51. पारावारातिगम्भीरः Pārāvārāti-gambhīraḥ

One who was completely imperturbable like the ocean

Remaining unperturbed even in the face of disruptive influences - fear, grief, anger, elation, etc. - characterizes the trait of being gambhīra.¹³² The pārāvāra, ocean, has this trait in abundance, and is hence used an analogy. Vasiṣṭha observes about Rāma, “I could not discern even an iota of change in His countenance when He was invited for coronation and when banished to the forest.”¹³³ Much like Vasiṣṭha’s characterisation of Rāma, His Holiness’s Guru told Him the following: “Only tranquillity and happiness can be seen in your face. Even if I, to whom you are deeply devoted, were to cast off my body right now, your facial expression would not change. No matter how much you may be provoked, not a trace of anger would be visible.” Hence, most appropriately, His Holiness is characterized here as being ati-gambhīra, extremely unruffled, like the ocean. The ocean’s imperturbability stems from its great depth, which is in fact the literal meaning of the word ‘gambhīra’. His Holiness was, like the ocean, immensely gambhīra, deep, in terms of knowledge and wisdom.

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Sri Chandramouli of Bengaluru had once gone to Sringeri for darśana of His Holiness, along with some others. During their stay, they accompanied His Holiness to Narasimhapura, where His Holiness asked them to accompany Him on His usual evening stroll. The place was a little marshy, and since the visitors were unfamiliar with such terrain, His Holiness told them to walk a few yards ahead of Him so that He could keep an eye on them.

All of a sudden, the visitors rushed back towards His Holiness. Terrified, they told Him that a big cobra had just crossed their path. Totally unperturbed, His Holiness consoled them, and telling them that their fear was unnecessary, closed His eyes, folded His hands and chanted, “Subrahmaṇyo’ham (I am Subrahmaṇya). Subrahmaṇyo’ham. Subrahmaṇyo’ham.” The snake, which had been quietly gliding across the path, immediately stopped, turned towards the group and raised its hood. It then came towards them, and passing between the visitors and His Holiness, circumambulated Him. Then, after raising its hood once again, this time at His feet as if in a final salute, the snake went its way. All the while, His Holiness was just calmly observing the snake.

His Holiness then continued on the stroll after casually commenting to the flabbergasted visitors, “Oh, it is nothing. The snakes in Sringeri are harmless, that is all.”

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In the course of His tour of Kerala, His Holiness graced a temple in Pattambi on 6^th December, 1979. About that time, some statements of His Holiness had been misrepresented in a section of the press and a hornet’s nest had been stirred. A strong crowd gathered outside the temple demanding that they see His Holiness and talk to Him. They were armed with sticks and seemed belligerent.

The then Personal Assistant to His Holiness, Sri K. M. Balasubramanian, talked to the accompanying security officials. Unfortunately, they were far outnumbered by the crowd, which certainly would have the upper hand in the event of an outbreak of violence. Worried, the Personal Assistant appraised His Holiness about the situation. For His part, His Holiness was thoroughly unperturbed.

After a while, He emerged from the temple; the vociferous crowd became all the more boisterous. Unexpectedly, taking a tray full of dry fruits He beckoned to an agitator. The man was taken so much by surprise that he mutely stepped forward. His Holiness handed him the tray and said softly but with force, “Distribute the prasādas to the people.” The man began to do so. Meanwhile, His Holiness beckoned to a second agitator and gave him a lot of fruits, again to be distributed. The distribution was thoroughly unexpected by the crowd which had, as though mesmerised, stopped shouting by then. His Holiness then said, “Repeat after me” and began to chant, “Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare. Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare.” Initially, only a few followed Him, but soon it became an impressive chorus. A belligerent crowd was transformed into a bhajan party. Minutes later, His Holiness drove off in His car after He had succeeded in assuaging the persons with comforting words.

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As mentioned under nāma 2, His Holiness once expounded the Śrī-dakṣiṇāmūrti-stotra of Bhagavatpāda for the sake of Sri P. S. Venkatasubba Rao. In the course of the class, an aged saṁnyāsin posed some questions to His Holiness based on the Tarka-śāstra. His Holiness said, “These lessons are meant for Venkatasubba Rao. Hence, I am giving only those details that will benefit him. Tarka is not important for him. If you seek to understand the text from the standpoint of Tarka then I am willing to explain that one point itself for days on end, giving a different interpretation on each day.”

On another occasion, a devotee asked Him, “If Your Holiness were to spontaneously recall verses just from memory and chant them, approximately how many verses would Your Holiness be able to chant?” His Holiness replied, “At least a lakh.”

Such was His Holiness’s depth of knowledge.

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