Kumaradeva

Apologies for my long absence. I haven't felt much like writing in the last few months, even though I have several big projects that are still awaiting completion.

Here is an article I recently co-wrote with T. V. Venkatasubramanian. The biographical information all comes from Kumaradevar Sastra Kovai, by P Arumugam Mudaliar, published by Golden Electric Press, 1923.

Kumaradeva, a Karnataka king who renounced his throne to attain liberation, was part of a distinguished lineage of Gurus who lived and taught in South India in the 16th and 17th centuries. According to his hagiography, Kumaradeva had spent his penultimate incarnation in Mallikarjuna, nowadays known as Sri Sailam, in Andhra Pradesh. In that life he was performing nishkama tapas – rigorous and selfless meditation – and directing it towards Lord Siva. He had a companion, another sadhu who was performing tapas alongside him.

Siva became aware of this anonymous sadhu’s strenuous efforts and decided to manifest before him to offer assistance.

‘Devotee, what boon do you want?’ he enquired.

The sadhu had been harbouring a request in his mind, but when he opened his mouth to speak, something completely different came out.

The details of the unplanned request are not known, but they were bad enough to cause great anger in Siva, who cursed him with the following words: ‘May you become a jatamuni [a kind of demon with long matted hair]!’

This was a not a curse for some future life; the transformation was immediate.

Shocked by this sudden turn of events, the devotee prostrated at Siva’s feet and pleaded with him.

‘I made a mistake by not asking for what I really desired. Supreme Being! What can I do now? When can I be released from this curse?’

Siva gave him the following prescription: ‘Go to Vriddhachalam [a town near Chidambaram] and live there on the branches of the mature bodhi tree that is growing on the bank on the Manimutta River. The devotee who has been performing tapas next to you will, in his next life, be born as a king in the Karnataka region. After ruling there for a brief period, he will develop a distaste for worldly life that will lead him to Peraiyur Santalinga Swami. He will attain liberation through the grace of this swami. His Guru will then instruct him to go to Vriddhachalam where he will stay under the same bodhi tree in which you will be living as a jatamuni. If you prostrate to him and beg him to release you, you will be freed from your curse.’

‘When will he attain liberation?’ asked the jatamuni.

Siva replied, ‘He has already taken five consecutive pure incarnations. In each one he performed intense nishkama tapas and directed it towards me. This is his sixth pure birth. In his next life he will attain liberation.’

Saying, ‘This is my good fortune,’ the jatamuni took leave of Siva, went to Vriddhachalam, took up residence in the tree specified by Siva, and waited for the time when he would be released from his curse.

The destinies ordained by Siva then began to unfold. The devotee who had been doing tapas with the jatamuni took a new birth as Kumaradeva in the Karnataka region. He ruled there as a king for a short period of time before taking sannyasa. After his renunciation, he asked his former chief minister to send a message to Peraiyur Santalinga Swami that gave details of his history, his renunciation, and his desire to see him. Then, without waiting for an answer, he went there in person and fell at the Guru’s feet.

Santalinga Swami wanted to test the maturity of Kumaradeva.

He looked at his kaiettu tambiran, a scribe-disciple who always stood near the Guru in order to write down important teachings, and said, ‘Appa [a term of endearment], this person looks like a king. He is not fit for this path. Ask him to go home and rule his kingdom again.’

The scribe was a mature man who could see or intuit that eighteen distinct marks that are said to appear only in those true devotees who have intense and extreme maturity were all manifesting in this former king. Since he did not want to disobey his Guru or reveal this information to Kumaradeva, he contrived to pass on the information to Santalinga Swami in sign language.

Santalinga Swami was aware of all this himself. Softening his stance a little, he turned to the tambiran and said, ‘Tell him to go outside and cut grass for my bullocks’.

Kumaradeva was given a sickle, along with a rope to tie the cut grass with, and was dispatched to the nearby fields where he joined a group of pallars (members of an agricultural caste) who were already engaged in cutting grass.

Kumaradeva held a bunch of grass in his left hand and attempted to cut it near the ground with his sickle. However, being completely inexperienced, he only succeeded in inflicting a severe wound on the hand that was holding the grass. Instead of getting upset about the gaping wound, he got angry with his right hand for being so incompetent.

The pallars, who had been observing the strange and unskilled behaviour of the new grass cutter, approached him and asked him who he was.

‘Oh, I am just a worker who has been asked to cut grass to feed the bullocks that pull Santalinga Swami’s cart’.

The pallars were not convinced. His incompetence at one of the most basic agricultural tasks, combined with his aristocratic bearing, led them to believe that he might be a king. When they saw that he was incapable of accomplishing the simple task that had been assigned to him, they took pity on him, cut the grass that was required, and tied it with the rope that Kumaradava had been given. They then lifted it up and placed it on his head so he could walk off with it. Unaccustomed to bearing heavy loads, Kumaradeva’s head buckled under the weight. Realising that Kumaradeva did not have the necessary neck muscles to carry the grass to its destination, the pallars carried it to the math and placed it outside the door.

On the two succeeding days Kumaradeva was again sent out to cut grass for Santalinga Swami’s bullocks, and each time the pallars cut the grass for him and delivered it to the math. On the third day the worker who was carrying Kumaradeva’s load for him met the tambiran who had conveyed Santalinga Swami’s original orders. He told him about the strange new worker who couldn’t either cut or carry grass and who had slashed his hand on his first attempt. The tambiran reported these developments to Santalinga Swami.

Santalinga Swami decided that he would test Kumaradeva a little more. He came outside and got angry with him, just to see how he would react. Kumaradeva became a little frightened when Santalinga Swami verbally attacked him, but other than retreating a little and standing some distance away, he displayed no reaction to the assault.

That night Santalinga Swami called his tambiran and said, ‘Pack two separate cooked-rice parcels for myself and Kumaradeva. Hang them on opposite ends of a pole and give the pole to Kumaradeva. Then ask him to accompany me with it.’

They set off together, with Santalinga Swami walking in front of Kumaradeva.

After travelling for some time Santalinga Swami turned round and rebuked him, shouting ‘Why are you delaying?’

Kumaradeva replied fearfully, ‘On one side the acchu lingam [axis lingam] is tugging me, and on the other side the gana yuddham are pulling.’

In this highly cryptic pronouncement the acchu lingam represents the Self while the gana yuddham (the hordes of warring warriors) represent the outward-moving senses who are always trying to take attention away from the Self.

This enigmatic but profound reply sent Santalinga Swami into a state of ecstasy. He sat down on the bank of a nearby tank with Kumaradeva and asked him to mix the rice from the two packages. Kumaradeva obeyed the command and then served Santalinga Swami, treating the rice as naivedya [sanctified food offered to a deity]. When Santalinga Swami had indicated that he had received enough, Kumaradeva took some himself, treating his portion as prasad.

The two of them spoke together before Santalinga Swami decided it was time to return to the math.

This meeting was a turning point in their outward relationship. Kumaradeva began to perform sadhana under the supervision of Santalinga Swami and soon realised the Self through his Guru’s grace.

Since Siva had ordained that the enlightened Kumaradeva would one day travel to Vriddhachalam to release the jatamuni from his curse, Santalinga Swami turned to him one day, addressed him as ‘Maharaja,’ and ordered him to visit that town.

Kumaradeva took leave of his Guru and began to travel there on foot. As he was walking through a forest near Chinnasalem, Pazhamalainathar (Siva residing at Vriddhachalam) appeared in the form of a brahmin. Knowing that Kumaradeva was walking towards his town, he set up a wayside stall that served free drinking water to travellers.

As Kumaradeva approached, the brahmin addressed him saying, ‘You seem to be exhausted. Drinking water is available here. Drink as much as you want and quench your thirst.’

Kumaradeva accepted the brahmin’s offer before continuing with his journey to Vriddhachalam.

The long walk exhausted him. When he finally arrived at his destination, he decided to rest under the shade of the large bodhi tree that was growing by the side of the River Manimutta. Within minutes of sitting down he fell into a deep and blissful sleep.

Periyanayaki, the goddess presiding at Vriddhachalam, came to know of his arrival. She took some milk that had been kept for her abhishekam and came in the form of a brahmin woman to where Kumaradeva was sleeping. She sat down next to him, placed Kumaradeva’s head on her lap, and fed him with the milk she had brought.

Kumaradeva woke up, saw the woman, and asked who she was.

She replied, ‘Kumaradeva, I am Periyanayaki. Come and stay forever in my place and live happily here.’

Then she mysteriously vanished into thin air.

This incident left Kumaradeva wondering, ‘Mother, what can I possibly give you in return for this grace?’

Within minutes he was lost in ecstasy.

The jatamuni, who had been staying on the branches of the bodhi tree, observed all this and thought that the person he had been waiting for had finally arrived. He climbed down the tree, took the form of a brahmin, and fell at the feet of Kumaradeva with great humility.

‘Who are you?’ enquired Kumaradeva.

‘I am a jatamuni.’

‘Why have you come to see me?’ enquired Kumaradeva.

The jatamuni then narrated the story of how the two of them had once been sadhus together, and how Siva had cursed him to remain as a jatamuni in the bodhi tree until Kumaradeva came there to release him.

When the story had been concluded, Kumaradeva carried out Siva’s wishes and released the jatamuni from the curse.

Kumaradeva remained in Vriddhachalam since his Guru had asked him to be there. Some accounts say that he used the shade of this bodhi tree as his base.

One day Periyanayaki appeared to him again and requested him to compose some jnana sastras (scriptures on true knowledge). Kumaradeva doubted that he had the capacity.

He replied, ‘Though I am your slave, I am not able to do this’.

Periyanayaki told him, ‘I myself will abide in your tongue and complete the sastras’.

Kumaradeva accepted the order and went on to compose sixteen jnana sastras. In one portion of the sixth sastra – which is entitled Jnana Ammanai and is addressed to the deities of Vriddhachalam who enabled him to compose the work – he gave details of his life and his spiritual development. The lines all conclude with the exclamation ‘ammanai!’ This is a celebratory shout that indicates joy and delight in all the incidents and opinions that are mentioned in the poem. The original ammanai poem was composed by Manikkavachagar in Tiruvannamalai over a thousand years ago. The ammanai exclamation in that particular poem is thought to have been derived from a triumphant shout of joy made by young girls as they scored points in a game that involved keeping a number of balls in the air.

Here, then, is an extract from Kumaradeva’s own ammanai poem, his exultant retelling of his path to liberation. 'Azhattu Pillaiyar' (first line) is Ganapati in Vriddhachalam; 'Vriddhambhikai' (third line) is Siva's consort in Vriddhachalam; 'Sankari' (towards the end) is a more generic title for the consort of Siva.

Worshipping the feet of Azhattu Pillaiyar – ammanai!
I rooted out doubt and erroneous understanding – ammanai!
Reaching the feet of Vriddhambhikai – ammanai!
opening the eye of true jnana – ammanai!
and meditating and dwelling on the conclusion – ammanai!
I will now declare what I have experienced, as I experienced it – ammanai!
Father, mother, wife, relations – ammanai!
these are attachments of the soul – ammanai!
Wealth, ornaments, land, empire – ammanai!
these are attachments to objects – ammanai!
These two are external attachments – ammanai!
Remaining with these – ammanai!
thinking there is no lack in – ammanai!
noble lineage, wealth, handsome looks, attire – ammanai!
I lived for some time, wallowing in them – ammanai!
without paying attention to the excellent path – ammanai!
not performing Siva bhakti, tapas, and offering gifts – ammanai!
It was through providence that my mind became clear – ammanai!
Impermanent, impure and misery-causing – ammanai!
maya of this nature is most certainly unreal – ammanai!
Eternal, immaculate and having enduring bliss – ammanai!
this state of liberation is one’s own [state] and real – ammanai!
After realising this, disregarding completely – ammanai!
the happiness of a householder’s life – ammanai!
I renounced it in my youth as false and moved towards – ammanai!
the golden feet of jnana Guru Santalinga – ammanai!
I came, I praised him, and I prostrated – ammanai!
He placed his golden feet on my head and then – ammanai!
made clear to me the path of liberation – ammanai!
He said, ‘Exert yourself on tapas at Vriddhachalam’ – ammanai!
Obeying his command I stayed there – ammanai!
remaining there motionless, night and day – ammanai!
I merged in tapas – ammanai!
Vriddhambhikai came and taught me – ammanai!
As she was explaining I realised – ammanai!
clearly the experience that is free from doubt and wrong understanding – ammanai!...

Seeing everything as ‘I’ – ammanai!
I remained without any anxiety – ammanai!
Only my being manifests and exists – ammanai!
only my consciousness appears – ammanai!
only my bliss is experienced as happiness – ammanai!
all is only sat-chit-ananda – ammanai!
I saw and attained myself through myself – ammanai!
I remained, experiencing happiness alone – ammanai!
I became convinced that the happiness experienced in objects – ammanai!
is only my own bliss – ammanai!
From now on I will not think of or desire any object – ammanai!
There is no bliss in it – ammanai!
I obtained freedom from desire and fear – ammanai!
as I became the eternal blissful one – ammanai!
Whatever happens to come to me in the present – ammanai!
I will experience it in a state of desirelessness and abide in the [natural] state – ammanai!
When I think, I see myself as ‘this’ – ammanai!
as the various non-existent objects – ammanai!
In my thought-free state I see only myself as One – ammanai!
Seeing only myself here and there – ammanai!
I remain without any anxiety… – ammanai!

There is nothing other than ‘me’. I swear to this – ammanai!
I will hold the red-hot iron in my hand [swearing] that this is the truth – ammanai!
Not knowing myself for such a long time – ammanai!
was like languishing in fear, without knowing my way – ammanai!
What recompense can there be in me – ammanai!
for the compassion of Sankari , who has no equal – ammanai!
for bestowing her cool grace? – ammanai!
From now on it will be proper for me to render elegant service – ammanai!
wholeheartedly to her devotees – ammanai!
May this holy kshetra of Vriddhachalam shine forth – ammanai!

(Jnana Ammanai, sixth sastra, lines 1-34, lines 67-88, lines 91-100.)

Though Kumaradeva’s written works are studied in Vedanta maths, he himself was brought up in the Virasaiva tradition. This is a subdivision of the Saiva faith which originated in Karnataka about 800 years ago. It still has many adherents there. The traditional accounts of Kumaradeva’s life stress his Virasaiva background and beliefs and generally include the following entertaining incident:

Once Kumaradeva went to Tiruvarur to witness its annual festival. As Sri Tyagaraja, the presiding deity of Tiruvarur, was travelling in his chariot, moving through the main streets that surrounded the temple, Kumaradeva stood in front of the moving vehicle and had darshan of the deity.

Two Saivas who witnessed this spoke to each other in a sneering way: ‘Look at this deluded Virasaiva!’

The implication in the original Tamil is not that Kumaradeva is a deluded person, but that the Virasaiva faith is based on deluded principles.

When he overheard this comment, Kumaradeva addressed Thyagaraja: ‘Lord, if the Virasaiva faith is a delusion, then let this chariot continue. If it is the way of grace, then let this chariot come to a halt.’

The chariot ground to a halt.

After issuing this challenge and achieving the desired result, Kumaradeva went and sat under the shade of a nearby tree.

The king of Thanjavur, who was also a trustee of the temple, learned that the chariot had unexpectedly stopped. Since he had taken a vow that he would not eat until the chariot had returned to its starting point, he became extremely concerned and initiated several different attempts to get the chariot to continue. The chariot, though, refused to budge from its spot.

Feeling both anxious and exhausted by his failure, he prayed, ‘Lord, what can be done now? Through whose agency has this event occurred? My vow is not possible to fulfil.’

The king then learned about the incident between Kumaradeva and the taunting Saivas which had occurred earlier that day.

He went to Kumaradeva, prostrated to him, and appealed to him for help. Kumaradeva, though, was unmoved.

He told the king, ‘What business do you have with this “deluded” person? Go away!’

The king persisted by both praising and beseeching him, adding, ‘You should forgive this fault of ours and make the chariot move again’.

Kumaradeva finally agreed to help by taking up the matter with Sri Tyagaraja directly.

Accompanied by the king and his entourage, he stood before the chariot and addressed the deity: ‘If the Virasaiva faith is the way of grace, let this chariot move. If it is delusion, then let the chariot remain motionless.’

Immediately, and to the joy of everyone watching, the chariot began to move, reaching its starting point without any further problems.

The first jnana sastra that Kumaradeva composed under the supervision of Periyanayaki, was Maharaja Turavu (The Renunciation of a Great King). This later became a standard text on Vedanta in the Tamil-speaking world. It is one of sixteen Vedanta texts that comprise the syllabus in some traditional South Indian maths. Maharaja Turavu covers many topics but its principal theme is extolling the virtues of physical renunciation and ascetic living.

In Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, talk number 648, Bhagavan mentioned one of its verses with great approval:

In Maharaja Turavu [Kumaradeva writes that he] was seated on the bare ground, the earth was his seat, the wind was the chamara; the sky was the canopy; and renunciation was his spouse.

Then Sri Bhagavan continued: I had no cloth spread on the floor in earlier days. I used to sit on the floor and lie on the ground. That is freedom. The sofa is a bondage. It is a gaol for me. I am not allowed to sit where and how I please. Is it not bondage? One must be free to do as one pleases, and should not be served by others.

‘No want’ is the greatest bliss. It can be realised only by experience. Even an emperor is no match for a man with no want. The emperor has got vassals under him. But the other man is not aware of anyone beside the Self. Which is better?

Bhagavan's Maharaja Turavu quote is a free rendering of verse 64. The full translation is as follows:

The king remained resplendent with the earth as his bed, and the sky, appropriately, as his canopy. Existing in happiness as the one Self, the moon and the ruddy sun became his lamps, the wafting breeze his befitting yak-tail fan, and renunciation his wife.

Though the verses of Maharaja Turavu that praised an ascetic and frugal lifestyle clearly resonated with Bhagavan, he did not accept Kumaradeva’s contention, repeated in many of the verses, that physical renunciation was an essential prerequisite to Self-realisation. There is no record of Bhagavan ever giving permission to a devotee who wanted to give up his family or financial responsibilities in order to pursue a spiritual life full-time. If Bhagavan was asked about this, he would usually reply that it is the mind that has to be renounced, not physical circumstances, and that realisation did not depend on adopting a particular lifestyle.

Sadhu Natanananda (known in his earlier life as Natesa Mudaliar) was one of the devotees who sought Bhagavan’s permission to renounce family life and become a sannyasin. As a keen student of vedantic texts, Natananananda had probably read Maharaja Turavu and accepted Kumaradeva’s prescription that physical renunciation was a pre-requisite for serious seekers. This is why, in refusing his request, Bhagavan cited a typical renunciation verse from Maharaja Turavu before going on to point out that in later works Kumaradeva had changed his view and taught that renunciation of the ego was more important than the external variety. This is B. V. Narasimhaswami’s account of Bhagavan’s reply:

[Around] 1926 Natesa Mudaliar approached Maharshi and said that he desired to become an ascetic, as that seemed the only course for him, since domestic life was standing in the way of his achieving peace and control of mind. Maharshi tried to dissuade him, and pointed out that if one quitted home to escape a single hindrance and went to the forest, ten hindrances would beset him there, as though they came up on purpose to test his mettle.

‘But do not ask me why I came [here to Tiruvannamalai],’ said Maharshi. ‘Somehow I came then.’

[Bhagavan then] quoted Maharaja Turavu [saying] that the king, when he left home and all, no doubt said, ‘If a man goes southward [from a starting point in South India] he will never go to the Ganges. Similarly, one who stays home will never obtain liberation.’ But the same king at a later stage said that there was no difference between domestic life and a hermit’s.

‘Just as you are free from cares of home when you are here,’ said Maharshi, ‘go home and try to be unconcerned and unaffected even in the midst of home life.’

Natesa Mudaliar got the same negative reply on two or three later occasions when he again broached the subject of sannyasa. Maharshi’s words proved to be quite prophetic. Natesa Mudaliar, with an impetuosity which no doubt did credit to his heart, put on kashayam [orange robes] and became a sannyasi. But he was prevailed upon, after a few years, to resume his place as a householder and work for his family as a teacher in a school. (Self-Realization, 1993 ed., p. 224.)

According to Kunju Swami (The Power of the Presence, part one, p. 97) Natanananda asked Bhagavan to give him the orange robes of a sannyasin. Natanananda had brought the cloth to the old hall but Bhagavan refused to touch it. Natanananda then placed the cloth on the stool in front of Bhagavan that visitors put their offerings on. After a few minutes he took it away and began to wear it. A few months later, when Natanananda decided to give up his life as a sannyasin, he presented the orange robes to Bhagavan. For the rest of his life he only ever wore white clothes.

In his reply to Natanananda Bhagavan noted that Kumaradeva ‘at a later stage said that there was no difference between domestic life and a hermit’s’. This is most probably a reference to a sequence of verses in Advaita Unmai where Kumaradeva’s views are almost indistinguishable from those of Bhagavan.

81 There is no need to renounce everything. If karma leaves you, everything will leave [along with it]. If karma remains, they [objects] will associate with you. Give up clinging to them or renouncing them. Knowing that [these things manifest] according to your karma, exert yourself only to attain the firm knowledge ‘I am the Self’.

82 Even if those who are firmly convinced ‘I am the Self’ continue to remain as householders, they will lack nothing, and they will be free from all blemishes. Even if they renounce a householder’s life, will those who do not have the firm conviction ‘I am the Self’ attain liberation merely because of this [renunciation]? Will their births come to an end?

83 It is not appropriate to say that those who remain as householders will have to experience sorrow and delusion [soha and moha] and that for those who have renounced and become sannyasins, sorrow and delusion will leave. Sorrow and delusion will not end in those who do not know ‘I am the Self’. It will only end for those who have the knowledge ‘I am the Self’.

84 There is no need either to renounce this world or cling to it. It is enough for one to know that the world is an illusion. Instantly, it will leave. If it is asked, ‘What should be renounced and what should be clung to?’ the correct solution is to renounce jivatva – the feeling ‘I am a jiva’ – and instead hold tightly to Self-attention.

85 It is not necessary to think about choosing between a householder’s life and sannyasa. Neither is an obstacle. Self is attained by remaining motionless, excluding all thoughts except the thought of the one [Self]. The obstacle to merging with that Self state is the feeling ‘I am a householder’ or ‘I am a sannyasin’. Get rid of it.

Attend to what you came here for

Today I am posting four accounts in which devotees narrate events that were going on around Bhagavan in the time they were with him. The common theme is that devotees should focus on Bhagavan and his teachings, rather than on the affairs of the ashram and the activities that are going on there.

When devotees deviated from this, Bhagavan would sometimes give them a gentle reminder to return to the spiritual path by quoting a Tamil phrase that can be translated as ‘Attend to what you came here for’. Elsewhere in this post it is translated as ‘Mind the business for which you have come’.

Robert Adams

In 1947 I went to Ramana Maharshi. I was only 18 years old. After spending around three days talking with him, I settled down with the devotees in the hall. I used to sit at the right side of the hall against the wall, watching all the people come in. There were devotees, disciples, and seekers. The devotees were always the same. They never said much. They were immersed in themselves. The disciples and the seekers often quarreled with each other.

I recall a particular Indian who was very quarrelsome with the disciples, and he used to find fault with everybody.

He would go to Ramana and say, ‘So and so is doing this, so and so is doing that.’

And Ramana would tell him, ‘Remember the reasons why you came here and keep silent.’

The reason, of course, was to find the Self, and not to interfere with anybody else. But there were all kinds of incidents going on. Sikhs came, Hindus, westerners, Buddhists, Zen Buddhists. Some people were practicing hatha yoga. All these things were happening in front of Ramana. But it didn't faze Ramana one bit.

I recall a westerner, I'm trying to think of his name… Henry Wells, from Scotland. He apparently had read a lot of books about Ramana, and this was his first visit. He came into the hall and I watched his first encounter. He ran over to Ramana, prostrated himself on his stomach, and started going crazy. His feet were shaking, and he was chanting. The devotees wanted to pick him up, and Ramana said, ‘Let him stay’.

When he came out of it he told Ramana, ‘At last I have found you. You are my father, my mother, my son, my daughter, my friend.’

And Ramana just smiled at him. I said to myself, ‘Someone this enthusiastic... let's see what happens, if it lasts.’

The days went by and he kept prostrating himself every day for about a month. Then he finally stopped, and he just sat down like everybody else. After about two months or so he started looking around the room at everybody, and he began to complain: that this wasn't right, that wasn't right. After about four months of being there he donated $40,000 to the ashram. I just sat and watched all these things going on. After about six months of being there, he started to find fault with the management. At that time Ramana's brother was managing the ashram. He started to whisper to the other disciples, but, of course, the devotees would have nothing to do with this. It was the disciples and the seekers. He started spreading rumors. He hardly ever talked to me. I guess I was too young. He was about forty-five years old.

Around the seventh month of his stay he came over to me one day and he asked me, outside the ashram, ‘Do you think Ramana is really enlightened?’

I just smiled at him. I didn't answer. I walked away. This man started getting devotees to fight against each other and to rebel against the rules of the ashram.

Around the eighth month he saw me again and told me, ‘Do you think it is right for Ramana to stand naked like this? Let's buy him some clothes and dress him up, so when some Westerners come they won't be frightened.’

I told him what Ramana said: ‘Remember the reason for which you came.’

A couple of days later I didn't see him in the hall. A second day passed and I didn't see him. Then a third.

On the fourth day I enquired, ‘What happened to him?’

The person he was living with said, ‘Oh, Henry packed his suitcase and went back to Scotland’. Nobody ever heard from him again.

The point of the story is this. If you realise the reason why you came, you'll be interested in one thing, awakening. That will dominate your life. Nothing else will. You will not be concerned with what somebody else is doing, and you will be at peace with yourself and everybody else. Everything is preordained anyway. Everything is karmic. So what's going to happen will happen, whether you like it or not. So why get insulted? Why get your feelings hurt? Be at peace.

It's interesting. This morning I was looking through a magazine and I found an article by a devotee who lived at the ashram for quite a while talking about the same subject. Mary would you like to read it?

Now listen carefully to this. It's called ‘Mind the business for which you have come’.

All events in life are shaped according to the divine plan. What is bound to happen will happen. What is not to happen cannot be brought about by any human effort. On this point Ramana was quite categoric. When Devaraja Mudaliar questioned him as to whether only important things in one's life, such as major occupation or profession, alone are predetermined, or even trifling acts, Ramana replied, ‘Everything is predetermined’.

One of the purposes of birth is to go through certain experiences which have been marked out in the karmic unfoldment of this life. The whole program is chalked out. This would apparently be a damper to all effort, for one would be puzzled as to what the responsibility of man is. Is he an automation of karmic forces? Where do his free will and effort come in?

Ramana points out that there is another deeper purpose to life. That is to search and find out the truth for oneself. He would say that the only useful purpose of life is to turn within and realise there's nothing else to do. Ramana would therefore constantly din into everyone the fact that the ultimate truth is sat-chit, immediately available here and now.

When Natanananda asked Ramana, ‘Is it possible for everyone to know directly without doubt what exactly is one's true nature?’ prompt came the reply, ‘Undoubtedly it is possible. The ultimate truth is so simple.’

Ramana would say, ‘It is nothing more than abiding in one's own state.’

This is the essential message of all religions and creeds. Leaving aside the automatic course of our lives regulated by the Creator, according to His law, one's duty is to channel effort to be Self-aware. Steadfastness of purpose is in treading the inner path through vigilant self-enquiry. On such enquiry as to the source of the individual, the enquirer merges in the conscious source.

The inner odyssey is seldom smooth sailing. Full many a delusion would wean one away. For instance, people who go to Sri Ramana Ashram to breathe its rarified atmosphere, while there, instead of surrendering to His flowing grace, would get involved in the business of the ashram management. Ramana used to jovially remark of some visitors on their first visit to Sri Ramana ashram, that they seemed to be alright. On the second visit they discovered that the ashram is not properly run. On the third visit they start giving advice. On the fourth they know best how to run the place. And on the fifth they discover that the management is not responsive. On the sixth they suggest that the present staff should walk out leaving the ashram to them. They would thus get bogged down in things which are irrelevant for the search. When such people complained, Ramana would say: ‘Mind the business for which you have come.’

This would apply, of course, not only to their visit to Sri Ramana ashram, but also to the purpose of human life itself. One has to constantly keep before the mind’s eye the liberating purpose, the only worthwhile one of freeing oneself from the karmic chain by discovering the hidden truth. Ramana would even seemingly chide if one failed to pursue one's own sadhana, but spent time thinking and talking of others.

A devotee once told Ramana: ‘I have been here for many years. People got into samadhi. I close my eyes for a minute and my mind travels around the world.’

Ramana replied: ‘Why do you think about others? Let them meditate, sleep or snore. Look to yourself. Whenever your mind goes astray bring it back to the quest.’

Once Bhagavan told a devotee [who wanted] to wake up, ‘Look at the mirror; it shows the growth to be got rid of. Instead of wasting time, start shaving.’

Similarly, heaven alone knows when one’s allotted time will end. Hence, not to seek the truth by vigilant self-enquiry is truly suicidal. Many would like to blame their circumstances for their indolence and laziness and failure to pursue self-enquiry.

Ramana would ask, ‘Why depend on that which is not in your hands. Go ahead with the business which is in your hands, under your control, leaving aside what you cannot do anything about.’

Proper utilisation of the God-given freedom of turning the mind [within] is what is needed all the time.

As for adverse circumstances in life, of which everyone has a belly full, while sympathising, Ramana would at the same time say, ‘You are always free not to be affected by the pleasure and pain consequent on action.’

The teeth have to be taken out of an event by an attitudinal change which neutralises it.

Sometimes Ramana would advise leaving things to the sure hand of the Sadguru, and to stick single mindedly to the effort which will make one Self-aware.

Ramana would say, ‘Why don't you do what the first class railway passenger does? He tells the guard his destination, locks the door and goes to sleep. The rest is done by the guard. If you can trust your Guru as much as you trust the railway guard, it will be good enough to enable you reach the destination.’

Again when someone pestered him for the darshan of Sri Krishna, he said, ‘Why don't you leave the direct experience of Krishna to Krishna.’

We also have the pointed advice given by him to Ganapati Muni: ‘Remain all the time steadfast in the heart. God will determine the future for you to accomplish the work. What is to be done will be done at the proper time. Don't worry. Abide in the heart.’

Life becomes meaningful if we joyously tread the inward path, remembering that our duty is to do the vichara; it is for the inner source to do the rest. Then, bliss is not the end product to be found on reaching the goal, but is felt all along the homeward, heartward journey.

Rangan

One day, when I arrived at the ashram, I found that Bhagavan was living on a diet of green-gram soup and rice. A man who was posing as the ashram manager had prescribed this diet for Bhagavan. To ensure that Bhagavan complied, he was rejecting all the other food offerings that had been sent. I was a little disappointed because I had brought some bananas from Madras to offer to Bhagavan. Since it seemed that he would not be allowed to eat the bananas, I asked him what I should do with them.

‘Do exactly what you always do,’ replied Bhagavan.

I served the fruit to Bhagavan while he was eating his meal. When the ‘manager’ saw me offer the food, he started quarrelling with me, saying that I was spoiling the dietary restrictions he had imposed on Bhagavan.

Bhagavan intervened and asked him, ‘What is my ailment, and why am I on a diet?’

A man who had come from Madras joined in the quarrel.

Addressing Bhagavan he asked, ‘For what price has this man purchased you?’

Bhagavan smiled and replied, jokingly, ‘Rs 5,000’.

Then he added, ‘The first time a person comes to see me, he stands respectfully at a distance and bows to me. On each succeeding day he will come a little closer. One day, when he has gained enough self-confidence, he will pick up a stick and begin to order around all those who come to see me. He will shout at them, “Come this way! Go that way!” etc. On the day after that he will appoint himself manager of the ashram.’

Within a week this ‘manager’ was thrown out of the ashram by some of the devotees. I should mention that anyone could stay in the ashram in those days so long as they did the work that was assigned to them. If they didn’t do the work, they had to leave.

Kunju Swami

It is inevitable, I suppose, that in an ashram some people will end up quarrelling with others. It is also inevitable that outsiders will find some pretext to quarrel with the ashram. Sri Bhagavan taught us all to stay away from disputes that were none of our business, and in particular, to avoid taking an interest in matters that were solely the concern of the ashram management.

Once, for example, some awkward problems concerning the ashram management cropped up. Without being directly concerned, I was worried about them, as I felt that failure to solve them satisfactorily would impair the good name of the ashram. One day two or three devotees went to Sri Bhagavan and put some of these problems before him. I happened to enter the hall while they were talking about them, and he immediately turned to me and asked me why I had come in at this time and why I was interesting myself in such matters. I did not grasp the meaning of the question, so Sri Bhagavan explained that a person should occupy himself only with that purpose with which he had originally come to the ashram. He asked me what my original purpose had been.

‘To receive Sri Bhagavan’s grace,’ I replied.

‘Then occupy yourself with that alone,’ he said.

After a pause he continued by asking me whether I had any interest in matters concerning the ashram management when I first arrived. I told him that I had not.

‘Then,’ he said, ‘concentrate on the original purpose of your coming here.’

Sadhu Natanananda

Some of the devotees coming to the ashram from far off places to spend their holidays had a tendency to engage in ashram service. They were always directing their attention towards various activities. They would seize even the smallest opportunity to immerse themselves in activities throughout the day, as if they had surrendered their possessions, body and spirit to them. They felt satisfied that such service would alone be sufficient for their salvation. Whenever Bhagavan happened to notice their attitude, he would refer to them by saying:

In the name of service to the Guru, they should not waste their time in activities and become disappointed later. Such people will have cause to regret their ignorance in their last days. One should not forget, even for a moment, the aim of satsang. Having the belief that residence in the ashram will make Self-realisation, which is most difficult to achieve in other places, easy to attain, one should always remain intent upon the realisation of one’s true nature. There is no meaning in people who are not interested in that [Self-realisation] taking this place to be a special place. The spiritual service that devotees render to themselves by exerting themselves on the spiritual path for the attainment of their goal – that alone is sacred service to the Guru.

Through these words he made it clear that he cannot be pleased by anything other than a stilling of the mind. The real benefit of coming to him was the subsidence of the mind. Because of this, he would exhort devotees to try to attend to the Self all the time.

Some of the permanent residents of the ashram would make themselves responsible for ashram activities and, without realising their own defects, would then complain that they had no time for meditation.

Referring to those seeking cessation of activities, Bhagavan would remark humourously, ‘Is it that you have no time for meditation? Or is it that you are unable to remain quiet? If you can remain quiet, go ahead and do so! You will then see how all the ashram activities go on naturally of their own accord. If you do this you will be astonished to discover that the help you receive for your own tapas will be more than the help you are rendering for other people’s tapas.’

In this way Bhagavan would point out in a dignified manner their immaturity whenever the occasion arose.

A gentleman from the West was once sweeping up the leaf plates that were lying outside the ashram dining room. Bhagavan, who happened to come there at that time, asked the devotee what his aim was in undertaking that act.

The devotee replied, ‘Since my arrival at the ashram, until today, I have not had any opportunity to render any service to the ashram. Thinking that I may get redeemed by performing at least this humble act, which no one else has performed, I decided to do this.’

Looking at him with compassion, Bhagavan told him, ‘Is sweeping the used leaf plates the means to get salvation? Is it to perform this tapas that you have come here all the way from abroad. Go! Go! Enough of doing this kind of service! Go inside, sit to one side, turn your mind inward and find out he who wants to be redeemed. The service of purifying your heart is alone the highest service. That alone can truly redeem you.’

In this way Bhagavan explained the truth of tapas to him.

The ancient scriptures proclaim that those who have served a jivanmukta are deemed to have fulfilled all the vows to please Siva, Brahma and Vishnu, and have made their birth blessed. (Kaivalya Navaneeta)

O Supreme! If you make me fit to serve your devotees, the state of bliss will automatically be attained by me. (Thayumanavar)

When such statements extol service to the sages, what is the meaning of Bhagavan’s remarks that imply that the time spent in service is wasted?

Service rendered with devotion to sages is also performed with an eye on the result. Its purpose is salvation, which can be obtained by the gracious look of the Guru. However, the grace of the Guru is earned by inner tapas and not by services rendered outside. Only worshipping the Self is worshipping the Guru. Service to the Guru in the form of reflecting on one’s true nature can be performed at all places and at all times. All one needs for this service is earnestness and devotion.

It is true that Self-knowledge, which cannot be obtained elsewhere even through great effort, can be won in a trice in the divine presence of the Sadguru, either through a look or through a word. A devotee who performs great tapas to obtain a boon from his chosen form of God loses the fruit of his tapas if, through forgetfulness, he omits to ask for it when the deity appears. Similarly, if a devotee has been fortunate enough to come to the divine presence of a Sadguru – who unites the devotee with Brahman – he would waste his precious chance if he fails to make use of this rare opportunity to obtain eternal life. Therefore, even when the limbs of the body are engaged in service, the mind must be naturally rooted in the Self. This, in truth, is what Bhagavan was indicating in his remarks.

Some may ask whether it is not good to engage in the service of the Guru with a one-pointed mind, at least for some time, in order to purify the mind. However, even to engage in such service requires fitness. That is why Thayumanavar and others pray to the Lord to make them fit to serve his devotees.

Sadhu Natanananda

Two days ago I posted some verses by Muruganar that reduced one reader to a state of despair:

Reading these verses suggests a state of indescribable peace and yet, for some, like me, who have had no glimpse of that non-dual state, who have never lost the feeling of doership except in deep sleep, it leads to despondency because we've tried practicing the teachings but have failed miserably and as a result have to continue to go through suffering wondering if we'll ever get redemption. Have you ever been despondent to get out of the scorching state of duality David?

Well, yes, now that you mention it. However, pining for liberation, wanting it, and despairing over not getting it, are all good indications that you are serious about liberation. Ramakrishna once said that you had to want it the way a drowning man who is having his head held under water wants air. You have to want it to the exclusion of all else. Ramakrishna used to go to his chosen deity every evening in a state of despair, wondering and questioning why the great revelation hadn’t happened to him that day.

Papaji pointed out once, if your clothes are on fire and you are racing to a river bank to jump in the water, you don’t get distracted by invitations on the way. When your hunger for liberation and your despair that you are not getting it are both acute, and nothing else matters to you, that’s the time something is likely to happen.

Today, by way of encouragement, I want to post some verses by Sadhu Natanananda. Those who have read his story in the various biographies of Bhagavan will know what a rough time he had in his early years at Ramanasramam. I have spoken to a few people who knew him well, and they all said that his spiritual life was a grim and prolonged struggle against his ego. Finally, as the following verses indicate, he made the breakthrough.

He was my neighbour when I first lived in Tiruvannamalai. Though he lived less than fifteen metres from me, he never acknowledged my existence in the year and a half I lived in that particular house. One day I was walking down my street with Viswanatha Swami, an old friend of Sadhu Natanananda who had known him almost sixty years. Sadhu Natanananda was walking in the opposite direction, his gaze, as usual, firmly placed on the ground just ahead of his feet.

Viswanatha Swami whispered to me, ‘Don’t look at him, don’t acknowledge his presence on the road, and don’t say “Hello”. He doesn’t like people to notice him.’

After we were out of earshot Viswanatha Swami added, ‘He has attained everything there is to attain. His work is over.’

So, it wasn’t personal. Sadhu Natanananda ignored everyone, even old devotees, and preferred it that way. I often think of this example of self-effacement and self-abnegation when I see the rash of newer ‘devotees’ advertising their satsangs. Sadhu Natanananda wore his self down to nothing through a fierce and determined struggle against the vagaries of his mind. Then, without seeking attention or acclaim, he spent his remaining years in solitude, avoiding company wherever possible and abiding as the Self.

Bhagavan had recognised his potential early on, as the following anecdote reveals:

On one Vyasapurnima day [a festival that is celebrated on the day of the July-August full moon], Ganapati Muni, Kapali Sastri, along with a group of Sanskrit scholars, were walking around the mountain. They stopped off at the ashram to pay their respects to the Maharshi. When they were seated in the old hall they started discussing philosophy in Sanskrit. I was listening to the discussion, and I knew that they were discussing philosophy, but I could not follow the meaning. Because of this my mind began to wander and I became quite agitated, wondering when the day would dawn when I would have the experiences that they were talking about. My longing for these experiences was so intense that I lost all consciousness of the body. I was not sure how long I remained in that state, but suddenly a voice brought back my normal consciousness. All the others had left and only Bhagavan remained in the hall.

‘Why are you so dejected?’ said the voice. ‘If you were really unfit to realise the Self in this life, then you could not have come to this place at all. The power that drew you here will make you realise the Self. If not today, it is bound to fulfill its commitment. There is no reason why you should feel dejected.’

It was these gracious words that brought me back to life, and peace entered my soul immediately.

Sadhu Natanananda’s despair and despondency were so acute, he actually passed out from frustrated longing. This story was recorded by V. Ganesan and reported in The Mountain Path, 1981, p. 235. A version of it also occurs in Self Realization (7th ed. 1968) p.223, but that account does not explicitly state that Natanananda was spiritually mature enough to realise the Self before he died.

The following verses that Sadhu Natanananda wrote are from Tiruvarut Selvam (The Wealth of Divine Grace). They were found in one of his notebooks long after he passed away. An English translation of the whole poem appears on pages 131 to 142 of Sri Ramana Darsanam.

48

On that day when I caught hold of your feet, saying, ‘You are my refuge,’ you granted me freedom from fear by saying, ‘Fear not’.

49

I rid myself of burdens by surrendering my life to the guardianship of Sri Ramana. Responsibility for my life became his, and I attained salvation.

50

When I realised that no actions were ‘my’ actions, and that all actions were actions of the Lord, I was freed from ego.

51

Only the thought of Siva Ramana made my mind clear, dispelling completely the fear of birth and death.

52

The ghost of tamoguna [mental sloth] was only chased away by the good and beneficial mantra Namo Ramanaya [Obeisance to Ramana].

53

For me who was like a worm in excreta, engrossed in a false life, that was the only mantra that saved me, giving me eternal true life.

54

By getting rid of oppressive attachments, ‘I’ died. What is now animating the body is being-consciousness, that which abides as my Lord.

55

When, though bad company, I slipped from my real nature, it [being-consciousness] placed me in good company and corrected my error.

56

I jumped into the ruined well, family life, but he [Bhagavan] lifted me out and freed me from misery. He completely saved me.

57

To me who had the conceit that I knew everything, my Lord, dispelling ignorance, gave the eye of jnana.

58

I was extremely eager to become mature, before I was really ready. You weeded out the root of this fault before I got into trouble by transgressing all [accepted] limits.

59

When I posed as a Guru, deceiving devotees without compunction, you put an end to my stupid behaviour.

60

You declared that to be humble, to become as tiny as an atom, is extremely great. In this way you kept me under the shade of your feet, making me, a contemptible person, humble.

61

When, even after external renunciation, I found that the mind had not been renounced, you made me renounce my [physical] renunciation and tested my slackness.

[The ‘slackness’ refers to Natanananda not adhering to Bhagavan’s teachings on taking sannyasa.

In the early 1920s Natanananda asked Bhagavan to give him the orange robes of a sannyasin. Natanananda had brought the cloth to the old hall but Bhagavan refused to touch it. Natanananda then put the cloth on the stool in front of Bhagavan that visitors put their offerings on. After a few minutes he took it away and began to wear it. A few months later, when Natanananda decided to give up his life as a sannyasin, he presented the orange robes to Bhagavan. For the rest of his life he only ever wore white clothes.]

62

O Sadguru! Is it easy to enter the expansive Heart and shine as consciousness if the ego is not destroyed?

63

The desire for fame, which deludes a mind merged in darkness, will not approach anywhere near a mind that has the light of jnana.

64

I did not realise that you eternally dwelt as the god of dharma in my heart. Through your chastening grace you made me suffer, and in this way corrected me.

65

Like a mother who does not show harshness towards her son, even if he commits wicked deeds, you possess a great and cool compassion.

66

Since it was suffering that developed into dispassion and redeemed me, misery became more beneficial than joy to poor me.

67

Consciousness, manifesting within and becoming my Guru, perpetually prevented me from identifying with sense perceptions.

68

Losing Self-awareness, I was chained in the body by the vile senses. I was liberated by consciousness that manifested in my Heart as the soul of my soul.

69

When I was surrounded by illusory darkness, remaining in a state in which I was unable to bloom, the sun of truth-grace made me blossom.

70

Formerly the Supreme Self was like an atom in me, but through love it [truth-grace] made it into the vast expanse and made me see it.

71

My Lord said, ‘The foremost mystery among all those that are called mysteries is “To shine as the Self”’.

72

What excellent deeds did I, a dog, perform in the past that enabled me to come into contact with him who has no equal, and by doing so attain salvation?

73

Acting through ego-consciousness, the mind used to suffer by jumping out through the five senses, but now, through being-consciousness, it remains as sat [reality].

74

The soul that grew weary in the causal body [the unaware state of the ego during deep sleep ] through not having the eye of grace has now attained the good fortune of shining as perfect and complete being-consciousness.

75

The body was formerly an abode for disease, the enjoyment of sense perceptions and the ego ghost. Now it has become the dwelling place of the Lord.

76

Like breath, which remains continuous and unchanged even in sleep, the state of perfection, which is devoid of coming and going, became natural even in dream.

77

In this world is there anything to equal the love of my father who manifests himself [within devotees] even before they begin to worship him.

78

As desires ceased through the blessings of my Master, the mind, which was never previously satisfied, now attained fullness and completeness.

79

Having succeeded in getting the good fortune of practising devotion to the feet of the Lord in whom grace is abounding, the soul, which was merged in dark delusion, attained the Heart state.

80

To my eye of jnana, which has seen the truth, the Self appears everywhere. The illusory objects perceived by the senses, which I saw when I was deluded, no longer appear.

81

When the glittering sun appears, no stars are seen. Similarly, when my godliness arose, no thought appeared.

82

Jnana did not shine as long as the ego manifested. When the Self appeared, ego disappeared by itself.

83

My teacher said, ‘It is the “I am the body” viewpoint that leads to differences of “I” and “you”. If that viewpoint goes, non-differentiation will shine.’

84

In dispelling my ignorance that made me regard him as a human being like me, he whose love is equalled by none was more kind than a mother.

85

By thinking without thought of the one [Bhagavan] who, like Arunachala, abides without movement, I sank into the Heart.

86

Explaining the experience of the Self, which is ‘remaining still’, by remaining still himself, is a great feat indeed.

87

Because he admitted me, a useless person, to the group of true devotees, the fame of my Lord flourished throughout the world.

88

Even after seeing that I did not have the fitness to approach his feet, he redeemed me through his sweet ambrosial teachings.

89

Appearing as the Guru outside and as consciousness within, he weeded out the illusory mind and revealed my real nature.

90

Even if they [devotees] are lacking in maturity, if they see the grace-emanating lustrous countenance of the one who is the embodiment of jnana, their liberation is certain.

91

By redeeming helpless ones such as me, he became foremost among saviours, with none to equal him.

92

The true devotees of the king of munis, who is admired even by the three gods, will live and attain a greatness that even devas find difficult to acquire.

[The three Gods are Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. The devas mentioned in this verse are dwellers in the Hindu heavenly realms. Many Hindu teachers state that devas will have to be reborn on earth if they want to get enlightened.]

93

Like the Ganga that removes the sins of those who bathe in it, our Lord will completely destroy the infatuation of those who have come to him.

94

Those who offer themselves as dakshina, becoming the slaves of our Lord, are certain to get redeemed, becoming blessed ones even in this very life.

[Dakshina is the traditional fee that one gives to a Guru for instruction. Natanananda is saying here that those who offer their minds as dakshina get enlightened.

Around 1990 I attended a December 25th darshan in Lakshmana Swamy’s house. That’s the date of his birthday and, coincidentally, Christmas Day. There were only a few of us there.

He looked at us and said, ‘Where’s my Christmas present? It’s Christmas day today.’

We were all a bit embarrassed because no one had thought to buy anything. He had never bothered with Christmas celebrations before.

Seeing our discomfiture, he laughed and said, ‘People give me all sorts of things that I don’t want, don’t need and never use. The only thing I ever want from a devotee is the gift of his or her mind. I never get what I want for Christmas because devotees don’t know how to hand over their minds.’]

95

People of the world! In order to get salvation by taking refuge in Ramana, who bestows grace constantly and ungrudgingly, come before your days on this earth are finished.

96

If you take shelter under Sri Ramana, the celestial wish-fulfilling tree, you will live effortlessly as the enjoyer of bliss.

97

Those who have devotion to the feet of our Lord, the great Lord who is praised by everyone, will become, in their true nature, members of a group that are established in grace.

98

Those who come in the lineage of [my Lord] who bestows ‘That’, which is not reached through books, will shine as noble jnanis.

99

He who does not look at faults, performed the divine dance, taking even my imperfect heart as chitrambalam.

[Chitrambalam is the ‘expanse of consciousness’. It is a term that is particularly associated with the manifestation of Lord Nataraja, the dancing Siva, who performed his divine cosmic dance in Chidambaram. Siva’s divine dance is also mentioned in the next verse.]

100

Becoming the Heart-space where my Lord dances, I remained permanently sunk in the ocean of bliss.

101

Surrounded by devotees who have eaten and are now sleeping blissfully, he is the storehouse of compassion, serving ambrosia to the hungry.

[This means that Bhagavan has given his spiritual ambrosia to many devotees who, fully satiated, are now blissfully sleeping the sleep of enlightenment.]

102

Those who have had the divine fortune a getting the blessings of his divine tongue, which is full of love, will become capable of eradicating the mind, which is full of misery.

103

My Lord said, ‘When you abide in the Heart as “I am”, as that which is, the illusory ego will get destroyed.’

104

The Lord of the world of tapas said, ‘The mere thought “I am Siva” will not by itself constitute jnana tapas’.

[Many teachers of Vedanta advocate affirmations such as ‘I am Brahman’ or ‘I am Siva’ as sadhanas. Bhagavan maintained that these practices were intellectual activities that would not lead one to the source of the mind. Sadhu Natanananda had a strong background in Vedanta and may well have been following such a practice when he first came to Bhagavan.]

105

Your great and wonderful statement – those who are caught in the net of the gracious glance of the sword-like eyes of the Guru will never escape – has now become true.

106

By getting the rare-to-attain human birth, and the longing for supreme bliss and the difficult-to-find grace of the Guru, I arrived at true life.