CHAPTER I DETACHMENT

It is usual with many modern critics to characterise our Hindu religion in its higher aspects as dictating a retirement from the world. It is no doubt true that, in the early stages where the aspirant is struggling for mastery over himself, it is useful to keep away from possible chances of distraction and seek a secluded spot far away from the madding crowd. But Sri Sankaracharya has well pointed out, particularly in His short poem, Jeevanmukta Anandalahari, that the seer may well be in the midst of the world and yet be not of it. This truth has been demonstrated in a striking manner by His Holiness Sri Jagadguru Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati Swaminah who occupied the premier Advaita Mutt at Sringeri.

His Holiness did not take interest in any secular affairs of the Mutt, even though they were the most innocent. An agent of the Mutt once thought of interesting Him in at least a flower garden which he had raised for the purpose of getting a sufficient supply of flowers for the Pujas in the several shrines in the Mutt. He approached His Holiness one evening and said : “ I have recently raised a flower garden near by and it has begun to grow well. It is my earnest desire that Your Holiness should see it.” His Holiness readily assented, accompanied the agent to the garden had a good look at the flower beds and flower plants, and was on His way back. The agent, much disconcerted at His Holiness not saying a single word, said: “ I troubled Your Holiness to come here only with a view to get your opinion as to whether the garden is good or not. “ His Holiness said immediately : “ Why, it is good.” The agent pursued: “ Such a statement after I ask for it does not satisfy me. I want your Holiness to say how else it can be improved and made better. “ His Holiness replied : “ What more plants do you think can be planted in the garden ? “ The agent said : “ I have an idea of planting such and such a plant............” His Holiness said : “ Certainly, that may be done.” The agent realised too late that it was he himself and not His Holiness who made the fresh suggestions and realised at the same time the futility of attempting to interest His Holiness in such matters.

His Holiness’ detachment was at times so pronounced that suggestions were not wanting that, if He did not interest Himself in worldly affairs connected with the Mutt, He could well abdicate. His seat. He would gladly have accepted the suggestion if anybody had the boldness to place it before Him. But it would have been a misfortune in more senses than one if such a contingency had happened. More than all this, it would have amounted to a tacit admission of the dangerous proposition that the. Head of an Advaita Mutt who has reached the acme of Atmic realisation becomes, by reason of that realisation itself, disqualified to continue to be its Head.

His innate aptitude for the peace of seclusion was well exemplified and very pronounced at the time of the Sahasrachandi Homa in 1953 when tens of thousands of disciples from all parts of our land had gathered at Sringeri to witness that rare Yajna and had hopes of paying their respects to His Holiness in person. His Holiness was kind enough to acquaint Himself with the details of the arrangements made but, in spite of the earnest efforts of many a disciple, He did not come out at all and left the junior Swamiji to attend to everything and preferred to stay away in His room. If He had the slightest sense of egoism and had cared the slightest bit for personal fame, He would have come out then and granted at least a formal Darsana for just a few minutes and obtained pleasure from the devout homage of such a large gathering of disciples. But He did not. Some days after the crowd had dispersed, He came out and an ardent disciple found occasion to tell Him: “Thousands of people were eagerly waiting for Your Holiness’ Darsana. Your Holiness was continuously in their thoughts throughout all the days of the festival. Their disappointment was very keen at not being able to see You even from a distance and they all returned home with this regret rankling in their hearts.” His Holiness with His characteristic smile and in His characteristic way said: “So much the better. If I had but shown myself, their curiosity or longing, whatever it be, will have been satisfied immediately and they will have quite naturally and easily dismissed me from their thoughts from the next moment.”

His Holiness did not think it necessary to retire or run away from the world. He had learnt the supreme art of retiring into Himself, virtually ignoring it at times and at other times looking unconcernedly at it as a mere witness from a distance. In short, He was quite immune to the world. The Gita illustration of a lotus leaf being unwetted by the water on it exactly fitted Him. When He was awake to the world, He discharged with great punctiliousness the daily routine Pujas of the Mutt in addition to the several duties of His Asrama, gave initiation to ardent disciples, granted interviews to people of various sorts who sought Him for advice or help or out of mere curiosity and yet maintained an attitude of complete detachment.

It was really a very inspiring practical lesson in concentration and mental equipoise to be watching His Holiness coolly, unperturbedly and methodically going on with His Puja in the midst of the din and bustle of a noisy crowd, especially during festivals or in the course of His tours. There would be loud chanting of the Vedas on one side; on another, many a musical instrument would be played by experts or novices as their humble contribution to the Puja; the Bhajana parties would be clamorous with their songs about the glories of God to the accompaniment of the clash of cymbals; there would be the inevitable crying of children and babies in arms; above all, would be the chattering of the people, young and old, men and women of various sorts busying themselves in loud whispers and exchanging news; in fact, there would congregate all the factors which were inconsistent with a peaceful atmosphere generally requisite for any act of devotion. But His Holiness was never affected by these disturbing and distracting factors for He had learnt to detach Himself from them. It would seem that Nature herself had lost her power to affect Him in any way.

It was a long observed custom of the Mutt that His Holiness would go to the temple of Lord Sri Malahanikaresvara on the hill in the centre of the town of Sringeri on His birthday and perform the mid-day Puja with His own hands to the Deity there. The Garbhagriha was scarcely six feet square. His Holiness could just sit there for the Puja and there was just space for a servant to move about there to hand over the Puja materials to His Holiness. I had the good fortune to be present there one year. His Holiness took His mid-day bath within the temple premises themselves and entered the Garbhagriha at about noon. As it was mid-day and the heat was intense, the servant used to come out of that cramped room every few minutes just to wipe off the sweat literally flowing from his body and forehead. But His Holiness unconcernedly went on with the Puja and, after the Deeparadhana was over, He came out at about four in the evening with his usual beaming smile. There was not the slightest trace of any tiredness or jadedness on His face but more astonishing was the fact that the sacred ashes on His forehead were as fresh and bright as ever and that there was no sign even of any sweat. As I had been noticing the servant frequently coming out, it naturally surprised me to find His Holiness so fresh just as if He had taken His bath just then.

I mentioned my surprise to an old gentleman of Sringeri who was with me at the time. He told me : “I have seen stranger things. Last year or the year before it, His Holiness had come here for a similar Puja. The temple authorities cleaned the temple in time for His Holiness’ visit and in doing so scraped out all the dirt and oil in the crevices in the floor of the Garbhagriha. It so happened that, as soon as His Holiness took His seat inside, an army of red ants sprang out of the crevices and the servant could not stand there without dancing and had to come out every minute to clear himself of the ants which began to sting him with all the ferocity of forest ants. Even on that day, His Holiness continued the Puja undisturbed till the evening and came out as fresh as ever. The ants evidently recognised in Him a friend and did not disturb Him in the least.”

I have seen His Holiness sitting for hours together in the hot sun on the granite steps of the river Tunga; the servants who were to wait on Him could not stand the heat of the sun above or the scorching heat of the stone pavement and sought a shady. shelter near by. It would seem therefore that it was not only the mind of His Holiness that was detached from the world but that His body itself had acquired immunity from the forces of Nature. In fact, He proved beyond doubt the truth of the statement of the Lord in the Gita that he who had secured absolute mental equipoise had verily conquered the entire creation even here.

This trait of mental equipoise was inborn in His Holiness and was evidently a “ brought over ” from His prior births as it found marked expression even in His childhood. When He was but a boy of seven or eight under the name of Narasimha and was studying in the lower standards in the local school, He had gained the affection of a neighbour who was comparatively rich and had a boy of his own of the same age. Whenever that gentleman bought any book, slate or pencil for his boy, he used to buy another set for Narasimha also. When at the end of the school year his boy failed while Narasimha passed in the final examination, he got vexed and chastised his boy by giving him some slaps. The boy ran away weeping to the next house and began to beat Narasimha. When asked by the latter the reason for this sudden onslaught, he said : “ My father beat me because I had failed in the examination while you have passed. This will not have happened if you also had failed.” Though this was certainly no justification, Narasimha realised that quite unintentionally He was the indirect cause and so did not in the least resent that boy’s conduct. More than sixty years later, when that boy, grown into an old gentleman of seventy, recounted this incident to me, he added: “ I can never forgive myself for this outrage of my boyish days nor forget His serene face at that time.”

Later on when Sri Narasimha was a student in the Mutt Pathasala, a class-mate who was older in age, taller in stature and stronger in build was accustomed to use snuff. Whenever he opened his snuff-box, Sri Narasimha would avert His head. Noticing this, that boy out of mere prankishness once caught hold of Him from behind with intent to force Him to inhale the snuff. But Sri Narasimha bent low on the ground with the face down. In spite of his superior strength, that boy found it impossible to turn Him round because of the latter’s power of breath control. He ultimately gave up the attempt with the remark : “ You are evidently not destined to have this pleasure (of inhaling snuff) “ and ever afterwards desisted from molesting Sri Narasimha. It must be noted that the latter did not protest to or resent the conduct of the other boy. When he had developed into an eminent pundit and had to visit His Holiness, he could not but recollect his absurd behaviour but His Holiness with a view to wipe out any possible feeling of delicacy coolly asked him, “ Do you retain the same fascination for snuff ? “ A friend who had come with him asked, “ Does he have such a fascination ? “ His Holiness replied, “ He was not only fascinated with it

H.H. SRI CHANDRASEKHARA BHARATHI

MAHASWAMIGAL but was selfless enough to wish that others also should share that pleasure but unfortunately some are not destined to have it ’’, thus recalling the exact words of byegone days.

In all the forty years and more of His regime as the Head of the Mutt, His Holiness has never been known to censure, or find fault with, anybody or even to order any one to do any particular thing but it must be mentioned at the same time that, without commanding, he commanded to an extraordinary degree the respect and obedience of all around Him. His Highness Sri Krishnaraja Udayar the then Maharaja of Mysore is said to have observed : “ I had love and reverence towards the previous Acharya. The present Acharya is equally kind but somehow He inspires in me fear and reverence. I do not know why.” His innate serenity and reticence are probably responsible for such an impression.