9. अहन्ताममताहीनः Ahantā-mamatā-hīnaḥ

One devoid of the feelings of ‘I’ and ‘mine’

The notion of ‘I’ as in ‘I am tall’, ‘I am young’, ‘I am blind’, ‘I am hungry’, ‘I am sad’, etc., is due to mistaken identity, because in reality, the body, mind, etc., do not constitute the Self. Bhagavatpāda says, “When a person deems himself distinguished by superimposing upon his Self, qualities that are present as also those that are absent, it is called ahaṅkāra or the sense of ‘I’.”³³ The feeling of ‘mine’, as in ‘This is my spouse’, ‘This is my child’, ‘This is my house’, ‘This is my wealth’, etc., is again due to false association. These two illusory notions of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ are the causes of bondage. Hence Lord Kṛṣṇa counts freedom from them among the characteristics of a true devotee and teaches that having been freed from the notion of ‘I’ in the body, etc., one who is bereft of the perception of ‘mine’ and is of tranquil mind is rendered fit for realising Brahman.³⁴

Bhagavatpāda explains that the absence of the notion of ‘mine’ is enjoined for an advanced spiritual aspirant with respect to even the means for the sustenance of the body and living.³⁵ He lauds those blessed ones who have renounced the two notions of ‘mine’ and ‘I’ that cause bondage, thus: “They view both praise and censure alike.”³⁶ He further says that on account of the natural destruction of the mind, when the sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ are shaken off, the foremost of self-controlled ones attain the state that transcends the mind, is devoid of wind-like activity and is the residue after even space is negated,³⁷ thereby indicating that freedom from these false notions leads to liberation. His Holiness was hīna, bereft of, any feelings of ‘I’ and ‘mine’.

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Jagadguru Śrī Bhāratī Tīrtha Mahāsvāmin once reminisced thus: “My Guru was never One to stand on personal ego or give room for self-importance. He once said to me, ‘When we strive for the betterment of the pīṭha, we should not be concerned about whether people are giving us personal respect, how many svāgata-patrikas (welcome addresses) have been read out for us, etc. Even if respect comes from people, we should not think that it has come to us, but must view it as shown to Śāradāmbā alone.’”

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Jagadguru Śrī Bhāratī Tīrtha Mahāsvāmin once narrated the following in a benedictory discourse: “When I was on a vijaya-yātrā to (then undivided) Andhra Pradesh, I found that there was no Śāstra-pāṭhaśāla being run by the Sringeri Math in the state. I wanted that this lacuna be set right, and so I started a Tarka and Vedānta pāṭhaśāla at Hyderabad and named it ‘Śrī Abhinava Vidyātīrtha Śāstra Saṁvardhinī Pāṭhaśālā’.

“Once I completed the vijaya-yātrā and returned to Sringeri, I submitted to His Holiness that such a pāṭhaśālā had been started, adding that the pāṭhaśālā had been given His name. He asked me, ‘What is so special in that name?’ I said, ‘I gave the pāṭhaśālā this name so that people who come there will read the name and immediately get the remembrance of Your Holiness.’ His Holiness’s response was, ‘I do not have any desire that this be the name given to the pāṭhaśālā.’ Such was His Holiness’s total lack of ahantā or mamatā in even His name.”

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His Holiness never stood on prestige and unhesitatingly helped even in ways that could be misconceived as undignified for a greatly venerated Jagadguru Śaṅkarācārya of a celebrated, orthodox Āmnāya-pīṭha (Vedic Seat). One night His attendant, Sri Malnad Venkatesha, had difficulty in sleeping on account of mosquitoes. However, exhaustion got the better of him and he fell asleep. Being an early riser, His Holiness woke up prior to His attendant. Seeing mosquitoes on Venkatesha, His Holiness neared him, fanned him with His handkerchief and kept them at bay. The breeze happened to stir the sleeping one from his slumber. As he awakened, His Holiness silently moved on. It took moments for Venkatesha to realise that His Holiness had Himself fanned him to drive mosquitoes away from him.

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