70. मात्सर्यादिविवर्जितः Mātsaryādi-vivarjitaḥ

One who was completely free from envy, etc.

The ‘ari-ṣaḍ-varga (hexad of inner enemies)’ spoken of in the Śāstras comprises kāma (craving), krodha (anger), lobha (greed), moha (delusion), mada (conceit) and mātsarya (envy). Of these, kāma and krodha have already been spoken of in nāmas 18 and 24, and moha under nāma 65. Hence here, ‘mātsarya-ādi’, can be taken to mean mātsarya (envy), lobha (greed) and mada (conceit).

Mātsarya (also asūya) is intolerance towards another’s success, virtue, happiness, etc. Lord Kṛṣṇa censures, “Know that those who harbour envy are ruined, lacking as they are in discrimination.”¹⁹⁵ He also appreciates Arjuna for being free from envy and states that He will expound the most secretive knowledge to him, together with its realization, on knowing which, he would be freed from evil¹⁹⁶. Envy may be overcome by inculcating a feeling of happiness in the successes and joys of others.

On acquisition of a desired object, the notion to protect it is born, which is called lobha or greed.¹⁹⁷ The greedy covet others’ wealth and do not part with their own to do good deeds. It is said, “Charity, enjoyment and destruction are the three courses that money can take; the wealth of one who neither gives nor enjoys, meets with the third fate.”¹⁹⁸ Thus, the wealth of a miser is ultimately no wealth at all. Further, greed only leads to sin, and the Śruti prescribes its antidote by saying, “Overcome greed by charity.”¹⁹⁹

Mada (also darpa) is characterized as the puffing up due to erudition, wealth, strength of one’s kin, etc.,²⁰⁰ and as already seen in the context of harṣa (elation) under nāma 65, it causes one to transgress dharma. Humility is the cure for conceit. The means to absolute freedom from conceit is taught by Bhagavatpāda thus: “Do not be overcome with pride due to wealth, acquaintances and youth, for all of it will be gone in a trice. Having given up all this which is but a product of Māyā (illusion), enter the abode of Brahman after having realized It.”²⁰¹

This nāma describes His Holiness as One who was vi-varjita, completely and always free, from envy, greed and conceit. As such, the means prescribed for getting rid of these evil tendencies were fully present in Him.

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Having a crystal-like pure heart, His Holiness was only able to identify the good in others. A poet has remarked that noble ones make a mountain of a molehill-like noble quality of another but treat even a major fault of another as if it were insignificant. His Holiness had this trait in abundance. He noted and even praised some good quality or other even in an apparently vile individual. It goes without saying that He was all praise for people with noble qualities. He said, “We are in this world for but a while. Is it not madness to pick holes and quarrel during our short sojourn here?”

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Raja Venkata Rao Limbekar wanted to give what is presently the big branch Maṭha at New Nallakunta in Hyderabad to His Holiness. He told Him, “I want this to be the personal property of Your Holiness. Even if, at some time, the Maṭha were to come to a bad turn or things were to become greatly troublesome for Your Holiness there, Your Holiness need not bother. Your Holiness could simply move in here.”

His Holiness told him, “I am a saṁnyāsin. I am not supposed to own anything and I have not even a trace of a wish to do so. I would be quite happy to live in the manner prescribed for paramahaṁsa-saṁnyāsins. I would love to move on foot from one place to another, bathe in a river or some other open body of water, subsist on what food I may get by begging, sleep under some tree, in some cave or in some temple, and spend my time largely in meditation, focused on the non-dual Truth and oblivious of the world. My Guru has, however, assigned me the duty of heading the Sringeri Math and that is the one and only reason I am shouldering this responsibility. The scripture teaches that the Supreme Brahman is all; there is not even a jot or a tittle distinct from It. Purely by the grace of my Guru, I know that I am Brahman. So what is there in the three worlds that is not mine? At the same time, nothing whatsoever is mine, for I am not the body-mind complex and am just unattached pure consciousness. King Janaka, according to the Mahābhārata, averred, ‘My wealth is indeed unlimited; I have nothing.’²⁰² I too have nothing and yet have everything.”

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Quick rise to great eminence is known to be attended with an inflation of one’s ego. Nīlakaṇṭha-dīkṣita, a great devotee of Śiva and poet, has written, “Regarding eulogies as factual descriptions, looking upon oneself as a god and looking down upon fellow human beings as if they were worms are the consequences of newfound affluence.”²⁰³ In the case of His Holiness, however, no negative change whatsoever occurred in Him consequent to His acquiring the status of a much honoured and influential Jagadguru. For instance, Sri Ramaswamy Avadhani, who had studied with His Holiness in Sringeri prior to His saṁnyāsa, recounts, “Even after becoming a saṁnyāsin and, later, the pontiff, His Holiness has been informal with me and even

188 71. Madhurālāpa-caturaḥ playful at times. During a tour, He had been to the sea for a bath. He asked me casually to come with Him into the ocean. I protested that I felt scared stiff. He held me by the hand and led me into the waters. ‘Let us swim,’ He said and began to float on His back. For my part, I feared that I would be drowned. However, He himself held me up and, thereafter, led me safely to the shore.”

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Sri A. S. Raghavan, an eminent musical exponent of the Tiruppugazh, reminisced, “During His Holiness’s visit to Kolkata in 1967, His Holiness told Sri P. Subramaniam, the chief organizer, ‘Invite Raghavan of Delhi to sing Tiruppugazh bhajans.’ My group members and I were pleasantly surprised that none had any difficulty in obtaining a week’s leave. On the scheduled morning, I sat on the stage to begin the bhajan. However, I learnt that His Holiness had left the venue earlier to fulfil devotees’ wishes that He grace their houses and bless them. I commenced singing with a heavy heart. I sang for over two hours. Just as I finished singing the last verse, His Holiness entered the venue, went straight to His seat and started blessing the devotees with tīrtha-prasāda. I joined the queue, cursing my ill-luck that in spite of being called to Kolkata at the behest of His Holiness, I could not sing anything in His august presence.

“When my turn came to receive tīrtha, His Holiness remarked, ‘You sang very well. I enjoyed listening to the Tiruppugazh.’ Unable to contain my disappointment, I blurted out, ‘Your Holiness was not here when I sang.’ Smiling at me, His Holiness said, ‘Oh, so you think that I did not listen to your bhajan?’ I nodded my head. His Holiness continued, ‘I arrived at the venue when your performance was hardly halfway through. I observed that the audience was engrossed in the bhajan. Had I entered the hall, I would have only disturbed your performance. People would have got up and even queued up to receive tīrtha-prasāda. There would have been commotion and you would have been forced to stop the bhajan. Hence, I sat outside the entrance to the hall. I instructed my staff not to let anyone know of my arrival. I enjoyed hearing your songs. I came in only after you completed your singing.’ I was awestruck by His considerateness and lack of ego.”

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