CHAPTER XVII THE ASCENSION

In reciting the several instances mentioned before, I am quite conscious that they do only illustrate, and that very inadequately, the outward fringe of His Holiness’ greatness and they can never bring out His inner glory. I can go on giving similar instances indefinitely and I am sure that the several persons who have had the fortune of having contact with Him will have with them an unlimited store of similar anecdotes. All of them will go to prove that His Holiness was not an ordinary individual who had in the usual way worked up his way to spiritual eminence but one on whom the mantle of the glory of God had descended for the uplifting of erring humanity. But His method of uplifting laid more emphasis on example than on precept. It is true that He was freely giving advice or initiation when sincerely sought but by the standard of life He set up for Himself He made people hesitate a great deal before approaching Him. He used to say ‘Is there really any need for the preaching of Dharma? People, the most ignorant of them, know that it is sinful to utter a falsehood or to cheat or injure anybody. They know this quite well without any need to be taught. Are they observing these simple rules in their conduct? Let them practise what they know is proper. It will be time enough to consider higher spiritual duties.’ He was quite confident that if the aspirant was really sincere he would be helped on to further stages by the ever-watchful God. He once said “Do you think that Sri Chandramouliswara and Sri Sarada cannot bless the disciples who are living far away from Sringeri and cannot come there often?” This observation applied equally well to Him. There have been many an instance of sincere disciples who have had their doubts and difficulties solved not by going to Sringeri and invoking His Blessings in person but by intense longing and vivid recalling to one’s mind His divine personality, His gracious look and His benign smile. This has been quite enough to give them what all they wanted.

When His Holiness was entering the sixtieth year of His earthly life, some ardent disciples conceived the idea of celebrating the event in a fitting manner but His Holiness definitely discouraged the idea. But when He found that they did not intend to make it a function of secular tamasha but intended to arrange for an Adirudra Homa and a Sahasrachandi Homa. He approved of the proposal but declined to have it in any way connected with His own birthday. The functions were therefore performed for the general welfare of the world in the middle of 1953 long after He had passed His sixtieth year. The functions were unique in their nature, especially the Sahasrachandi Homa which had not been performed for over 150 years, that is, after the time of Tippu Sultan who had it performed in the Mutt. The functions naturally attracted a large concourse of people from all parts of India. The well-known trait of His Holiness to retire into Himself and avoid publicity of any sort only whetted the curiosity and longing of the people to see Him. His Holiness acquainted Himself with the details of the arrangements made, graciously gave His blessings and gave an assurance that God would accept the offerings and would in token thereof send down a shower of rain at the time of the principal oblation in the sacred fire. But He was not for coming out either to see the expectant crowd or to be seen by it. I am sure that in that gathering of several thousands not one would have failed to keep His Holiness ever present in his heart with an intense longing to see Him in flesh and blood. But if He had so appeared and given the crowd the Darsana they wanted, they would have forgotten Him the next moment and would have lost the inestiamable advantage of lodging Him in their hearts for days together.

A few weeks after these functions, He came out and resumed His normal routine and was also pleased to receive and bless the disciples as He used to do of old. It is worthy of mention that it was during this period that Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the President of the Indian Union, paid his respects to His Holiness, and had the rare fortune of being closetted with His Holiness in edifying conversation in Sanskrit for nearly an hour and receiving His inestimable blessings.

Within a few days thereof, finding that the stock of Prarabdha Karma which gave Him this embodiment had been exhausted and that it was time for Him to shuffle off this mortal coil, He decided upon doing it Himself in the way familiar to the Seers of old. On Sunday the 26th of September 1954, he got up very early in the morning even when it was dark and walked towards the river Tunga. A servant followed at a slight distance. His Holiness stepped into the water. The servant said “The water there is deep”. His Holiness cooly said “I know” and went further, had a dip in the water, stood up and did Pranayama and Sankalpa and then dipped into the water again. In a few seconds, His body floated down the current. In consternation the servant jumped in and caught it up but in the effort lost his consciouness with the result that both the bodies had to be brought ashore by a third person who was at a distance and heard the cry of the servant for help. The servant was soon restored to life. But nothing could be done in the other case. It is said that His Holiness’ body was in an erect sitting posture with legs crossed as at the time of contemplation and that it was straightened out only in an attempt to restore respiration. There were no signs of drowning or of suffocation or of any struggle for life. His Holiness had ever been in the best of health and His passing away naturally baffled all doctors, just as he was baffling them even when He was alive. In life and in death, He was equally an enigma to all who sought physical explanation for spiritual experiences. Thus passed away His Holiness from our earthly eyes, plunging His disciples, throughout the length and and breadth of India, in intense grief. His sacred body was duly interred in a site just on the left of the Samadhi of His illustrious predecessor. It may be mentioned that the day of His disappearance was the Mahalaya Amavasya day when Goddess Sri Sarada was to be given the annual Abhisheka preliminary to the Navaratri Puja beginning the next day. His Holiness’ annual aradhana would therefore synchronise with

260 THE SAINT OF SRINGERI [Ch.

that both the bodies had to be brought ashore

by a third person who was at a distance and

heard the cry of the servant for help. The

servant was soon restored to life. But nothing

could be done in the other case. It is said that

His Holiness’ body was in an erect sitting posture with legs crossed as at the time of contemplation and that it was straightened out only

in an attempt to restore respiration. There

were no signs of drowning or of suffocation

or of any struggle for life. His Holiness

had ever been in the best of health and His

passing away naturally baffled all doctors,

just as he was baffling them even when He was

alive. In life and in death, He was equally an

enigma to all who sought physical explanation

for spiritual experiences. Thus passed away

His Holiness from our earthly eyes, plunging

His disciples, throughout the length and

and breadth of India, in intense grief. His sacred

body was duly interred in a site just on the left

of the Samadhi of His illustrious predecessor. It

may be mentioned that the day of His disappearance was the Mahalaya Amavasya day when

Goddess Sri Sarada was to be given the annual

Abhisheka preliminary to the Navaratri Puja

beginning the next day. His Holiness’ annual

aradhana would therefore synchronise with Sri Sarada’s Navaratri Abhisheka and is perhaps an indication of His oneness with Her.

After all the ceremonies were over His Holiness Sri Abhinava Vidya Tirtha Swaminah who had been adopted as a successor as early as 1931 and had since then been in close attendance upon His Holiness and had His gracious blessings in abundance was formally installed on the Vyakhyana Simhasana. Now that His Holiness has been freed from the embodiment and the limitations of form, time and space, and has become one with the Godhead, we can get His Holiness’s divine blessings whereever we are, if only we earnestly think of Him. He was in our midst in human form for more than sixty years and if we have not profitted the least yet and are still in the meshes of ignorance, it is certainly no fault of His. It was for us to seek His divine presence, profit by it and bask in the sun of His resplendent glory. It is well to remind ourselves now and then of the fact that we had an inestimable treasure which was quite within our reach and open to utilise if only we had cared.

The beautiful scenery of Sringeri and the wealth of the Sringeri Mutt do attract many a person to Sringeri; but in enjoying the salubrious climate and the hospitality of the Mutt, they very often forget the divine personality of His Holiness which is really the most valuable thing at Sringeri. Even those who are fortunate enough to approach Him do not in any appreciable measure recognise His greatness. They find in Him simplicity, deep learning, intense faith, universal love and so on and content themselves with giving Him in abundance mental (and very often verbal) certificates about His greatness. Does He stand in need of them? The real question is-how have we profitted by the contact with Him? Have our minds become pure? We may be proud of having such a saint for our Acharya. But is that pride justifiable unless and until we qualify ourselves to call ourselves His disciple? I have seen some fashionable friends who are using beautifully carved images of Sri Vighneswara as paper-weights. Our admiration for His Holiness will be only of that sort if we do not seek inner communion with Him. Even for such seeking, we require His gracious blessings. May God grant us the necessary faith and earnestness to earn such blessings from this ineffable fountain of wisdom and mercy that has passed beyond our physical sight but is ever accessible to the earnest seeker!

The first public act of His Holiness the new Acharya was the characteristically noble announcement to the world that His earnest ambition was to follow rigidly in the footsteps of His revered Guru. The disciples have every confidence that with the blessings of His Holiness and the divine grace of Sri Sarada His ambition will be fulfilled soon so that He may in an adequate measure remedy the loss which the world has sustained by the disappearance of His Holiness the late Acharya. It is the earnest prayer of all disciples that He may long preside over the Mutt and continue its noble tradition of learning and spiritual eminence and bless the world!