The disciple told him, “His Holiness will be starting on a tour today. If you
wait here, you can have His darśana just prior to His departure. However,
there is no time today for you to have a lengthy private session with Him.”
He said, “I will gladly wait to behold Him even if it be for just a moment.”
He then told the disciple one of the questions that he had in mind and
requested him to tell His Holiness about him.
The disciple fulfilled the brahmacārin’s request shortly after His Holiness
completed partaking of His bhikṣā (meal). His Holiness responded, “The
question that he conveyed to you is good and pertinent. As there is no time
to spare today, he could, if he wishes, meet me at Bengaluru and pose his
queries to me there. If I happen to know the answers, I shall tell him. Else, I
shall readily admit that I am not in a position to help him.”
In about half an hour, His Holiness came out to the front portico of
Sacchidananda Vilasa. Some devotees, inclusive of the brahmacārin, were
there. The brahmacārin prostrated before His Holiness. His Holiness looked
at him with compassion, raised His right hand in a gesture of blessing and
said, in Hindi, “May you be happy.” He then moved on. The disciple quickly
conveyed to the brahmacārin what His Holiness had told him. Even before
the disciple finished, he said, “The answers to all my questions became fully
known to me when His Holiness blessed me.”
In the car, of His own accord, His Holiness informed the disciple, “When I
saw that brahmacārin, I was struck with his sincerity. Hence, I requested
Śāradāmbā, ‘Please provide him the answers he desires straightaway.’ The
kind of sincerity that this spiritual aspirant has deserves to be rewarded.”
184 69. Mahā-prajñā-samāyuktaḥ
When the disciple submitted to His Holiness what the brahmacārin had said,
His Holiness joined His palms and said, “Śāradāmbā is so gracious.”
Here is an episode that gives a glimpse of the glory of His Holiness’s words.
His Holiness had set out for His evening walk in Narasimhavana, followed
by a disciple. Strolling along the pathway adjoining Sacchidananda Vilasa
leading to the car shed and looking at the rose and jasmine gardens to His
right and left, all of a sudden, He chanted the Kannada nursery rhyme ‘huyyo
huyyo male rāya; hūvina toṭake nīrilla (O rain god, pour forth, pour forth.
There is no water for the flower garden).’ By the time he had chanted it the
third time, it started drizzling. As they approached the shelter of the car shed,
the drizzle had picked up into rain. Entering the shed, He turned around,
faced the garden and surveyed the scene in front of Him with a sweeping
glance. After a brief silence, He remarked, ‘This is strange. We were taught
this line when we were kids. Whenever I recall it and chant it, it somehow
starts raining. See, it is raining now. Svāmigalu (referring to His disciple and
present Jagadguru Śrī Bhāratī Tīṛtha Mahāsvāmin) even says, ‘Your
Holiness should not recite this rhyme randomly. It will immediately rain.’
On a later date, the disciple mentioned this to Jagadguru Śrī Bhāratī Tīṛtha
Mahāsvāmin. ‘Yes, indeed! I have said so. I have seen it rain after even a
casual utterance of that line by His Holiness. It may be surprising but I shall
testify to it,’ was His response.
69. ु ः
महाप्रज्ञािमायि Mahā-prajñā-samāyuktaḥ
One who was eminently endowed with great intelligence
The word prajñā is defined by the following: “Smṛti (memory) pertains to
the past, mati (wisdom) to the future and buddhi (intellect) to the present.
Prajñā (intelligence) is considered as pertaining to all three spans of
time.”194
Thus prajñā means intelligence, connoting memory, understanding,
intellectual ability, hindsight, insight and foresight, aided by abilities such
as presence of mind, intuition, pragmatism and imagination. One who is
āyuktaḥ, endowed with, mahā-prajñā, great intelligence, is clearly one who
possesses these characteristics to a very high degree.
His Holiness has been described here as One who is sam-āyuktaḥ, eminently
endowed with, such great intelligence. As such, what is meant is that His
Holiness’s prajñā or intelligence was not at a level that can even be scaled
up to by anyone, but was sheer inimitable genius.
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 185
It is one thing to grasp or derive inferences from what is presented, but quite
another to intuitively glean something from what is not directly
apprehended.
A brahmacārin who was given to meditation stayed for some days at
Sringeri. His Holiness freely granted him interviews and provided him
suitable facilities to carry out his meditative practices. After he went back
from Sringeri, His Holiness told a disciple that the brahmacārin had
meditated well and praised him.
His Holiness then took the disciple to the place where the brahmacārin had
meditated, pointed out the spot where he had sat, and mentioned the direction
he had faced. His Holiness then demonstrated the posture that he had
adopted. The brahmacārin had not given any of these details to Him; on the
contrary, towards the close of his stay, he had asserted to the disciple that
His Holiness must be unaware of where and how he had practised meditation
in Sringeri.
His Holiness not only had an intuitive insight into the abilities of individuals
as shown above, but also had the understanding and vision to foresee the
future course of events in general.
Sri R. Pandurangan was desirous of pursuing the M.B.B.S. course and
becoming a doctor. When, in the early 1960s, he sought His Holiness’s
blessings, His Holiness told him that by the grace of the Divine Mother, his
wish would be fulfilled. Pandurangan, however, failed to get through the
interview. His Holiness again told him that he would obtain the M.B.B.S.
degree. Pandurangan failed to secure admission the second time too. His
Holiness yet again told him that he would obtain the M.B.B.S. degree.
Finally, in the year 1963, Pandurangan joined the College of Integrated
Medicine at Kilpauk, Chennai, for the G.C.I.M. course, which was not on
par with M.B.B.S. but involved the study of Āyurveda, etc.
When this information was conveyed to His Holiness, He reasserted His
response. The infallibility of His blessing became clear only when it so
happened that, in response to representations, the Government decided to
give the first and second year G.C.I.M. students the option of joining the
M.B.B.S. course, with their earlier studies being given due credit.
Pandurangan was accommodated in the M.B.B.S. course at Stanley Medical
College and graduated four years later; what His Holiness had repeatedly
assured him, came to pass.
Pandurangan then worked as Medical Officer at Vallanadu, near Tirunelveli.
Later, he completed a D.O. course at the Egmore Eye Hospital and was
posted as Assistant Eye Surgeon, Nagercoil. In this manner, though
186 70. Mātsaryādi-vivarjitaḥ
Having a crystal-like pure heart, His Holiness was only able to identify the
good in others. A poet has remarked that noble ones make a mountain of a
molehill-like noble quality of another but treat even a major fault of another
as if it were insignificant. His Holiness had this trait in abundance. He noted
and even praised some good quality or other even in an apparently vile
individual. It goes without saying that He was all praise for people with
noble qualities. He said, “We are in this world for but a while. Is it not
madness to pick holes and quarrel during our short sojourn here?”
Raja Venkata Rao Limbekar wanted to give what is presently the big branch
Maṭha at New Nallakunta in Hyderabad to His Holiness. He told Him, “I
want this to be the personal property of Your Holiness. Even if, at some time,
the Maṭha were to come to a bad turn or things were to become greatly
troublesome for Your Holiness there, Your Holiness need not bother. Your
Holiness could simply move in here.”
His Holiness told him, “I am a saṁnyāsin. I am not supposed to own
anything and I have not even a trace of a wish to do so. I would be quite
happy to live in the manner prescribed for paramahaṁsa-saṁnyāsins. I
would love to move on foot from one place to another, bathe in a river or
some other open body of water, subsist on what food I may get by begging,
sleep under some tree, in some cave or in some temple, and spend my time
largely in meditation, focused on the non-dual Truth and oblivious of the
world. My Guru has, however, assigned me the duty of heading the Sringeri
Math and that is the one and only reason I am shouldering this responsibility.
The scripture teaches that the Supreme Brahman is all; there is not even a
jot or a tittle distinct from It. Purely by the grace of my Guru, I know that I
am Brahman. So what is there in the three worlds that is not mine? At the
same time, nothing whatsoever is mine, for I am not the body-mind complex
and am just unattached pure consciousness. King Janaka, according to the
Mahābhārata, averred, ‘My wealth is indeed unlimited; I have nothing.’ 202
I too have nothing and yet have everything.”
Quick rise to great eminence is known to be attended with an inflation of
one’s ego. Nīlakaṇṭha-dīkṣita, a great devotee of Śiva and poet, has written,
“Regarding eulogies as factual descriptions, looking upon oneself as a god
and looking down upon fellow human beings as if they were worms are the
consequences of newfound affluence.”203 In the case of His Holiness,
however, no negative change whatsoever occurred in Him consequent to His
acquiring the status of a much honoured and influential Jagadguru. For
instance, Sri Ramaswamy Avadhani, who had studied with His Holiness in
Sringeri prior to His saṁnyāsa, recounts, “Even after becoming a saṁnyāsin
and, later, the pontiff, His Holiness has been informal with me and even
188 71. Madhurālāpa-caturaḥ
playful at times. During a tour, He had been to the sea for a bath. He asked
me casually to come with Him into the ocean. I protested that I felt scared
stiff. He held me by the hand and led me into the waters. ‘Let us swim,’ He
said and began to float on His back. For my part, I feared that I would be
drowned. However, He himself held me up and, thereafter, led me safely to
the shore.”
Sri A. S. Raghavan, an eminent musical exponent of the Tiruppugazh,
reminisced, “During His Holiness’s visit to Kolkata in 1967, His Holiness
told Sri P. Subramaniam, the chief organizer, ‘Invite Raghavan of Delhi to
sing Tiruppugazh bhajans.’ My group members and I were pleasantly
surprised that none had any difficulty in obtaining a week’s leave. On the
scheduled morning, I sat on the stage to begin the bhajan. However, I learnt
that His Holiness had left the venue earlier to fulfil devotees’ wishes that He
grace their houses and bless them. I commenced singing with a heavy heart.
I sang for over two hours. Just as I finished singing the last verse, His
Holiness entered the venue, went straight to His seat and started blessing the
devotees with tīrtha-prasāda. I joined the queue, cursing my ill-luck that in
spite of being called to Kolkata at the behest of His Holiness, I could not
sing anything in His august presence.
“When my turn came to receive tīrtha, His Holiness remarked, ‘You sang
very well. I enjoyed listening to the Tiruppugazh.’ Unable to contain my
disappointment, I blurted out, ‘Your Holiness was not here when I sang.’
Smiling at me, His Holiness said, ‘Oh, so you think that I did not listen to
your bhajan?’ I nodded my head. His Holiness continued, ‘I arrived at the
venue when your performance was hardly halfway through. I observed that
the audience was engrossed in the bhajan. Had I entered the hall, I would
have only disturbed your performance. People would have got up and even
queued up to receive tīrtha-prasāda. There would have been commotion and
you would have been forced to stop the bhajan. Hence, I sat outside the
entrance to the hall. I instructed my staff not to let anyone know of my
arrival. I enjoyed hearing your songs. I came in only after you completed
your singing.’ I was awestruck by His considerateness and lack of ego.”
An old lady started sobbing when she came to His Holiness for darśana at
Chennai in 1986. He asked her what her problem was. Amidst sobs, she
managed to say, “I heard that Your Holiness had a heart-problem. Though I
do not know what the problem was, I am unable to bear the suffering of Your
Holiness.”
His Holiness asked, “Have you seen a big tanker transporting diesel?”
“Yes,” she replied. “While the tanker is able to transport much diesel, it too
needs diesel to run. Likewise, the heart pumps much blood but it too needs
blood for its functioning. If the tube supplying diesel to the engine of the
tanker gets partially clogged, the engine will not be able to run properly. In
the same way, if a tube supplying blood to the heart gets partially clogged,
there is a problem, pain. That is all that happened in my case. I am alright
now. Do not worry.” She largely calmed down.
“How could such a thing have happened to Your Holiness?” she asked,
perhaps rhetorically. “Āñjaneya is fond of me. May be that is why He sent
His mother, Añjanā, to be with me for some time. Thus, I had Añjanā,”
remarked His Holiness, punning on the word ‘angina (chest pain / discomfort
190 72. Mati-nirjita-gīṣpatiḥ
caused by reduced flow of oxygenated blood to the heart muscle).’ She broke
into laughter. He blessed her with a fruit and she moved on.
“Though not knowable like an inert object by any means of knowledge, the
Ātman, which is none other than Brahman, is not unknown either. What is
other than oneself and inert may be unknown. The Ātman, however, is one’s
very self and is of the nature of consciousness. Consciousness is what reveals
objects and never needs to be revealed by anything else. It is presupposed in
every act of knowing and is ever self-established.
“The agent of even the act of knowing, which has a beginning and an end,
cannot but be subject to change. Further, only an entity subject to change
can experience pleasure and pain. As the Ātman is changeless, It is neither
the agent of any act, inclusive of that of knowing, nor is It subject to pleasure
and pain. Agency, suffering, enjoyment of pleasure and the like belong to
the changeful intellect. However, owing to avidyā, one mistakenly
superimposes these that belong to the intellect on the Ātman. Also, though
the intellect is inert, the consciousness of the Ātman is wrongly ascribed to
it and the intellect-centred ‘I’ passes off as a conscious agent and
experiencer.
“The scripture advocates realisation of Brahman not in the sense of knowing
what is unknown but in the sense of getting rid of the avidyā-based
superimposition on It. Whether focused on the Ātman or distracted, the mind
is but an inert entity illumined by the Ātman. However, the mental vṛtti of
the form of Brahman destroys, as declared by the scripture, avidyā that rests
in and veils Brahman and presents It wrongly.
“Suppose a person, who is adept at yoga, feels he is established in the Ātman
when he is in samādhi but that he deviates to some extent from the Reality
when he emerges from samādhi and engages in activity. Such a person is not
free from avidyā. Samādhi and distraction are conditions of the mind and
not of the Ātman. The Ātman is ever changeless and of the nature of
consciousness. Samādhi and distraction do not affect it in any way. It is
because this yogin is not free from identification with the mind that he sees
himself as influenced by changes in the state of the mind. He who has fully
realised that he is the changeless Reality remains established in the Reality
and unaffected regardless of whether his mind is in a focused, agitated or
dull condition. He should not become attached to nirvikalpa-samādhi under
the delusion that for its duration he becomes one with Brahman.
“Perception of the world could affect the vision of the Truth of one who
ascribes reality to duality but not of one to whom names and forms are
illusory. He who firmly knows that what lies in front of him is dry sand is
not affected by the appearance or disappearance of a mirage there. Likewise,
he who knows that there is nothing whatsoever apart from Brahman cannot
be affected either by the appearance of the mirage-like world of names and
forms or its disappearance during samādhi or deep sleep.”
192 73. Moditākhila-bhaktāliḥ
I decided then that He was my Guru. Whenever there was a problem, I felt
that I was guided by the Jagadguru. My feelings towards Him grew to such
an extent that I could no longer stay in my house.”
The following is excerpted from an article by Sri S. Y. Krishnaswamy
published in a souvenir in 1983.
His discourses are always tempered to the occasion, and by logic, analogy
and often by illustrative anecdotes, He makes what is difficult look easy.
Once, when I ventured to ask Him about a concept of salvation in which God
and the individual continued to remain separate, He said, “What kind of
salvation is this? Even after obtaining mokṣa, you are Krishnaswamy and I
am a pontiff and I must keep wondering if you are going to do namaskāra
to me!”
Once, in order to expound the variety in God’s creation and God’s
endowment to each of a particular skill for survival, His Holiness said, “Take
the bees. They fabricate a hive consisting of many apertures. There is a
uniformity and perfection about the honeycombs which are remarkable.
Birds make nests. One is surprised at the intricacy displayed in joining the
little twigs together so as to make the nests stable. The mosquitoes sit on our
skin to drink our blood. They do not take as much time as a doctor does to
take blood specimen from our body.” He could go on and on with hundreds
of such examples. Only the great can simplify the non-simple.
His Holiness had a prodigious and eidetic memory. Many people were
pleasantly surprised that even after a lapse of several years, He not only
remembered them but also the particulars of their families. He was able to
do this in spite of the fact that thousands of people flocked to have His
darśana.
Smt. Sarada Kalyanasundaram recalled this experience: “In 1964, when I
was not yet married, I went to Courtallam with my family to have darśana
of His Holiness who was camping there. We arrived in time to attend the
night Candramaulīśvara-pūjā performed by His Holiness. Two people were
singing during the pūjā. His Holiness, noticing me, asked for a microphone
to be brought and placed before me, and asked me to sing. That day, I
continued to sing for long but He did not seem to mind.
“More than 15 years later, in 1981, His Holiness graced our home when He
camped at Thiruvananthapuram. We were astonished to say the least, when,
with a chuckle, He pointed to me and told my husband, ‘At Courtallam, I
gave her a microphone and asked her to sing. She was so happy that she sang
for a very long time that day!’”
194 74. Maryādā-paripālakaḥ
is said, “One who does not know tradition is to be shunned as a fool, even if
he were to be a knower of all the Śāstras.”210
‘Maryādā’ refers to code of conduct. A person who follows his dharma and
also conducts himself in accordance with the societal norms of propriety,
decorum and dignity in consonance with his station in society, is said to be
following maryādā, while a ‘pālaka’, protector of maryādā, is one who
additionally induces others to follow the same. Hanumān gives Sītā the
reason why Rāma is referred to as maryāda-puruṣottama: “He follows the
codes of conduct and induces others also to do so.”211
Here, His Holiness is described as a ‘pari-pālakaḥ’, One who completely
protects, maryāda. He impeccably followed the viśeṣa-dharmas applicable
to Him at every stage and circumstance of life – prior to saṁnyāsa, His
dharma was that of a son to His parents, a student to His school teachers,
etc.; after His upanayana it was that of a brahmacārin; after He became an
ascetic, it became that of a saṁnyāsin. He maintained the dignity of the pīṭha
while also mingling with the masses, and was the epitome of poise and
propriety. Finally, He also induced and guided others to uphold the code of
conduct appropriate to them.
Even as a young boy, Sri Srinivasa Sastry made it a point to help His mother
every day. He conscientiously performed various domestic chores, such as
cleansing of vessels and sweeping. He also took care of His younger siblings.
When once asked about His attending to His brother like a foster-mother, He
said, “My mother is busy in the kitchen and my elder sister is assisting her.
Who will attend to this young one? If I do not do so, it will add to my
mother’s strain.”
He was an obedient and conscientious student and every morning would see
Him trekking on time to His school in the prescribed uniform, which
included a cap and a coat. He was sociable and friendly.
He was a bright student. His father, a primary-school teacher, was a strict
disciplinarian and students feared him. Consequently, several young boys of
the primary school sought Sri Srinivasa Sastry’s help to clear their doubts.
Never did He grudge them help though such tuition demanded that He
regularly spare time for them.
Once Sri Srinivasa Sastry’s upanayana was completed and He stayed back
at Sringeri to pursure śāstraic studies, He developed the habit of waking up
at around 4:30 a.m. After taking a bath, He used to perform His nityakarma
(scripturally-ordained religious observances to be practised regularly) with
meticulous care. He then partook of light tiffin and some milk. Thereafter,
196 74. Maryādā-paripālakaḥ
Holiness. The senior Jagadguru and His Holiness then conversed for a few
minutes. Thereafter, His Holiness walked backwards till He was out of His
Guru’s range of sight; He was unwilling to turn His back towards His Guru.
Such was His reverence for His Guru.”
His Holiness desired to follow the teaching that the śiṣya should not eat prior
to his Guru. Though the senior Jagadguru partook of His bhikṣā late in the
afternoon, His Holiness consistently waited for Him to do so. He did this
even though a separate kitchen had been arranged for Him, so that the time
of His bhikṣā could be independent of that of His Guru. Later, out of concern
for His Holiness’s health, the senior Jagadguru cancelled the extra kitchen
and Himself started going for bhikṣā earlier than before.
“Bhagavatpāda has pointed to the ultimate unity of all faiths. One may
follow any path one likes provided one sees the oneness of all religions.
There is no fundamental contradiction between the tenets of one religion or
cult and another. All spiritual paths ultimately lead to the same goal. This
indeed is the universal appeal of the philosophy of Advaita.” The
representative of the institution then offered respects to His Holiness as also
gratitude for condescending to uplift the citizens of Monghyr.
succession. Finally, all sounds ceased and He was overwhelmed with bliss.
The next moment, His Holiness’s experience ended. The Lord took His
hands away from His face.
In the course of the seven dreams, the Lord had demonstrated hundreds of
āsanas. These included all those described in the authoritative works such
as Haṭhayoga-pradīpikā and numerous others not referred to in any text. His
Holiness did not think even an expert with a highly supple body would be
able to do more than a few of the many āsanas of the latter kind.
After the dreams, while His Holiness was able to perform the simple āsanas
such as śīrṣāsana in the first attempt, the tougher ones such as gheraṇḍāsana
and mukhottānāsana needed effort and practice.
Subsequent to hearing His Holiness’s account of the seven dreams, the
disciple to whom He had recounted them asked Him, “How many of the
āsanas demonstrated by Śiva but not mentioned in books did Your Holiness
master?” He said, “Six. I will show you one of them and you can see how
tough it is.” The disciple watched thoroughly spellbound as, step by step,
His Holiness assumed an extremely complex, inverted pose. Such was the
tight knot into which He tied Himself that it appeared that His body was
made of highly elastic rubber and comprised no bones. Having held the final
pose for about a minute, He gradually unwound Himself.
He then told the disciple, “The first two times that I tried to do this, I failed.
The third time I succeeded only partially. On my next attempt, I somehow
managed to adopt the final position but became stuck in it. I found that I was
just unable to release the knot that bound my hands and legs. I called to mind
Bhagavān’s performance of this āsana. In imitation of what He had done, I
emptied my lungs and used my middle fingers to release myself a little. The
rest was manageable. From the fifth try onwards, I had no difficulty.”
About the number of āsanas He used to perform every day His Holiness
said, “The number of āsanas varied. Within a few years after saṁnyāsa, I
began to devote half an hour exclusively for āsanas and kriyās and half an
hour for prāṇāyāma. I performed some āsanas, such as śīrṣāsana,
sarvāṅgāsana, matsyāsana, paścimottānāsana and ardha-matsyendrāsana,
and the kriyā, nauli, on all days. Apart from these, to the extent that I could
accommodate within the available time, I did other āsanas from my
repertoire. I ended with five minutes of śavāsana. I required a week to
complete one cycle of all the āsanas that I practised.”
Among the kriyās, His Holiness described His practice of neti which was
quite useful in clearing the phlegm blocking the nostrils. He then
202 76. Yoga-mārga-viśāradaḥ
demonstrated nauli. He stood with His legs separated and His palms pressed
against His thighs. Having fully expelled air from the lungs, He deeply
pulled in His abdomen. He then controlled His muscles to make the
abdominal region resemble a cavity with a vertical tube in the middle. He
then made the tube swing from side to side and execute a churning motion.
Finally, He restored His abdomen to its normal form and said, “This used to
be my favourite kriyā.”
His Holiness clarified, “I have not done any āsana or kriyā that Śiva had not
shown me in the dreams. However, I practised the āsanas and kriyās only
after learning, as it were, a number of them from Kāśī-svāmin and the
bairāgīs. Further, I did come to know the names of āsanas from Kaśī-svāmin
and the bairāgīs and, later, from books.”
On the reason for postponing doing āsanas and kriyās till having seemingly
learnt many of them from humans, His Holiness said, “I felt that this is what
God wanted me to do. Because of this, there was no scope for the Maṭha
staff and others to wonder how I was abruptly able to practise haṭha-yoga
without having been taught. As for nāda-anusandhāna, I did it once a week
along with my āhnika. I believe, I only did as God intended me to when I
started doing prāṇāyāma with the bandhas after the first dream and nāda-
anusandhāna after the seventh dream.”
His Holiness’s first two explicit experiences of the ascent of the kuṇḍalinī
caused Him to attain savikalpa-samādhi (described under nāma 91). On the
second of these instances, as He emerged from savikalpa-samādhi, He felt
Himself descending rapidly with the kuṇḍalinī. When He gained mild
awareness of the body. He noticed that His tongue was folded backwards
and felt the descent of a few cool drops of a uniquely tasty fluid into the back
of His throat.
His Holiness had no difficulty in identifying the fluid that He felt descending
into the back of the throat to be nectar from the sahasrāra, because the taste
He had experienced during the dream of Śiva when the Lord had
demonstrated the khecarī-mudrā had become imprinted in His mind. The
taste of the fluid that He noticed on becoming mildly aware of the body was
the same as that taste. The invigorating effect too tallied with what He had
experienced in the dream. The invigorating effect of the nectar lasted for two
days.
His Holiness had His first experience of nirvikalpa-samādhi on 10th
December, 1935 (as described under nāma 1). The next morning, He felt
impelled to perform nāda-anusandhāna. So, as usual, He closed His ears,
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 203
nose and mouth with His fingers to commence His contemplation on the
sound heard in the right ear. The ocean-like sound that He heard abruptly
grew in intensity. Then, in quick succession, He heard a variety of sounds.
These included those of a drum, a flute and a vīṇā. Each sound lasted for
only a few moments before being replaced by the next. He had heard the
same sounds, in the same sequence, when the Lord had demonstrated nāda-
anusandhāna in the dream.
When the last of the sounds ended, there was just silence. His mind became
extremely tranquil and suffused with bliss. The sense of “I” rapidly faded
away completely and nirvikalpa-samādhi ensued. Only non-dual, objectless
consciousness remained. About an hour passed before the mind descended
from samādhi.
Similarly, the Raja of Ramnad was also highly devoted to His Holiness. On
reaching Ramanathapuram along with His successor-designate on 2nd
February, 1975, after having the darśana of Goddess Rājarājeśvarī, His
Holiness performed the night pūjā at Sri Ramalinga Vilas Hall in the palace
of the Raja of Ramnad. Arrangements for Their Holinesses’ stay had been
made with care by the Diwan of Ramnad under instructions from the Raja.
When the Jagadgurus proceeded to Rameswaram for the temple
consecration, the Raja, who was overseeing the activities connected with the
consecration, received Them with devotion. Later, the Raja came with his
family and performed pādapūjā and bhikṣāvandana to the Jagadgurus.
Queen Frederica and Princess Irene of Greece had His Holiness’s darśana
on 20th November, 1966 at New Delhi.
As described under nāma 58, when the first President of India, Dr. Rajendra
Prasad, visited Sringeri in August 1954 and had darśana of the senior
Jagadguru in Goddess Śāradāmbā’s temple, His Holiness played interpreter.
The Hon’ble President was highly impressed by His Holiness and again
called on Him on 13th August, 1960 at Chennai. On the occasion, His
Holiness blessed him with the title, ‘Rāṣṭra-ratna (A gem of the nation).’
Presidents of India, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, Dr. Zakir Hussain, Sri V. V. Giri,
Dr. Giani Zail Singh, Sri R. Venkataraman and Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma,
have sought and had His Holiness’s darśana, sometimes on multiple
occasions.
Prime Ministers of India, Smt. Indira Gandhi, Sri Morarji Desai, Sri P. V.
Narasimha Rao and Sri Atal Bihari Vajpayee have also had the great good
fortune of His darśana and blessings.
Governors, Chief Ministers, Ministers of the Central and State
Governments, social leaders, scholars, scientists, artists, industrialists and
many others sought His Holiness’s darśana, blessings and guidance.
with forehead glittering with bright vibhūti and neck adorned with a
rudrākṣa-mālā, a sage of sages moved towards the assembled ones. I
returned to my room enthralled. I am unable to explain the experience I had
on that day. In fact, without knowledge, I had offered thousands of
salutations to none other than His Holiness Jagadguru Śrī Abhinava
Vidyātīrtha Mahāsvāmin of Sringeri.”
His Holiness reminisced about His tour of the 1960s as follows: “One day,
as the tour was headed towards Varanasi, many dissuaded me, ‘Communal
clashes and violence are prevalent in Kashi. The atmosphere is not
conducive.’
“I could not decide. Praying to Lord Viśvanātha alone is our way, strength
and duty. I pondered, ‘O Visveśvara, why this? I cannot come when You
call me! When I come, You should give me darśana. Why don’t You fulfil
my intense urge?’ Musing like this for a while, I proceeded for about 40
miles towards Kolkata, when two eminent persons from Kashi came and
wanted Me to return to Varanasi. I declined; they insisted; I acceded.
Evidently, the Lord’s grace was there. What a grand welcome awaited me at
Kashi! I was immensely fortunate for the Lord’s darśana and the glory of
the pūjā! Reminiscing about these itself accentuates happiness, satisfaction
and thrill.”
When His Holiness visited Kathmandu in 1967 (as mentioned under nāmas
33 and 77), a Mahārudra-yajña was commenced under His guidance and
supervision. He visited the Paśupatināth Temple multiple times for worship.
On the Mahāśivarātri day, He went on foot to the Paśupatināth Temple
followed by thousands of pilgrims and devotees to the accompaniment of
Vedic chanting, and offered worship. The Mahāśivarātri-pūjā throughout
the night was performed by His Holiness in the presence of a huge gathering,
to the accompaniment of the repeated chanting of the Śrī-rudra.
Sri A. Ramaswamy, a close disciple of His Holiness, recalled, “Once during
a pūjā session, I noticed that the curtain that had been drawn to enable His
Holiness to offer naivedya to the Lord in private as per tradition was opened
after a longer time than usual. Curious to find out what had caused the
unusual delay, I asked His Holiness about it when I had His darśana later.
He said, ‘The naivedya was very hot. How could I offer it to the Lord? So I
had to wait for some time for it to cool down before I offered it to Him.’
“His Holiness’s devotion to God was unparalleled. His performance of pūjā
was bewitching. He never thought of the idols as mere images of God. He
always felt the living presence of God in them. Naturally, He did not wish
to offer a naivedya that was too hot and hurt the Lord.”
212 81. Vaśīkṛtendriya-grāmaḥ
Ātman. Some resolute man who desires to see the Ātman, turns His sight
inwards, seeking immortality.”224 The senses thus only lead one away from
the path of liberation. This is why sense-control is one of the hexad of
attributes required in spirituality (vide nāmas 38 and 98), and forms the fifth
limb of yoga, pratyāhāra (vide nāma 76).
To facilitate freeing people from the clutches of the senses, Bhagavatpāda
drives home the perspective: “The deer, the elephant, the moth, the fish and
the bee perish because of their attachment to sound, touch, sight, taste and
smell respectively. What then is the fate of man who is attached to objects
of all the five senses!”225 The deer perishes, stupefied as it becomes by the
sound of the hunter’s conch; the powerful wild tusker loses its freedom by
getting lured by the touch of a trained she-elephant; attracted by the sight of
light such as a flame, the moth rushes head on into it and perishes; the fish,
succumbing to the sense of taste, grabs the bait attached to the hook of the
angler’s fishing line and perishes; the bee sits savouring the aroma of a lotus,
gets trapped in it at nightfall and meets its end when elephants run riot in the
pond. When this is the lot of beings that are enslaved by just one sense, there
can possibly be no room for doubt regarding the lot of man, who is a slave
of all five senses.
In fact, the Lord gives an insight into the power of the senses when He says,
“O Arjuna! The powerful senses lead astray the mind of even a learned man
endowed with discrimination and striving.”226 He then teaches, “Having
subdued them all, one should remain concentrated, deeming Me as the
Supreme. The wisdom of the one who has his senses under his control is
firmly established.”227 His Holiness had His senses ‘vaśīkṛta’, under His
control. Indeed, He was a thorough master of His senses.
One day, His Holiness sat down in a coconut grove and asked a disciple to
read out the first 50 verses of Vidura-nīti (comprising Vidura’s moral advice
to Dhṛtarāṣṭra) and select compositions of Bhagavatpāda. As the disciple
began chanting verses from the Vidura-nīti, His Holiness partially closed
His eyes. When the disciple came to the 22nd verse, he heard a swishing
sound. Before he could react, a big leaf-stalk and a coconut fell from a tree
in the vicinity and landed on the ground with a big thud less than a metre
from His Holiness. So concentrated was He on the import of the verses that
He was totally oblivious of what had happened.
After reading from the Vidura-nīti, the disciple passed on to the
compositions of Bhagavatpāda, such as Manīṣā-pañcakam and
Brahmānucintanam. His Holiness listened motionless, with a light smile. He
opened His eyes only a few moments after the disciple had finished.
Suddenly, He winced in pain. Unseen by the disciple, and unfelt by His
214 82. Vāgdevī-samupāsakaḥ
Holiness, an army of ants had been biting Him on His legs and hands. His
Holiness’s feet were red and swollen.
He knew by rote the verses that He had asked the disciple to read out and
had Himself mentally recited them on hundreds of occasions. Yet, He
concentrated upon them with such intensity that He remained totally
unaware of even loud extraneous sounds and injury to His body. This was
the kind of control that His Holiness had over His mind, body and senses.
82. ु
िाग्देिीिमपािकः Vāgdevī-samupāsakaḥ
One who was an ardent worshipper of the Goddess of Speech
Vāgdevī, the Goddess of knowledge and speech, is none other than Goddess
Sarasvatī. The grace of Śāradāmbā, who is also worshipped in the form of
Goddess Sarasvatī, bestows erudition and eloquence. His Holiness is said to
be sam-upāsaka, an excellent worshipper, of Vāgdevī. His unmatched
erudition and eloquence were ample proof of this fact. The elaboration of
this nāma has been provided in a verse earlier composed by Jagadguru Śrī
Bhāratī Tīrtha Mahāsvāmin Himself, meaning, “I take refuge in that
Vidyātīrtha, on the stage of whose tongue Goddess Sarasvatī Herself
dances.”228 Indeed, scholars held Him in the highest regard. His Holiness
worshipped Vāgdevī and as Vāgdevī, He bestowed knowledge and speech
on others.
On an occasion, on beholding the senior Jagadguru seated with His
Holiness, a scholar well-versed in the Sāma-veda thought, “How difficult it
must be for Him to train such a young disciple. Indeed, it must be a burden
on Him.” Abruptly, the senior Jagadguru asked the preoccupied Vedic
scholar to chant the Sāma-veda. The man stood up but found words failing
him. He had mastered the Sāma-veda in its entirety but in spite of his best
efforts nothing was forthcoming. Addressing him, the senior Jagadguru
said, “Śāradāmbā is there to take care of things and everything goes on as
per Her wish. She is His (His Holiness’s) guardian.” The Veda-paṇḍita
realised his folly in presuming that His Holiness was an ordinary teenager,
training whom would be a nuisance.
The Maharaja of Kochi, Sri Rama Varma Parikshit Thampuran, himself an
accomplished scholar in the Nyāya-śāstra, once wrote a letter to His
Holiness detailing a doubt he had in the Nyāya-śāstra and sent it to Him
through a scholar. At that time, a vidvat-sadas was going on in the august
presence of His Holiness. When the letter was submitted, His Holiness
directed one of the scholars to read it out in the sadas, thereby initiating a
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 215
discussion among the scholars. One by one, the scholars attempted their
resolution of the issue but one or the other scholar promptly rebutted the
replies. Erudite vidvāns such as Sri Mathur Venkateswara Sastri, a professor
in the Mysore University, and Sri Madhusudana Bhattacharya, a renowned
Tārkika from Kolkata, too offered their explanations only to be subsequently
countered by the other scholars. The debate continued and it seemed as
though it would be eternity before a conclusion could be reached. His
Holiness suggested to the scholars that all of them reflect on the issue further
and come out with a tenable conclusion before the concluding session.
As it turned out, even on the concluding day of the sadas, none of the
scholars was able to resolve the doubt to the satisfaction of all. At this
juncture, His Holiness Himself intervened and presented an appropriate
answer in His inimitably lucid style. The scholars were awestruck by the
splendid reply given by His Holiness. Mathur Venkateswara Sastri, who had
learnt under none other than Jagadguru Śrī Candraśekhara Bhāratī
Mahāsvāmin, openly remarked, “Only His Holiness can put any doubt to
rest. After all, is He not the Goddess Śāradāmbā in human form?”
Needless to say, the Maharaja’s joy knew no bounds when he received the
clarification given by His Holiness. He promptly wrote a letter to His
Holiness conveying his reverential salutations and gratitude.
In 1976-77, the second daughter of Sri Meenakshisundaram Iyer of
Dindigul, developed tonsilitis. This resulted in a total loss of speech even
before the surgery. The worried father took the girl to Sringeri, after having
exhausting all available courses of medical treatment. When
Meenakshisundaram Iyer submitted to His Holiness the purpose of their
visit, His Holiness asked them to be present during the evening
Candramaulīśvara-pūjā. During the pūjā, His Holiness kept looking at the
child now and then, while she sat with her palms joined in reverence. After
the pūjā was completed, His Holiness beckoned to the father and giving him
a ball of sandal paste that had been offered to Lord Candramaulīśvara, asked
him to drop it into His daughter’s mouth. Soon after ingesting the prasāda,
the girl said, ‘Ambā’, prostrated before His Holiness and started speaking.
His Holiness, the worshipper of Vāgdevī, and indeed Vāgdevī Herself, had
blessed the girl to regain her power of speech.
eminent sage and a brilliant statesman. This nāma conveys that His
Holiness’s prajñā, intellectual prowess (vide nāma 69), was sama, equal to,
that of the great Śrī Vidyāraṇya. Indeed, one was vidyā-āraṇya, a forest of
knowledge, the other vidyā-tīrtha, a sacred place of knowledge.
His Holiness attained through deep contemplation and meditation,
savikalpa-samādhi on nirguṇa-Brahman (vide nāma 59). He meditated
using as props, external objects and mental thoughts, and on the tattva of the
Ātman and of Brahman. While He was narrating the sequence of events
decades later to a disciple, the following conversation ensued.
Disciple: Was Your Holiness familiar at that time with the scriptural account
of the two dṛśyānuviddha (associated with a perceptible object) and two
śabdānuviddha (associated with a sound) kinds of savikalpa-samādhis?
HH: No. I read the verses concerned of the Sarasvatī-rahasya-upaniṣad and
the Dṛg-dṛśya-viveka much later. Only when I did so did I come to know
that there were these varieties of savikalpa-samādhi and that I had properly
practised all of them.
His Holiness, then just 18 years old, understood by Himself, and that too as
a matter of direct experience, the esoteric passages of the Śruti with the
correct interpretation. He had, on His own, contemplated and arrived at the
two forms each of the two-fold types of meditation laid down by Śrī
Vidyāraṇya in His text Dṛg-dṛśya-viveka, and practiced all of them perfectly
to attain savikalpa-samādhi on nirguṇa-Brahman. Indeed, how can it be
otherwise, when His Holiness’s knowledge was, as stated in this nāma by
His foremost disciple, on par with Śrī Vidyāraṇya’s!
Śrī Vidyāraṇya was a sage who was initiated into saṁnyāsa by the 10th
pontiff, Śrī Vidyātīrtha, in 1331 A.D., exactly six centuries before His
Holiness (who had His saṁnyāsa-dīkṣā in 1931). The 14th century sage’s
vast repertoire of knowledge is apparent from the large body of writing that
He produced spanning Nyāya, Mīmāṁsā, the Dharma-śāstra and Vedānta.
His masterpieces in Vedānta include the Jīvanmukti-viveka, Pañcadaśī,
Dṛg-dṛśya-viveka, a sub-commentary on Aparokṣānubhūti, and six
Upaniṣad-dīpikas, all of which are celebrated as authoritative works on
Vedānta. Through these, He has explained the concepts of Vedānta in ways
that have been useful to students of Vedānta and spiritual aspirants across
generations.
His Holiness’s contributions to the spread of Vedānta has been no less, and
has also been in accordance with the requirements of the 20th century. His
Holiness penned telling essays that capture the essence of Sanātana-dharma,
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 217
Vedānta and the practice of spirituality in such lucid terms that they can be
understood and brought into practice by lay people of the present age. He
extensively taught the scriptures to various classes of people from scholars
to laymen who do not know Sanskrit. He gave scores of benedictory
discourses in local languages, simplifying the tenets of Vedānta so that it
reaches the common man. He answered questions of devotees and others
without diluting the scriptures and yet catering to the modern mind. He
initiated several into mantras and cleared their doubts, personally guiding
many a spiritual aspirant. He provided lucid expositions on several knotty
issues presented in the scriptures in a way that is universally understandable.
Śrī Vidyāraṇya was instrumental in the establishment of the Vijayanagara
Empire in the 14th Century. That was a watershed moment for India, because
it ensured the re-establishment of Sanātana-dharma, which had suffered a
body blow due to foreign invasions. This single act of the sage vouchsafed
the rebuilding of several temples, restart of worship in many important ones
that had been abandoned due to Muslim invasion, and sustenance of new
Maṭhas established in different parts of South India. All of this, achieved
through the patronage of the Vijayanagara emperors who owed the
reinstatement of their kingship to the grace and guidance of the sage, in turn
ensured that the Hindu faith was resurrected magnificently and placed on a
firm footing.
His Holiness, as seen under various nāmas here, was equal to Śrī Vidyāraṇya
in this aspect as well. When the Maṭha itself was deprived of all its income-
generating lands, His Holiness’s incisive intellect and vision caused Him to
assure worried officials and well-wishers that the patronage of devotees will
not only make up for the loss of revenue but will in fact far exceed it. His
words came true. His Holiness toured India thrice and devotees thronged to
serve the cause of Sanātana-dharma that He espoused. Temples were built
and consecrated by Him, new Maṭhas established all over India, Maṭhas
established earlier were renovated and expanded and became flourishing
institutions, and several pāṭhaśālas were established. He was instrumental
in starting periodicals that spread the message of Bhagavatpāda among the
masses. At a time when western influences were obliterating the belief in
Sanātana-dharma, His Holiness brought thousands and thousands into its
fold and paved the way for their spiritual upliftment.
Śrī Vidyāraṇya wrote the authoritative biography of Śaṅkara-bhagavatpāda,
the Śaṅkara-digvijaya, also known as the Mādhavīya Śaṅkara-vijaya,
thereby making a very significant contribution in spreading the message of
Bhagavatpāda for the benefit of mankind.
218 84. Vidyā-vinaya-śobhitaḥ
One day, Sri Srinivasa Sastry’s mother came to have the darśana of and pay
her respects to the Jagadguru Śrī Candraṣekhara Bhāratī Mahāsvāmin and to
see her beloved son. After meeting Them briefly in Narasimhavana, she
returned to the northern bank of the Tuṅgā at about five in the evening. The
Jagadguru then proceeded to the Kālabhairava Temple. On the way, He
recited a verse that conveys, “A sow quickly brings forth many luckless
piglets. A she-elephant, after long gestation, gives birth to a single calf that
is loved by kings.”230 He then asked the students what, they thought, He had
sought to point out through this verse.
While the others were puzzled and remained silent, Sri Srinivasa Sastry
stepped forward and remarked, “A big school may give instruction to more
than a hundred students. But if they are unable to grasp the substance of the
teaching, the instruction will be a useless effort. A small school may have a
single student. But if that boy is endowed with brains and takes maximum
advantage of the instruction, he will bring fame to the institution. This, I
think is the implied meaning of the verse.” The Jagadguru then turned to
Vaidyanatha Sastry and asked him his view. Sastry said, “It is given only to
some rare lady to give birth to a child who becomes a Jagadguru worshipped
by kings. Other mothers do not get this blessing.” The reason for his giving
this interpretation was that the Jagadguru had cited the verse just a few
minutes after Sri Srinivasa Sastry’s mother had left.
Subsequently, the boys started talking amongst themselves about this. One
of them asked Sri Srinivasa Sastry whether it was not apparent that the verse
referred to His mother. With His characteristic humility, He replied, “I
cannot even imagine giving such an interpretation.”
About His mode of answering queries of spiritual aspirants, His Holiness
has said, “I often give a solution based on personal experience. As I have
tried out numerous methods when I was young, I usually do not have any
difficulty in appreciating the conditions described by the sādhakas.
Sometimes, after giving the questions a thorough hearing and getting
additional necessary clarifications from the questioner, I try out what he
practises. I then use the resulting experience to shape my reply. On some
other occasions, I just feel like prescribing a particular course of action and
so do it. I generally do not find it necessary to quiz disciples before giving
them suggestions. It is only God’s grace that makes the answers helpful to
the seekers.”
His Holiness took personal interest in the welfare and studies of the students
of the pāṭhaśālā in Sringeri and spoke to the students now and then. He
renovated the pāṭhaśālā building and provided them comfortable
accommodation and a good atmosphere for studies. At times, he probed the
students’ knowledge by gentle questioning. If the student did not know the
answer, He never humiliated the boy but merely went on to the next
question, often after having given a brief clarification.
He established Veda-pāṭhaśālās at numerous places. He started the Veda-
poṣaka-sabhā for facilitating the teaching, study and propagation of the
Vedas. Through it, He encouraged Vedic scholars by providing them
financial assistance, honouring them and presenting them with cash awards.
The Veda-poṣaka-sabhā has been unfailingly doing this every year to this
day, during the five-day Śaṅkara-jayantī celebrations. It also conducts Veda
examinations in this period; students from pāṭhaśālās all over the country
have been taking these highly valued examinations. The successful students
receive certificates and cash awards.
His Holiness invited those knowledgeable in the Śāstras such as Vedānta,
Tarka, Mīmāṁsā and Vyākaraṇa, from all over the country to participate in
the vidvat-sadas (assembly of scholars) commencing every year on
Vināyaka-caturthī and ending on the subsequent paurṇamī. A scholar par
excellence, He presided over and personally participated in this annual
sadas. He ensured that humiliation of others, particularly budding scholars,
was not indulged in and if any such attempt were made by a paṇḍita, He
gently intervened. When students spoke, He encouraged them by posing
simple questions that they could have the pleasure of answering.
The following was narrated by Sri Venkatappa Yajnanarayana (who became
Śrī Jñānānanda-tīrtha after saṁnyāsa).
“As I was fortunate enough to accompany His Holiness during His tour of
(then undivided) Andhra Pradesh, I was able to witness numerous incidents
that underscored the faith He had in the Vedas and the regard He had for
vaidikas. Whenever He visited a village or a town in Andhra Pradesh, He
posed the question, ‘Is there any agnihotrin (a maintainer of the ordained
fires and performer of the agnihotra rite every day at dawn and dusk) living
in this place?’ If the answer was ‘Yes,’ He expressed His wish to pay a visit
to the house concerned. Whenever He visited any such house, He praised the
agnihotrin for his faith in performing such rites and specially blessed him
and his family. He also advised the people who accompanied Him to such
places to be sincere in the performance of their nitya-karma.”
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 223
When the man answered in the affirmative, His Holiness began His
exposition. He spoke for an hour and a half and addressed every argument
that the scholar had raised. At the end of it, the scholar got up, took off his
turban, and placing it at the lotus feet of His Holiness, prostrated before Him.
The thoroughly humbled man remarked, “I have only read in books that
great scholars existed in ancient India. I have never heard such an extensive
and brilliant exposition of Nyāya. Today I have seen Goddess Sarasvatī
Herself in front of me.”
In 1954, when His Holiness ascended the pīṭha after the Mahāsamādhi of
His Guru, His Holiness was thirty-seven years old. On the seventh day after
His ascension of the pīṭha, a paṇḍita from Andhra Pradesh visited Sringeri.
He was a great scholar of Vedānta but was very egoistic. If he came across
a scholar he would ask a barrage of questions. If the scholar was unable to
answer immediately, he would berate and humiliate him mercilessly. On
arriving in Sringeri, he approached a Maṭha official and said, “Please
arrange for me to have the darśana of His Holiness.” The official who was
aware of this man’s dubious reputation said, “It is not possible to arrange for
a meeting with His Holiness.” However, the scholar continued to press for
an appointment, and hence the official submitted the matter to His Holiness.
His Holiness said, “He is very well-read, isn’t he? And he intends to ask
some questions. If he asks me something I do not know, I will listen to and
learn from him. There is no loss. Go ahead and arrange for a meeting.” The
official duly arranged for the paṇḍita to have the darśana of His Holiness.
The moment the scholar came into His Holiness’ presence, he began to ask
a volley of questions, without waiting for or expecting an answer. His
Holiness took up some water in His hands and threw it at the man’s face.
Immediately, the man was reduced to a humble shadow of his former self.
He had been possessed by a spirit which had been the one arguing with
scholars all along, making it seem that the paṇḍita was behaving in an
arrogant manner. His Holiness instantaneously cured the man of the spirit
that had possessed him. He also graced the paṇḍita with a mantra-upadeśa.
was brought completely met his requirements. Apparently, His Holiness had
intuitively arrived at the specifications the disciple had in his mind.
During His several tours all over India, His Holiness showed avid interest in
learning about subjects as diverse as agriculture, engineering, architecture,
forestry, horticulture, energy management, etc. In fact, what happened when
He was thinking of converting some of the Maṭha-owned land at Sringeri
into agricultural land, is a classic example of the practical implementation
of His diverse knowledge. Some ill-intentioned ones gave Him misleading
advice and this led to some minor setbacks. For instance, repeated rotation
of crops was suggested and it was made out that the region was thoroughly
unsuitable for developing coconut groves. His Holiness was quick to see
through their game. He had picked up too much knowledge of agriculture
and horticulture during His tour to be misled any longer. He had already
determined that the bane of the region was the haphazard policy of the earlier
planners who cultivated a crop and whimsically replaced it with another,
hoping that the new crop would fetch enhanced dividends. Examining the
soil and keeping the climatic conditions in mind, His Holiness decided what
crops it would sustain. He had acquired much knowledge about fertilizers
and pesticides, both natural and synthetic, and about how best to attend to
various crops and groves. In the face of extreme scepticism, He ordered the
planting of coconut saplings. His instructions were carried out to the letter
and lo and behold, Sringeri soon got its first coconut grove.
A tractor was once donated to the Maṭha at Sringeri. His Holiness started
asking for details about the working of its various parts. The experienced
engineer who had been deputed by the manufacturer to hand over the tractor
to the Maṭha, could not give satisfactory replies to all the questions. In fact,
he realized that he had learnt much from this interaction with His Holiness.
He even said later that he had not learnt in all the 25 years of his experience,
what he had learnt from His Holiness in that one interaction. He felt that his
experience would have been richer if he had had this opportunity much
earlier in his career.
Sri A. R. Viswanathan, a disciple of His Holiness, developed and maintained
a beautiful garden with various types of flowering plants and trees in the
compound of his house in Bengaluru. Whenever His Holiness camped in
Bengaluru and paid a visit to his house, He viewed and enjoyed the garden.
On several occasions, He discussed gardening with him. Once, when
Viswanathan went to Sringeri with his friend to have darśana, His Holiness
met them in private and conversed for over an hour about gardens, various
plants and some of the difficulties in maintaining and nurturing them.
230 87. Viditākhila-śāstrārthaḥ
Maṭha at the entrance to Sringeri was made available by His Holiness for
the hospital. Apart from providing land, His Holiness donated many lakhs
of rupees and, in His time, the medical facility grew from a small out-patient
unit to a full-fledged hospital in the early 1980s, with sophisticated medical
equipment and a full-fledged lab. Dr. V. Parameshvara, a leading
cardiologist of Bengaluru, served as the hospital’s Chairman, and Natarajan
functioned as its Secretary. His Holiness frequently visited the hospital and
cheered and blessed the sick ones. With full knowledge of the role of His
Holiness, Natarajan reported, “His Holiness is indeed everything to the
hospital, and it is nothing without Him.” A Scientific Research Academy
with His Holiness as its trustee engaged in the conduct of medical research.
His Holiness not only had a keen ear for classical music, both South Indian
and North Indian, but was also quite familiar with its nuances such as rāgas.
Especially in the 1950s and 1960s, He used to sing rather than chant not only
the customary maṅgala-śloka, but also the other verses that He would quote
in the course of his benedictory discourses. He would spontaneously set the
verses to specific rāgas, invariably adhering to the rules of the rāga He
chose, thus delivering a pure rendition that would touch the listeners’ hearts.
When renowned musicians performed during the Candramaulīśvara-pūjā
that He did in public view every night, He would sometimes even choose
the rāga for the next piece.
His Holiness was an astute administrator who dealt with the Maṭha
administration with a 360-degree-perspective. Many were the challenges He
faced starting with the regaining of control of the Maṭha administration from
the State Government. He solved every problem and spearheaded all-round
development of the Maṭha with His characteristic wisdom, swiftness,
dexterity and compassion.
His immaculate intuition and razor-sharp intellect contributed to His
unerringly evaluating situations and how they would unfold. While He was
easily and willingly swayed by a person’s purity of heart and very
accommodative of incompetent but sincere persons, He quickly sensed
hypocrisy, insincerity and the buttressing of data to camouflage
underperformance. He could comfortably manage even with staff who, as
far as others could discern, were brainless and obdurate too. He gave all the
Maṭha staff, regardless of the person’s rank, age or experience, a patient
hearing and considerately and promptly took steps to mitigate grievances.
He gladly accepted and implemented any good suggestion from anybody.
His Holiness was extremely just in His dealings and was unwilling to allow
any deliberate misinterpretation of the facts.
232 88. Vīta-rāga-jana-stutaḥ
88. ु
िीतरागजनस्ततः Vīta-rāga-jana-stutaḥ
One who was extolled by dispassionate ones
His Holiness was stuta, One who was extolled, by janaḥ, people, who were
vīta-rāga, free from attachments, that is dispassionate. When people free
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 233
His Holiness was held in very high esteem by the pontiffs of all the other
three āmnāya-pīṭhas established by Bhagavatpāda. Śrī Svarūpānanda
Sarasvatī Mahāsvāmin, the Jagadguru Shankaracharya of Jyotir Math, in
particular, had great regard for His Holiness and met Him on numerous
occasions. Śrī Abhinava Saccidānanda Tīrtha Mahāsvāmin of Dwaraka
passed away in 1982 and had nominated Śrī Svarūpānanda Sarasvatī
Mahāsvāmin to succeed Him at the Dwaraka Math. On account of His great
regard for His Holiness, Śrī Svarūpānanda Sarasvatī Mahāsvāmin met Him
and requested Him to come to Dwaraka to perform His paṭṭābhiṣeka
(coronation). His Holiness graced the occasion and Himself performed the
coronation in May 1982. Śrī Svarūpānanda Sarasvatī Mahāsvāmin has a vast
āśrama in Paramahamsi Gangashrama of Madhya Pradesh. He built a big
temple there dedicated to Rājarājeśvarī and was rather keen that His
Holiness Himself should perform the kumbhābhiṣeka, and accordingly
arranged for His Holiness’s camp there. His Holiness graced the place in
December 1982 and performed the kumbhābhiṣeka of the temple.
Viśiṣtādvaitic religious heads like the Jeeyar of Vanamamalai met His
Holiness. Likewise, during His 1979-80 tour when His Holiness was
camping at the National High School in Tiruchirapalli, the Jeeyar of the
234 88. Vīta-rāga-jana-stutaḥ
Ahobila Math met Him. Mādhva Maṭha pontiffs, such as Śrī Viśveśa Tīrtha
of the Pejawar Math met His Holiness at Shankara Math, Bengaluru, during
His Holiness’s cāturmāsya there.
Śrī Saccidānanda Abhinava Subrahmaṇya Bhāratī Svāmin of the Sivaganga
Math, along with his disciple, Śrī Viśveśvarānanda Bhāratī Svāmin, had
requested His Holiness to grace Sivaganga. When His Holiness visited
Sivaganga in 1968 and 1971, the Svāmin performed pādapūjā. The heads of
the Hebsur Math and Machilipatnam Gāyathrī-pīṭha were also present on
the occasion. His Holiness performed the kumbhābhiṣeka and pratiṣṭhā of
the new shrines of Dakṣiṇāmūrti, Mahāgaṇapati and Danḍapāṇi. Śrī
Viśveśvarānanda Bhāratī Svāmin later offered his respects in 1977 during
the Ṣaṣṭyabdapūrti celebrations of His Holiness in Chennai.
Śrī Saccidānanda Bhāratī Svāmin, the immediate predecessor of the current
pontiff of the Sivaganga Math, had been a student of the Sringeri pāṭhaśālā
prior to saṁnyāsa. He visited Sringeri and paid his obeisance to His Holiness
on many occasions, besides having been initiated into a mantra by Him.
The Mahant of the Tarakeshwar Math highly revered His Holiness, and
invited Him to and made excellent arrangements for His stay at Tarakeshwar
on more than one occasion. He reverentially escorted His Holiness to the
famous Taraknath Temple and was present when His Holiness performed
pūjā to the holy liṅga there.
In December 1963, during His Holiness’s tour of Goa, He was received with
devotion at Parthagali by Śrī Dvārakānāth Svāmin, the head of the Parthagali
Math.
On the request of Sri Ramanatha Jnana Desikar, the head of the Kovilur
Math, His Holiness visited Kovilur and was received there by a mammoth
gathering, which included many prominent Nagarathars. He was taken in a
procession to the Kovilur Math. In the public meeting presided over by Dr.
Raja Sir Muthiah Chettiar of Chettinad, the Kovilur Maṭhādhipati presented
the welcome address. Prasādas were brought from the nine Nagarathar
temples on the occasion.
Svāmi Cinmayānanda also maintained contacts with His Holiness and
visited Him on 17th October, 1967 in Mumbai, and later at Shankara Math,
Bengaluru, as well as at other places.
Svāmi Śivānanda, the founder of the Divine Life Society of Rishikesh, was
a great admirer of the Sringeri Math. His successor, Svāmi Cidānanda, too
held His Holiness in great esteem. When His Holiness toured the Himalayas
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 235
On 22nd May, 1931, once the rituals connected with saṁnyāsa were
completed (vide nāmas 25 and 62) His Holiness crossed the river from
Narasimhavana in a boat. Such crossing of a river by a new saṁnyāsin is
symbolic of the crossing of the ocean of transmigratory existence. On the
riverbank on the other side, He performed ‘paryaṅka-śauca’, a formalised
cleansing of the body involving balls of mud and water. The senior
Jagadguru and His Holiness then went to Goddess Śāradāmbā’s temple.
The texts on saṁnyāsa prescribe that the Guru should worship the disciple
on the day of initiation, seeing the Divine in the latter and that thereafter, the
disciple should worship the Guru. The vyākhyāna-siṁhāsana was kept
facing north in the elevated southern corridor of the Śāradāmbā temple.
Going to it, the Jagadguru seated His Holiness on it and placed on His head
a śālagrāma (a special stone that is regarded as symbolic of Lord Viṣṇu and
as ever-sanctified by His presence). He then sat near His Holiness’s feet,
facing east, and commenced His worship. He proceeded to perform abhiṣeka
to the śālagrama by pouring water on it with a conch. After performing
ārati, the senior Jagadguru lay prostrate before His Holiness. His Holiness
sat still and silent throughout this worship. After the senior Jagadguru
finished the worship and removed the śālagrāma from His Holiness’s head,
He occupied the vyākhyāna-siṁhāsana. His Holiness sat near His Guru’s
feet, worshipped them and prostrated before them. After this worship was
236 89. Vyākhyā-siṁhāsanādhīśaḥ
if there be no distinct soul then how can it be taught that the soul is, in reality,
identical with Brahman, the Supreme?
The aphorism in question is formulated by way of doubting the soul’s
existence. The idea is that when the statement of refutation comes after
raising the doubt, it produces a firm conviction about the subject matter.
The opponent’s view is as follows: ‘‘It is seen that consciousness does not
belong to external things such as earth, taken either individually or
collectively. Still, consciousness may belong to the elements transformed
into bodies. Apart from the body, there cannot be any soul, for the body itself
comprises the soul.”
The reason adduced by the opponent is: “Its existence is dependent on the
body.” Anything whose existence depends on the existence of another and
which ceases to be when the other is not there is ascertained to be the
attribute of the latter.
For instance, heat and light are seen to be attributes of fire, for their existence
depends on the existence of fire. As regards other attributes, such as
memory, which are held to belong to the soul by believers, the opponent says
that these too are perceived within the body and not outside. His view is, “So
long as any substance other than the body cannot be proved, these must be
taken to be the attributes of the body. Hence, the soul is not distinct from the
body.”
Under this predicament, the aphorist’s answer is: “But this is not so. There
is distinction between the soul and the body because consciousness may not
exist even when the body exists, as in the case of perception.”
The soul is not identical with the body because consciousness may not exist
even when the body is there. If it be inferred that attributes of sentience, etc.,
belong to the body because they are seen when the body is seen then why
should it not be held that they are not attributes because they may not be
seen even when the body is seen?
Characteristics such as consciousness, are not seen in dead bodies. Further,
while it is possible to determine the presence of consciousness, etc., when a
man is alive, it is not possible to conclusively ascertain their nonexistence
after death. For, even when this body has fallen, these may well persist by
virtue of transfer into another body. Even if this not be a conclusive proof,
still it can demolish the opponent’s claim of conclusive establishment of
consciousness as an attribute of the body.
Further, the materialist does not accept any principle other than the elements.
What then does he think of consciousness? If consciousness be regarded by
him as perception of the elements and their derivatives, then we assert that
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 239
Him and asked Him to enter the sanctum sanctorum. On His entering, the
door was closed. Śāradāmbā took Him on Her lap and said, “Your good
times are ahead. Even kings will pay obeisance unto you. Do not become
proud. Continue to worship Me and be with your Guru. Wear this crystal
necklace to remind you of Me.” So saying, She put the necklace on His neck
and permitted Him to leave. Thereafter, the dīpārādhanā took place; at the
same time, the necklace disappeared. The dream ended there.
One may conjecture that the Divine Mother had felt that as He had firmly
lodged Her in His heart, there was no need for any external cue to remind
Him of Her and so had caused the necklace to vanish in that dream.
It was a day a few months after His Holiness’s initiation into saṁnyāsa in
1931. He was fourteen years old. He had just finished His morning āhnika
and was about to get up. Without premeditation, He joined His palms and
said, “śrī-śāradāyai namaḥ (Obeisance to the glorious Śāradā).” Abruptly,
He felt an upsurge of joy and stopped being aware of His surroundings. It
began to seem that His body was becoming transparent and that He was
seeing His backbone from some vantage point in front of His chest. The
backbone stood out, whitish in colour, with the silhouette of the body
appearing dark like a shadow. The backbone then seemed to become
translucent to reveal a canal in its interior. In moments, the canal’s width
became greatly magnified. He could then see a tube, red and bright like fire,
traversing the length of the canal. A mellifluous female voice announced,
“iyaṁ suṣumnā-nāḍī (This is the suṣumnā-nāḍī).” He just heard the words
but did not perceive the speaker.
The invisible speaker then revealed the vajrā, citriṇī, iḍā and piṅgalā nāḍīs
in a similar fashion. Then one by one His Holiness perceived the yoga-
cakras starting from the mūlādhāra-cakra and proceeding upward along the
suṣumnā-nāḍī. At every cakra was revealed to Him various aspects of the
cakra such as the lotus of the cakra, the syllables of the Sanskrit alphabet
associated with the cakra, the form of Ambā related with the cakra as also
the devata associated with the cakra. In the pericarp of the mūlādhāra-cakra
He perceived a śiva-liṅga around which was wound a lustrous serpent. The
serpent was motionless and appeared to be fast asleep. Yet, it was somehow
unmistakable to His Holiness that it was the embodiment of unbounded
power. He was told that this was the kuṇḍalinī.
Revealing six cakras in this manner starting from the mūlādhāra, the
invisible speaker then revealed to His Holiness, above the end of the
suṣumnā-nāḍī and within the head, a lotus with many white petals arranged
in multiple layers. All the fifty letters of the Sanskrit alphabet could be seen
there. The voice told Him that this lotus with one thousand petals was the
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 241
sahasrāra. At the pericarp of the lotus was a region that resembled the full
moon and shed nectarine rays. Inside this was a bright triangle. The female
voice said, “atra paramaśivaḥ sthitaḥ (Herein abides Paramaśiva).” Even
without hearing any words to that effect, He felt certain that the ascent of the
awakened kuṇḍalinī-śakti ends at the sahasrāra, wherein Śakti unites with
Paramaśiva.
At this point, His experience ended. He submitted the details of the
experience to His Guru. Then, the senior Jagadguru lightly patted His
Holiness on His left cheek and said, “You are blessed. Śāradāmbā has
directly taught you today and that too, of Her own accord. I am reminded of
the fact that She Herself had expounded yoga to my Guru (Jagadguru Śrī
Saccidānanda Śivābhinava Nṛsiṁha Bhāratī, the 33rd pontiff). My
Paramaguru (Jagadguru Śrī Nṛsiṁha Bhāratī, the 32nd pontiff) had earlier
told my Guru that She would do so.” He continued, “You are Her very own.
So, it is but fitting that She chose to instruct you. She will teach you further.
My Guru used to receive Her guidance not only when awake but also in
dreams. You too shall do so.”
That very night in a dream, Śāradāmbā revealed to His Holiness the methods
by which the kuṇḍalinī could be awoken from slumber and made to pass
through the suṣumnā-ṇāḍī and reach the sahasrāra. He also beheld in the
dream, the moonlike region at the pericarp of the sahasrāra, shedding nectar.
Even during the dream His Holiness unambiguously realised that though
Goddess Śāradā was Herself making known kuṇḍalinī-yoga to Him, She did
not intend that this be His principal sādhanā. However, He did put into
practice what all She led Him to recognize as meant to be implemented by
Him. After the dream, He started the practice of mentally visualizing the
various cakras, contemplating on the deities therein just as they had been
shown to Him and then worshiping the kuṇḍalinī there. He would carry
forward the worship done in one cakra to the next higher one, after
conceiving that He reverentially led the kuṇḍalinī, whom He saw in the form
of Ambā, there. He devoutly performed, without expectation of anything,
such worship on Tuesdays and Fridays.
As mentioned under nāma 15, the senior Jagadguru taught His Holiness a
method to meditate on divine forms, in January-February, 1934. Deciding to
try out what the senior Jagadguru had taught Him, His Holiness went a little
later to Goddess Śāradāmbā’s temple. There, He sat next to the sanctum,
facing Her idol. As He looked at the idol, a jewel on the face glittered in the
light of the oil lamps. From His position, it appeared bluish. When He shifted
His face a little, it appeared green. After seeing the blue light for a short
while, He half-closed His eyelids and directed His eyes towards the space
between His brows. Simultaneously, He mentally chanted ‘Om’ repeatedly
242 91. Śāradā-pūjanāsaktaḥ
been seeing Her form clearly. However, the experience of that day was
extraordinary. He vividly beheld the Goddess’s feet; the sense of reality of
the vision was intense and left no room for doubts. This was His first
experience of savikalpa-samādhi. During this samādhi, He almost totally
forgot Himself and that He was meditating; Goddess Bālā’s feet alone
manifested. After remaining for one and a half hours in savikalpa-samādhi
with His mind locked on to Goddess Bālā, He regained awareness of the
body and opened His eyes. He could literally see Her in front of Him within
the temple. He reached out and touched Her feet with His hands. A few
moments later, She disappeared.
It was some months after this first experience of savikalpa-samādhi, that His
Holiness explicitly experienced the ascent of the kuṇḍalinī. On a Monday
sometime in the period July-September, 1935, as He sat for His usual
meditation, He felt an electric shock at the middle of His soles. The kuṇḍalinī
started its ascent through the yoga-cakras, causing the lotuses of a cakra to
bloom as it passed through it. After He had briefly seen the ājñā-cakra
(yoga-cakra located in the region between the eyebrows) in bloom, He
experienced a bright flash of light like lightning. Next, He saw a charming,
luminous, tiny blue orb. His attention locked on to it and as He could then
behold only that orb, its smallness was no more apparent. Thereafter, within
it, He apprehended the forms of Śiva and Pārvatī. The blue orb with the
forms of Śiva and Pārvatī constituted the object of His savikalpa-samādhi.
The next day, He again experienced the ascent of the kuṇḍalinī, but this time,
when the kuṇḍalinī reached the ājñā-cakra, He had a vision of Śiva as
Dakṣiṇāmūrti. After this the kuṇḍalinī reached the sahasrāra-cakra (located
at the crown of the head) and He spontaneously went into savikalpa-
samādhi, with the object of His focus being Īśvara as inhabiting the tiny
space that He apprehended in the sahasrāra.
On the following Friday, as He was about to visualise and focus on a divine
form in His heart, His tongue folded backwards. Then, for a moment, He
saw the Divine Mother as seated in the sahasrāra and pouring down nectar.
He decided to meditate on Her in this very fashion. So, He conceived of Her
as He had glimpsed Her and focused on Her. He was soon in savikalpa-
samādhi. When He regained awareness of the body, He felt a few drops of
fluid descending into the back of His throat. The taste, coolness and
invigorating effect were the same as on the previous occasion.
th
On the afternoon of 11 December, 1935, that is the day following His first
experience of nirvikalpa-samādhi (vide nāma 1 and 76) His Holiness
attained nirvikalpa-samādhi through kuṇḍalinī-centred laya-yoga. He had
244 92. Śāradendu-sama-dyutiḥ
just apprehended a hue between His brows when, involuntarily, His attention
turned to the anāhata-cakra (situated in the level of the chest). He
apprehended the kuṇḍalinī there. The divine Śakti headed rapidly to the
sahasrāra, leaping, as it were, from one cakra to the next higher one. When
the kuṇḍalinī reached the sahasrāra, He plunged into nirvikalpa-samādhi.
As His mind lightly came out of nirvikalpa-samādhi after about an hour, He
discerned the descent of the kuṇḍalinī from the sahasrāra.
in this regard. In 1975, I once beheld His Holiness coming for pūjā after
finishing His evening bath and āhnika. An orange-hued glow enveloped
Him. I could see the surroundings and so was in no trance. He sat for the
pūjā. The halo continued to be visible to my naked eyes. When the Vedic
chanting was going on, I saw a ray of light emanating form Him and
penetrating me. I felt suffused with true peace and joy.”
The following episode appeared in the Kannada book ‘Jagadguru’, as
narrated by Sri Janaki Tanaya of Mysuru.
“Sri Avinashi Chetty of Muduku Thorai and a worshipper of Lord Sūrya,
was a gentleman with very orthodox habits. He used to come to my house
whenever he visited Mysuru. On one particular occasion when he came by,
I had gone to the Shankara Math to witness the Candramaulīśvara-pūjā
performed by His Holiness who happened to be camping at Mysuru at that
time. So my wife directed him to the Maṭha. That particular evening, during
the Candramaulīśvara-pūjā, the whole building was suddenly plunged into
darkness. The pūjā, however, was performed with oil lamps. After that, His
Holiness went to the temple of Jagadguru Śrī Nṛsiṁha Bhāratī Mahāsvāmin.
When He was about to enter the temple, lights went off there, but came on
in the hall in which the pūjā was conducted.
“Avinashi Chetty later told me, ‘I entered the pūjā hall in search of you. I
was not concerned with the pūjā but since you were sitting in the front row,
I did not want to disturb you. Suddenly, I had some passing thoughts. Why
are so much pomp and paraphernalia needed for a saṁnyāsin? Can He not
do the pūjā in private? Why not use ordinary oil lamps for illumination
instead of these decorated electric lamps? When I was thinking on these
lines, all the lights went off, and I saw that His Holiness was not at all
affected by this. I was a bit confused. When the pūjā was over and His
Holiness was about to enter the temple, lights went off there also. This, in
fact, added to my confusion and thrill. Then His Holiness turned towards
me. I saw a bright jyotis (light) coming from His eyes, making a circle, and
then subsiding back into them. In one eye of His Holiness I beheld Lord
Sūrya and in the other, Goddess Śāradāmbā. I was not able to think of
anything at that moment. I cannot adequately describe the nature of my
experience with mere words.’”
To penetrate the target, the sharpness of the tip of the arrow, the density of
the target and such other factors play a role; all these are the Lord. The crux
of all that I have been saying is that according to the scripture, God is
everything in the universe and is every law governing its functioning.”
At this point, His Holiness took a sheet of paper and quickly sketched two
pictures on it. He pointed to the first and asked the disciple, “What do you
see?” The disciple said, “Two faces close to and facing one another, or a
wine glass.” “Can you see both together?” He queried. “No,” the disciple
replied. His Holiness then asked the disciple to look at the second picture
and tell Him what he could see. The disciple responded, “Either a duck with
its beak to my left or a rabbit facing right, with its long ears pointing
backwards.” “Do you see both together,” He asked. The disciple answered
in the negative.
His Holiness continued, “Each of these images is apprehended non-
simultaneously in two different ways by a person. If two persons were to see
either of the images at the same time, one may apprehend the image in one
way and the other in the second way. Likewise, what is apprehended by a
person as just the material world may be apprehended by him later, after
spiritual discipline, as a manifestation of God; simultaneously too, what a
materialist perceives as the material world, is seen by a saint as a
manifestation of God.
“He who holds that God is a creator distinct from nature and its laws may
have a problem if it be said that the bodies of the animals we see and humans
came to their present state through changes over millions of years by the
operation of the laws of nature; a true vedāntin would be fine with it. If
someone were to say that gradual evolution of animals and humans is wrong,
he would be fine with that too. To a vedāntin, a small irregularly shaped
stone rolling in the river and becoming a round pebble, the formation of the
sun and the earth, the development of a human child from a sperm and egg
are all equally attributable to God.
“The scripture does not stop with presenting God as just being in the form
of the universe and its laws. It goes further and says that the operation of
every law of nature depends on God. The Śvetāśvatara-upaniṣad teaches,
‘He, the basis of the cosmos, is the one who manifests the nature of things
(such as the heat of fire) and transforms what is mutable.’244 Thus, He is the
universe and its laws; He is the one who gives life to the laws; He is the one
who transforms things according to the laws of nature.
“He is, importantly, not only immanent but also transcendent. The
materialist may be unwilling to concede this and argue against it but a true
vedāntin is not put off by any of this because, to him, the materialist is a
248 94. Śāradā-pīṭha-nāyakaḥ
95. ं िे ी
र्ङ्कराचायािि Śaṅkarācārya-saṁsevī
One who devoutly worshipped Śrī Śaṅkarācārya
Śrī Ādi-śaṅkarācārya incarnated at a time when the country was in turmoil;
people were being misled by faulty ideas and erroneous practices that were
in vogue. He toured the length and breadth of the country on foot thrice,
gently cleansing, of various corruptions, the then prevalent practices of
worship, and leading people into the path to higher good. He defeated in
debate, scholars of various schools opposed to the Vedic way and established
the supremacy of the Vedas as also its true interpretation.
Bhagavatpāda championed the cause of Sanātana-dharma rooted in the
Vedas and resurrected the knowledge of Advaita enshrined in the Upaniṣads.
His peerless Prasthāna-traya-bhāṣyas, that is commentaries on the triad of
paths which are the principal Upaniṣads, the Brahma-sūtras and the
Bhagavad-gītā, serve to clearly establish the Advaita philosophy beyond
doubt; His several minor philosophical works, prakaraṇa-granthas,
elucidate the same ultimate Truth in simple language for common people to
understand; the many devotional hymns He composed can lift the ordinary
soul to the sublime heights of bhakti.
In just the 32 years that marked His earthly sojourn, He managed to conquer,
as it were, the entire country, unify it and bring peace to the land and the
hearts of its people, conclusively vouchsafing for even future generations, a
culturally, religiously and spiritually rich and vibrant Bhārata. And all this,
without drawing a sword or subjugating anyone, but by the sheer brilliance
of His intellect, speech and pen.
The Mādhavīya Śaṅkara-vijaya says about Jagadguru Śri Ādi-śaṅkarācārya,
“To save, by teachings about the Self, people, who are trapped in the dense
forest of ignorance and who are exceedingly tormented by the heat of the
flame of the forest fire of transmigratory existence, Dakṣiṇāmūrti gave up
silence and, coming forth from the foot of the banyan tree, moves about in
the world in the form of Śaṅkarācārya.”246 He is therefore referred to as
Bhagavatpāda, meaning ‘the pre-eminent Bhagavān’.
His Holiness was a saṁsevī, a devout worshipper, of Śrī Śaṅkarācārya. His
Holiness paid homage to Bhagavatpāda every day as an integral part of His
āhnika, paying obeisance to Bhagavatpāda’s idol placed next to the
Candramaulīśvara-pūjā maṇḍapa. He worshipped at the shrine of
Bhagavatpāda during the five-day Śaṅkara-jayantī celebrations every year
apart from paying obeisance at the shrine every Friday when at Sringeri. He
was extremely devoted to Bhagavatpāda and would be moved to tears while
recalling the various aspects of His greatness.
250 95. Śaṅkarācārya-saṁsevī
Another meaning of the word ‘saṁsevī’ is ‘one who excellently serves’. The
best possible service that can be offered to Bhagavatpāda is to further the
cause that He championed - protect, sustain and propagate Sanātana-dharma
and the tenets of Advaita. After having Himself become established in the
Supreme Advaitic principle taught by Bhagavatpāda, His Holiness carried
out extensive renovation projects in Kalady, the birthplace of Bhagavatpāda
(vide nāma 23). Building, consecrating and renovating the temples of
Bhagavatpāda in several places, establishing, running, improving and
supporting institutions of Sanātana-dharma, traveling the length and breadth
of the country many times over and spreading the message of Bhagavatpāda,
teaching Bhagavatpāda’s bhāṣyas to scores of disciples and scholars and
training them in the tenets of Advaita are some of the ways in which His
Holiness was a true saṁsevī of Bhagavatpāda.
In a letter penned by His Holiness from Bengaluru in 1937 to His Guru who
was then at Sringeri, He paid glorious homage to Bhagavatpāda through a
verse composed by Him, meaning, “By means of numerous unassailable
arguments destructive of opposing schools of thought, He drove away all the
Buddhists, who had internal divisions and had taken possession of the earth
coveted by the asuras, and restored it to its pristine state. May He, our pre-
eminent preceptor of Advaita, Śaṅkara, who is the sun to the lotuses of the
Vedas and is of the image of Dakṣiṇāmūrti, confer happiness on those who
are in dread of saṁsāra.”247
Regarding His visit to Kolkata in 1967, His Holiness reminisced, “I went to
Kolkata. Even there some hurdles and hardships surfaced. ‘For saṁnyāsins
like me, what is fame or infamy, triumph or defeat? Let Īśvara’s will prevail’
- thinking thus, I proceeded. On the very next day after I reached the city, a
wonderful transformation was seen in the atmosphere. There was no end to
the love and deference of the large gathering. Aren’t these the glory of
Bhagavatpāda, tell-tale signs of Guru’s grace?”
[This is a summary of a benedictory discourse of His Holiness in which He
brought out the greatness of Bhagavatpāda and insights into His teachings.]
What was the state of affairs in India when Bhagavatpāda incarnated? There
was discord on metaphysical and dhārmic matters; each deemed his view to
be paramount. Bhagavatpāda, however, emphasized a sameness in all.
Nowadays, people create a hullabaloo about uniformity, without proper
consideration of its nature and scope. It is a truism that there are and shall be
differences between individuals; their natures are disparate. What
Bhagavatpāda visualized was sameness compatible with human variety.
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 251
feel attachment to one who is friendly and aversion towards one who is
hostile. Same-sightedness, marked by absence of likes and dislikes, is highly
eulogised in the Śāstras. Just as true sameness in conduct is not antithetical
to the diversity in the world, sameness in mental reactions is not opposed to
the experience of pleasure and pain due to external stimuli. When a person
is free from attachment and aversion, he consistently conducts himself in a
righteous manner; he has sameness in conduct. Uniformity in conduct is an
important step towards developing equanimity of vision. Thus, sameness in
mental reactions and sameness in conduct are linked.
A gold bangle and a gold necklace, though regarded as different, have no
existence apart from the single substance, gold. In semi-darkness, a person
may mistake a rope to be a snake, while another may misapprehend it as a
stick; it is the single entity, the rope, that appears as a snake and as a stick.
Likewise, this diverse world has no existence apart from the Supreme
Brahman; it is Brahman that appears, on account of Māyā, as the cosmos
and its inhabitants. The wise man sees Brahman everywhere; there is thus a
sameness in his discernment of apparently diverse persons and objects. It is
only such uniformity of vision that cuts at the very root of likes and dislikes.
Attenuation of attachment and aversion is important for knowledge of the
Truth to dawn. Thus, sameness in discernment, sameness in mental reactions
and sameness in conduct form a unit.
In the time of Bhagavatpāda, there were several creeds, each of which held
that only its own view was correct. It was in this prevailing atmosphere that
Bhagavatpāda incarnated among the people. Reform is best effected by
keeping in mind the ways of the world. Bhagavatpāda graced people
engaged in austerities, yogins, seekers of knowledge and those desirous of
liberation. But He did not stop with that. He realised that He had the
responsibility to set an example for the people by His life. Rāma has made
such a great impact on us by His having led a life totally wedded to
righteousness. Bhagavatpāda, like Rāma, showed by His life, what an ideal
son is like. He implemented the Vedic injunction that one should venerate
the mother as a god, in letter and spirit. He then wanted to set an example by
adhering to the scriptural norm by approaching a Guru, receiving saṁnyāsa
and learning at the Guru’s feet. So, He approached sage Govindapāda.
Govindapāda was in nirvikalpa-samādhi at that time. Bhagavatpāda did not
disturb His Guru but humbly waited on with the sincere longing for the
darśana of the exalted Guru’s holy feet. On coming out of samādhi,
Govindapāda asked, “What brings You here? Who are You?” Bhagavatpāda
replied in ten verses that conveyed the Supreme Truth. The Guru, perceiving
the divine plan underlining the unique disciple’s arrival, prepared himself to
play the role of an instrument in the execution of the divine plan. He
accepted Bhagavatpāda as a disciple.
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 253
During His stay with His Guru, Bhagavatpāda, by the use of His yogic
power, brought succour to the suffering people of the region by taking into
His kamaṇḍalu, the flood waters of the Narmadā. Later, in accordance with
the instructions of His Guru, He set out correcting the attitude of the various
people who were following several schools propounded by men merely on
the strength of their intellect. He analysed their viewpoints thoroughly and
laid bare, before such blind followers, the lacunae contained in their merely
relying upon the intellect and upon persons who propound fanciful theories.
Bhagavatpāda’s teaching that the world is only an appearance is pertinent to
those who have obtained an understanding of the Supreme Reality. Till that
realization dawns, we are left with little option but to look upon this world
as if it were true. The Brahman of the Upaniṣads is one which always was,
is and will be, whereas the world does not satisfy this condition. That is why
the world is said to be unreal whereas Brahman is regarded as the only
Reality. It is the same Reality that appears to us as all the forms seen in the
world. Distinction asserts itself only when you and I are regarded as
different. It is only the One that appears as you and I. Where then is
diversity? This, in a nutshell, is the teaching of Bhagavatpāda. He did not
propound any new theory or any new deity for worship, but only restored
the Upaniṣadic teaching to its pristine purity.
The Brahman established by the Upaniṣads is like pure water. It does not
have any attributes of Its own, but is simply Truth, consciousness and
infinite. It appears, owing to Its power, differently as Śiva or Śakti or Viṣṇu
to different devotees, but in truth It is the Absolute. Bhagavatpāda
accomplished His task of establishing sameness by taking care to see that no
devotee was displaced and that no devotee was set up against another,
stressing only that the worship of deities opposed to the Śāstraic way has to
be given up. The great master showed each adherent the way to the Absolute
by making him tread his chosen path without conflict with the other paths.
In effect, He did this by dotting the i’s and dashing the t’s without radically
upsetting the various systems.
The most compassionate Guru, Śrī Śaṅkara-bhagavatpāda, rendered all of
us indebted by His kind and profound teaching. We, who are fortunate to be
His followers, will be gravely erring if we do not reverentially pay our
obeisance to Him.
of time slipping like sand through my fingers. I might have continued to live
and perhaps die in this darkness but for the grace of His Holiness.
“One day I picked up the Bhagavad-gītā and tried to read it. To my sorrow
I found that I could read the script but nothing more. The text itself made no
sense to me. When I sat down with translation and commentary, what little
I studied puzzled and frightened me. However, I persevered with my efforts.
“It was around this time that I began to have spiritually oriented dreams and
visions of His Holiness. The dreams were initially of a great sage who
blessed me by placing His lotus hand on my head. In the course of time these
dreams crystallized into distinct visions of His Holiness, in which I was
having His darśana, getting tīrtha-prasāda from Him, etc.
“In 1984, my uncle, Sri P. Subramaniam, informed the family that he would
be taking a group of devotees to Kalady for the darśana of His Holiness. I
decided to go with the group and had His darśana on 14th August. I
expressed my deep yearning for mantropadeśa from His Holiness to one of
His disciples, who advised me to directly submit my plea to His Holiness.
When I did so, His Holiness graciously asked me to come on the 16th
morning for mantropadeśa.
“The next day, however, my uncle was rather sceptical on hearing that I had
sought mantropadeśa from His Holiness and that He had agreed to bless me
with it, and thinking that I had got His Holiness wrong, apologized to Him
for my foolishness. However, His Holiness only repeated, ‘Let her come at
9 o’clock in the morning.’
“His Holiness blessed me with mantropadeśa on a Friday, and I regard that
as one of the most important days of my life. It was, for me, a spiritual
rebirth. My personality changed as if it had been touched with the
philosopher’s stone. Depression gave way to calmness and bitterness to
faith.”
Sri M. E. Muralidhara of Shivamogga reminisced, “Once while His Holiness
was giving tīrtha-prasāda at Sringeri, a couple from Shimoga (Shivamogga)
came with their little son and stood in the queue to receive the holy tīrtha.
The child’s father recounted to His Holiness the suffering the child was
undergoing and expressed the parents’ trauma. The boy had a congenital
skin disease that had seriously impaired his health. Much to their despair,
treatment by doctors of different schools of medicine had given no relief. In
fact, the doctors had now indicated that the disease could take a fatal turn or
even if it did not, it would stay with the child throughout life.
“Helpless, the couple had brought the child to Sringeri hoping that if His
Holiness showers His blessings on the child, there could be a ray of hope.
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 257
His Holiness, having patiently heard their pitiful story, took some sacred
tīrtha in His hands and sprinkled it on the boy’s head. He assured them that
the boy would be alright. That is precisely what transpired. The child was
completely cured of the disease, much to the doctors’ amazement. The boy,
a good friend of mine, grew up not only into a healthy man but also bearing
no scar of the disease.”
Sri Subramanya Ghanapatigal from Madurai was a devotee of His Holiness.
One night, his son, Sri Ayyappa was bitten by a poisonous snake. He wasted
precious time chasing the snake, and soon the poison started making him
giddy. He was then taken to Madurai General Hospital for treatment. The
doctors there abandoned all hopes of saving the young man, and pointed out
that if he had been brought earlier he might have stood a chance of making
it. “Now, only a miracle can save him,” they said.
When the Ghanapatigal was told of the critical condition of his son, he
resigned himself to fate saying, “My son’s past karma has to run its course.”
His attention was soon diverted to a place where he had kept the mantrākṣatā
that He had received from His Holiness, along with Śāradāmba’s kuṅkuma.
His hopes revived, he immediately gave the prasāda to a relative and said,
“His Holiness’s grace is upon us. Let this prasāda save him.” The relative
rushed with the prasāda to the hospital and applied it to the man. In a short
while, to the utter bewilderment of the doctors, the effect of the poison was
nullified and soon, the sick one recovered completely.
Even fearsome snakes meekly submitted themselves to the command of His
Holiness. At Narasimhavana, Sri Srikantiah and Sri Malnad Venkatesa were
once ploughing the Maṭha lands, employing a tractor. At one place, a
number of cobras suddenly came out hissing at them. Gripped by fear, they
ran to His Holiness and described to Him what had happened. He spoke
words of encouragement to them, and giving them mantrākṣatā, asked them
to continue the work.
The next day, His Holiness came to the said spot and looking around, said
to the duo, “There don’t seem to be any snakes here. Where are the snakes
you spoke about?” Srikantiah pointed out a place and touched it with a spade.
Immediately, numerous cobras came out and began dancing in front of His
Holiness with their hoods upraised. Addressing the snakes, He said, “These
people are afraid of all of you. It is better if you leave.” To the surprise of
the onlookers, all the snakes simply obeyed and left the place.
Sri Ramalingam was a cloth dealer residing in Kochi. He had a shop and was
assisted in his trade by his son. Strange events suddenly started happening
258 97. Śamitākhila-santāpaḥ
at the shop. Before closing for the day, the practice was to count the day’s
income, put the money inside a locker and take the key with them. On
opening the locker in the morning, they started finding that the currency note
bundles were neatly cut into two halves; the cloth bales stocked in the shop
were cut so finely that it was not discernible until the cloth was taken out to
show the customer. It was then decided that a watchman be employed. In
spite of the watchman’s presence, however, the incidents continued. The
next try was to lock the watchman inside the shop. Not only were the notes
and cloth torn anyway, but the watchman found himself outside the shop the
next morning. These kinds of happenings continued for a while.
Finally, unable to bear the misery any longer, a grief-stricken Ramalingam
wrote to His Holiness explaining the goings on, and praying for succour.
When the letter was read out to Him, His Holiness instructed that the man
and his son be asked to come to Sringeri. When the duo accordingly arrived
at Sringeri, His Holiness learnt all the details from them again asking several
questions regarding the happenings. He then gave Ramalingam two
Narasiṁha-yantras with the instructions that he keep one in his shop and one
at home, and also that he need not do any elaborate worship for the one kept
in the shop, but should offer daily worship to the one kept at home.
The yantras were duly installed by Ramalingam as instructed. The strange
happenings diminished gradually and totally stopped in just a few weeks.
When His Holiness was on His first tour in 1950s-1960s, simple village folk
troubled by prolonged lack of rain used to request Him to visit their place
and bless them with rain, for they had heard that He was ‘Mazhai-Svāmigal
(Svāmin who brings rain).’ Some would even stop His convoy of vehicles
and beseech Him to grace their village so that they may have rain. His
Holiness obliged them all.
People from a particular town once came to His Holiness requesting Him to
grace their town. His Holiness acquiesced. It was customary in those days to
welcome His Holiness into a town or village with a palanquin procession, in
which He would don royal attire over His saffron robes, and also wear a
heavy crown and be taken around in a palanquin, as per Maṭha tradition.
Accordingly, when He arrived in the town, the palanquin procession took
place. The town was divided into two halves, one side inhabited by Hindus,
and the other by Muslims, and the Hindus, who were the ones who had
invited His Holiness, led the procession into all the streets that made up their
half of the town. That evening, after the procession was over, there was a
very heavy downpour in the town, but curiously, the rain fell only on the
part of the town that His Holiness had passed through – the Hindu part.
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 259
98. ु
र्मावदिगु णालयः Śamādi-suguṇālayaḥ
One who was the abode of the excellent qualities commencing with
mind-control
‘Śama-ādi’ refers to the hexad of attributes listed under nāma 38. There His
Holiness was described as One who, as a jīvanmukta, was adorned with this
hexad of attributes, which verily became exquisite ornaments because He
had them. That the hexad of qualities have been listed here as ‘śama-ādi’
indicates that this nāma deals with the pre-jīvanmukti stage of His Holiness’s
life. This is so, for śama is prescribed by Lord Kṛṣṇa for one who has
advanced beyond karma-yoga,250 which Bhagavatpāda explains as, “For a
person who has ascended karma-yoga, śama or giving up of karma forms
the means to liberation.”251 Also, the six attributes are referred to here as
‘suguṇas’, or exceptional qualities. They are exceptional indeed, for they are
a sine qua non for spiritual sādhanā.
His Holiness was the ālaya, abode and also refuge, of the hexad. From a
young age, His Holiness was extremely self-controlled, with his mind not
given to wandering; He was inward-turned and even from childhood yearned
only to take saṁnyāsa; His innate forbearance had only itself for a parallel;
His faith in the Śāstras and His Guru was impeccable; to reach God was His
only goal from childhood. Naturally endowed, as He was, with the hexad of
qualities, His Holiness has been described here as the very abode of these
qualities. Thereafter, subsequent to His taking saṁnyāsa and pursuing His
sādhanā, His Holiness practiced this hexad with such intensity that He
became the very refuge of these qualities. After all, His saṁnyāsa-svīkāra
was when He was going on fourteen, and in less than five years He had
attained the summum bonum of life.
260 98. Śamādi-suguṇālayaḥ
Upon taking saṁnyāsa, His Holiness decided that His body should be under
His control (dama) and not vice versa and that He should be same-sighted
towards the pairs of opposites such as heat and cold. Putting Himself to test,
when winter was at its peak in 1931 (the year of His saṁnyāsa), for a few
nights, He spread a wet towel on the floor and slept on it wearing just His
loincloth. He somehow managed to keep this a secret from even His personal
attendant. Thereafter, He repeated this every year for the next four years at
Sringeri, one year in Bengaluru, and few years in the 1940s. Such was His
control over His body.
Sri Srinivasa Sastry desired, from childhood, only to renounce the world and
reach God, as described under nāma 18. After He came to Sringeri and was
pursuing His studies as a brahmacārin under the Jagadguru’s watch, His
commitment to renunciation (uparati) only grew in intensity.
One day, the Jagadguru directed Vaidyanatha Sastry to come to Him with
just Sri Srinivasa Sastry. When His directive was complied with, He said,
“Today, we shall discuss the comparative merits of being a householder and
a saṁnyāsin. You first explain the advantages of family life.” In obedience
to His command, Sri Srinivasa Sastry and Vaidyanatha Sastry spoke of the
plus points of being a householder. The Jagadguru then detailed the
disadvantages of that stage of life. He gave many examples and also chanted
two verses, the combined meaning of which is, “Who indeed knows which
day shall be his last? Even when young, one should practise righteousness;
life is decidedly transient.252 During childhood, one is shorn of
discriminative insight. While a youth, one is engrossed in the experience of
sensual pleasures. Later, what success can an infirm old man achieve after
the dawn of discrimination?”253
At the end, the Jagadguru asked, “Now, tell me. Is it better to become a
householder or a saṁnyāsin?” Bereft of any hesitation, Sri Srinivasa Sastry
averred that taking up saṁnyāsa was, indeed, superior.
Sri Srinivasa Sastry was patience (titikṣā) personified. One day, His friends
sought to test the limits of His forbearance. In the course of a game, they
fetched a stick and began to beat Him with it. He bore their unprovoked
onslaught without a murmur. When the boys stopped, aghast at how far they
had gone in testing Him, He won their hearts with kind words. To impress
upon them the power of fortitude, He also told them the following story. A
Buddhist monk was unjustly tortured by a monarch. At the end, the king
softened. Ashamed, he begged the monk’s pardon. As an act of atonement,
he catered to the subsequent needs of the monk. Thus, merely by non-
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 261
retaliation, the monk was able to humble the emperor. His friends hung their
heads in shame on hearing the tale and went home wiser.
His Holiness’s faith (śraddhā) in the words of His Guru has been glimpsed
in the context of nāma 27. His firm faith in the scriptures is borne out by an
episode that took place during His childhood at Bengaluru. One evening a
friend challenged Sri Srinivasa Sastry’s conviction that God exists on the
ground that neither He nor those He knew had seen God.
Sri Srinivasa Sastry: Can you prove that there is no God? Would you say
that something does not exist because you have not seen it? For instance,
have you seen Bombay (now Mumbai)? No. Does it then follow that
Bombay is non-existent?
Friend: I have not seen Bombay. But I have seen many who have. That is
why I believe that Bombay exists.
Sri Srinivasa Sastry: Very well. Likewise, our ancient sages who had beheld
the Lord have given clear-cut indications to that effect. What is wrong if we
unreservedly accept their words? Their experience cannot be set aside and
so we must concede the existence of God.
That His Holiness possessed perfect mind-control (śama) culminating in
complete tranquillity of mind (samādhāna) is apparent from the following:
After saṁnyāsa, His Holiness was accommodated for some time in an
independent place in Narasimhavana. One day, numerous ants, which made
that their home, bit Him, giving rise to red welts on His legs. He patiently
tolerated the bites. This was repeated on the next few days. He did not
mention any of this to anybody and took no remedial measures either. So
long as the swellings were on His lower limbs and covered by His lower
garment, the senior Jagadguru did not notice them. One day, the ants bit His
back. The senior Jagadguru noticed the swellings when His Holiness did
namaskāra to Him during His morning āhnika; this was because His
Holiness had removed His upper garment, put it on the floor and placed His
daṇḍa on it, as He had been taught to do. The senior Jagadguru ascertained
what had happened, directed His Holiness to take proper care of His body
and arranged for Him to move back to Sacchidananda Vilasa.
Even in the face of such pain, His Holiness had not uttered a murmur of
protest. Why, there was not even a trace of lamentation in His mind. These
happenings did not so much as create a tiny flutter in His Holiness’s mind,
endowed as He was with complete control of the senses, body and mind, and
with perfect forbearance and renunciation.
262 100. Śrīcakrārcana-tatparaḥ
and boons, who is lustrous like the sun, who is fair in complexion like the
moon, who has (the set of hoods of) the king of snakes (Śeṣa) serving as an
umbrella over Him and who dwells in the middle of the ocean of milk.”259
Once in the course of His evening walk, His Holiness casually chanted this
verse and then told a disciple who was with Him, “God, who is formless and
of the nature of absolute existence, consciousness and bliss, appears as Śiva,
Viṣṇu, Ambā and so on for the sake of His devotees. The form of Narasiṁha
described in this dhyāna-śloka is itself suggestive of the actual non-
difference between Śiva and Viṣṇu. That Narasiṁha is an incarnation of
Viṣṇu is well known. Here, He is spoken of as being with Lakṣmī, the
consort of Viṣṇu, as bearing the cakra, the weapon of Viṣṇu, and as having
the hoods of Śeṣa as His umbrella, like Viṣṇu. Further, He is said to be in
the middle of the ocean of milk. This too fits Viṣṇu. However, Narasiṁha is
presented here, like Śiva, as three-eyed. He bears the pināka, the bow of
Śiva. Further, like Śiva, and unlike Viṣṇu, Narasiṁha is described as very
fair in complexion.”
[In many a discourse His Holiness emphasized that people must not
differentiate intrinsically between Śiva and Viṣṇu and create discord. Below
are some excerpts from His discourses.]
With respect to God with qualities, a person may wonder, “Is Śiva the
greatest or Viṣṇu or Śakti or any other?” To the people who have such a
doubt, Bhagavatpāda’s advice is, “The Supreme Brahman, devoid of all
attributes and forms is indeed the greatest. It is this reality that appears as
Śiva, Viṣṇu, etc. You may worship Śiva or Viṣṇu or Śakti or any other such
divinity. When all of them are really one, what room is there for discord?
Between Vāsudeva (Viṣṇu) and Vāmadeva (Śiva), the difference is only the
letters ‘su’ and ‘ma’, making up the word ‘suma’ meaning flower. The
flower may be different, but the fruit of worshipping Śiva and that of
worshipping Viṣṇu is the same.
Śiva has the name Rāmeśvara, and resides at Rameswaram as a jyotirliṅga.
The name ‘Rāmeśvaraḥ’ is interpreted as ‘rāmasya īśvaraḥ (the Lord of
Rāma)’, indicating Śiva to be the Lord of Rāma. After all, Rāma worshipped
Śiva as a liṅga at Rameswaram. However, if Śiva were to be asked for the
meaning of His name ‘Rāmeśvaraḥ’, He would say it is, ‘rāmaḥ īśvaro yasya
saḥ (One whose Lord is Rāma),’ implying that Rāma is the Lord of Śiva. Śrī
Padmapādācārya has explained the name as ‘rāmaśca asau īśvaraśca (He is
Rāma as well as Śiva).’ Thus, there is no real difference between Viṣṇu and
Śiva, and the kṣetra of Rameswaram stands testimony to this.
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 265
His Holiness said after His long all-India tour, “From my tour, I see three
aspects standing out: (1) I have personally witnessed and abundantly
experienced the limitless grace of Īśvara and the greatness of His powers;
(2) Though due to historical, geographical and social reasons we perceive
some mild differences in the appearances, costumes and customs of our
people, the society is fundamentally united; this is applicable not merely for
those living in the south of the Himalayas, but also for those in Nepal, the
sole remaining Hindu nation; the people of Nepal have immense faith in the
Hindu religion and are extremely proud of being Hindus; (3) Touring the
country is good for all, essential too; our perspectives widen and our
broadmindedness proliferates; else, narrow feelings like, ‘We are great; our
people alone are great; this world is nothing without us,’ get rooted.
“All in all, the sanātana-hindu-dharma will never cease to exist. With
intense faith, if we feel, ‘We should prosper; the purpose of our birth should
be fulfilled,’ and with a pure mind, we strive in the ordained path, by the
grace of Bhagavatpāda, we all will, without any doubt, attain fulfillment.”
[In His benedictory discourses, His Holiness never failed to talk about
ādhyātmika practices that can be followed by all to make their lives sublime.
Extracts from one such discourse is provided below.]
There are several religious traditions in the world. It is our duty to know
about the particulars of our tradition and to conduct our lives accordingly.
Both nāstikas, unbelievers, and āstikas, believers, constantly require the
grace of the power that transcends the realm of human thought but,
remaining in the background, conducts all activities.
From the words of the Purānas and from our experience, we learn to a great
extent that nobody can unfailingly fulfil all his longings. The rise of a desire
and its subsequent frustration are actually experienced by all. We, by nature,
have desires, some small and some big. When we are successful in
consummating several of them, we get puffed up with pride. However, it is
impossible for us to always fulfil our wishes; we do fail. Valorous persons
themselves have perished. Not only can all desired objects not be attained,
separation from the ones that have been obtained is also certain. Actually,
worldly objects, whether desired and not attained or temporarily acquired,
are all false, for they are subject to destruction.
God alone is the absolute reality, unsublatable in the three spans of time.
Āstikas always accept the existence of God but, nevertheless, deluded by
Māyā, they do perform what they should not. Nāstikas say on some occasion
that God might exist. At any rate, they too commit misdeeds. Then, what is
the difference in conduct between the āstikas and nāstikas, for both do err?
268 103. Sañcāra-pūta-dharaṇiḥ
the welfare of some unknown third party. It tells us, “Uplift yourself.” If we
do not do that, we are thorough fools.
Bhagavatpāda has said in His Upadeśa-pañcaka, “Study the Veda everyday.
Perform well the acts enjoined therein. Worship God through the
performance of duties. Give up the thought of engaging in desire-prompted
rites. Eradicate the host of sins. Contemplate the faults in worldly
enjoyments. Establish the desire for the Self. Quickly go away from your
house.”262 The import is that if you have advanced up to establishing the
desire for the Self, and you feel you have had enough of the world, then leave
home. If you feel that the worldly experiences you have had are not
sufficient, go right ahead and do the above activities not merely for the
duration of this life but in a few succeeding lives also. At least thereafter,
you will feel, “Enough of the world.” This is the special feature of
Bhagavatpāda’s Veda-based teaching; the competence of the person is fully
taken into consideration.
Next, there is the question, “Should one resort to God as saguṇa, with
qualities, or as nirguṇa, devoid of all attributes?” The answer pertinent to
the common man is, “You should resort only to God as saguṇa.” One should
worship God in a form that is in accordance with one’s family tradition or is
to one’s liking, but in all cases only a form that is allowed by the scripture.
One is not given a choice when it comes to doing what is specifically
enjoined by the scripture, adhering to rules such as veneration of parents,
and abstaining from what is explicitly prohibited such as injuring other
creatures. Have faith and do as much as you are capable of. The rules
prescribed by the Śāstras must be adhered to; deviation from the norms is
permissible only in exceptional circumstances.
Bhagavatpāda advises, “You should keep doing karma with sincerity. By
virtue of its performance, your mind will become pure in due course. Then
take to contemplation on God. With the practice of contemplation, you will
gradually get to the stage where you will see the entire universe as having
no existence apart from the Supreme. Then you would have become a jñānin
or a knower of the Truth.” There are persons who are desirous of dharma
and do not wish to cause any unhappiness in the mind of another. Their
conduct should be our standard. By emulating them, we would be following
our holy tradition and heading towards the goal.
there is birth again, death again, and again lying in the mother’s womb. O
Murāri! Save me through Your kindness!”263 Saṁsāra is often likened to an
arṇava, ocean, because of this very characteristic of it being difficult to
cross.264 Normally, an expert nāvika, boatman, is responsible to safely take
the travellers on his boat to the other shore of the river, protecting them from
the perils of turbulent waters, etc. Fittingly, Lord Kṛṣṇa is described as a
boatman for the Pāṇḍavas to cross the fearsome, treacherous and formidable
river that is the Kurukṣetra war.265 Bhagavatpāda assures all, “There dwell
calm, great noble ones who move about effecting, like the spring season,
what is beneficial to people. Having themselves crossed the dreadful ocean
of transmigratory existence, they, without any motive, cause other persons
too to cross over.”266
His Holiness, who was a master of several spiritual disciplines as has been
seen through various nāmas, a peerless jīvanmukta and an ocean of
compassion, was the expert boatman, who could safely see people through
when it came to crossing the formidable and seemingly impossible-to-cross
ocean of saṁsāra. He did not stop with merely proffering advice to His
disciples, but hand-held them at every stage in their spiritual journey.
His Holiness generally gave mantra-upadeśa only in person, though there
were some exceptions. A devotee had a dream of His Holiness initiating him
into a mantra. Unfortunately, on waking up, he forgot what he had been
initiated into. He wrote a letter to His Holiness about this. His Holiness
directed His Private Secretary to reply that the mantra was ‘klīm kṛṣṇa klīm’;
He also specified in what manner and how many times the disciple should
perform the mantra-japa.
His Holiness did not confine Himself to just initiating a disciple into a
mantra. He willingly gave clarifications about it when asked. For instance,
a knowledgeable lady approached Him in Chennai in January 1982, and
requested Him to explain the dhyāna-śloka of a particular mantra. His
Holiness closed His eyes and gave such a lucid description that it seemed to
her that He was seeing a form in front of Him and describing it. She
remarked that His Holiness’s description was so wonderful that she could
readily conceive the form. His Holiness admitted, “I did not mechanically
translate the dhyāna-śloka, for that would not have been of much use to you.
I visualised the form spoken of in the verse. I focused my attention on a
portion of the divine form, described what I was apprehending and thereafter
moved on to another portion. That is why I spoke slowly.”
Sri Anathandapuram Vaidyanathan was a conscientious worker and a
staunch devotee of His Holiness. He was ever ready to serve His Holiness
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 271
and efficiently discharged the tasks assigned to him. His Holiness would see
him scurrying around at different times of day and night to get work done in
time.
His Holiness suggested to him that he receive mantropadeśa from Him.
Vaidyanathan told Him that he simply did not have the time to perform
anuṣṭhāna, and saying that He would not be able to follow rules of ‘maḍi’
(observances of purity) etc., politely refused to take mantropadeśa. This, in
fact, happened several times.
One day, the time was around 7:30 p.m. and His Holiness had just completed
His evening bath. He summoned Vaidyanathan. His Holiness told him,
“Look here, tomorrow morning, at around 7 o’clock, complete your bath and
come wearing a silk dhoti,” and dismissed him. As His Holiness had only
issued an order and not asked any question or given any suggestion,
Vaidyanathan was in no position to reply and went away quietly.
The next morning, he reported to His Holiness at 7 p.m. as instructed. His
Holiness asked him to sit down, and giving him a book said, “Read.” His
Holiness continued, “Every morning, read this book after your bath. That is
enough for you.” The book contained a collection of mantras.
Sri Vaidyanathan obeyed His Holiness’s command, and observed that he
never had any hindrances in adhering to this practice. Thus, His Holiness
graced him not only with an instruction that he could easily follow but also
with the circumstances that enabled him to follow it without hindrances.
of all is Paramaśiva, and the Vedas are words that emanated effortlessly, like
breath, from Him.
The Vedas unequivocally emphasize that it is only when a person realizes
the Supreme Brahman that he transcends sorrow and attains unsurpassable
bliss. They teach that śravaṇa, hearing about the Ātman through the words
of the Guru and the scripture, manana, reflecting on It through reasoning,
and nididhyāsana, firmly meditating upon It, are the means to know
Brahman. So, it behoves a person to realize the Ātman that is none other than
Brahman by resorting to śravaṇa, manana and nididhyāsana and thereby
attain emancipation from transmigration. Purity of the mind is a prerequisite
for proper śravaṇa, manana and nididhyāsana.
Bhakti is ‘anurāga’, the deferential faith that we have in those who are
worthy of our worship. The activities that engender devout belief in the
venerable are also called bhakti. Hence, the means to devotion such as
hearing about the glorious sport of the Lord and keeping Him in mind are
themselves termed bhakti. Clearly, love of God is bhakti, for ‘rāga, the
affection for God,’ ‘anu, that arises following acts like hearing about the
greatness of God’ is anurāga.
Bhakti is said to be of three types: sāttvika, rājasika and tāmasika. Worship
of God for the sake of harming another is a form of tāmasika-bhakti; being
thoroughly unsuitable for attaining ultimate blessedness, it is fit to be
eschewed. Worship of God for desired rewards in this world and the next is
rājasika-bhakti; since it confers what is pleasurable but not what is most
beneficial, it is unacceptable to those who keenly aspire for freedom from
rebirth. The third kind of devotion is sāttvika-bhakti. This is an exalted
means to attain the highest state. He who has sāttvika-bhakti regards the
actions meant for his stage of life to be duties ordained by God and performs
them for satisfying God, without hankering for the fruits of what he does.
Every human is qualified to practice such bhakti-yoga. All should strive to
attain the highest state through it. In spite of seeing the world to be fraught
with a variety of miseries, many are unable to discard sense-objects and,
instead, remain smitten with them. Nevertheless, they too wish for
everlasting, unsurpassable bliss. Śravaṇa, manana and nididhyāsana being
out of their reach since their minds are impure, it is to bhakti that they should
turn.
When sāttvika-bhakti resides uninterruptedly in the mind, the mind becomes
pure. Bhakti blossoms into saguṇa-upāsanā, meditation on the Supreme as
possessed of qualities; all the impurities of the mind are completely washed
away by the force of such contemplation. To those who have been rendered
pure-minded by their devotion to God, the Lord imparts the knowledge that
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 273
106. ू दयापरः
ििाभत Sarva-bhūta-dayā-paraḥ
One for whom compassion to all beings was paramount
His Holiness was described as extremely tender-hearted (nāma 22) and
kindness personified (nāma 37). The trait of His Holiness that is described
in this nāma is dayā, compassion. The definition of dayā is captured in the
verse, “O best among the noble ones on earth! The desire arising in the heart
to eradicate the sufferings of others even if it entails the taking of much
effort, is called dayā.”270 Thus, dayā is equivalent to what Nīlakaṇṭha refers
to as kāruṇya (vide nāma 22).
Bhagavān says, “Compassion is innate to the one who is born inheriting
divine traits.”271 Maharṣi Gautama lists compassion for all beings as the first
of the eight ātma-guṇas (personal qualities)272 to be cultivated by every
individual. The Yoga-sūtras too enjoin compassion as a means to mental
peace.273 To His Holiness, sarvabhūta-dayā, compassion to all living beings,
was para, the highest pursuit. As such, His was one-pointed dedication to
this task. It was solely for the welfare of others that He sacrificed His own
personal preference to remain absorbed in the Supreme.
It must be noted that in this nāma, the description of His Holiness’s
compassion reaches a crescendo. As already mentioned (vide nāma 37), the
fact that His Holiness was tender at heart gets subsumed in His characteristic
of doing good to others even if it entails taking on suffering for Himself.
Here it is apparent that the latter is in turn subsumed in the aspect brought
276 106. Sarva-bhūta-dayā-paraḥ
out in this nāma. After all, one who always acts to relieve others of suffering
is bound to act in a way that benefits others and not otherwise.
His Holiness was prepared to go out of the way to terminate the suffering
being inflicted on even a small creature. This trait of His was apparent even
from childhood. Sri Srinivasa Sastry once beheld a boy cruelly catching
thoroughly innocuous butterflies, tearing out their wings and throwing the
hapless creatures to a dog. Walking up to the boy, He quickly grasped his
hands and twisted them. The boy yelled. Relaxing His vice-like grip, Sri
Srinivasa Sastry said, “The butterflies also must feel like this. Just as you
have hands, they have wings. Abstain from torturing them hereafter.”
According to the scripture, even a butterfly does have a jīva (transmigrating,
individual soul) that can undergo suffering and it is possible for one to be
reborn, as a consequence of one’s sins, as a butterfly. In the Mahābhārata,
there is the story of a learned ṛṣi named Māṇḍavya being impaled on a stake.
On his later going to Yama, the god of death, and asking the reason for his
suffering, he was told that as a boy he had tormented butterflies. By getting
the boy to desist from totally unjustifiably and sadistically torturing and
killing harmless butterflies, He not only provided relief to the butterflies but
also saved the boy from sinning by continuing to kill them and, thereby,
saved him from having to suffer, at some time, the painful consequences of
such sin.
One day during His first tour of Andhra Pradesh in 1960, His Holiness had
travelled for about an hour when He espied from afar, a partially overturned
automobile lying off the road. Some motorists passed on without even
pausing. His Holiness had His car halted near the accident spot and rushed
to the badly-damaged vehicle. He saw a motionless, blood-splattered man
trapped within it. In a trice, He discerned that the mishap had occurred only
minutes earlier and that the man was unconscious, not dead. He instructed a
responsible employee of the Maṭha to proceed speedily in a Maṭha vehicle
to arrange for an ambulance.
Having determined that the accident victim could be freed only after setting
his car upright, His Holiness laboured, along with those who were with Him,
to do the needful. He was then in His forties and His well-exercised muscles
were hard and powerful. Nevertheless, as the vehicle was heavy, He had to
put in much effort before it finally stood on its wheels. His Holiness then
cautiously examined the wounded man and came to the conclusion that it
would be safe to extricate him without waiting for the arrival of an
ambulance. Using an improvised stretcher, His Holiness gently transferred
him to a spacious Maṭha vehicle and ordered the driver to proceed smoothly
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 277
in the direction from which an ambulance was expected. His actions ensured
that the accident victim received medical attention at the earliest. The man
survived and recovered; he owed his life to His Holiness.
A tree uprooted by a gale fell across a road. Consequently, all vehicles plying
on that route were forced to decelerate to a crawl and swerve to beyond the
edge of the road in order to get past the obstruction. The car in which His
Holiness was travelling had just crossed the tree when He told the person at
the wheel to stop the vehicle. “If we move on, as many others before us have
done, motorists will continue to be put to inconvenience at this spot. So, we
should move the tree to the side of the road”, declared His Holiness. In
deference to His command, the Maṭha staff applied themselves to the task
of shifting the tree. Though old and unwell at that time, His Holiness did not
remain a mute spectator. He gave suggestions and contributed physically
too. In a short while, the road became unobstructed. The good deed done,
His Holiness resumed His journey.
His Holiness had the compassionate insight to recognize the difficulties of
people even if they were not explicitly presented to Him, the vision to arrive
at optimal solutions to eliminate those difficulties, and the commitment and
perseverance to make sure that these solutions are implemented. Many of
His plans and schemes had as beneficiaries the general public, who might
not even know that He was responsible for the schemes.
There used to be a road connecting Shivamogga in Karnataka to the port city
of Mangaluru, through Agumbe, but it was not a road good enough for heavy
vehicles like trucks and buses to ply. His Holiness noticed the practical
difficulty faced by people because of this lack of good road connectivity
between these two important cities. He also recognized the importance of
such a road for the economic development of Karnataka State. Aware as He
was of the good road connectivity between Shivamogga and Sringeri
through Koppa (approximately 100 kilometres), as well as between Karkala
and Mangaluru (approximately 60 kilometres), He concluded that a good
road laid to connect Sringeri with Karkala (approximately 60 kilometres)
through Nemmuru and Kerakette, would suffice to achieve the Shivamogga-
Mangaluru (a little over 200 kilometres) connectivity.
Not stopping at this, he took steps to have the plan implemented. When
ministers or officials of the Karnataka Government came for his darśana,
He told them of the idea and also impressed upon them in detail, the
importance of such a road for Karnataka. This committed endeavour of His
started bearing fruit when the Government started the construction of the
road in the 1980s. However, His Holiness did not leave it at that. Until the
278 106. Sarva-bhūta-dayā-paraḥ
resulting clearance for the car was not much but, nonetheless, sufficient. His
Holiness told the disciple who was driving His car not to proceed and asked
His attendant to lend a helping hand to the cart man, who, however, said that
he would manage. He did not want His Holiness to wait because of Him. His
Holiness, for His part, deemed that the man needed aid and so must be helped
before proceeding.
His Holiness’s attendant and the disciple who was driving the car got down
from the car and pushed the cart, while the cart driver egged the bullocks on.
His Holiness was unwell and so was observing the scene from His seat. He
called out, “Do not push the cart from near the axle or from the back. Push
the outer portion of the spokes and you shall get additional leverage.
Alternatively, you can hold the rim of the wheel.” Till then their struggles
had been in vain but when they implemented His Holiness’s suggestion they
were glad to find that the cart started to inch its way up the slope. Soon, it
ascended the slope and, thereafter, the bullocks were in a position to pull the
faulty cart on their own. His Holiness asked the disciple to drive slowly
behind the cart till it reached its destination. On the way, He said, “It would
have been most unfair and improper to have left the bullocks to struggle and
this man to be stranded with his cartload. Had I not been unwell and weak,
I would certainly have joined all of you in pushing the cart up the slope.”
light of lights; this ignorance causes the propagation of saṁsāra itself. The
eradication of such darkness surely requires a light none less than mārtaṇḍa,
the Sun. Similarly, nothing less than the unceasing true knowledge of
Ātman-Brahman is the ultimate antidote for primordial ignorance.
His Holiness is described as the Sun to the darkness that is ignorance, by
virtue of His being a jīvanmukta and hence Brahman Itself, and a
compassionate Sadguru who grants knowledge. As Lord Kṛṣṇa promised,
“It is out of compassion for them (who have surrendered to Me) that I,
remaining in their intellects, destroy the darkness arising out of their
ignorance, through the lustrous lamp of knowledge.”274 His Holiness was
described in nāma 61 as One who destroyed the effects of the guṇa of tamas
that drives one to sin, and is shown here as One who destroyed the causal
ignorance itself, thus delivering devotees from beginningless saṁsāra.
[The following is excerpted from an essay penned by His Holiness in which
He expatiates on what delivers one from the darkness of ignorance.]
We have some abilities that are almost absent in the members of the
subhuman species. One such is the power of vicāra or enquiry. Though
feebly inherent in animals, it cannot wax to sublime heights in them. To it,
we owe our distinction. Vicāra is synonymous with deliberation. Reflection
comes naturally to humans. However, we ought to ascertain what is truly
worthwhile for us to ponder on.
We normally cogitate on purposeful as well as irrelevant mundane matters.
Apart from considering the alleged or actual failings of others, we give
thought to the domestic affairs and possessions of people. Nevertheless,
nothing objective to which we bestow attention is dear to us at all times.
Each of us has unwavering affection only for himself or herself. The self that
is ever dear is termed Ātman in the Śāstras. Anything objective that is
desirable now can become undesirable in the future and, likewise, what is
currently distasteful can turn agreeable; the Ātman, however, is dear now
and will continue to ever remain so. In the normal course, we encounter three
states; waking, dream and deep sleep. In all of them, one is dear to oneself.
It is the height of foolishness for us, who are reflective by nature, not to
attend to and enquire about ourselves. There is no point in pondering over
what is thoroughly known, such as that consumption of food appeases
hunger. It is impossible to enquire about what is totally unknown. We know
that we exist but have not understood what our fundamental nature is. So,
we need to enquire into it.
To carry out such vicāra, a suitable means is vital. The means may be either
our own or that provided by another; through it, we can accomplish what we
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 281
then though there is no contact with anything objective. How indeed is this
possible but for the Ātman itself being of the nature of bliss? In that case, is
not deep sleep sufficient for one to attain the Ātman? No, because even
though vikṣepa is absent in that state, āvaraṇa, which veils the Ātman, is
definitely present. To remove not just vikṣepa but also āvaraṇa, realization
of the Ātman is vital.
To free oneself from avidyā and thereby attaining the Ātman, the means of
valid knowledge are the Śāstra, yukti or reasoning, the words of the Guru
and one’s own experience characterized by inner certitude. Here, by Śāstra
is meant the Upaniṣads. Books together with practical training are essential
to acquire some forms of knowledge. Just as observing adept cooks when
they make cakes of flour and receiving guidance from them enable others to
prepare such cakes, the life and teachings of living saints who have realized
the Ātman enable people to acquire knowledge. Apart from the Śāstra,
reasoning and the words of the Guru, personal realization of the Ātman is
necessary. A person’s own experience is what reveals to him whether he has
realized the Ātman or not. Indirect knowledge based on the words of the
Śāstra and the Guru is insufficient to bring about liberation from
transmigratory existence.
Only those who have personally realized the Ātman are truly fortunate; they
are ones whose dedication to vicāra is total. It is only in them that the power
of vicāra, which is natural to humans, finds fulfilment.
It is said that thinking of satpuruṣas is most beneficial. Who are satpuruṣas?
There is actually only one entity that is sat or absolutely real and that is
Brahman. Thus, satpuruṣas are those who abide as Brahman. We should
endeavour to become true satpuruṣas.
1). Similarly, ‘Vidyā-tīrtha’ also means ‘One who is the revered Guru who
bestows knowledge’ and ‘One who liberates by means of knowledge,’ thus
implying that His Holiness was not just a knower of the Supreme, but was a
compassionate Sadguru too, capable of granting the ultimate beatitude
(nāma 2). Finally, ‘Vidyā-tīrtha’ also means ‘One who is the very
incarnation of knowledge’, indicating that His Holiness was not just a jñānin
but was an incarnation of the Supreme Lord of the cosmos (nāma 3). Thus,
the Jagadguru has beautifully summed up the entire glory of His Holiness
in this one nāma.
Apart from this, the word ‘Jagadguru’, meaning ‘preceptor of the world’,
also finds a place in this nāma. His Holiness’s Guru once explained the
meaning of this term: “The word ‘Jagadguru’ is not a title, but a
responsibility. When I am designated a ‘Jagadguru’ it becomes my
responsibility to accept, help and protect anyone who comes to me for
succour, irrespective of his caste, creed, religion, beliefs or nationality.” This
rings true in the case of His Holiness. People of various religions, castes,
belief systems and nationalities used to flock to Him and looked up to Him
as their preceptor. He accepted everyone who came to Him, sometimes even
drawing towards Himself and blessing those who had not even heard of Him.
And He never abandoned anyone. The specific use of the word ‘Jagadguru’
in this concluding nāma highlights this poignant aspect of His Holiness.
At the time of His Holiness’s taking saṁnyāsa, the senior Jagadguru softly
uttered in His Holiness’s right ear the yoga-paṭṭa (post-saṁnyāsa name)
chosen by Him for His disciple, ‘Abhinava Vidyātīrtha.’ It is apparent that
He chose this name, which literally means ‘The new Vidyātīrtha’, in
memory of Śrī Vidyātīrtha, the 10th pontiff of the Sringeri Sri Sharada
Peetham.
So important was Śrī Vidyātīrtha in the Maṭha’s Guru-paraṁpara (line of
Gurus) that one of the honorifics of all the pontiffs of the Sringeri Math after
Him is, ‘vidyāśaṅkara-pāda-padmārādhaka (Worshipper of the lotus-feet of
Vidyāśaṅkara (Śrī Vidyātīrtha))’ and the seal of the Maṭha bears, to this day,
just His name. Śrī Bhāratī Tīrtha, the renowned author of several influential
works on Vedānta was amongst His disciples and so was Śrī Vidyāraṇya, as
also Śrī Sāyaṇa, the author of the esteemed and traditionally-studied
commentaries on all the four Vedas. So deeply revered was Śrī Vidyātīrtha
that obeisance has been paid to Him in the following manner: “Having
saluted the Supreme Ātman present in the form of Śrī Vidyātīrtha…”276;
“May Vidyātīrtha, the great God, who is immutable, who knows the true
import of the Vedas, Smṛtis and the Itihāsas, be pleased…”277; “I salute the
great God, Vidyātīrtha, whose breath is the Veda…”278; “He who delights in
lambikā-yoga and is none other than Lord Śiva…”279 and, “Vidyātīrtha, the
284 108. Vidyātīrtha-jagadguruḥ
greatest of saṁnyāsins, excels the sun (that dispels the darkness outside
during daytime) as He dispels the darkness (of ignorance) that is within
people (in the mind) and outside them (as projected in the form of objects),
and by day and by night.”280 He was a consummate vedāntin and yogin.
Being greatly percipient, the senior Jagadguru perhaps felt that His Holiness
would go on to equal or excel Śrī Vidyātīrtha and so chose the name
‘Abhinava Vidyātīrtha’ or ‘the new Vidyātīrtha’ for Him.
His Holiness’s Paramaguru explains in a verse, “He who chants the four
syllables ‘vi’, ‘dyā’, ‘tī’ and ‘rtha’ of the name ‘Vidyātīrtha’, will ever be a
yogin and will also have worldly joys. There is no room for doubt in this.”281
The senior Jagadguru perhaps had these words of His Guru too in mind
when He chose this sacred name for His disciple.
The paṇḍita had planned a trip to Bengaluru on his return journey, but did
not have enough money to reach the intended destination. Filled with anger
and disappointment, he rashly decided to travel as far as the money he had
would take him, and boarded a bus. He spent the entire bus journey in anger,
fuming at the thought that His Holiness had been unfair to him. Finally, he
was dropped off by the bus conductor at a place midway between Sringeri
and Bengaluru. It happened to be a bus stop at the outskirts of a small village.
The paṇḍita sat down on a rock there, in the middle of nowhere, his mind
flooded with self-pity. “I, a gṛhastha (householder), have come to grief
because of placing my faith in this saṁnyāsin,” he mentally moaned,
condemning His Holiness.
Soon, quite unexpectedly, some well-to-do acquaintances of his came by in
a car. They were delighted to see him for they had in fact been wanting to
meet him. They asked him for some astrological advice regarding a building
they were constructing, which he readily proffered them. Finally, after
thanking him profusely, one of them took out a hundred-rupee note and
thrust it into the paṇḍita’s hand, before bidding adieu. The overjoyed
paṇḍita then completed the intended journey to Bengaluru and after
finishing his work there, returned to his home in Gokarna. He, however,
decided to keep the entire episode to himself and did not breathe a word
about it to anybody.
A few months later, His Holiness came to Gokarna during His tour. This
paṇḍita had not gone for darśana. One afternoon, the paṇḍita was making
his way through the fields, when He espied His Holiness walking alone
through the fields and coming in his direction! He ran towards His Holiness
and prostrated. His Holiness asked, “Where is your house?” The paṇḍita
answered that it was nearby. His Holiness then said that He had come to see
him, and suggested that they proceed to his house.
After reaching the man’s house, His Holiness did not stay for long. Before
leaving, He blessed the paṇḍita by giving him a handful of gold that He had
brought in His hand. His Holiness then turned to leave. Near the doorstep,
however, He paused, turned back and told the man softly, “But do not ever
think that you have come to grief because of placing your faith in this
saṁnyāsin.”
Indeed, it is said,
vidyātīrthāya gurave parasmai tejase namaḥ |
yasya nāṅgīkṛta-sneha-daśā-hāniḥ kadācana ||282
(Salutations to the Guru Vidyātīrtha who is the Supreme Effulgence, and
whose compassion for anyone He has accepted never wanes.)
Index to Quotations
1 तवद्वज्ञानार्ं ि गरुमे ् िोवत्रयं ब्रह्मवनष्ठम ॥
ु िावभगच्छेत … ् Muṇḍaka-upaniṣad
1.2.12
... अद्वैत ं ... ि आत्मा ि विज्ञेयः ॥
Māṇḍūkya-
2
upaniṣad 1.7
ित्यं ज्ञानमनन्तं ब्रह्म ।
Taittirīya-upaniṣad
3
2.1.1
विज्ञानमानन्दं ब्रह्म ।
Bṛhadāraṇyaka-
4
upaniṣad 3.9.28
वनरन्तराभ्याििर्ात्तवदत्थं पक्वं मनो ब्रह्मवण लीयते यदा ।
Viveka-cūḍāmaṇi
5
363
ु
तदा िमावधः ि विकल्पिवज ातः स्वतोऽद्वयानन्दरिानभािकः ॥
रिो िै िः ।
Taittirīya Upaniṣad
6
2.7.1
(ब्रह्मात्मनोः र्ोवधतयोरेकभािािगावहनी ।) वनविाकल्पा च वचन्मात्रा िृवत्तः … । िा
Viveka-cūḍāmaṇi
7
428
ििादा भिेद्यस्य ि जीिन्मुि इष्यते ॥
ु दयाविन्धबाु न्धरानमतां
15 अहेतक ु ्
िताम ॥
Viveka-cūḍāmaṇi
35
16 प्रज्ञािानवप पवण्डतोऽवप चतुरोऽप्यत्यन्तिूक्ष्मार् ादृग्व्यालीढस्तमिा न िेवत्त बहुधा
Viveka-cūḍāmaṇi
116
्
िम्बोवधतोऽवप स्फु िम ।् भ्रान्त्यारोवपतमेि िाध ु कलयत्यालम्बते तद्ग ुणान हन्तािौ
प्रबला दुरन्ततमिः र्विमाहत्यािृवतः ॥
् गतश्च वनत्यः ।
19 आकार्ित ििा
Śatapatha-
brāhmaṇa 10.6.3.2
ै ं जानर् आत्मानम ;् अन्या िाचो विम ुञ्चर् ; अमृतस्य ैष िेतःु ।
20 तमेिक
Muṇḍaka-upaniṣad
2.2.5
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 287
मलत्रयविनार्त्वादागम: पवरकीवतात: ॥
ू भ्य
43 िकृ देि प्रपन्नाय तिास्मीवत च याचते । अभयं ििाभत े ो ददाम्येतद्व्रत ं मम ॥
Vālmīki-Rāmāyaṇa
6.18.33
्
44 योगक्षेम ं िहाम्यहम ॥
Bhagavad-gītā 9.22
49 र्ावन्तमाप्नोवत न कामकामी
Bhagavad-gītā 2.70
50 दोषदृष्ट्या म ुहुमहुाु ः
Viveka-cūḍāmaṇi
22
् तदेिार् ामात्रवनभााि ं
51 देर्बन्धः वचत्तस्य धारणा ॥ तत्र प्रत्यय ैकतानता ध्यानम ॥
Yoga-sūtras 3.1,
3.2, 3.3
स्वरूपर्ून्यवमि िमावध: ॥
52 िद्रत्नगभा-हेरम्ब-पूजकः
Bhagavatpāda’s
aṣṭottara-śata-
nāmāvali (nāma
105)
53 उमािहायं परमेर्श्रं प्रभ ं ु वत्रलोचनं नीलकण्ठं प्रर्ान्तम ।्
Kaivalya-upaniṣad
7
्
ध्यात्वा म ुवनग ाच्छवत भूतयोवनं िमस्तिावक्षं तमिः परस्तात ॥
् तष्ण्य
54 िैराग्यं नाम दृष्टादृष्टेष्टभोगेष ु दोषदर्ानाभ्यािात िै ृ म्
Śaṅkara-bhāṣya on
Bhagavad-gītā 6.35
्
55 ब्रह्मविदश्च आप्तकामत्वात आप्तकामस्य ु
कामानपपत्ते
ः
Śaṅkara-bhāṣya on
Bṛhadāraṇyaka-
upaniṣad 2.4
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 289
्
58 तत्ते कमा प्रिक्ष्यावम यज्ज्ञात्वा मोक्ष्यिेऽर्ुभात ॥
Bhagavad-gītā 4.16
ु
ि बवद्धमान्मन ु ष ु ि यि
ष्ये ्
ु ः कृ त्स्नकमाकृत ॥
60 न िा अरे ििास्य कामाय ििं वप्रयं भित्यात्मनस्त ु कामाय ििं वप्रयं भिवत ।
Bṛhadāraṇyaka-
upaniṣad 2.4.5
61 यत्प्रीत्या प्रीवतपात्रं तनयु िु तीतनूजार् ाम ुख्यं ि तस्मात्प्रेयानात्मार्
Śataślokī 9
ततस्तािदेिावप्रयत्वम ।् न ैकवस्मन्सिाकालेऽस्त्यभयमवप
ु कदाप्यवप्रयोऽवप वप्रयः
स्यात्प्रेयानप्यवप्रयो िा िततमवप ततः प्रेय आत्माख्यिस्त ु ॥
ु
63 कृ पानकम्पा ं ं च भारत । तर्ाज ािं क्षमा ित्यं कुरुष्वेतवद्ववर्ष्यते ॥
कारुण्यमानृर्स्य
Mahābhārata
5.95.6
ु
64 कृ पा परस्य ि ुिार्े यत्नः। अनकम्पा परदुःिदर्ान े त्रािः। कारुण्यं परदुःिप्रहाणार्ो
Nīlakaṇṭha’s gloss
on Mahābhārata
यत्नः। आनृर्स्य ्
ं ं परदुःिाप्रदानम ॥ 5.95.6
्
69 अिौ स्वप ुत्रवमत्रकलत्रबन्ध्वादीन वर्िायज्ञोपिीते स्वाध्यायं च ििाकमाावण िंन्यस्य,
Paramahaṁsa-
upaniṣad 1
्
अयं ब्रह्माण्डं च वहत्वा, कौपीनं दण्डम आच्छादनं च स्वर्रीरोपभोगार्ााय च
लोकस्योपकारार्ााय च पवरग्रहेत ्
्
70 पादावदमस्तकप्रमाणम अव्रणं िमं िौम्यमकाकपृष्ठ ं िलक्षणं िैणिं दण्डमेकम ्
Nārada-
parivrājaka-
ा ं ‘ििा मा गोपायौजः ििायोऽिीिस्य िज्रोऽवि िात्राग्नः र्मा मे भि upaniṣad 4.39
आचमनपूिक
यत्पापं तवन्निारय’ इवत दण्डं पवरग्रहेत ्
ु
71 कौपीनाधारं कवििूत्रमोवमवत गह्याच्छादकं कौपीनमोवमवत र्ीतिातोष्ण-त्राणकरं
Nārada-
parivrājaka-
देहक ्
ै रक्षणमोवमवत कवििूत्र-कौपीन-िस्त्रम आचमनपू
िका ं योगपट्टावभवषिो भूत्वा upaniṣad 4.39
ु
ु को जगत्सिं ब्रह्मविष्णवर्िात्मकम
72 गरुरे ।् गरोः
ु परतरं नावस्त तस्मात्संपज ्
ू येद्ग ुरुम ॥
Guru-gītā 1.53
ु
73 मनश्चेन्न लग्नं गरोरविपद्मे ्
ततः वकं ततः वकं ततः वकं ततः वकम ॥
Gurvaṣṭaka
ा
77 पादप्रभाविवनधूताविद्यान्धतमिाय ते ।
Verse composed by
His Holiness on His
यतये वचवतवनविाष्टवचत्तायस्त ु नमो मम ॥ Guru
ु
78 िीमवद्वष्णपदाऽऽलम्बं िेदान्तामृतिवष ाणम ।्
Verse composed by
His Holiness on His
् ऽभ्रिदृर्ं गरुम
लोकिन्तापर्मन िन्दे ु ॥ ् Guru
ु
79 विनयािनतः िीमद्ग ुरुपादाम्बजन्मनी ।
Verse composed by
His Holiness on His
ु
दयामरन्दे वर्ष्यावलश्चम्बवत िद्धया िदा ॥ Guru
ु
80 गरुिरचरणौ भक्त्या वनत्यं प्रणमावम भिकरुणालू ।
Verse composed by
His Holiness on His
ु र्पातो हृदयध्वान्तावन िन्ततं हवन्त ॥
यद्भानले Guru
82 िुवतमस्तकभूषायमाणपादिरोरुहम ।्
Verse composed by
His Holiness on His
्
नतावताहरणं कुिे र्रणं देवर्कारुणम ॥ Guru
ु
83 वकरीियाम्यत्तमाङ्गे पादुके देवर्कस्य ते ।
Verse composed by
His Holiness on His
ययोः स्मृतवे हि लोकानां स्वान्तध्वान्तं प्रणछयवत ॥ Guru
89 गेय ं गीतानामिहस्रम ्
Moha-mudgara 27
्
वचता दहवत वनजीिं वचन्ता दहवत जीवितम ॥
ु स्व विगतज्वरः ॥
वनरार्ीवन ामामो भूत्वा यध्य
्
एतर्च्तुविाध ं प्राहुः िाक्षाद्धमास्य लक्षणम ॥
ु धत्ते ि धमं िेद न ेतरः ॥
108 आषं धमोपदेर् ं च िेदर्ास्त्राविरोवधना । यस्तके णानिं
Manu-smṛti 12.106
्
ु ुपकृ वतं मत्वाऽितारान्दर्ाग्रहीत ॥
109 परोपकृ वतकै िल्ये तोलवयत्वा जनादान: । गिीम
ु
110 परोपकृ वतर्ून्यस्य वधङ्मनष्यस्य जीवितम।् जीिन्त ु पर्िो येषां चमााप्यपु कवरष्यवत ॥
ा
111 िमावधवनधूतमलस्य ु भिेत ।्
चेतिो वनिेवर्तस्यात्मवन यत्सिं
Maitrāyaṇī-
upaniṣad 4.4.9
न र्क्यते िणावयतुं वगरा तदा स्वयं तदन्तःकरणेन गृह्यते ॥
114 अनष्ठातॄ ्
ु णां कामोद्भिात हीयमानवििे ु े न अधमेण अवभभूयमान े धमे
कविज्ञानहेतक
Śaṅkara-bhāṣya on
Bhagavad-gītā
प्रिध ामान े च अधमे... (introduction)
122 िेयान्स्वधमाः
Bhagavad-gītā 3.35
अकाले कृ तमकृ तम ।्
Smṛti attributed to
127
Vyāsa in Kṛṣṇa-
yajurvedīya-
sandhyā-bhāṣya by
Vedāntī Sitarama
Sastry
128 स्वल्पमप्यस्य धमास्य त्रायते महतो भयात । ् Bhagavad-gītā 2.40
न जातु कामः कामानाम ुपभोगेन र्ाम्यवत । हविषा कृ ष्णित्मेि भूय एिावभिध ाते ॥
Bhāgavata-purāṇa
129
9.19.14
आत्माकम्पः ि ुिात्मा स्फु रवत तदपरा त्वन्यर् ैि स्फु रन्ती ि ैयं िा चञ्चलत्वं मनवि
Śataślokī 73
130
्
135 कण्ठमाकुञ्च्य हृदये िापयेवर्च्बकंु दृढम।बन्धो जालन्धराख्योऽयं
Haṭhayoga-
pradīpikā 3.70,
ु
जरामृत्यविनार्कः॥ उदरे पवश्चमं तानं नाभेरूध्वं च कारयेत।् उड्डीयानो ह्यिौ बन्धो 3.57, 3.45, 3.61
ु
मृत्यमातङ्गके िरी॥ पूरकान्ते तु कताव्यो बन्धो जालन्धरावभधः। कुम्भकान्ते रेचकादौ
कताव्यस्तूवड्डयानकः॥ पावष्णाभागेन िंपीड्य योवनमाकुञ्चयेद्ग ुदम ।् अपानमूध्वम
ा ाकृ ष्य
मूलबन्धोऽवभधीयते ॥
ि ुहृत्संवमतात ्
् र्ाङ्गा-र्ङ्ख-गदा-िड्ग-चक्राक्षिलयावन्वतम ।्
143 वकरीिहारके यूरकिकावदविभूवषतम ॥
Viṣṇu-purāṇa
6.7.84, 6.7.85,
िरदाभयहस्तं च म ुवद्रकारत्नभूवषतम ॥ ् वचन्तयेत्तन्मयो योगी िमाधायात्ममानिम ।् 6.7.86, 6.7.87,
6.7.88, 6.7.89,
तािद्यािद्दृढीभूता तत्रैि नृप धारणा ॥ व्रजतवस्तष्ठतोऽन्यद्धा स्वेच्छया कमा कुिता ः । 6.7.90
ु ।
नापयावत यदा वचत्तावत्सद्धां मन्येत तां तदा ॥ ततः र्ङ्खगदाचक्रर्ाङ्गाावदरवहतं बधः
् ि यदा धारणा तद्वदििानिती ततः ।
वचन्तयेद्भगिद्रूपं प्रर्ान्तं िाक्षिूत्रकम ॥
् तदेकाियिं देि ं चेतिा वह प ुनबधाु ः ॥
वकरीि-के यूर-म ुि ैभूषा ण ै रवहतं स्मरेत ॥
ु
150 आत्माम्भोधेस्तरङ्गोऽस्म्यहवमवत गमन े भाियन्नािनिः िंवित्सूत्रानविद्धो
Śataślokī 12
्
155 िाचारम्भणं विकारो नामधेय ं मृवत्तके त्येि ित्यम ॥
Chāndogya-
upaniṣad 6.1.4
156 ब्रह्मविद्यां ििाविद्याप्रवतष्ठाम ्
Muṇḍaka-upaniṣad
1.1.1
्
157 येनाक्षरं प ुरुषं िेद ित्यं... तां तत्त्वतो ब्रह्मविद्याम ॥
Muṇḍaka-upaniṣad
1.2.13
158 प्रयोजनं चास्या ब्रह्मविद्याया अविद्यावनिृवत्तः, ततश्च आत्यवन्तकः िंिाराभािः ।
Śaṅkara-bhāṣya on
Taittirīya-upaniṣad
2.1.1
159 न नरेणािरेण प्रोि एष ि ुविज्ञेयो बहुधा वचन्त्यमानः । अनन्यप्रोिे गवतरत्र नावस्त
Kaṭha-upaniṣad
1.2.8
160 तमस्त्वज्ञानजं विवद्ध मोहनं ििादवे हनाम ।् प्रमादालस्यवनद्रावभस्तवन्नबध्नावत भारत ॥
Bhagavad-gītā 14.8
्
161 अज्ञानं तमिः फलम ॥
Bhagavad-gītā
14.16
162 मातृदिे ो भि । वपतृदिे ो भि ।
Taittirīya-upaniṣad
1.11.2
163 परमहंिः वर्िायज्ञोपिीतरवहतः...एककौपीनधारी र्ािीमेकामेकं िैणिं
Saṁnyāsa-upaniṣad
2.13
दण्डमेकर्ािीधरो िा भस्मोद्धूलनपरः ििात्यागी ।
ा ोकौ जहावत ॥
173 अध्यात्मयोगावधगमेन देि ं मत्वा धीरो हषर्
Kaṭha-upaniṣad
1.2.12
्
174 ििं िस्त ु भयावन्वतं भ ुवि नृणां िैराग्यमेिाभयम ॥
Vairāgya-śataka 31
183 मनो वह वद्वविधं प्रोिं र्ुद्धं चार्ुद्धमेि च । अर्ुद्धं कामिङ्कल्पं र्ुद्धं कामवििवज ातम॥्
Maitrāyaṇī-
upaniṣad 4.6, 4.11
ु
मन एि मनष्याणां कारणं बन्धमोक्षयोः । बन्धाय विषयाििं म ुक्त्य ै वनविाषयं
स्मृतवमवत ॥
193 ििेवत मत्वा प्रिभं यदुिं हे कृ ष्ण हे यादि हे ििेवत । अजानता मवहमानं तिेद ं
Bhagavad-gītā
11.41, 11.42
मया प्रमादात्प्रणयेन िावप ॥ यर्च्ािहािार्मा ित्कृ तोऽवि विहारर्र्य्यािनभोजन ेष ु ।
्
एकोऽर्िाप्यच्यतु तत्समक्षं तत्क्षामये त्वामहमप्रमेयम ॥
ु
196 इदं तु ते गह्यतमं प्रिक्ष्याम्यनिूयिे । ज्ञानं विज्ञानिवहतं यज्ज्ञात्वा मोक्ष्यिेऽर्ुभात ्
Bhagavad-gītā 9.1
ु च बृहस्पवतः
204 अवभमानी देितात्मा... िावच बद्धौ
Śaṅkara-bhāṣya on
Taittirīya-upaniṣad
1.1.1
205 यो िावच वतष्ठन्वाचोऽन्तरो यं िाङ्न िेद यस्य िाक्शरीरं यो िाचमन्तरो यमयत्येष त
Bṛhadāraṇyaka-
upaniṣad 3.7.17,
आत्मान्तयााम्यमृतः ॥ यो मनवि वतष्ठन्मनिोऽन्तरो यं मनो न िेद यस्य मनः र्रीरं 3.7.20
यो मनोऽन्तरो यमयत्येष त आत्मान्तयााम्यमृतः ॥
ु ः परतस्त ु िः ॥
206 यो बद्धे
Bhagavad-gītā 3.42
Śrī Śuddhānanda-
214
bhāratī’s Svāmin’s
verse on His
Holiness
215 इक्ष्वाकू णां दुरापेऽर्े त्वदधीना वह विद्धयः ॥
Raghu-vaṁśa 1.72
223 कै लाियात्रा-िंप्राप्त-चिमौवल-प्रपूजकः
Bhagavatpāda’s
aṣṭottara-śata-
nāmāvali (nāma 80)
224 परावञ्च िावन व्यतृणत्स्वयम्भूस्तस्मात्पराङ् पछयवत नान्तरात्मन ।्
Kaṭha-upaniṣad 4.1
्
कवश्चद्धीरः प्रत्यगात्मानम ैक्षदािृत्तचक्ष ुरमृतत्ववमच्छन ॥
ु न बद्धाः ।
225 र्ब्दावदवभः पञ्चवभरेि पञ्च पञ्चत्वमाप ुः स्वगणे
Viveka-cūḍāmaṇi
78
्
कुरङ्ग-मातङ्ग-पतङ्ग-मीन-भृङ्गा नरः पञ्चवभरवञ्चतः वकम ॥
226 यततो ह्यवप कौन्तेय प ुरुषस्य विपवश्चतः । इवियावण प्रमार्ीवन हरवन्त प्रिभं मनः ॥
Bhagavad-gītā 2.60
ु आिीत मत्परः ।
227 तावन ििाावण िंयम्य यि
Bhagavad-gītā 2.61
234 विषयार्ां पवरत्यज्य िैराग्यं परमं विताः । म ुनयो यत्कृ पाभाजस्तं विद्यातीर् ामािये ॥
Abhinava-
vidyātīrtha-
akṣaramālā-stotra 5
235 र्कुनीनावमिाकार्े जले िावरचरस्य च । पदं यर्ा न दृछयेत तर्ा ज्ञानितां गवतः ॥
Mahābhārata
12.181.9
236 र्रर्च्िवनभानना ॥
Lalitā-sahasranāma
129
300 Index to Quotations
ु
237 इत्येतदनर्ािनम ् िदे ान्तोपदेर्ः; एष ििािदे ान्तानाम ुपिंहृतोऽर् ाः;
ििा
Śaṅkara-bhāṣya on
Bṛhadāraṇyaka-
एतदमृतमभयम;् पवरिमाप्तश्च र्ास्त्रार् ाः ॥ upaniṣad 2.5.19
247 आक्रान्तां रत्नगभां दनतन ु जजु ुषां िौगत ैरंर्भेदःै तान्सिाािािवयत्वा परमतवभदुरैः
Verse composed by
His Holiness on
यवु ििृन्दरै भेद्य ैः । स्विां चक्रे ऽर् यस्स िुवतकमलरविदावक्षणामूवतारूपो Bhagavatpāda
250 आरुरुक्षोमनाु ेयोगं कमा कारणम ुच्यते । योगारूढस्य तस्य ैि र्मः कारणम ुच्यते ॥
Bhagavad-gītā 6.3
251 योगारूढस्य प ुनः तस्य ैि र्मः उपर्मः ििाकमाभ्यो वनिृवत्तः कारणं योगारूढस्य
Śaṅkara-bhāṣya on
Bhagavad-gītā 6.3
्
िाधनम उच्यते इत्यर् ाः ।
ु
252 को वह जानावत कस्याद्य मृत्यकालो भविष्यवत ।
Mahābhārata
12.175.16
्
यिु िै धमार्ीलस्स्यादवनत्यं िलु जीवितम ॥
108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru 301
ु ैवन ागणोऽवपवनरञ्जनः॥
256 एकोऽवप िन्महादेिवस्त्रधाऽिौ िमिवितः।िग ारक्षालयगण ाु
Kūrma-purāṇa
1.4.53
ु
257 वर्िाय विष्णरूपाय वर्िरूपाय विष्णिे।यर्ा वर्िमयो विष्णरेु ि ं विष्णमय:वर्िः।
ु Skanda-upaniṣad 8,
9
258 िीर्ेर्योभेदधीः... नामापराधा दर् ।
Bhagavannāma-
bhūṣaṇa referred in
Bhagavan-
nāmāmṛta-
rasodaya, ullāsa 6
259 ित्यज्ञानि ुिस्वरूपममलं क्षीरावब्धमध्ययवितं योगारूढमवतप्रिन्निदनं
Dhyāna-śloka of
the mantrarāja of
भूषािहस्रोज्ज्वलम ।् त्र्यक्षं चक्रवपनाकिाभयिराविभ्राणमका च्छविं Lakṣmī-narasiṁha
ु
262 िेदो वनत्यमधीयतां तदुवदतं कमा स्वनष्ठीयतां तेन ेर्स्य विधीयतामपवचवतः काम्ये
Upadeśa-pañcaka1
267 ित्यं िद ।
Taittirīya-upaniṣad
1.11.1
268 अवहंिा-ित्य-अस्तेय-ब्रह्मचया-अपवरग्रहा यमाः ॥
Patañjali-yoga-
sūtras 2.30
269 अवहंिाप्रवतष्ठायां तत्सवन्नधौ िैरत्यागः ॥
Patañjali-yoga-
sūtras 2.35
302 Index to Quotations
270 यत्नादवप परक्लेर्ं हत्तं ु या हृवद जायते । इच्छा भूवमि ुरिेष्ठ िा दया पवरकीवत्ताता ॥
Padma-purāṇa
7.17.87
271 दया भूतषे ु ... िम्पदं दैिीमवभजातस्य
Bhagavad-gītā
16.2, 16.3
ू षे ु
272 दया ििाभत
Gautama-dharma-
sūtras 1.8.24
्
273 म ैत्रीकरुणाम ुवदतोपेक्षणां ि ुिदुःिप ुण्याप ुण्यविषयाणां भािनातवश्चत्तप्रिादनम ॥
Yoga-sutra 1.33
ु
274 तेषामेिानकम्पार् ामहमज्ञानजं तमः । नार्याम्यात्मभाििो ज्ञानदीपेन भास्वता ॥
Bhagavad-
gītā10.11
ु ु स्फु ितरं योऽिौ िम ुज्ृम्भते प्रत्यग्रूपतया िदाऽहमहवमत्यन्तः
275 जाग्रत्स्वप्नि ुषवप्तष
Vivekacūḍāmaṇi
219
स्फु रन्नेकधा । नानाकारविकारभावजन इमान्छयन्नहंधीम ुिावन्नत्यानन्दवचदात्मना
स्फु रवत तं विवद्ध स्वमेत ं हृवद ॥
्
278 यस्य वनर्श्वितं िेदाः ... तमहं िन्दे विद्यातीर् ामहेर्श्रम ॥
Jīvanmukti-viveka 1
279 लवम्बकायोगवनरतमवम्बकापवतरूवपणम ।्
Śrī Saccidānanda
Śivābhinava
Nṛsiṁha Bhāratī
Mahāsvāmin’s
Vidyātīrthāṣṭaka 2
280 विद्यातीर् ायतीिोऽयमवतर्ेत े वदिाकरम।् तमो हरवत यत्पि ्
ं ु ामन्तबावहरहवन ार्म ॥
Sringeri
inscriptions: No.2
281 िणाचतुष्टयमेतवद्वद्यातीर्ेवत यस्य वजह्वाग्रे ।
Vidyātīrthāṣṭaka 1
His Holiness Jagadguru Śrī Abhinava Vidyātīrtha
Mahāsvāmin, the 35th Jagadguru Shankaracharya
of the Sringeri Sri Sharada Peetham, was a sage
who had attained, by the age of eighteen, the
state of jīvanmukti (liberation while living),
hailed by the scriptures as the greatest of
all achievements, for it leaves nothing to be
achieved thereafter, vouchsafing, as it does,
freedom from the cycle of births and deaths.
His Holiness was a consummate yogin, and an
authority on scriptural matters, being a scholar
par excellence especially in Tarka and Vedānta.
Apart from His Holiness’s spiritual stature
and scriptural expertise, His devotion to His
Guru and God, infinite compassion for all living
beings, His razor-sharp intellect, His deep insight
into and understanding of modern science, His
capacity and openness to learn and adapt to
new things, His administrative acumen, His wide-
ranging knowledge, His acceptance of and ready
rapport with all manners of people irrespective
of caste, creed, religion, nationality, belief or
even lack of belief, His straightforwardness and
His egolessness, made Him a Guru who guided
not only by precept but also by practice. He
untiringly toured India several times to inculcate
dhārmika and spiritual values in the multitudes
who flocked to Him. He was looked up to by
thousands across India as well as other parts of
the world, for His infallible grace and guidance.
After His Holiness shed His mortal form in 1989,
His disciple and present Jagadguru Śrī Bhāratī
Tīrtha Mahāsvāmin, composed an aṣṭottara-
śata-nāmāvali (series of 108 nāmas) on His Guru,
which describes 108 facets of His Holiness and
provides a wealth of information on His life and
teachings. This book offers an explanation for
each of these 108 nāmas, supported by various
episodes from His Holiness’s life and relevant
extracts from His teachings, all of which are not
only fascinating but compellingly edifying.
ISBN 978-81-950399-8-2