86. वादिमत्तेभकेसरी Vādi-mattebha-kesarī

One who was a lion to disputants who were like elephants in rut

A tame elephant is mighty and yet gentle and obedient. However, when in rut with copious ichor flowing down its temples, it becomes exceedingly aggressive and combative and hence, extremely difficult to subdue. In this nāma, the vādin, debater, is likened to not just an elephant, but to matta-ibha, an intoxicated elephant. He is a formidable opponent in debate not just in might but also in aggression. His Holiness is described here as a kesarī, lion, when it comes to taking on such formidable vādins – He had the intellectual acumen as well as the verbal ability to vanquish the flawed arguments of even highly capable vādins intoxicated with arrogance and aggression. As Bhartṛhari put it, “Even a lion cub pounces on elephants whose temples are hardened like walls due to the flowing ichor. Such is the nature of the capable. Indeed, age is not the cause of prowess.”²³³

However, His Holiness being gentleness personified as described in nāma 22, the possibility of Him confronting anyone of His own accord in a verbal combat with the sole aim of establishing His superiority over the other, simply did not exist even remotely. However, when there was a need to subdue such a challenger, He rose to the occasion. This prowess of His when displayed, always resulted in subduing the intellectual arrogance of the vādin and thus only brought about his betterment.

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His Holiness visited Kolkata for the first time in 1967. As per His Holiness’s directives, a vidvat-sadas was organised there. People had heard of the scholarliness of His Holiness’s Guru but had not yet glimpsed His Holiness’s greatness.

There was, at that time, a great scholar of the Nyāya-śāstra in Kolkata. He was extremely erudite, but was an atheist. His Holiness was particular that he be invited. To the Maṭha officials who approached him with an invitation to the sadas, the scholar said, “I have two conditions. Firstly, I will not participate in the prayer. Secondly, I will not prostrate before the Swamiji. I will participate in the sadas provided these two conditions are met.” The conditions were agreed to and the scholar did participate in the sadas.

The sadas commenced, and the scholar was the first person to deliver an exposition. He spoke for an hour and when he finished, looked at His Holiness. His Holiness did not offer any comments. A few other scholars too spoke that day. His Holiness did not address the paṇḍitas on the first two days. At the end of the second day’s session, the haughty scholar remarked to a Maṭha official, “What is this? You have placed a statue in front of me. This Swamiji does not have anything at all to say. The reason must be either that He is not able to understand what I am saying, or that He is unable to think of appropriate arguments to counter mine. Anyway, I will attend this sadas one final time tomorrow.”

On the third day of the sadas, after the scholar had spoken for about twenty minutes, His Holiness asked him, “Have you completed your arguments?” When the man answered in the affirmative, His Holiness began His exposition. He spoke for an hour and a half and addressed every argument that the scholar had raised. At the end of it, the scholar got up, took off his turban, and placing it at the lotus feet of His Holiness, prostrated before Him. The thoroughly humbled man remarked, “I have only read in books that great scholars existed in ancient India. I have never heard such an extensive and brilliant exposition of Nyāya. Today I have seen Goddess Sarasvatī Herself in front of me.”

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In 1954, when His Holiness ascended the pīṭha after the Mahāsamādhi of His Guru, His Holiness was thirty-seven years old. On the seventh day after His ascension of the pīṭha, a paṇḍita from Andhra Pradesh visited Sringeri. He was a great scholar of Vedānta but was very egoistic. If he came across a scholar he would ask a barrage of questions. If the scholar was unable to answer immediately, he would berate and humiliate him mercilessly. On arriving in Sringeri, he approached a Maṭha official and said, “Please arrange for me to have the darśana of His Holiness.” The official who was aware of this man’s dubious reputation said, “It is not possible to arrange for a meeting with His Holiness.” However, the scholar continued to press for an appointment, and hence the official submitted the matter to His Holiness.

His Holiness said, “He is very well-read, isn’t he? And he intends to ask some questions. If he asks me something I do not know, I will listen to and learn from him. There is no loss. Go ahead and arrange for a meeting.” The official duly arranged for the paṇḍita to have the darśana of His Holiness.

The moment the scholar came into His Holiness’ presence, he began to ask a volley of questions, without waiting for or expecting an answer. His Holiness took up some water in His hands and threw it at the man’s face. Immediately, the man was reduced to a humble shadow of his former self. He had been possessed by a spirit which had been the one arguing with scholars all along, making it seem that the paṇḍita was behaving in an arrogant manner. His Holiness instantaneously cured the man of the spirit that had possessed him. He also graced the paṇḍita with a mantra-upadeśa.

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A vidvat-sadas was organized at Delhi when His Holiness was camping there in 1967. On an ekādaśī day when His Holiness was observing silence, a scholar in Vyākaraṇa approached His Holiness and said, “I am unable to accept that scholars from Sringeri are extremely learned. I will put forth some questions and only if they are able to answer them satisfactorily, will I change my opinion about them. But all this is contingent upon one condition: Your Holiness must not intervene.” His Holiness nodded in acceptance of the condition.

At the vidvat-sadas, the scholar put forth a torrent of questions without giving a moment for the gathered scholars to think or get a word in edgeways. When he finished, the scholars sat dumbstruck. The silence that ensued was ominous. In front of His Holiness and facing Him, sat a vidyārthi, who barely knew anything. His Holiness motioned with His eyes for the lad to rise and answer. Out of deference to His Holiness’s wishes, the boy stood up and opened his mouth to say something. Although he was not even aware of the subjects from which the scholar had culled his questions, the boy began to systematically answer the questions raised by the scholar, one by one in a thorough fashion. The scholar stared in amazement. The scholar fell flat at His Holiness’s feet and begged His pardon. ‘If even an amateur vidyārthi at Sringeri is capable of discoursing so proficiently and lucidly, then what to speak of the scholars who train the boys!’ thought he, and thoroughly humbled, left the place.

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Once in the early 1970s, a man came to Sringeri and told His Holiness, “I am going to set up my āśrama at Sringeri near the Maṭha and teach my religion to all the people who come here.”

HH: Why don’t you first teach me what you are intending to teach others? That way, I will also get to know of your religion.

Man: Certainly. And whatever questions You may choose to ask me are welcome. I will answer all of them.

HH: Fine. When did your religion come into existence?

M: More than 1,970 years have elapsed since the founding of my religion.

HH: Did people exist before your religion came into being or not?

M: Oh, they certainly did! If not, to whom would we have taught the religion?

HH: Very well. In that case, were the people who existed before your religion was born, going to heaven or to hell after death?

M: They were all going to hell, because they were not following the laws of my religion.

HH: Isn’t this complete injustice? Even today’s governments have to make sure that they lay down the law first and only then hold people accountable if they transgress the law. How can we say, ‘Nobody is following the law’, even before promulgating it? Is the fact that people are not acting according to such a law, their fault or ours? As such, your claim that people who existed before you framed your religion and the associated laws, went only to hell, is rather unjust.

M: Alright, they did not go to hell, but to heaven.

HH: This too is not just. After all, before you brought in your religious laws, people were all going to heaven, while after you made the laws some people ended up going to hell. Thus, people were better off before you founded your religion, because they were all happily going to heaven.

The man was flummoxed and left the place, having altogether abandoned the thought of starting a competing āśrama at Sringeri.

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