98. शमादिसुगुणालयः Śamādi-suguṇālayaḥ

One who was the abode of the excellent qualities commencing with

mind-control

‘Śama-ādi’ refers to the hexad of attributes listed under nāma 38. There His Holiness was described as One who, as a jīvanmukta, was adorned with this hexad of attributes, which verily became exquisite ornaments because He had them. That the hexad of qualities have been listed here as ‘śama-ādi’ indicates that this nāma deals with the pre-jīvanmukti stage of His Holiness’s life. This is so, for śama is prescribed by Lord Kṛṣṇa for one who has advanced beyond karma-yoga,²⁵⁰ which Bhagavatpāda explains as, “For a person who has ascended karma-yoga, śama or giving up of karma forms the means to liberation.”²⁵¹ Also, the six attributes are referred to here as ‘suguṇas’, or exceptional qualities. They are exceptional indeed, for they are a sine qua non for spiritual sādhanā.

His Holiness was the ālaya, abode and also refuge, of the hexad. From a young age, His Holiness was extremely self-controlled, with his mind not given to wandering; He was inward-turned and even from childhood yearned only to take saṁnyāsa; His innate forbearance had only itself for a parallel; His faith in the Śāstras and His Guru was impeccable; to reach God was His only goal from childhood. Naturally endowed, as He was, with the hexad of qualities, His Holiness has been described here as the very abode of these qualities. Thereafter, subsequent to His taking saṁnyāsa and pursuing His sādhanā, His Holiness practiced this hexad with such intensity that He became the very refuge of these qualities. After all, His saṁnyāsa-svīkāra was when He was going on fourteen, and in less than five years He had attained the summum bonum of life.

❧

260 98. Śamādi-suguṇālayaḥ

Upon taking saṁnyāsa, His Holiness decided that His body should be under His control (dama) and not vice versa and that He should be same-sighted towards the pairs of opposites such as heat and cold. Putting Himself to test, when winter was at its peak in 1931 (the year of His saṁnyāsa), for a few nights, He spread a wet towel on the floor and slept on it wearing just His loincloth. He somehow managed to keep this a secret from even His personal attendant. Thereafter, He repeated this every year for the next four years at Sringeri, one year in Bengaluru, and few years in the 1940s. Such was His control over His body.

❧

Sri Srinivasa Sastry desired, from childhood, only to renounce the world and reach God, as described under nāma 18. After He came to Sringeri and was pursuing His studies as a brahmacārin under the Jagadguru’s watch, His commitment to renunciation (uparati) only grew in intensity.

One day, the Jagadguru directed Vaidyanatha Sastry to come to Him with just Sri Srinivasa Sastry. When His directive was complied with, He said, “Today, we shall discuss the comparative merits of being a householder and a saṁnyāsin. You first explain the advantages of family life.” In obedience to His command, Sri Srinivasa Sastry and Vaidyanatha Sastry spoke of the plus points of being a householder. The Jagadguru then detailed the disadvantages of that stage of life. He gave many examples and also chanted two verses, the combined meaning of which is, “Who indeed knows which day shall be his last? Even when young, one should practise righteousness; life is decidedly transient.²⁵² During childhood, one is shorn of discriminative insight. While a youth, one is engrossed in the experience of sensual pleasures. Later, what success can an infirm old man achieve after the dawn of discrimination?”²⁵³

At the end, the Jagadguru asked, “Now, tell me. Is it better to become a householder or a saṁnyāsin?” Bereft of any hesitation, Sri Srinivasa Sastry averred that taking up saṁnyāsa was, indeed, superior.

❧

Sri Srinivasa Sastry was patience (titikṣā) personified. One day, His friends sought to test the limits of His forbearance. In the course of a game, they fetched a stick and began to beat Him with it. He bore their unprovoked onslaught without a murmur. When the boys stopped, aghast at how far they had gone in testing Him, He won their hearts with kind words. To impress upon them the power of fortitude, He also told them the following story. A Buddhist monk was unjustly tortured by a monarch. At the end, the king softened. Ashamed, he begged the monk’s pardon. As an act of atonement, he catered to the subsequent needs of the monk. Thus, merely by non-retaliation, the monk was able to humble the emperor. His friends hung their heads in shame on hearing the tale and went home wiser.

❧

His Holiness’s faith (śraddhā) in the words of His Guru has been glimpsed in the context of nāma 27. His firm faith in the scriptures is borne out by an episode that took place during His childhood at Bengaluru. One evening a friend challenged Sri Srinivasa Sastry’s conviction that God exists on the ground that neither He nor those He knew had seen God.

Sri Srinivasa Sastry: Can you prove that there is no God? Would you say that something does not exist because you have not seen it? For instance, have you seen Bombay (now Mumbai)? No. Does it then follow that Bombay is non-existent?

Friend: I have not seen Bombay. But I have seen many who have. That is why I believe that Bombay exists.

Sri Srinivasa Sastry: Very well. Likewise, our ancient sages who had beheld the Lord have given clear-cut indications to that effect. What is wrong if we unreservedly accept their words? Their experience cannot be set aside and so we must concede the existence of God.

❧

That His Holiness possessed perfect mind-control (śama) culminating in complete tranquillity of mind (samādhāna) is apparent from the following:

After saṁnyāsa, His Holiness was accommodated for some time in an independent place in Narasimhavana. One day, numerous ants, which made that their home, bit Him, giving rise to red welts on His legs. He patiently tolerated the bites. This was repeated on the next few days. He did not mention any of this to anybody and took no remedial measures either. So long as the swellings were on His lower limbs and covered by His lower garment, the senior Jagadguru did not notice them. One day, the ants bit His back. The senior Jagadguru noticed the swellings when His Holiness did namaskāra to Him during His morning āhnika; this was because His Holiness had removed His upper garment, put it on the floor and placed His daṇḍa on it, as He had been taught to do. The senior Jagadguru ascertained what had happened, directed His Holiness to take proper care of His body and arranged for Him to move back to Sacchidananda Vilasa.

Even in the face of such pain, His Holiness had not uttered a murmur of protest. Why, there was not even a trace of lamentation in His mind. These happenings did not so much as create a tiny flutter in His Holiness’s mind, endowed as He was with complete control of the senses, body and mind, and with perfect forbearance and renunciation.

❧

262 100. Śrīcakrārcana-tatparaḥ