15. ईहाविरहितस्वान्तः Īhā-virahita-svāntaḥ

One whose mind was exceptionally free from activity

Thoughts constitute the mind’s activity. The mind is thoughtless in nirvikalpa-samādhi as also in deep sleep. In the waking state when the mind is engrossed in stages of meditation lower than nirvikalpa-samādhi, namely dhāraṇā (fixation, which is the binding of the mind to one place), dhyāna (meditation, which is the continuance there of the presented idea) and samādhi (the same dhyāna shining forth as the intended object alone and devoid, as it were, of its own nature),⁵¹ the mind is exclusively focused on one object, and hence can be said to be free from activity in the sense that it is not moving from one object to another. His Holiness perfected meditation right up to nirvikalpa-samādhi. Further, even during His sādhanā, His mind was never given to wandering.

However, here His Holiness is described as being One whose svānta, mind, is vi-rahita, specially free from, īhā, activity. Clearly, this is not a description restricted to the times when He reposed in nirvikalpa-samādhi, and so His state of mind at times other than in such samādhi, needs to be considered. When awake, not meditating and involved in some activity, the mind is generally in an active state. In fact, when His Holiness was involved in activity, even multiple at the same time, His mind was not merely active, but was also acutely attentive. He also never failed to analyse the past and anticipate the future before deciding what best to do in the present, given His razor-sharp intellect, pragmatism and intuition. However, in every situation, His thoughts were never short of being sufficient, and were never any more than necessary. There is yet another category in the waking but non-meditative state that merits consideration. There is an interval between two successive activities. His mind was actually free from any extraneous thought and centred in the Ātman even in those intervals - in this sense too, His mind was ‘specially’ free from thought.

Such was the control He had over His mind that it would indulge in thoughts of His choice if and when He so willed; when He chose not to think, His mind would remain free from thoughts, never wandering or remaining idle.

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One morning in January-February, 1934, when His Holiness went to offer His namaskāras to His Guru during the latter’s āhnika, the senior Jagadguru asked Him, “When performing various japas during your āhnika, you contemplate in accordance with the dhyāna-ślokas of the mantras chanted. Do you not?” His Holiness answered that He did. “How do you begin?” questioned the senior Jagadguru. His Holiness replied, “I take up the rosary and commence a japa, keeping my eyes partially or fully open.

56 15. Īhā-virahita-svāntaḥ Simultaneously, I just imagine the form described in the dhyāna-śloka concerned as present in my chest in a red lotus with eight petals.” His Guru said, “Your mind does not wander when you contemplate. However, you are aware of your body and surroundings. Am I correct?” His Holiness answered in the affirmative. “Independent of the requirements of your āhnika, would you like to practice deep meditation on divine forms?” queried the senior Jagadguru. His Holiness expressed His keenness on doing so, and the senior Jagadguru taught Him a technique to practice such meditation.

His Holiness started the practice of meditation a short while after His Guru’s teaching. Even in that first session of meditation, He could visualize the form of God with great clarity, and when He opened His eyes after what seemed to Him to be just moments, He found that actually, about half an hour had elapsed. During this time, He was unaware of the surroundings and His body. He was sixteen years old at that time.

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His Holiness normally utilised an ochre handkerchief made of cotton. It used to get crumpled now and then. However, His Holiness had the habit of refolding it in such a way that it then appeared as if it were a freshly ironed cloth, with the edges forming perfect straight lines. It was not as if His Holiness did the folding to the exclusion of other activities. He has folded His handkerchief impeccably even while giving a serious discourse or reading a book.

In the course of His evening āhnika, as prescribed for saṁnyāsins, He used to take up water in a spoon from a vessel, chant ‘Om’ and put the water into another vessel, repeating this act over a hundred times. He performed all this in such a beautiful way that not a single drop of water spilt on the ground. His hand movement was the minimum possible and the speed perfectly suited His rhythmic chant of ‘Om’. The public had no access to His āhnika room and so it was not as though His optimal performance was meant as a lesson for another.

His Holiness used to remember the details of all jobs that were carried out in His presence. In fact, He could even recall the exact number of nails used for a particular task carried out in His presence and also the number of strokes with which each nail was driven in.

Since His late sixties, His Holiness started to have difficulty in climbing stairs because of His cardiac condition. A small wooden plank used to be placed on a step to act as an intermediary step to reduce the height to be climbed at a time. In August 1989, a disciple thought of designing an automatic device that would gently and smoothly lift His Holiness to the next step. To cater to steps of different heights, the disciple took measurements at various places in Narasimhavana and in the temple complex. When he reported the matter to His Holiness, He told him, “You need not have taken the trouble of measuring various steps. I would have told you that the highest step is the first one in the Vidyāśānkara Temple, counting from the surface for doing pradakṣiṇa. Its height is twelve and three quarter inches. The top step there is ten and three quarter inches high.” His Holiness then mentioned the step-height at the Samādhi of His Guru and that in the front of Sacchidananda Vilasa. The disciple found that every measurement that His Holiness had provided was completely accurate. This was mind-boggling. It is noteworthy that His Holiness had never got the steps in the Vidyāśaṅkara Temple measured. He must have spontaneously and accurately judged their heights when swiftly climbing them in the past - such was His power of observation and accuracy of judgement. Similar was the case with the other steps. Moreover, He had been able to recall effortlessly what He had judged perhaps decades back.

Every day, His Holiness attended to a large number of letters from His various devotees, not only from India but also from abroad. The way He attended to the missives was a treat to watch. He would be reading one letter, writing something and dictating a reply to a second letter read out to Him earlier while not failing to accord by a nod, permission to sit down to some person who had been sent for – all at the same time. He often grasped the essence of a letter even when only a portion of it was presented to Him.

The first three examples above show, apart from other facets, how sharply attentive His Holiness was whether the activity bore religious significance or was a casual activity or even a mundane one. The fourth shows not only how attentive He was even while doing mundane tasks such as climbing steps, but also how quickly He grasped information from around Him with great accuracy. The last example shows how He could multitask with ease. In spite of His mind being so sharp and capable of engaging in intense activity, He could keep it quiet, at will, in between activities. This is revealed by His own words below.

His Holiness once remarked, “People say that thoughts keep coming to their minds. They can hardly conceive of a situation where the mind is quiet. However, this surprises Me. As I see it, the mind should be quiet and just rest on the Self, unless a thought is needed for any task. When the necessity ends, the mind should revert to the state of tranquillity. Even when a task is at hand, active thinking is generally not needed all the time. For instance, when reading a book, the mind ought to become quiet when a page is being turned.”

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Dr. G. Lakshmipathy, a general physician, recollected, “His Holiness was ever in a state of equipoise and total peace. Once, in Coimbatore, His

58 16. Ibha-vaktra-supūjakaḥ Holiness visited the Śāradā Temple and I went to have His darśana. A function was in progress. I was finding it difficult to sit amidst the din and bustle of the nādasvara and other instruments, crowd, smoke and sweat. However, His Holiness was sitting on the dais, eyes half closed, completely at peace, with a beautiful smile on His face. I thought that this was the greatest sight I had ever seen because I could not take my eyes off Him.

“When I went to see Him some time later in Sringeri, I was thinking that it would be nice if I saw Him again in that state. At that time, He was very busy and was also ill. I told Him, ‘Gurunātha, I think You are exerting too much and should take rest. If You were not a Jagadguru, I would not have allowed You to take up all these responsibilities.’ He said, ‘What can I do? Left to myself, I would like to sit like this and meditate.’ Saying so, He went into a trance. I did not know what to say. Once again, I had the opportunity to behold Him as He was when seated on the dais, glowing with tejas.”

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