44. नियमाचरणोत्सुकः Niyamācaraṇotsukaḥ

One who was an enthusiastic adherent of the niyamas

The second limb of the eight-limbed Yoga is niyama or observances. (Yama or restraints constitute the first limb, and are covered under nāma 105.) Maharṣi Patañjali’s Yoga-sūtras list śauca (purity), santoṣa (contentment), tapas (austerity), svādhyāya (study) and Īśvara-praṇidhāna (dedication to God) as the five niyamas.¹¹⁹ Śrī Sadāśivendra Sarasvatī explains śauca as external and internal purity, santoṣa as contentment with whatever is obtained, tapas as emaciation of the body through performance of prescribed austerities such as fasting, svādhyāya as the recitation of mantras such as the Gāyatrī, and Īśvara-praṇidhāna as the dedication of all actions, both prescribed and prohibited, to Īśvara, without consideration of results.¹²⁰

126 44. Niyamācaraṇotsukaḥ

His Holiness is described as utsuka, enthusiastic, about ācaraṇa, adherence, to these niyamas. Indeed, He took to them as naturally as fish to water, and they were in fact an integral part of His life even from childhood.

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Right from childhood, His Holiness maintained cleanliness and would keep all His things tidy. After saṁnyāsa He used to bathe thrice a day and observed external purity impeccably. As for internal purity, the Yoga-śastra says that it is to be engendered by cultivating friendliness towards happy ones, compassion towards those who suffer, joy at the sight of virtuous ones and indifference towards the vile. These qualities were His by very nature.

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One day, Sri Srinivasa Sastry and His friends were served a dish and they began to partake of it. It was only then that they realized that it was very pungent. To assuage the strong burning sensation in their mouths, His friends screamed for water and jaggery. He, however, remained undisturbed. He suggested to them to be calm. Misunderstanding His well-intentioned suggestion, they reacted cuttingly to it. “You speak thus,” they challenged. “Can you eat a handful of chillies without a murmur of protest?” “Yes,” was His nonchalant reply. A handful of highly pungent chillies was placed before Him. One by one, the chillies disappeared into His mouth. The boys looked on, more surprised than disappointed. All the chillies were consumed by Him, without even a slight change of expression in His face. He then said, “One need not consume spices like this. As you demanded that I eat the chillies, I did so. My aim was only to convince you that it is possible to be contented with and thankful for whatever food one gets.”

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His Holiness used to partake of only a meagre quantity of food and would be satisfied with whatever food He got. The little He partook was confined to the single bhikṣā (meal) in the afternoon ordained for saṁnyāsins. In fact, soon after saṁnyāsa, His Holiness started the practice of mixing up all the food served to Him and then eating the mixture; He was doing so to avoid giving any room for being influenced by taste. The senior Jagadguru noticed this one day and told Him that what He was doing was unnecessary and that He should eat His food in the normal fashion. His Holiness obeyed.

His Holiness fasted every ekādāśī and on other occasions such as Śivarātri.

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Sri Srinivasa Sastry felt a great fondness for the Gāyatrī-mantra and started chanting it mentally whenever He could, right from the day of His upanayana. In about a month’s time, He was able to do so even while engaged in His regular activities. He was happy to soon find that He mentally repeated the Gāyatrī even during dreams. He did not disclose any of this to others. [It was only in 1982, fifty-two years later, that His Holiness compassionately blessed a disciple with these particulars in response to his asking Him about His initial weeks in Sringeri as a brahmacārin.]

He once said, “At the time of giving me saṁnyāsa, my Guru initiated me into the Praṇava (Om) and the mahāvākyas. During my three āhnikas every day, I used to engage regularly in chanting them for protracted periods of time. That gave me great satisfaction.”

Apart from the mantras necessary for saṁnyāsins, the pontiffs of the Sringeri Sri Sharada Peetham are also initiated into special mantras such as the Narasiṁha-mantrarāja, Śiva-pañcākṣarī, Bālā-tripurasundarī and Śrīvidyā. Since His iṣṭa-devatā was Narasiṁha, the chanting of the Mantrarāja accompanied by the contemplation of Narasiṁha’s form, particularly appealed to Him. He also found special delight in chanting the Bālā-mantra.

His Holiness read the Brahmānucintana of Bhagavatpāda every day. He also read Bhagavatpāda’s Śataślokī often. He committed to memory and chanted the Ātma-vidyā-vilāsa of Śrī Sadāśivendra Sarasvatī regularly on every pradoṣa (thirteenth day of the lunar fortnight, considered sacred to Śiva).

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After recalling to a disciple the momentous initiation He had into the Narasiṁha-mantrarāja (described under nāma 102), His Holiness said, “Throughout that day, offering everything to Narasiṁha was extremely easy. For instance, when I had my afternoon bath, I automatically felt that I was performing abhiṣeka to Narasiṁha who abided within me. During my bhikṣā (meal), I promptly visualised Him as accepting from within and eating whatever I put into my mouth. When I read a book after bhikṣā, He appeared to be listening from inside my heart as if I were reading to Him. As I walked, it spontaneously seemed that I was taking Him, who was within me, for a stroll.

“The next day onwards, however, I needed to consciously practise dedicating all my activities and their fruits to Him. I also started spending some time every day just for offering Him mental worship. The experiences of the day of initiation greatly facilitated both these and served as models. In a few months, karma-yoga became natural.”

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