12. आश्रिताखिलरक्षकः Āśritākhila-rakṣakaḥ

One who protected all who sought refuge

The Lord’s mercy extends to all. Did not Rāma tell Sugrīva when the latter voiced concern about accepting Vibhīṣaṇa, “To anyone who seeks refuge in Me but once, saying, ‘I am Yours’, I grant fearlessness. This is My vow”?⁴³ In a similar manner, His Holiness unfailingly gave shelter to all who sought refuge in Him even once.

Many approached His Holiness seeking succour. Some came with a desire to serve Him, while others sought livelihood at the Maṭha; some who were destitutes sent their wards or dependants to Him, while others who were orphaned or handicapped came to Him to be taken care of or were brought by others to Him. He never turned away anyone. On the contrary, He protected each one of them in His inimitable way, by granting them what they wanted and safeguarding what they had, as promised by the Lord.⁴⁴

He was the refuge of not just humans but also of animals. He most lovingly sheltered animals, including elephants, deer, dogs and cats in the Maṭha. Thus, for akhilaḥ, all beings, who were āśritaḥ, seekers of refuge, He was the rakṣakaḥ, protector.

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His Holiness never let down anyone who served the Maṭha sincerely. A case in instance is that of Sri Padmanabha Upadhyaya. Upadhyaya was, when young, a student of the pāṭhaśālā at Sringeri. He came to the favourable notice of His Holiness. For some reason unapparent to others, His Holiness instructed the cook to supply him some milk every day. The cook grew jealous and started mixing some salt in the milk before giving it to the boy. Upadhyaya never uttered a word of protest; he did not complain about this to His Holiness either. His Holiness Himself discerned what was happening and, pleased with the boy, took him into His service. Perhaps, His Holiness had wanted to test the lad, aware of how the cook would balk at the idea of specially supplying him milk.

His Holiness personally trained him to handle Maṭha affairs with dexterity and, in particular, to establish rapport and get things done. He became His Holiness’s Personal Assistant, who reported directly to Him and whose job primarily consisted in carrying out whatever task His Holiness gave him. He served His Holiness with great sincerity and was at His Holiness’s side at any time he was required, be it day or night. In 1974, he had to go to Delhi in connection with some Maṭha work. His Holiness intuitively felt that the trip should not be made as planned by Upadhyaya. Pressed to permit the trip, He gave His half-hearted consent. Upadhyaya passed away in an accident during that trip.

His Holiness had Upadhyaya’s body flown to Bengaluru and transported to Sringeri by road. At that time, Upadhyaya’s three sons were young and his two daughters were unmarried. His Holiness continued to provide them accommodation in Narasimhavana itself and took full care of them. In due course, all of them became comfortably settled in life. His Holiness remarked, “Upadhyaya did so much for the Maṭha. It would have been highly unjust if I had not taken care of his family.”

His Holiness had, some years before Upadhyaya’s death, given him suggestions that proved to be monetarily beneficial to him. There had been a dispute in his family regarding a division of property. His Holiness had asked him to stake his claim for a particular plot of land in Mangaluru and not to bother much about the rest. Upadhyaya had obeyed. Later on, the city developed in such a way that that land’s value shot up.

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Shortly after His Holiness became the pontiff in 1954, He wished to meet Sri Chennakeshava, a former employee, who, for some time prior to and after His Holiness’s saṁnyāsa in 1931, used to prepare and serve food to Him. He had subsequently retired and settled down in Kota, a small town not far from Sringeri. His Holiness directed a person to go and fetch him.

The emissary went to Kota and, after making some enquiries locally, managed to locate and reach Chennakeshava’s house. The man was in a very pensive mood and recalled that he used to covertly divert much of the milk and curds meant for His Holiness to his family. He continued to do so till he left the Maṭha and settled down in Kota. He told the emissary that a strange disease had then crippled his limbs. He attributed this to his misdeeds. He felt that he could never set foot in Sringeri since His Holiness would be extremely angry with him and would never forgive him.

The emissary comforted him by saying that he had come on His Holiness’s instructions for the very purpose of taking him to Sringeri. Chennakeshava’s fears only increased and he flatly refused to come to Sringeri. Helplessly, the emissary returned alone and reported back to His Holiness. His Holiness sent him again to Kota, this time in a vehicle of the Maṭha and told him to bring Chennakeshava at any cost, adding that if Chennakeshava still refused to come, He would be forced to go to Kota Himself.

When the emissary went and informed this to Chennakeshava, the latter became very apprehensive but, left with no option, accompanied him to Sringeri. As soon as Chennakeshava was ushered into His Holiness’s presence, he broke down and, falling at His feet, confessed that he had wronged Him, and sought His pardon. His Holiness quickly assuaged him and told him that he was like a father to Him since he had fed Him during His boyhood days in Sringeri. He added that He wished to reward him for his services and gave him what was a very significant amount in the mid- 1950s. Taken aback, Chennakeshava again referred to his usurping what was earmarked for His Holiness and said that he was in no way worthy of receiving the money. His Holiness completely comforted him. Chennakeshava then accepted the reward and received His Holiness’s bountiful blessings. He returned to Kota in peace, relieved of his psychological and financial burdens.

It is pertinent that in the 1930s His Holiness did not initiate any remedial measures even though He knew that Chennakeshava was largely taking away what he had been officially instructed to serve Him in view of His frail health at that time. He also did not give anybody any inkling of what was happening. Even when sending an emissary in the mid-1950s, He did not assign any reason; it was Chennakeshava who confessed what he had done. Such was His utter indifference to any wrong done to Him.

One can only conjecture that His Holiness had intuitively discerned that Chennakeshava was contrite, burdened with guilt and badly off. Moreover, in His unbounded compassion, He decided to make him psychologically and financially unburdened and therefore sent a person to him not once but twice and had been prepared to Himself go to Kota, if required. His Holiness overlooked a wrong done to Him but was satiated to the extent of telling Chennakeshava, “You are like a father to me,” just because Chennakeshava cooked and served Him food when young.

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When Sri Challa Annapoorna Prasad, another attendant, had come to the Maṭha as a lad, he had been unable to speak normally. His Holiness had intervened and set right his shortcoming. Some time later, His Holiness assigned him the job of preparing the bhikṣa. Challa had never before tried his hands at cooking and had absolutely no idea how to go about it. When recounting this episode, Challa said that it was only by His Holiness’s grace that he learnt cooking and was able to cook the bhikṣa partaken of by His Holiness. He recounted how His Holiness used to encourage him by commenting that the food was tasty.

When Challa got to speak to His Holiness for the last time, just before His Holiness attained Mahāsamādhi (shed His mortal form), His Holiness told him, “You will be prosperous”. Challa confirms that His Holiness’s words proved true and remain so to this day. After Challa left the service of the Maṭha and returned to his hometown Varanasi, he became a supervisor of cooks working under him. Further, not only was there never any dearth of work, but clients would themselves come searching for him.

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Sri Mahabala Bayari was a young boy who had lost his father and had no possessions when He came to the Maṭha seeking work. He served His Holiness as His personal attendant and was present with His Holiness till His Holiness’s last breath.

Once when Mahabala’s relative told him to go to a particular village to finalize a particular marriage proposal that had come for him, Mahabala submitted the matter to His Holiness and sought His permission to go. His Holiness told him, “Do not go on the date you mention. Go a couple of weeks later.” Mahabala did accordingly. When he went to the village, he discovered that had he made the trip on the initially planned date, it would have been rather awkward because there had been a death in the girl’s family, and his arrival with a marriage proposal would have been considered inauspicious.

Mahabala now leads a prosperous life with his entire family of wife, children and grandchildren at Bengaluru, and unreservedly expresses that he owes his prosperity and happiness to His Holiness.

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His Holiness frequently made enquiries about the welfare of the staff and did whatever was possible for their well-being. For instance, His Holiness once questioned the Kiledār (Estate Supervisor), Sri Sitarama Bhatta, regarding his health. Sitarama Bhatta mentioned that he experienced abdominal pain and indigestion. After suitable questioning, His Holiness felt that the likely cause was gastric ulcer and had him examined by a competent doctor. The doctor confirmed that Sitarama Bhatta had gastric ulcer and prescribed medication for it and some dietary restrictions. His Holiness made the necessary arrangements and also ordered that a glass of milk be supplied to Sitarama Bhatta every morning till his ulcer abated.

Years later, Sitarama Bhatta recalled, with gratitude, that His Holiness’s act of kindness had resulted in his suffering ending and his health being restored.

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The second son of Sri Ganesha Bhatta employed in the Maṭha’s cowshed was greatly handicapped; he could not see, hear, speak or walk and everything for the boy had to be done by someone else. The worker did not know whether upanayana (sacred thread investiture ceremony) should be performed for his son or not. The paṇḍitas whom he consulted were not able to give a definitive answer and so he decided to ask His Holiness. His Holiness patiently heard him out and said, “Upanayana should be performed, but because the boy cannot perform his nitya-karma, it will suffice if you do some extra Gāyatrī-japa daily on his behalf.” Not stopping with this, He arranged for the conduct of the function in the Maṭha and at the Maṭha’s expense; the employee had to merely initiate his son.

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There were two elephants – Shankara and Sharada – in the Maṭha. His Holiness had a special connect with and affinity for them. He had a spacious gaja-śālā (elephant-shed) built at Sringeri. It was once reported to Him that one of the pachyderms was unwell. He enquired about the symptoms in detail from the mahout and the supervisor. He quickly diagnosed the cause and decided on the requisite medication. He directed His attendant to fetch a handful of a certain herb from the coconut grove behind Sacchidananda Vilasa. Before proceeding to fetch it, the attendant gave Him his description of the herb to ascertain that he had the right one in mind. His Holiness corrected his misidentification and ensured that he brought the right one. His Holiness then personally supervised administering the medication.

Once, around 2 o’clock in the night, one of the elephants had been trumpeting for a while. His Holiness awakened, walked up to the gaja-śālā to personally investigate the cause of the animal’s discomfiture. He provided immediate succour and then directed necessary follow-up action.

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