CHAPTER V POWER OF MANTRAS.

The Lord in His Gita V, 29 calls Himself the Friend of all beings and a Seer is equally so. As God in His infinite mercy is pleased to listen to our silliest prayers and grants to us what we sincerely pray for, His Holiness never declined to help an earnest devotee if His help was sought. in ever so insignificant or absurd a manner. The Lord has stated in the Gita VII, 16 that four kinds of people resort to Him, the afflicted, the desireful, the seekers of knowledge and the knower. As the afflicted and the desireful are necessarily the majority in any society, His Holiness sharing as He did the characteristics of the Lord had to deal mostly with them. As the number of possible afflictions and desires is infinite, His Holiness who was asked to deal with them had necessarily to be omniscient. But He in His humility did not assume any such knowledge in Himself but passed the prayers on to the Lord who is certainly omniscient and knows how to deal with the varied contingencies. His Holiness’ intense faith in the limitless power and mercy of God never flagged and the Vibhuti, Kunkumam or Mantra given by Him was potent enough to cure all

64 THE SAINT OF SRINGERI [Ch.

He started the next day with all the members

of his family and when his car was nearing Mysore

it dashed against a tree and crashed. All of them

were injured except a baby which miraculously

escaped any injury. They had to be in-patients in

the Mysore Hospital for some weeks before they

could return home. They felt keenly that but

for the blessings of His Holiness the accident

would have been more serious and fatal.

V] POWER OF MANTRAS 65

CHAPTER V

POWER OF MANTRAS.

The Lord in His Gita V, 29 calls Himself the

Friend of all beings and a Seer is equally so. As

God in His infinite mercy is pleased to listen to

our silliest prayers and grants to us what we

sincerely pray for, His Holiness never declined to

help an earnest devotee if His help was sought. in

ever so insignificant or absurd a manner. The

Lord has stated in the Gita VII, 16 that four

kinds of people resort to Him, the afflicted, the

desireful, the seekers of knowledge and the knower.

As the afflicted and the desireful are necessarily

the majority in any society, His Holiness sharing

as He did the characteristics of the Lord had to

deal mostly with them. As the number of possible

afflictions and desires is infinite, His Holiness who

was asked to deal with them had necessarily to be

omniscient. But He in His humility did not

assume any such knowledge in Himself but passed

the prayers on to the Lord who is certainly

omniscient and knows how to deal with the varied

contingencies. His Holiness’ intense faith in

the limitless power and mercy of God never

flagged and the Vibhuti, Kunkumam or Mantra

given by Him was potent enough to cure all ailments, physical and mental. Innumerable are the instances in which reliefs of various sorts have been obtained by His gracious blessings.

1. A gentleman had a daughter who had been given in marriage, was nearly twenty years of age but had not yet attained puberty. Her husband’s people despaired of the girl coming to their home and proposed to get him another wife. The girl’s father was naturally very much upset, especially as he was very poor and had more daughters to marry. He gave vent to his grief before His Holiness. His Holiness listened to him patiently and then taking a small quantity of butter sanctified it by some Mantra and gave it to the father for being given to the girl that night. It was accordingly done. Early next morning, the girl attained puberty !

2. A gentleman whose niece was having repeated abortions approached His Holiness when she was again pregnant and His Holiness was pleased to give some consecrated Vibhuti with the warning. “Ask the girl to use it daily without fail and to safeguard it well”. She was using it for some weeks but, unfortunately for her, her mother-in-law took it into her head one night that the uncle had secured a charm to give his niece control over her husband and, in a fit of rage, took out the Vibhuti from the Puja room and threw it into the dustbin. That night the poor girl had such a violent abortion that her life was despaired of. When His Holiness was informed of this, He assured the uncle that the girl would be alright thereafter; and she is so, without any more abortions and with a number of healthy children.

3. A young man in the twenties was closeted with His Holiness for more than half an hour. When he came out, it was noticed that he could by no means be called orthodox as he did not even dress himself properly and this naturally evoked the curiosity of others to find out what could have taken him to His Holiness. It appeared that this young man married a girl when he was just twenty, quarrelled with her the next year and drove her off to her parents’ house, married another girl in his twenty-second year, quarrelled with her also in a year and drove her also to her parents’ house. He became desperate and felt that he was quite incompetent to lead a householder’s life. He thought of suicide but his faith in his religion made him shrink from it. He thought of taking Sannyasa but felt that he was more incompetent for it. He did not know what to do and had almost decided to run away to some unknown place when he chanced to hear of His Holiness as a universal friend who would not only be sympathetic but had the power to give the necessary relief to the afflicted. He sought an interview with His Holiness and placed all his woes before Him and sought His guidance. His Holiness listened very sympathetically and finally gave him a Mantra which he was asked to repeat so many times a day for a period of ninety days and directed him to come to Him after that period. This visit was in pursuance of that direction. It appeared that a week before the expiry of that period the father of the first wife took her to the house of the young man in the early hours of the morning and coolly left her on the pial of the house and returned home asking his daughter to make peace somehow with her husband. The poor girl was all in trepidation and did not know what to do. At about five in the morning the young man opened the door of his house and came out and was surprised to see a young girl there and was more surprised when he found that it was the first wife whom he drove away. Though he was really glad of her returning without any harm to his own prestige and self-respect, he asked her in somewhat severe tones “How did you come here?” With tears in her eyes she mentioned what her father had done. He said “Don’t cry. Go in”. It need hardly be said that in a few minutes the reconciliation was complete. A few days after this incident, the father of the second wife heard about it and adopted the very same procedure with the obvious result that the husband had to take her also in. His old dilemma as to what to do returned to him in a different form and he sought His Holiness’ advice once again now. There can be no doubt that the advice given by Him was conducive to the happiness of all the persons concerned.

4. Another gentleman was a clerk in a moffusil District Munsif’s Court. He was very honest and straightforward and very punctilious in the discharge of his duties but was unnecessarily free with his tongue. If any superior officer gave him any directions, he would not content himself with carrying them out but must needs add a Sanskrit quotation “Whatever is sensible must be accepted even though it comes from a parrot or a child.” This would necessarily offend and irritate the higher official. The result was that he very often found himself in difficulties and on one occasion he was actually suspended from service. His Holiness was touring nearby. The gentleman’s wife said to her husband “I hear that His Holiness is relieving many people of their troubles, physical or otherwise. Why not you also go to Him and seek His blessings ?”

He replied “What can His Holiness do for me? Saturn rules over my tongue and nobody can change my nature at this time of my life.”

She said “If anybody can help you, it is certainly His Holiness. I think it will be well if you go to Him.”

Persuaded by her importunities, he did approach His Holiness and detailed his circumstances and quite frankly added “So long as Saturn rules over my tongue, I do not know if Your Holiness can do anything for me. But my wife thinks otherwise. Hence my coming to you. I shall be fortunate if your Holiness can possibly do anything for me.”

His Holiness smiled at this strange request and asked him to go to Him the next morning. He then gave a Mantra to him and asked him to repeat it so many times a day and to come to Him again a fortnight later. A week after this the District Judge inspected the District Munsif’s Court and was very much impressed with the clearness and regularity of a particular register and desired to know who the clerk concerned was. He was surprised to hear that he was under suspension under his own orders passed on the report of the District Munsif. He concluded that it was really the latter that was unable to properly appreciate the clerk. He cancelled the suspension order and transferred the clerk to his own establishment at his headquarters on a higher status. The clerk joined his new duties and, as by that time the fortnight fixed by His Holiness had expired, he went to His Holiness and mentioned to him with all gratefulness what had transpired in the meanwhile.

He asked “Now that I have got my appointment, I suppose I can give up repeating the Mantra.”

His Holiness smilingly said “You have to be repeating the Mantra as long as Saturn is ruling over your tongue.”

I may add that the clerk had no further difficulties in the course of his service and honourably retired a few years later.

Those who do not believe in the efficacy of Mantras may explain the above incidents as due to mere chance, that is, give an explanation which is no explanation. According to the Hindus, Mantras are potent living forces capable of affecting us and those around us; but they are such forces only when they emanate from a spiritual fountain-head. Otherwise they are mere words or sounds. Mantras are like electric bulbs; they can shed light only when in proper contact with a battery behind. It is no surprise therefore that in these days of cheap printing the sacred Mantras can be learnt by anybody but they are quite useless unless they are communicated to competent persons by some living source of spiritual power. It is not the fault of the bulb if it does not burn when it is not connected with a battery.

While recalling the above incidents, I quite realise that they bear no proportion to and form really no indicia of the true greatness of His Holiness.

As already stated, His Holiness would never take any credit for any spiritual powers. If any benefit accrued to any disciple through Him, He would ascribe it to the grace of His Guru or to the efficacy of the Mantra itself. It was His evident object to infuse into those that approached Him intense faith in that grace and in that efficacy. Sometimes He would ask the devotee himself to repeat a particular Mantra and realise its efficacy himself. If he once realised it, he would easily believe in the efficacy of other Mantras and turn out to be an ardent believer in the Vedas and the Sastras.

When His Holiness was camping at Papanasam in the Tirunelveli District for Chaturmasyam, a disciple who was attending the Puja one night in the midst of a large crowd missed a gold chain which his child was wearing. After the Puja and when His Holiness was about to retire, he with great sorrow mentioned it to His Holiness and was directed to go to Him at eight o’clock on the next morning. When he went and prostrated before His Holiness, the latter asked him to sit near him and initiated him into a Mantra and said “ Sit in front of your present quarters and repeat this Mantra 1008 times. Exactly when you are repeating it for the 1008th time, if you see a man going along the street in front of you, follow him immediately wherever and how far so ever he may go. Don’t hesitate to do so. Your object will be fulfilled”. The disciple punctiliously followed His Holiness’ directions and when he was repeating the mantra the 1008th time he found a man going along the street and immediately followed him. That man left the outskirts of the village and began to walk along the ridges of the paddy fields. He went on like this for more than a mile. Then he got down in a field and seemed to bow down and take out something from the field. The pursuer immediately recognised his chain and caught hold of him. The latter shocked at this unexpected interruption, threw the article down, freed himself from the grip and ran away. The disciple glad to have recovered his chain returned, prostrated before His Holiness and gave expression to his gratitude. It is curious that the thief did not turn back even once to notice that he was being pursued; we have to take it that the mantra was powerful enough to make him oblivious of what he himself was doing and made him walk to the place quite involuntarily. It is well known that in case of snake-bites some mantrikas make the very snake that bit come again to suck the poison out. Evidently this mantra was of a similar nature and made the thief himself pick out the stolen article. But it must be remembered the mantra will have such power only when handled or communicated by a rich reservoir of spiritual power like His Holiness. It will be quite useless if it is looked upon as a mere jumble of sounds which can be learnt from any printed book. The growing disbelief in the efficacy of mantras and Vedic rites in general is generally due to the handling of them by those who are not qualified by the Sastras to do so. Such handling not only fails to yield the desired benefit but becomes positively harmful also. Ordinary people tend to throw the blame on the rites instead of realising the defect in the incompetent handler and to come to the conclusion that the rites are all useless and entail unnecessary waste of money, material and energy which can be more “usefully” diverted for the benefit of humanity. Those who have had the good fortune to come into contact with His Holiness and have had the opportunity to witness and watch the several rites which were performed under His auspices or in accordance with His directions can never for a moment doubt their efficacy, much less doubt the truth of the sacred scriptures that prescribe them.

To show that the dictates of fate are inescapable, though by the grace of God they can be alleviated to some extent, a few more instances may be cited.

A gentleman who was the eldest member of his family was childless though his brothers had children of their own. When His Holiness happened to be invited to his house, his relations function the boy had a fit. The father was naturally very much grieved and reported it to His Holiness. His Holiness said. “It does not matter. He will be alright tomorrow morning.” When he returned to his quarters and found that the boy had recovered in the meantime, his joy knew no bounds. But in an hour’s time the fit came on again and he ran to His Holiness who said again. “It does not matter. He will be alright in the morning.” He had to be satisfied with this answer but found the fit coming on every half hour and even every ten minutes, he did not think it proper to approach His Holiness as he consoled himself with the thought that fate was irremediable and that its dictates must be submitted to and that even His Holiness was powerless against it. During that night the boy had the attack at least twenty times. The sight was unbearable but what could one do ? Then at about four in the morning the boy laid himself down and slept soundly till sunrise. There was a special brightness and briskness in his face when he got up. He insisted upon bathing in the river and accompanied his father to His Holiness. His Holiness said. “There will be no more trouble” and blessed him. The fits left the boy for good. It is clear from this incident that when His Holiness said that fate was very strong He meant that in certain cases it could not be absolutely overcome but that by appropriate rites the suffering that would have to be endured in the course of a long period might be advanced and suffered in a single day itself thereby exhausting its full force in acute experience.

A similar case may also be cited. An ardent devotee was suffering from diabetes and having carbuncles now and then. When he sought relief from His Holiness, special homas were arranged in the mutt itself under His directions. At the time of the final oblation Purnahuti His Holiness Himself was pleased to be present and after the oblation was over He went round the fire and then with folded hands said “It is said that there will be a shower of rain in token of God accepting this oblation”. This was in the hot month of April. As soon as His Holiness said so, there arose the sound of thunder and thick clouds gathered from all directions and in a minute’s time there was a very heavy downpour of rain, so much so that a mud ridge had to be put up to prevent the rain water flowing into the altar of fire. His Holiness Himself had to stay there sometime awaiting the rain to cease to enable Him to return to His quarters. In the case of this gentleman also he had a very serious carbuncle within a few days of this function but became completely free from diabetes thereafter. It is seen from this also that though some sins may be completely expiated by adequate rites there are many whose effects can not be annihilated altogether though they may be regulated or alleviated if the prescribed remedial rites are properly carried out.

A gentleman had a grown up daughter who could not speak distinctly, performed the rites prescribed by His Holiness and had the satisfaction of his daughter speaking well enough His Holiness gave the prescription with reference to the ancient treatise called Karma Vipaka. The possible reasons given there for this kind of infirmity were very interesting. “If a person had been a very learned scholar but had declined to impart his knowledge to a deserving disciple who asked for it, that person in his next birth will have his intellect and powers of learning intact but not his power of speech. Suppose some children are playing near a well and one of them slips into it. Normally the other children shocked at this incident will run to their elders and inform them about it. It may happen that one of those children, knowing full well that he must inform the elders, deliberately desists from doing so and prevents the others also from doing so, out of the apprehension that he himself may be charged with the crime of pushing the other child into the well; though he has the power of speech and there is an urgent occasion for using it; he keeps quiet thereby denying to that child the chance of being saved. He may be well denied any power of speech in his next birth. There may be similar such reasons. The deliberate non-use of the power of speech when occasion calls for it will result in this infirmity. The same principle holds good to the other faculties also.”

Another devotee had a married daughter who declined to go to her husband’s house as she felt a kind of very un-pleasant trepidation whenever she went there. Her father and also her father-in-law tried all sorts of treatment, medical and mantric, but to no effect. The son-in-law in these circumstances took to himself another wife. This grieved the girl’s father a great deal. Sometime later, he went to Sringeri along with his daughter and mentioned to His Holiness his plight. A few days later His Holiness asked her to repeat a stanza after Him and then said “This must be repeated daily so many times. It must also be written on a Bhurja leaf and worn as a protection. Within ninety days there is sure to be benefit.” When the father and daughter went to His Holiness the next day to take leave of Him, His Holiness asked “Do you know what a Bhurja leaf is?” The father said “I do not know. But there is an Ayurveda doctor in my village. I thought of asking him” His Holiness said “ You need not take that trouble. I have myself written the stanza in a Bhurja leaf. Take this. Put it in a gold or silver tube and ask your daughter to wear it; such tubes will be available locally itself”. They returned deeming themselves specially blessed. Within a few days after she began to wear it, she herself began to say that she wanted to go to her husband. At about the same time her mother-in-law who was having high fever gave out “What a sin have I committed in making my son marry again ? What shall I do to expiate it ? The first wife must be brought here anyhow” Thanks to the intercession of some mutual friends, the girl was taken to her husband’s house and was treated with all affection by him and his parents and also by the second wife and led a happy life and was soon after blessed with a son.

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