64. भुक्तिमुक्तिप्रदायकः Bhukti-mukti-pradāyakaḥ

One who specially bestowed both worldly good and liberation

Lord Kṛṣṇa says, “O Arjuna, four types of blessed people worship Me - the afflicted, the seeker of knowledge, the seeker of wealth and the knower.”¹⁷⁰ Bhagavatpāda blessed with a shower of golden gooseberries, the poor lady who gave Him her only possession, a dried up gooseberry; He blessed with liberation, His disciple, the greatly devoted but not very bright Giri. Likewise, people from diverse walks of life having different temperaments and requirements approached His Holiness for not only mukti, liberation, but also for bhukti, worldly prosperity.

His Holiness is described here as not just a dāyaka, giver, but a pra-dāyaka, special giver, of bhukti-mukti. The Tantra-śāstra says of the Mother Goddess, “Where there is worldly prosperity, there is no liberation, and where there is liberation there is no worldly enjoyment. However, for those who are intent on serving the gloriously beautiful Goddess, worldly prosperity and liberation are indeed both in the palm of their hand.”¹⁷¹ Similar to the Mother Goddess, His Holiness blessed His devotees with not just either, but both, bhukti and mukti. After all, spiritual sādhanā could be adversely affected when basic worldly needs are not met or problems not handled, and His Holiness took care of His devotees’ well-being completely.

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Sri P. S. Venkatasubba Rao once recalled, “After studies, I took up employment. I worked as a manager in a company headquartered at Bangalore (Bengaluru), but I had to travel frequently and tour large estates. I began to get dissatisfied with my conditions of work, for I found the environment non-traditional. Dejected, I sought His Holiness’s advice. ‘Do not quit your job,’ He instructed, ‘for if you do so now, you will stand to lose not only materially but also spiritually.’ I did as instructed, and only stood to gain in precisely the manner He had indicated. Soon, the company’s management changed and the official climate improved to my satisfaction.”

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174 64. Bhukti-mukti-pradāyakaḥ

Professor Narasimhan, who taught Economics at Madura College, Madurai (and who later became Manager of the Sringeri Math at Madurai) was a Śrīvidyā-upāsaka and was very orthodox in his habits. He used to have darśana of His Holiness whenever he could, but had never spoken with Him. When he was about 52 years old, he suffered a mild heart attack. His doctor cautioned him that if he continued with his cycling and did not take his medicines regularly, he would end up with serious problems. He, however, did not heed these warnings.

He developed a desire to worship a Gowrī-śaṅkara. When His Holiness was camping at Madurai, therefore, he went for darśana, with the intention of requesting His Holiness to bless the Gowrī-śaṅkara that he had taken with him. His Holiness enquired about him and asked him what he wanted. The professor replied that he taught at the Madura College and that he would like His Holiness to kindly bless the Gowrī-śaṅkara for him to worship daily.

His Holiness took the Gowrī-śaṅkara from him, and keeping it on His right lap, remained in deep thought for a minute before giving it to him. Even as the professor turned to leave, His Holiness called him, took the Gowrī-śaṅkara again from him, and having closed His eyes, meditated for a full ten minutes. Then, uttering “Śiva”, He gave the Gowrī-śaṅkara to the devotee, and told him, “All will be well with you. There is no problem for you.”

After this special blessing from His Holiness, his heart ailment completely vanished, much to everyone’s surprise. He continued to cycle and perform all his activities and remained quite healthy. He was deeply convinced that His Holiness not only blessed the Gowrī-śaṅkara for his spiritual upliftment but also saved his life.

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In 1988, Sri Naganathan, who was about 40 years old, went to Sringeri with a sphaṭika-liṅga. He desired to have it blessed by His Holiness so that he could worship it every day. His Holiness readily took the liṅga, and gave it to the devotee with His blessings for his spiritual well-being.

On the occasion, the devotee, who had a seven-year-old daughter and who had a long-cherished desire to have a son too, expressed this desire of his to His Holiness. His Holiness said, “With the blessings of Śāradāmbā, a son will be born to you.” Much to the joy of the parents, a son was born to them the very next year, and they named him ‘Prasad’.

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Sri Srinivasa Rao, trustee of the Śrī Ananta-padmanābha temple at Adyar in Chennai, reminisced, “I was once plagued by problems and had lost my mental peace. I decided to seek His Holiness’s grace to surmount the problems, and went to Sringeri with my wife. His Holiness saw me and smilingly queried, ‘What is the matter?’ I replied that I had certain problems that I wished to place before His Holiness. He said, ‘Go and have darśana at all the shrines. We will talk thereafter’, and dismissed us.

“After having visited all the shrines, we went for His darśana at about 2 o’clock. He gave us prasāda in the front hall of Sacchidananda Vilasa, and said, ‘You have to reach Mangaluru by tonight, isn’t it? That would mean that you need to start now itself, else you will have to navigate through the forest roads at night and would be attracting the attention of wild elephants. Hence, you may start now.’ Having said so, He turned to go back inside. I immediately said, ‘I have come with the firm decision that I will not leave without solutions to my problems from Your Holiness.’ Turning around, His Holiness smiled at me and asked, ‘What are your problems?’

“I said, ‘My first daughter’s marriage is not getting fixed, in spite of us having searched for a suitable groom for long.’ His Holiness said, ‘Do not worry. In one week this problem of yours will be solved. Next problem?’ I said, ‘My factory was burnt down by a major fire. Production has therefore come to a standstill and the losses are huge.’ His Holiness blessed, ‘The losses will be made up and you will begin production. Your turnover will soon cross Rs. 100 crores per year. Do not worry.’ Every word He said came true, with the insurance company making good the losses due to the fire.”

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