CHAPTER 16 He Graced All

Ever so many people came to His Holiness for blessings, guidance and succour. These included those who were ailing and wanted Him to relieve them of their suffering, those faced with difficulties for which they sought His guidance and sacred intervention, people desirous of progressing in the spiritual path and even those who were enlightened. His Holiness dealt with each and every one in an appropriate manner.

Ever so many people came to His Holiness for blessings, guidance and succour. These included those who were ailing and wanted Him to relieve them of their suffering, those faced with difficulties for which they sought His guidance and sacred intervention, people desirous of progressing in the spiritual path and even those who were enlightened. His Holiness dealt with each and every one in an appropriate manner.

His Holiness accorded high priority to spiritual aspirants. An Italian came to Sringeri in November 1974, hoping to receive some clarifications regarding Gauḍapādācārya’s Kārikās on the Māṇḍūkya-upaniṣad. However, His Holiness was rather busy at that time; He was to accomplish ‘śiṣya-svīkāra (initiating a disciple into saṁnyāsa and nominating him as His successor-designate)’ on 11^th November. Hence, it was felt that it would be impossible for the foreign aspirant to have a private audience with His Holiness. Yet, when he made a request to His Holiness, He readily consented to spare time for him and, with Sri Subbaramaiya acting as an interpreter, answered his questions and resolved his doubts. On being asked about this, His Holiness said, “He is sincere and has come all the way to India to learn. It is my duty to provide him clarifications and, hence, obligatory on me to spare time for him.”

“How sincere these brahmacārins are! It is delightful to be of some help to them. It does not matter however much my bath is delayed. Their requirements deserve top priority.”

• His Holiness

On another occasion, three brahmacārins from North India came to Sringeri to have His Holiness’s darśana and obtain spiritual guidance and blessings for their spiritual progress from Him. It was around 6.40 in the evening when they reached Narasimhavana. As His Holiness had finished granting audience that evening and was to proceed for His evening bath in a few minutes, His attendant was hesitant to inform Him about their arrival. His Holiness, however, specifically asked him, “Has anybody come for darśana now?” The attendant answered in the affirmative. “Usher them in,” ordered His Holiness. Accordingly, the brahmacārins were led upstairs to the presence of His Holiness. They prostrated before Him. He gestured to them to sit down. After asking them, in Hindi, where they were from, He asked them the purpose of their visit. They said that they were interested in progressing in the spiritual path and reverentially posed their questions. His Holiness began His reply in right earnest. Since He chose to give elaborate answers, it was around 7.15 p.m. before the first of their major questions was dealt with. As was his duty, the attendant came and informed His Holiness the time, by way of indicating that it was getting late for His Holiness (who, after His evening bath and āhnika normally commenced His Candramaulīśvara-pūjā in public around 8 p.m.). His Holiness continued as if no interruption had taken place. The spiritual question-and-answer session progressed, with both the enquirers and His Holiness fully engrossed in it. Time passed on and at 8 p.m., the attendant again made his appearance, only to be waved off. It was around 9 p.m. before His Holiness finished answering all their questions. He then gave them His complete blessings and prasāda. They were visibly overjoyed and expressed their gratitude. They left spiritually charged, with joyful hearts and fond memories. I was present during the discussion and, in the middle of it, His Holiness had turned to me and said, “How sincere they are! It is delightful to be of some help to them. It does not matter however much my bath is delayed. Their requirements deserve top priority.”

One day, His Holiness was not keeping well and darśana had been highly restricted. A spiritual aspirant in his twenties had travelled a long distance to see His Holiness and was to leave the next day. When I made known the matter to His Holiness, He instructed me to call him in. Unmindful of the strain, He patiently heard the aspirant thoroughly and then gave him valuable spiritual advice.

His Holiness told me the following in 1987:

“When I was about twenty years of age, two Bairāgīs, who lived on the banks of the Narmadā in Madhya Pradesh, came to Sringeri. They wanted to have my Guru’s darśana and seek some clarifications from Him. As He was in seclusion at that time, they were unable to approach Him. They met me. One of them looked weak and somewhat effeminate, while the other had powerful muscles and resembled a wrestler.

“In the course of his conversation with me, the first one hesitatingly said, ‘I have been leading a life of renunciation but am not free from sexual desire. While I never misbehaved with any woman, bad thoughts troubled me off and on. This was the situation till a few months ago, when I met a Bābā and posed my problem to him. He gave me a large packet of medicinal powder and said that if I consumed a little of it every day, I would obtain relief. I have been sincerely following his advice. My desires have largely vanished. I think that I have gained a great spiritual benefit. However, my muscular strength has come down and my chest has become a little like that of a female. My companion is in need of help to deal with lust. He is hesitant to take the Bābā’s medicine because he fears that his muscles will become weak. He wanted to ask Guruji whether in the interest of spiritual growth, he should overcome his hesitation and resort to the medicine. I wanted to ask Guruji if I should continue with this medicine or whether Guruji would give me some other medicine without the side effects. We have, however, not had the good fortune of being able to talk to Him. Would you like to keep and use some of the medicine that I have? I can replenish my stock from the Bābā who gave it to me.’ I declined his offer.

“The second person asked me, ‘You are young. Are you not troubled by sexual thoughts?’ I answered that I was not. At this, both of them asked, almost in unison, ‘Will You please help us and tell us what we should do?’ I answered, ‘Do not use the medicine. You cannot gain any spiritual benefit by checking the sexual instinct through it. Kings employed eunuchs in their harems because they were confident that the eunuchs would not be tempted and misbehave with the women. However, none regards those eunuchs as great celibates. None deems that they became spiritually great on account of castration. On the other hand, all of us regard sage Śuka as established in continence and as spiritually great. His body was intact but he was so free from desire that even damsels in the nude did not care to cover themselves when he passed by them. A dumb person cannot utter a lie but because of that he is not looked upon as one who never lies. A person who is unconscious is not revered as a yogin just because he is free from all thoughts of the world. Incapacity does not confer spiritual benefit. The medicine with you temporarily and partially renders you equivalent to a eunuch. It is, as far as gaining spiritual benefit is concerned, no better than castration. I shall provide you a medicine that will enable you to be rid of lust and to gain spiritual benefit.’

Just as desire is bad for the mind, so is hatred. Both likes and dislikes are impurities that agitate the mind. The scriptures speak of seeing the defects in an object just to neutralise a pre-existing attachment born of the notion that the object is pleasurable. The aim is definitely not to generate hatred.

“I asked them to go to Śāradāmbā’s temple, spend half an hour gazing at Her with devotion and to pray to Her with faith to rid them of lust. They returned after half an hour. I told them, ‘In the Durgā-saptaśatī it is said that all women are the Divine Mother’s forms. Whenever you are tempted by the sight of a woman or think of a female with desire, immediately think of the gracious Divine Mother. Feel that it is She who is in the form of all women. Also implore Her now and then from the bottom of your heart to free you from lust.’

‘Need not contempt for women be cultivated to combat lust?’ asked the muscular Bairāgī. I replied: ‘No. Just as desire is bad for your mind, so is hatred. Both likes and dislikes are impurities that agitate the mind. The scriptures speak of seeing the defects in an object just to neutralise a pre-existing attachment born of the notion that the object is pleasurable. The aim is definitely not to generate hatred. Śuka certainly did not hate or look down upon any woman. He looked upon everything as the Supreme Brahman.’ The Bairāgīs left Sringeri shortly thereafter.

“They returned after about a year. This time, both of them looked healthy and muscular. On seeing me, they joyfully said, ‘Swamiji, your ‘medicine’ is very effective and has no side effects.’ I clarified that Śāradāmbā’s grace and their dedicated efforts were what had cured them. During this trip, they had the great good fortune of getting my Guru’s darśana and blessings.”

In the year 1984, His Holiness was scheduled to leave Sringeri for Kalady via Bengaluru. A brahmacārin from Rishikesh came a little after noon for His Holiness’s darśana. His Holiness had already left for His afternoon bath. The brahmacārin told me, “I have seven questions pertaining to Yoga and Vedānta which I wish to pose to His Holiness. They are very important to me. I contacted numerous scholars, practitioners of Yoga and saṁnyāsins at Rishikesh, Uttarkashi, Haridwar and Kashi but none was able to satisfy me. A scholar at Kashi directed me to Sringeri, saying, ‘If the Jagadguru of Sringeri cannot satisfactorily answer you then there is none in the world who can.’ That is why I have come most eagerly to Sringeri.”

I told him, “His Holiness will be starting on a tour today. If you wait here, you can have His darśana just prior to His departure. However, there is no time today for you to have a lengthy private session with Him.” He said, “I will gladly wait to behold Him even if it be for just a moment.” He then told me one of the questions that he had in mind and requested me to tell His Holiness about him. I fulfilled his request shortly after His Holiness completed partaking of His bhikṣā (meal).

When I submitted the information conveyed by the brahmacārin to His Holiness, He responded, “The question that he conveyed to you is good and pertinent. As there is no time to spare today, he could, if he wishes, meet me at Bengaluru and pose his queries to me there. If I happen to know the answers, I shall tell him. Else, I shall readily admit that I am not in a position to help him.” In about half an hour, His Holiness came out to the front portico of Sacchidananda Vilas. Some devotees, inclusive of the brahmacārin, were there.

The brahmacārin prostrated before His Holiness. His Holiness looked at him with compassion, raised His right hand in a gesture of blessing and said, in Hindi, “May you be happy.” He then moved on. I quickly conveyed to him what His Holiness had told me. Almost before I finished, he said, “The answers to all my questions became fully known to me when His Holiness blessed me.” In the car, of His own accord, His Holiness informed me, “When I saw that brahmacārin, I was struck with his sincerity. Hence, I requested Śāradāmbā, ‘Please provide him the answers he desires straightaway.’ The kind of sincerity that this spiritual aspirant has deserves to be rewarded.” When I submitted to His Holiness what the brahmacārin had said, His Holiness joined His palms and said, “Śāradāmbā is so gracious.”

“When I saw that brahmacārin, I was struck with his sincerity. So, I requested Śāradāmbā, ‘Please provide him the answers he desires straightaway.’ The kind of sincerity that this spiritual aspirant has deserves to be rewarded.”

• His Holiness

His Holiness’s spiritual advices were not only unfailingly lucid and effective but also specific to the individuals who sought His guidance. A sādhaka, practitioner of spiritual disciplines, once came to His Holiness and said, “I experience acute breathlessness during meditation. As I begin concentrating, my breathing rate gradually decreases and soon respiration stops. Good focus of the mind accrues but in a matter of moments, I feel suffocated. What am I to do?” His Holiness replied, “You are aware that control of breath and regulation of the mind are related. Hence, you make an involuntary effort to still your breath to improve your meditation. Your dhyāna is, however, not deep enough to warrant almost no breathing. To rid yourself of the problem of gasping for air, forcefully take a deep breath. Above all, ensure that you make no voluntary effort to alter the breathing pattern. Just pay attention to fixing the mind on the object of meditation. That is quite sufficient for you and you do not have to resort to any independent steps to lower your respiratory rate.” The person implemented His advice and found that his problem disappeared and his meditation improved.

Another sādhaka asked His Holiness, “As I meditate, the Lord’s form becomes increasingly clear. Saliva secretion appears to wax and I am forced to swallow. Since this occurs every few minutes, it is quite a hindrance. What should I do?” His Holiness said, “In your case, folding the tongue such that its tip is turned towards the gullet and rests lightly on the upper palate will be helpful. Secondly, do not consciously or semiconsciously anticipate the necessity to swallow.” On the first day, the sādhaka found the folding of the tongue somewhat inconvenient but got used to it from the next day. The need to repeatedly swallow started decreasing and, in less than a week, ceased.

Another sādhaka asked, “I experience sharp bodily jerks during my meditation. What is the remedy?” In some cases, His Holiness identified such movements with the arousal of the Kuṇḍalinī but in the present case, He clarified, “You are not strong. Eat well and take some physical exercise. The jerks shall not bother you.” The person acted as advised and did find relief.

His Holiness’s spiritual advices were not only unfailingly lucid and effective but also specific to the individuals who sought His guidance.

A young man approached His Holiness and reported, “I find my head feeling very heavy within a few minutes of my commencing my dhyāna. The uneasiness gives way to pain and I end up with an acute headache.” His Holiness’s reply surprised the questioner. He said, “The problem will automatically vanish in one week. Till then ensure that you do not even accidentally direct your gaze to the tip of your nose or to the middle of your eyebrows. Further, do not conjecture the form of your Iṣṭa-devatā (chosen deity) in the heart. Visualise it in front of you. You can resume your normal procedure after one week.” The specified period passed and the difficulty ceased to be.

A person approached Him and detailed his spiritual practices. His Holiness heard him out and then just advised him to be sincere, have full faith in God and appeal to the Lord to render him pure. After he left, He told me, “He expected me to give him advice about ātma-vicāra (enquiry into the Self) and samādhi. However, that would have been useless for him. I understood that his mind is full of lust and his behaviour in private sinful. God’s grace is what can transform him. That is why I asked him pray to God for purity of the mind.”

Once H. S. Suryanarayana asked His Holiness, “Where is Śiva? How will He appear?” His Holiness said, “Śiva is right here. He is in everyone; in you, in your wife, in your friend and in your servant. You don’t realise Him because of the delusion that you and the others exist separate from Him.”

“Śiva is right here. He is in everyone; in you, in your wife, in your friend and in your servant. You don’t realise Him because of the delusion that you and the others exist separate from Him.”

• His Holiness

His Holiness easily distinguished the enlightened from the unenlightened. A person who called himself Parabrahma arrived at Sringeri in 1956. He was untidy and had long uncut nails and a big beard. His Holiness spoke with him freely and made arrangements for his stay at the old guest house. Brahma observed no regulations and had no qualms about urinating or defecating anywhere in public. He partook of food from a Muslim’s house. To all appearances, he was an eccentric, bordering on lunacy. His Holiness, however, recognised that He was enlightened. Ananda Rao, who was in charge of the old guesthouse, told his nephew, Venkatasubba Rao, about Brahma. When Venkatasubba Rao met Brahma and offered salutation, the latter said, in English, “Happy man.” “How about realization?” queried Venkatasubba Rao. “You will get it” said Brahma. “How?” persisted Venkatasubba Rao. To this, Brahma responded, “The mind will tell you.” Venkatasubba Rao reported this conversation to His Holiness. His Holiness remained silent and motionless for a while and then told him with a tone of finality, “He is a rāja-yogin and has realized the Truth of Vedānta.” His Holiness soon left on His first tour but before that instructed the officials of the Maṭha to cater to Brahma’s requirements.

Much later, Brahma boarded a train one day. He had a proper train ticket with him and entered the appropriate compartment. Seeing his uncouth appearance, the ticket examiner took him to be ticketless and ordered him to alight. Brahma was defiant. In course of the argument that followed between him and the ticket examiner, he physically assaulted the latter. It was strange that Brahma did not show his valid ticket. The altercation with the Railway employee led to Brahma being handed over to the police and then being produced in court. His giving answers such as, “Brahma has neither name nor action,” led the bewildered Judge to conclude that the defendant was insane. After examination by doctors, he was committed to a lunatic asylum. He chose to spend years there though his disciples wanted to get him out. Their endeavour would have fructified had he cooperated. He, however told them, “Your work is outside and mine is here.” Some months after he was discharged, he died. Speaking of him, His Holiness remarked “He was a jñānin but few understood his ways and so he spent time inside a lunatic asylum rather than outside it.”

A brahmacārin who was given to meditation stayed for some days at Sringeri. His Holiness freely granted him interviews and provided him suitable facilities to carry out his meditative practices. After he went back from Sringeri, His Holiness told me that the brahmacārin had meditated well and praised him. He then took me to the place where he had meditated, pointed out the spot where he had sat and mentioned the direction he had faced. His Holiness then demonstrated the posture that he had adopted. The brahmacārin had not given any of these details to Him; on the contrary, towards the close of his stay, he had asserted to me that His Holiness must be unaware of where and how he had practised meditation in Sringeri.

About His mode of answering queries, His Holiness has told me, “I often give a solution based on personal experience. As I have tried out numerous methods when I was young, I usually do not have any difficulty in appreciating the conditions described by the sādhakas. Sometimes, after giving the questions a thorough hearing and getting additional necessary clarifications from the questioner, I try out what he practises. I then use the resulting experience to shape my reply. On some other occasions, I just feel like prescribing a particular course of action and so do it. I generally do not find it necessary to quiz disciples before giving them suggestions. It is only God’s grace that makes the answers helpful to the seekers.”

“I often give a solution based on personal experience. As I have tried out numerous methods when I was young, I usually do not have any difficulty in appreciating the conditions described by the sādhakas.”

• His Holiness

I have beheld His Holiness trying out what had been described to Him. In May 1974, I once asked His Holiness whether the transition to nirvikalpa-samādhi during meditation could be effected by merely stilling the mind. He answered in the negative and then said, “Let us try it out. You try to go rapidly into nirvikalpa-samādhi by stilling your mind and I too shall do the same.” We sat face to face with one another. After about 45 minutes, I gradually opened my eyes, only to find Him doing the same. He had maintained perfect rapport with me and had duplicated my every move; this was unmistakable from the conversation that followed.

His Holiness: Narrate one step of what you did and I shall state the next.

I: I fixed my gaze between my eyebrows.

His Holiness: Today, a light green hue manifested there.

I: Yes. I then started stilling my mind.

His Holiness: The hue vanished and an expanse was perceived.

I: Yes. The mind then became progressively calm.

His Holiness: Suddenly, you were transported into nirvikalpa-samādhi. It thus appears that no fixation of the mind on the Ātman was required. Is it not so?

I: Yes.

His Holiness: Actually, just prior to the transition you had, by force of habit, fixed your mind on the Ātman. Still your mind this evening as you did now but pull yourself out of meditation just before you plunge into nirvikalpa-samādhi. Tell me later what happened.

At 8:00 a.m. the next day, when I went to prostrate before Him as usual, He, who had just finished a japa, looked up and asked, “Did you try it?” I replied that I did and found that what His Holiness had said was perfectly valid. With a smile, His Holiness remarked, “For the sake of confirmation, I too tried out this morning what I had told you to do and noted exactly what I had observed yesterday.”

On many occasions, His Holiness spontaneously said something that put a disciple’s doubts to rest even before the disciple posed any question to Him.

On many occasions, His Holiness spontaneously said something that put a disciple’s doubts to rest even before the disciple posed any question to Him. In 1983, with the blessings of His Holiness, I was translating into English the ‘Yoga-sudhākara’, Śrī Sadāśiva Brahmendra’s gloss on Sage Patañjali’s Yoga-sūtras. The great yogin had, in his gloss, cited a verse, the meaning of which is, “Having dissolved Prakṛti in its entirety in a sequence which is the reverse of that of its origination, one must contemplate on the residual entity, which is pure existence, consciousness and bliss.” I wished to have His Holiness’s clarification regarding this. That evening, He was seated on a rock in a coconut grove in the Shankara Math at Bengaluru and I sat near Him on the ground. No one else was present there. Not wanting to disturb Him, I did not pose my doubt to Him. He closed His eyes for a while and then melodiously chanted a verse of Bhagavatpāda’s Brahmānucintana. That verse means, “Pṛthvī (earth) should be dissolved in āpas (water), āpas in tejas (fire), tejas in vāyu (air) and vāyu in ākaśa (space). Ākaśa should be merged into avyakta (the subtlest material cause); avyakta, in its turn, must be merged in the pure Absolute (Brahman). I am the Absolute, the dissolver of all.” I was delighted to note that His Holiness had taken up a verse that paralleled the verse that I had in mind. Of His own accord, He began to expound the import of what He had cited. He said, “One starts with something gross, say pṛthvī (earth). Then one analyses, ‘Pṛthvī has no existence apart from its material cause, āpas (water), just as a pot has no existence apart from its cause, mud.’ This is the ‘dissolution’ of pṛthvī in āpas. One proceeds in a similar manner till one reaches avyakta. One then reflects, ‘This too has no existence apart from the Ātman, just a snake that is misapprehended in the place of a rope has no existence apart from its substratum, the rope.’ This is the intended merging of avyakta into the Supreme. Finally, only the Supreme remains. There is no question of dissolving It in anything and one meditates that one is this Ātman.”

By His Holiness’s spontaneous citation and exposition, He fully clarified what I had wished to know from Him. Four years later, in a benedictory address delivered by His Holiness, in Kannada, at the Shankara Math in Bengaluru on 5^th September 1987, His Holiness recounted that when He was young His Guru had referred to a verse in Śrī Sadāśiva Brahmendra’s Ātma-vidyā-vilāsa the meaning of which is, “After dissolving, by means of the intellect, the five great elements (earth, water, fire, air and space) in an order that is the reverse of that of their origination, the sage remains calm, beholding the Ātman, which is the residue.” Thereafter, His Guru had elucidated its import by citing the above-mentioned verse of Bhagavatpāda’s Brahmānucintana. It was on hearing this benedictory address of His Holiness that I joyfully realised the correspondence between what His Holiness had told me and what His Guru had told Him.

His Holiness could intuitively foresee how things would unfold.

His Holiness could intuitively foresee how things would unfold. A sādhaka progressed rapidly by His Holiness’s grace and attained the stage of savikalpa-samādhi. Subsequently, he told me that he felt as if nothing was apart from him and that he felt extremely joyful. Till then he had been engaging only in saguṇa-dhyāna. I later conveyed the details to His Holiness when He was strolling in the fields of Kage Hindlu in Sringeri. He patiently heard me but said nothing and just walked on. Presuming that I had not expressed myself clearly and wanting to ascertain His Holiness’s assessment of the situation so as to duly convey it to the person concerned, I asked Him, “Is he now fit to be taught nirguṇa-dhyāna by Your Holiness?” “No,” replied His Holiness with an unexpected emphasis. “Let him continue with the meditation that he is doing. His present state is just temporary. If he is not careful, a fall awaits him.” I could not understand why His Holiness’s judgment was so uncomplimentary. As it happened, the sādhaka failed to be careful about a certain matter and suffered a major spiritual setback.

It is possible for a Guru to raise the spiritual stature of his disciple by the force of his tapas and the śakti imparted by him during initiation. The Śāstras in general and Tantra texts in particular speak of various forms of dīkṣā (initiation), such as sparśa-dīkṣā (initiation through touch). His Holiness normally confined Himself to giving mantra-dīkṣā though He occasionally imparted sparśa or another form of dīkṣā.

It is possible for a Guru to raise the spiritual stature of his disciple by the force of his tapas and the śakti imparted by him during initiation. The Śāstras in general and Tantra texts in particular speak of various forms of dīkṣā (initiation), such as sparśa-dīkṣā (initiation through touch). His Holiness normally confined Himself to giving mantra-dīkṣā though He occasionally imparted sparśa or another form of dīkṣā. Before initiating a disciple into a mantra, He usually decided what mantra would be most appropriate for a disciple; in doing so, He took into consideration the deity (such as Śiva or Viṣṇu) to whom the disciple had particular fondness. At times, He readily initiated a devotee who requested Him for it; sometimes, in response to a request, He said that He would consider the matter later and, on some later date, gave the initiation on His own.

It was in March 1971 at Chennai that I spoke to Him for the first time, and my first words to Him were a request for mantra-upadeśa. My request took me by surprise; earlier, I had no intention of even going for His darśana, being under the impression that no intermediary is required between God and a person and hence, a Guru is superfluous. What was more surprising was that He straightaway consented and blessed me with initiation the next morning, after His āhnika. Equally surprising was that when, in 1982, I mentioned that some brahmacārins were desirous of mantra-upadeśa, He said, “Just bring who all you would like to and I will initiate them.”

The following was narrated by Vaidyasubramanya Iyer.

“In 1958, I invited His Holiness to my house in Madurai for pādapūjā and bhikṣā. He readily consented. Subsequently, when I requested His Holiness for mantra-upadeśa (initiation into a mantra), He said, ‘We shall see later.’ Later, when, in response to my request, He camped at Tenkarai, He asked me, ‘Have you been initiated into any mantra?’ I replied that I had been initiated into the Gāyatrī-mantra at the time of my upanayana. His Holiness smiled and remarked, ‘When I ask this question, people do not, in their replies, mention their having been initiated into the Gāyatrī-mantra.’ On that day, He graced me with mantra-upadeśa.”

At times, even in the absence of any request, His Holiness conferred initiation on a devotee on His own; sometimes, He obliged a devotee with an initiation into the specific mantra asked for by the devotee; at times, even when a devotee mentioned his Iṣṭa- devatā, He chose to initiate him into the mantra of some other deity. There have been instances where He did not give initiation even to a close devotee who craved for and even repeatedly pleaded for it. He was the best judge for, it was He who knew what was in the best interests of His disciple.

B. L. Subbaraya Murthy was dear to His Holiness and drove His car on several of His tours. His wife, Kamalamma Subbaraya Murthy, desired that she be blessed by His Holiness with initiation into the Bālā-tripurasundarī-mantra. However, she did not express her wish to anybody. Once, when she had the darśana of His Holiness just after He had finished bathing in the Gaṅgā at Haridwar, His Holiness told her, “I will give you mantropadeśa tomorrow.” When she went with her husband to His presence the next day, He asked her, “Which mantra would you like me to initiate you into?” She had not expected that He would ask her this. Becoming nervous, she mumbled, “I will be happy to receive any mantra that Your Holiness blesses me with.” His Holiness said, “I shall initiate you into the Bālā-tripurasundarī-mantra.” Overjoyed, she told Him, “Your Holiness is blessing me with the very mantra that I had secretly longed for.”

A disciple, Jagannadhan (who, after saṁnyasa, was known as Śrī Śāntānanda-bhāratī), was improperly repeating the Subraḥmaṇya-ṣaḍākṣarī-mantra and that too without due initiation. He approached His Holiness for mantra-upadeśa and His Holiness readily consented to bless him with the same. Embarrassment precluded the disciple from revealing his flawed practice. At the time of initiation, he was in for a surprise when His Holiness, of His own accord, began initiating him into the Subraḥmaṇya-ṣaḍākṣarī-mantra. By doing so, His Holiness set right the lacuna in His disciple’s practice.

At times, even in the absence of any request, His Holiness conferred initiation on a devotee on His own; sometimes, He obliged a devotee with an initiation into the specific mantra asked for by the devotee; at times, even when a devotee mentioned his iṣṭa-devatā, He chose to initiate him into the mantra of some other deity. There have been instances where He did not give initiation even to a close devotee who craved for and even repeatedly pleaded for it. He was the best judge.

His Holiness generally gave mantra-upadeśa only in person though there were some exceptions. A devotee had a dream of His Holiness initiating him into a mantra. Unfortunately, on waking up, he forgot what he had been initiated into. He wrote a letter to His Holiness about this. His Holiness directed His Private Secretary to reply that the mantra was ‘klīm kṛṣṇa klīm’; through that letter, He also specified in what manner and how many times the disciple should perform the mantra-japa.

Mantropadeśa during solar eclipse at Rameswaram

His Holiness did not confine Himself to just initiating a disciple into a mantra. He willingly gave clarifications about it when asked. For instance, a knowledgeable lady approached Him in Chennai (in January 1982) and requested Him to explain the dhyāna-śloka of a particular mantra. His Holiness closed His eyes and gave such a lucid description that it seemed to her that He was seeing a form in front of Him and describing it. She remarked that His Holiness’s description was so wonderful that she could readily conceive the form. His Holiness admitted, “I did not mechanically translate the dhyāna-śloka, for that would not have been of much use to you. I visualised the form spoken of in the verse. I focused my attention on a portion of the divine form, described what I was apprehending and thereafter moved on to another portion. That is why I spoke slowly.”

His Holiness generally gave mantra-upadeśa only in person though there were some exceptions. His Holiness did not confine Himself to just initiating a disciple into a mantra. He willingly gave clarifications about it when asked.

I know for fact that His Holiness could easily give an experience of samādhi even to an ordinary person without spiritual training. He, however, did not normally do so. He opined that unless a proper foundation is laid, abrupt elevation of the spiritual stature of a person through śakti-pāta, the imparting of spiritual power by a Guru, can have adverse consequences. He has said, “If you attempt to confer a sudden impetus to the spiritual life of one who is not ready for it, problems can arise. The will-power and śakti of the giver can hold the mind of another in check and even bring it to a sharp focus. The effect is not permanent. The recipient will initially experience the great bliss of deep meditation but will not be in a position to repeatedly attain it because of his mind not being adequately pure and on account of the techniques of meditation not having been duly mastered. So long as the circumstances are alright, spiritual progress can continue but if adverse destiny intervenes by introducing impediments, there are chances of a fall. This is because such distracting and inhibiting influences prevent the smooth practice of spiritual disciplines. This makes meditation difficult and induces a certain degree of frustration. Base desires that had been pushed into the background on account of śakti-pāta and held in partial abeyance by spiritual endeavour, raise their heads. An internal struggle ensues and if conditions do not become adequately favourable, the situation takes a turn for the worse. Meditation suffers and the consequent check on the lower instincts becomes weakened. Frustration is enhanced and this is particularly engendered by the nonfulfilment of the urge to regain the bliss experienced in the meditation induced by the śakti-pāta. Hence, śakti-pāta is a tool that should be carefully handled. For my part, I feel that it is apt to uplift an aspirant step by step and ensure smooth progress. If this is done, as the foundation is strong, the superstructure will not crumble.”

Even Maharajas sought His Holiness’s guidance on material and spiritual matters. Two letters to Him from Jayachamaraja Wodeyar, who ruled the Princely State of Mysore from 1940 to 1947 and, later, was the Governor of Mysore (now Karnataka) and then the Governor of Madras (now Tamil Nadu), serve as illustrations. The following is an English translation of his letter in Kannada dated 6^th August, 1964 and penned in Mysuru:

☆☆☆

Humble prostrations to the exquisite lotus feet of Śrī Sringeri Jagadguru, Śrīmad Abhinava Vidyātīrtha Mahāsvāmin by me, who am a recipient of Your Holiness’s grace.

Mahāsvāmin! If it be Your Holiness’s will, please consider and plainly advise me what I should do in the future – whether I should stay on in Madras (as Governor) or go abroad (to a western country) and work or enter politics. Of these options, which one does Your Holiness advice?

Even Maharajas sought His Holiness’s guidance on material and spiritual matters.

...I am sending this missive through A. G. Ramachandra Rao in a confidential manner. It would be sufficient if Your Holiness were to convey Your Holiness’s opinion through him. Though I do not wish to trouble Your Holiness, I am compelled to write this letter as I have no other option.

The extremely obedient server of Your Holiness’s feet,

Sd/- Jayachamaraja Wodeyar,

My humble prostrations.

☆☆☆

The following is an English translation of the letter written in Kannada from Mysore by Jayachamaraja Wodeyar on 26^th December, 1963:

☆☆☆

Having offered prostrations, Your Holiness’s dear disciple, the server of the Guru, the king Jayachamaraja Wodeyar, submits as follows:

By the grace of the lotus feet of Your Holiness, I am well till today, Wednesday, the puṣya-śukla-dasamī of the (cyclical) year Śobhakṛt. May the glorious Guru, ever remaining in the kingdom of tapas, kindly grace this missive with benedictions.

I am bearing on my head the Śrīmukha graced by Your Holiness. The nyāsa of the ṣoḍaśākṣarī-mantra graced by Your Holiness reached me and caused horripilation in me. I desire to hear about the Mahāvākyas in the direct presence of Your Holiness. I yearn to come to Your Holiness for this purpose and receive blessings in person.

Praying that Your Holiness’s blessing may ever be on me, with repeated prostrations,

Sd/- Jayachamaraja Wodeyar.

☆☆☆

His Holiness went out of the way to make Himself accessible to devotees. Once, a poor lady from North India came to Sringeri to have His darśana. She had saved up for a long time in order to be able to make the trip. She was in a position to stay in Sringeri only for a few days and it was quite uncertain when she would be able to come again. Till she left, His Holiness chose to give darśana for a longer time in the evenings than usual, sitting casually on the floor in the front hall of Sacchidananda Vilas. Devotees were able to see Him at close quarters. For the period that she stayed at Sringeri, the lady was present during His evening darśana, right from the time He came and sat down to the time He got up and went in. She sat with joined palms throughout, with her attention just on Him and, now and then, wiping her tears of joy. She seemed to be fully contented with just silently savouring His holy presence; she went up to Him and spoke to Him only on two days and that too, briefly. Since His Holiness did not tell anyone why He was giving darśana for an extended period and that too quite informally, it is possible that the lady took this to be the norm. Many benefitted from the special, extended darśana.

One morning, His Holiness oddly chose to give tīrtha-prasāda while standing in the middle of the front hall of Sacchidananda Vilas, rather than while seated in the hall’s southwest corner, as He normally did. The vessel containing the tīrtha (holy water) was placed on a stool. From His position that day, the road from the Private Secretary’s office to Sacchidananda Vilas was in His line of sight. As the distribution of tīrtha drew to a close, He beheld a lame man striving to come as quickly as he could on that road, heading towards Sacchidananda Vilas; apparently, he was coming to have darśana and receive tīrtha but, as he was slow, was afraid that the distribution might end before he reached. He had some more distance to cover on the road and to then climb two flights of stairs to reach His Holiness. His Holiness called out to Him and told him to stay where he was. Asking His attendant to follow Him with the vessel containing the tīrtha, He rapidly descended the two flights of stairs and approached him. He conversed with him for a few minutes. Thereafter, He tenderly gave him tīrtha-prasāda. Tears of joy flowed from his eyes as the holy water entered his mouth.

His Holiness went out of the way to make Himself accessible to devotees. Devotees were able to see Him at close quarters.

A poor devotee was keen on inviting His Holiness to his house and performing pādapūjā. The Maṭha staff told him that for that he needed to remit Rs. 250. He did not have the amount and, hence, dropped his plan. When His Holiness went to a house near his for pādapūjā, he came there and stood in a corner looking at Him. His Holiness noticed Him and beckoned to him. He then asked him, “What is troubling you?” The man poured forth his tale of woe. His Holiness cheered him up and told him to go to his house and be ready. When the pādapūjā and distribution of prasāda were completed, His Holiness informed His staff that He proposed to go to the poor man’s house. He went there and instructed that arrangements be made for him to perform pādapūjā. After he completed the pādapujā, His Holiness gave him prasāda and blessed him. He asked His Private Secretary to handover Rs. 250 to the man and left. Thus, His Holiness fully fulfilled the man’s desire, saw to it that he did not have to spend anything and, apart from giving him His invaluable blessings also helped him monetarily.

On an occasion, a poor purohita (priest) requested His Holiness to grace his house and His Holiness consented to visit his place. Subsequently, it was found that His Holiness’s car could not pass through the narrow lane in which the man’s house was situated. It was suggested to His Holiness to drop the trip. However, His Holiness stood His ground. He got down from the car, walked a considerable distance unmindful of the scorching sun and reached the devotee’s place.

The following was narrated by Smt. Susheela of Erode.

“Once, when His Holiness was camping at Salem, I went for His darśana. He made compassionate enquiries about our family business which was then going through a rough patch. When I reported that we had to sell our house and move to a rented one, His Holiness consoled me. I then made a humble submission to Him: ‘I understand that Your Holiness’s next camp is at Coimbatore and that there would be no camp at Erode this time. If your Holiness passes through Erode without visiting our house, my grief will be uncontrollable. I would like the sacred dust of Your Holiness’s feet to touch my house.’ As I made this prayer, I burst into tears. His Holiness said, ‘Do not worry. That will happen.’ On His way to Coimbatore, His Holiness’s car entered the colony where our rented house was situated. When the car stopped in front of our compound gate, His Holiness got out of the car, removed His pādukās and started walking barefoot. I was worried as to why His Holiness had to remove His pādukās, as the place was full of sand and sharp stones. His Holiness walked slowly and, on His entering the house, I could find the dust from His feet forming footmarks on the floor! He then looked at me with His characteristic smile and said, ‘See, I have come. Are you happy now?’ Only then did I realize that He had, in letter and spirit, fulfilled my request of gracing my house with the dust on His feet. Choked with emotion, I apologized, ‘Just to get my wishes fulfilled, I have committed the sin of making Your Holiness walk on sharp stones.’ His Holiness said, ‘It was not a problem at all. I am quite used to such terrain.’”

As His Holiness’s car was passing through a road in a city, He saw a beggar lying prostrate on the ground, convulsing sporadically. He ordered His driver to halt the car in order to attend to him. The driver said that beggars often put up a show of sickness to earn the sympathy of passers-by and get alms from them. His Holiness refused to budge and said, “Regardless of whether this man is genuine or not, I am going to help him.” Hence, the driver halted the car. His Holiness observed that the man had stopped having fits. Without a moment’s thought He picked up His water-vessel and asked for the water to be given to him. In the meantime, another car stopped and its driver rushed with water to him before the vessel sent by His Holiness reached him. When His Holiness resumed His journey, He remarked, “How fortunate the other car’s driver was to have been able to help him! I did not have the privilege of doing anything for him.”

During His second All-India tour, He was proceeding towards Yamunotrī from Tehri on 19^th June, 1982. He saw a car parked on the roadside. Sensing that the car might have broken down, He stopped His vehicle. He then asked the couple occupying the parked car whether there was any problem. The husband replied that his car had stopped but requested His Holiness to carry on with His journey. His Holiness demurred. It was ascertained that the car had a damaged part and that a spare was available in another vehicle of His convoy. His Holiness readily parted with it to fix the problem. The couple was thankful to His Holiness for His timely help. Had His Holiness not come to their aid, they would have had to put up with considerable inconvenience, for it was getting dark, that was a hill section and the nearest habitation was far off.

I was once driving His Holiness from Narasimhapura back to Sacchidananda Vilas, via the Durgāmbā Temple. The road leading to the temple consisted of many ups and downs and did not have an asphalt surface. At one point, the way was blocked by a bullock cart. The cart driver was coaxing his bullocks up a slope but the load coupled with excessive friction in the axle prevented the cart from moving up. The cart had a faulty axle and this led to the cart swerving sharply to the right when the bullocks put in additional efforts. On seeing His Holiness, the cart driver jumped down from his vehicle and stood reverentially. He then moved his cart to the edge of the road to enable His Holiness’s car to pass. Since the road was narrow, the resulting clearance for the car was not much but, nonetheless, sufficient. His Holiness told me not to proceed and asked His attendant to lend a helping hand to the cart man, who, however, said that he would manage. He did not want His Holiness to wait because of Him. His Holiness, for His part, deemed that the man needed aid and so must be helped before proceeding. His Holiness’s attendant and I got down from the car and pushed the cart, while the cart driver egged the bullocks on. His Holiness was unwell and so was observing the scene from His seat. He called out, “Do not push the cart from near the axle or from the back. Push the outer portion of the spokes and you shall get additional leverage. Alternatively, you can hold the rim of the wheel.” Till then our struggles had been in vain but when we implemented His Holiness’s suggestion we were glad to find that the cart started to inch its way up the slope. Soon, it ascended the slope and, thereafter, the bullocks were in a position to pull the faulty cart on their own. His Holiness asked me to slowly follow the cart in His car till it reached its destination. On the way, He said, “It would have been most unfair and improper to have left the bullocks to struggle and this man to be stranded with his cartload. Had I not been unwell and weak, I would certainly have joined all of you in pushing the cart up the slope.”

When His Holiness was camping at Gobichettipalayam (in Tamil Nadu), while giving tīrtha-prasāda to the numerous devotees who were standing in a queue to receive it, He noticed an old lady standing near the entrance of the building and straining herself to have a glimpse of Him. Being aged and infirm, she was not in a position to stand in the queue for long to receive tīrtha. Also, she could not go near Him even to have darśana as the whole hall was packed with people. Discerning her difficulty, He got up from His āsana (seat) and, instructing two of His attendants to follow Him, one with fruits and the other with the vessel containing tīrtha, briskly walked to the old lady. He spoke to her, gave her tīrtha, filled the vessel she had brought with her and blessed her with fruits and mantrākṣata (sanctified rice mixed with turmeric powder). She repeatedly offered her salutations to Him, shedding tears of joy. He returned to His seat and resumed giving tīrtha to those in the queue.

“It would have been most unfair and improper to have left the bullocks to struggle and this man to be stranded with his cartload. Had I not been unwell and weak, I would certainly have joined all of you in pushing the cart up the slope.”

• His Holiness

A devout couple visited Sringeri. The husband submitted to His Holiness, “We are very happy that we had the darśana of Your Holiness during the three days of our stay. As it has been raining heavily during the nights, the boatman refused to ferry us across the river at night and so we have not been able to witness Your Holiness perform the Candramaulīśvara-pūjā. As he ferried us during the day, we have had Your Holiness’s darśana in the mornings.” His Holiness heard them and then blessed them.

In the evening, a surprise awaited the couple. A car had been sent from Narasimhavana by His Holiness to take them there so that they could see His pūjā that night.

A tree uprooted by a gale fell across a road. Consequently, all vehicles plying on that route were forced to decelerate to a crawl and swerve to beyond the edge of the road in order to get past the obstruction. The car in which His Holiness was travelling had just crossed the tree when He told the person at the wheel to stop the vehicle. “If we move on, as many others before us have done, motorists will continue to be put to inconvenience at this spot. We should move the tree to the side of the road,” He declared. In deference to His command, His staff applied themselves to the task of shifting the tree. Though unwell at that time, He did not remain a mute spectator. He gave suggestions and contributed physically too. In a short while, the road became unobstructed. The good deed done, He resumed His journey.

During His first tour of Andhra Pradesh in 1960, His Holiness had one day travelled for about an hour when He espied from afar, a partially overturned automobile lying off the road. Some motorists passed on without even slowing down. He had His car halted near the accident spot and rushed to the badly-damaged vehicle. He saw a motionless, blood-splattered man trapped within it. In a trice, He discerned that the mishap had occurred only minutes earlier and that the man was unconscious, not dead. He instructed a responsible employee to proceed speedily in a vehicle of His entourage to arrange for an ambulance. Those were not the days of mobile phones.

A tree uprooted by a gale fell across a road. “If we move on, as many others before us have done, motorists will continue to be put to inconvenience at this spot. We should move the tree to the side of the road,” His Holiness declared. He gave suggestions and contributed physically too. The good deed done, He resumed His journey.

Having determined that the accident victim could be freed only after setting his car upright, He laboured, along with those who were with Him, to do the needful. He was then in His forties and His well-exercised muscles were firm and powerful. Nevertheless, as the vehicle was heavy, He had to put in much effort before it finally stood on its wheels. He then cautiously examined the wounded man and determined that it would be safe to extricate him without waiting for the arrival of an ambulance. Using an improvised stretcher, He gently transferred him to a spacious vehicle of the convoy and instructed the driver to proceed smoothly in the direction from which an ambulance was expected. His actions ensured that the accident victim received medical attention at the earliest. The man survived and recovered; he owed his life to His Holiness.

A big pandal had been erected to accommodate devotees during His Holiness’s stay at Kolkata in October-November, 1982. A few days before His Holiness was to leave Kolkata, during one of His visits to the houses of devotees for pādapūja, the pandal at His camp caught fire due to bursting of crackers. The staff of the Maṭha and the volunteers at the camp site worked bravely to salvage as many items as possible from the pandal on fire. In the melee, some suffered burns and had to be administered first aid. One volunteer had to be hospitalized. When news about the fire was conveyed to Him, He returned to the camp-site, inspected the damage and gathered the details. He spoke with, blessed and gave prasādas to the mildly injured. After bhikṣā, He went to the hospital and spent time with the volunteer admitted there. He blessed him profusely, averred that he would be completely alright soon and gave him prasāda. Thereafter, He kept Himself fully informed about that volunteer’s progress. He visited him again at the hospital before departing from Kolkata, blessed Him and asked him to come later to Sringeri. The volunteer was overwhelmed by His Holiness’s kindness in visiting him not once but twice and specially blessing Him. He soon recovered completely and without complications.

The volunteer was overwhelmed by His Holiness’s kindness in visiting him not once but twice and specially blessing Him.

During a visit to Coimbatore in the early 1970’s, His Holiness was requested to deliver a benedictory address at a venue. He acquiesced. He noticed that the public address system that had been temporarily installed for His speech reproduced sound faithfully. Always easily pleased, He publicly appreciated the efforts of the organisers. From His seat, He saw that loud speakers had been placed not only within the hall but also on the sides of the road. His keen power of observation led Him to discern that it would be possible to decouple the speakers outside the hall without difficulty.

He said, “Please disconnect the loud speakers on the road. It is sufficient and, in fact, appropriate that my speech be heard only here and not outside. This is because people who are interested are already seated inside. It is not right that people on the road be subjected to the nuisance of having a speech they are not interested in dinned into their ears. Often, during marriages, loud speakers are connected in such a way that music blares into the ears of those on the road. They wonder, ‘What a pain this function is!’ Instead of receiving the good wishes of everyone, the bride and the bridegroom unnecessarily earn the ill will of some whom they do not even know. Functions, be they weddings or ones such as this, ought not to cause noise pollution.”

The organisers were easily able to implement what His Holiness had suggested; after all, He had already discerned that the external speakers could be readily decoupled. His consideration for the public and His keenness to avoid noise pollution, a problem that was largely overlooked in India in the early 70’s, unlike now, are noteworthy.

“Please disconnect the loud speakers on the road. It is sufficient and, in fact, appropriate that my speech be heard only here and not outside. This is because people who are interested are already seated inside. It is not right that people on the road be subjected to the nuisance of having a speech they are not interested in dinned into their ears.”

• His Holiness

A man who had served in the army came to have His Holiness’s darśana. He was suffering from severe depression. He considered himself the cause of the gruesome death of hundreds of people and this was tormenting him no end. Belonging to a traditional Hindu family, he had learnt, by rote, the Lakṣmī-nṛsiṁha-karāvalamba-stotra and while entering His Holiness’s room, he loudly chanted the stotra. His Holiness spoke to him compassionately. In response he lamented, “Swamiji, I have killed many people in cold blood. I have thus committed an unpardonable sin. I feel that I deserve to die now. Will there be any expiation for my acts?” When he finished his emotional outpouring, His Holiness did something unexpected. He placed both His hands on the person’s head and declared, “You will be alright. Do not worry.” The man was overjoyed at this unexpected blessing and left with peace of mind.

Quick rise to great eminence is known to be attended with an inflation of one’s ego. 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.

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.” 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, Ramaswamy Avadhani, who had studied with His Holiness in Sringeri prior to His saṁnyāsa, told me in 1983, “Even after becoming a saṁnyāsin and, later, the pontiff, His Holiness has been informal with me and even 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.”

His Holiness never forgot any good done for Him. His Guru had personally taught V. S. Ramachandra Sastri and made him a great scholar in Tarka and Vedānta; he also became an authority on Mīmāṁsā. Later, he was assigned the responsibility of expounding the Tarka-śāstra to His Holiness, with His Holiness’s Guru regularly overseeing His studies. These were completed in the late 1930s. Even after becoming a pontiff in 1954, His Holiness held him in high esteem and interacted with him accordingly. Ramachandra Sastri’s son, V. R. Gowrishankar, the Administrator of the Sringeri Math and its Properties since 1986, was kind enough to provide me, in 1983, copies of letters exchanged between His Holiness and his father. I was pleasantly surprised to note that in some of His epistles, His Holiness had explicitly addressed Ramachandra Sastri as His ‘upādhyāya (teacher)’ and had written to him with due regards. From the letters written by him to His Holiness during the course of His Holiness’s first South India tour, it is patent how very appreciative he was of His Holiness’s great efforts for the cause of Sanātana-dharma. He had even written that the events of His Holiness’s tour deserved to be engraved in gold. That he looked upon His Holiness as his Guru was unmistakable and he had, in his letters, sought His Holiness’s advice on various matters. His Holiness had readily obliged; in a letter, He had even recommended the practice of amanaska-yoga, involving mental quietude. When he was ailing, His Holiness wanted to travel to Bengaluru to visit him and had to be dissuaded from doing so; when he passed away, His Holiness took a special bath at Sringeri even though it was uncalled-for as He was a saṁnyāsin. Such was His sense of gratitude.

His Holiness never forgot any good done for Him.

His Holiness 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?”

There is a story that the righteous Yudhiṣṭhira was once asked to select a positively evil person. Even after diligent searching and deliberation, he was unable to pinpoint a single person whom he regarded as vile, for, to him, everyone seemed to be possessed of goodness. Duryodhana, for his part, was asked to identify a good man. No matter how hard he searched, he was unable to locate a truly good person, for, in his view, all were stained by sinful tendencies. Having a crystal-like pure heart, His Holiness too, like Yudhiṣṭhira, 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?”

Because he grasps the import of the śāstras, himself practises them and induces others to follow suit, he is called ‘Ācārya’.

It is said: “Because he grasps the import of the śāstras, himself practises them and induces others to follow suit, he is called ‘Ācārya’.” This definition fitted His Holiness. For instance, He advocated the consumption of sāttvika food, which is conducive to health and mental tranquillity; His own diet was purely sāttvika. He held that abhiṣeka-tīrtha (water poured, with Vedic chanting, on an idol during worship) conduces to one’s mental and physical well-being. Hence, distribution of tīrtha-prasāda formed an invariant part of His daily schedule, both when He was at Sringeri and when He was on tour. During His tours, the large crowds often necessitated His spending hours for such distribution, so much so that it sometimes used to be around 3 p.m. before His bhikṣā. He did not mind this in the least, for devotees longed to receive tīrtha from Him and their happiness mattered much to Him. He advocated that people should perform what is ordained for them by the scriptures; He unfailingly and meticulously performed His āhnika in the morning, afternoon and night, with each āhnika being preceded by a complete bath. He advised people to worship God; every night, without fail, He performed pūjā. He performed a short pūjā to the idol of Ratnagarbha-gaṇapati and then elaborately worshipped the Candramaulīśvara-liṅga, a śālagrāma and a śrīcakra; this worship included the performance of abhiṣeka while chanting the śri-rudra, camaka, puruṣa-sūkta, durgā-sūkta and śrī-sūkta and the showing of three forms of ārati.

Being meticulous and tidy was innate to Him. He utilised an ochre handkerchief made of cotton. Whenever crumpled with use, He refolded it in such a way that it then appeared as if it were a freshly ironed cloth, with the edges forming perfect straight lines. It was not as if He did the folding to the exclusion of other activities. He folded His handkerchief impeccably even while giving a serious discourse or reading a book.

In the course of His evening āhnika, as per the prescribed procedure for saṁnyāsins, He used to take up water in an uddharaṇī (spoon) from a vessel, chant ‘om’ and put the water into another vessel, repeating this act over a hundred times. He performed all this so exquisitely that not a single drop of water spilt on the ground. His hand movement was the minimum possible and the speed was in perfect harmony with His rhythmic chant of ‘om’. The public had no access to His āhnika-room and so it was not as though His optimal performance was meant as a lesson for another.

He said, “One should perform all one’s actions in a meticulous manner. Even a minor task ought not to be performed carelessly. The time allocated to it may be small and other tasks may receive priority over it but, when one is engaged in it, one must treat it as important.”

One should perform all one’s actions in a meticulous manner. Even a minor task ought not to be performed carelessly. The time allocated to it may be small and other tasks may receive priority over it but, when one is engaged in it, one must treat it as important.

One day, His Holiness sat down in a coconut grove in Sringeri and asked me to read the first 50 verses of the Vidura-nīti and select compositions of Bhagavatpāda. As I began chanting verses from the Vidura-nīti, His Holiness partially closed His eyes. When I came to the 22^nd verse, I heard a swishing sound. Before I could react, a big leaf-stalk and a coconut fell from a tree in the vicinity and landed on the ground with a big thud less than a meter from His Holiness. So concentrated was He on the import of the verses that He was totally oblivious of what had happened.

After reading from the Vidura-nīti, I passed on to the compositions of Bhagavatpāda, such as Manīṣā-pañcaka and Brahmānucintana. His Holiness listened motionless, with a light smile. He opened His eyes only a few moments after I had finished. Suddenly, He winced in pain. Unseen by me, and unfelt by Him, an army of ants had been biting Him on His legs and hands. His feet were red and swollen.

He knew by rote the verses that He had asked me to read out and had Himself mentally recited them on hundreds of occasions. Yet, He concentrated upon them with such intensity that He remained totally unaware of even loud extraneous sounds and injury to His body. He was never inattentive to anything taken up by Him.

Gudalur Krishna Sastrigal, who was staying in Narasimhavana during a visit to Sringeri, asked His Holiness one morning, “I noticed last night that the lights of Your Holiness’s room were ‘on’ even past midnight. Did Your Holiness not sleep last night?” His Holiness replied that He had been unwell, running high temperature, and this prevented Him from falling asleep. Hence, He started reading a book on Vedānta to spend time usefully rather than waste it waiting for sleep.

His Holiness did not believe in keeping to Himself what He had learnt. He personally taught the texts of the Tarka-śāstra several times and produced, in batches, scholars fully versed in Tarka and themselves competent to teach it in its entirety to others. While Tarka serves the end of scholars, His Holiness, being interested in the spiritual uplift of people, laid particular emphasis on expounding Vedānta, be it for public at large through His anugraha-bhāṣaṇas (benedictory discourses) or through formal classes. In the late 1970s, He started to expound, in depth, the following: The Bhagavadgītā with Śaṅkara-Bhagavatpāda’s bhāṣya and the sub-commentary of Śrī Ānandagiri; the Taittirīya-upaniṣad with Bhagavatpāda’s bhāṣya and Śrī Acyutakṛṣṇānanda-tīrtha’s sub-commentary Vanamālā; and the Brahmasūtras with Bhagavatpāda’s bhāṣya, Rāmānanda-sarasvatī’s sub-commentary Ratnaprabhā and Śrī Pūrṇānanda’s gloss on the Ratnaprabhā. While these classes were primarily meant for His successor-designate (the current pontiff of the Sringeri Math, Jagadguru Śrī Bhāratī-tīrtha Mahāsvāmin), several others, including saṁnyāsins and scholars, were also blessed to be the students. I have had the good fortune of attending these incomparable, ambrosial classes and can assert with confidence that His Holiness’s explanations were lucid and without a single inessential word; in several places, it was unmistakable that His Holiness’s words were backed by His spiritual practice and enlightenment. He had said about His Guru’s exposition of Vedānta (Relevant portions of two of His speeches, one in Kannada and another in Tamil have been integrated in what follows), “He expounded the scripture strictly in accordance with the commentary of Bhagavatpāda. He effortlessly integrated into His teaching of Vedānta, pertinent points from Nyāya, Mīmāṁsā, and Yoga. When the Vedānta-śāstra is taught, one way is to explain a text line-by-line. Another is to expound the lines integrated with one’s experience. The latter characterised His teaching; it gave great joy.” All this perfectly fitted His Holiness’s teaching of Vedānta.

His Holiness did not believe in keeping to Himself what He had learnt. He personally taught the texts of the Tarka-śāstra several times and produced, in batches, scholars fully versed in Tarka and themselves competent to teach it in its entirety to others. While Tarka serves the end of scholars, His Holiness, being interested in the spiritual uplift of people, laid particular emphasis on expounding Vedānta, be it for public at large through His anugraha-bhāṣaṇas (benedictory discourses) or through formal classes.

Once a sabhā was held at Bengaluru where paṇḍitas debated whether Bhagavatpāda recognised mūlāvidyā, primordial ignorance that rests in and veils Brahman and is the basis of false knowledge about the Ātman. Traditional Vedāntins, right from the time of Padmapādācārya, have undisputedly held that Bhagavadpāda accepts mūlāvidyā. However, Śrī Saccidānandendra-sarasvatī of the Holenarasipura Maṭha and his followers contended that Bhagavatpāda did not admit the existence of mūlāvidyā; they opined that there is no veil of ignorance in deep sleep and that the only difference between deep sleep and liberation is that the former is temporary. Representatives of both the schools decided to thrash out the issue in a debate and that was why the sabhā had been arranged. His Holiness witnessed the proceedings with avid interest. A person asked Him why He did not pass a verdict in His capacity as the Jagadguru. His Holiness’s poignant reply was, “I am not sitting here as any Jagadguru. On the contrary, I am seated as one who was taught the Śāstras and am confirming what I have learnt.” He was so unassuming and neutral in spite of His being recognised by scholars all over the nation as an unparalleled exponent of Tarka and Vedānta. The debate ended in favour of the upholders of the traditional view.

The following is based on a written account, in Tamil, of K. S. Venkatarama Sastri, a vidvān:

“Once, the Maharaja of Cochin, himself an accomplished scholar in the Nyāya-śāstra, had prayed to His Holiness to resolve one of his doubts in the Nyāya-śāstra. He wrote a letter to His Holiness detailing his query and sent it through a scholar from Kerala. At that time, a vidvat-sadas was going on in the august presence of His Holiness. When the letter was submitted, His Holiness directed one of the scholars to read it out before the scholars assembled at the vidvat-sadas, thereby initiating a discussion among the scholars. One by one, the scholars attempted their resolution of the issue but one or the other scholar promptly rebutted the replies. Erudite vidvāns such as Mathur Venkateswara Sastri, who had learnt under none other than Jagadguru Śrī Candraśekhara Bhāratī Mahāsvāmin and later became a professor in the Mysore University, and Madhusudana Bhattacharya, a renowned Tārkika from Kolkata, too offered their explanations only to be subsequently countered by the other scholars. The debate continued and it seemed as though it would be eternity before a conclusion could be reached. His Holiness suggested to the scholars that all of them reflect on the issue further and come out with a tenable conclusion before the concluding session of the sabhā.

“As it turned out, even on the concluding day, none of the scholars was able to resolve the doubt to the satisfaction of the sabhā. At this juncture, His Holiness Himself intervened and presented an appropriate answer in His inimitably lucid style. The scholars were awestruck by the splendid reply given by His Holiness. Mathur Venkateswara Sastri openly remarked, ‘Only His Holiness can put any doubt to rest. After all, is He not the Goddess Śāradāmbā in human form?’ It became a memorable sadas for the vidvāns. The Maharaja’s joy knew no bounds when he received the clarification offered by His Holiness. He promptly wrote a letter to His Holiness conveying his reverential salutations and gratitude for the guidance received.”

The following was narrated by Venkatasubba Rao.

“I felt an urge to have some traditional lessons from His Holiness. I went to Sringeri and made known my desire. Right away, His Holiness agreed and said that He would begin the lesson at three o’ clock in the afternoon. Some saṁnyāsins and paṇḍitas also attended the classes. The text taken for exposition was the Śrī-dakṣiṇāmūrti-stotra of Bhagavatpāda. Having given a lucid exposition of the first verse, His Holiness decided to explain the second verse the next day. He was having a sore throat that day. Yet, He chose to teach me saying, ‘You have come all the way from Bengaluru for this. Hence, I will teach.’ 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 the third day, His Holiness said, ‘This is enough. In fact, what I taught you on the first day was itself sufficient for you. I took up the second verse on the subsequent day to ward off any possible feeling you may get that the absence of continuation of the second day is inauspicious.’

“I accompanied His Holiness on His Kundapura camp. I was travelling in the jeep that was piloting His Holiness’s vehicle when, at one point, I noticed that His Holiness had ordered His car to stop. He asked me to sit in the front seat of His car and sent His personal attendant, Mahabala, to the jeep. No conversation ensued. His Holiness lost Himself in the contemplation of the Ātman. The effect of His silent ātmānusandhāna on me was tremendous.”

After he opted for voluntary retirement, Anantarama Seshan came with his wife Vaikuntham to Sringeri in 1963 with the intention of settling down there. During the cāturmāsya that year, His Holiness expounded, in chaste Sanskrit, the Vedānta-paribhāṣā (an authoritative, technical primer on Advaita-Vedānta) to the couple, several scholars and a saṁnyāsin. After the first day’s class, the lady approached Him in the evening and said, “I am blessed to attend Your Holiness’s class. However, unlike all the others, I am not knowledgeable in Sanskrit and, hence, am unable to understand Your Holiness’s exposition.” Blessing her, He compassionately responded, “You will be able to comprehend the text.” The lady found, much to her own amazement, that from the next day onwards, she was able to follow His exposition and, that too, without any difficulty. Even the portion of the text that had been covered in the first class became clear to her. Later, His Holiness started expounding the Vedānta- pañcadaśī to the couple. Though He did so in Sanskrit, she was able to clearly follow His teaching. After covering a portion of this text, He told them that they could read the book by themselves and that it would be clear to them. That is what came to pass. I was given this information, decades later, by the lady herself. She even demonstrated to me that she had understood the texts concerned by telling me correctly, in Tamil, the import of some textual portions that I read out.

The following was narrated by Ganapati Subrahmanya Avadhani.

“One night, when His Holiness was performing pūjā in Lucknow in January 1967 and everybody was enjoying it, an intruder dashed into the place. On seeing him wearing a coat, trousers and shoes, the guard tried to stop him. He simply brushed the sentry on duty aside and sprang forward. As he neared the pūjā-maṇḍapa, several others and I gathered around him and tried to prevent him from advancing further. Being a well-built man, he overcame the opposition. His Holiness noticed this. He gestured to us to let him be. On being freed, he moved closer to the dais. His Holiness directed him to sit down. He obeyed like an innocent child and squatted in Vajrāsana, with joined palms. He quietly watched the pūjā with rapt attention. After finishing the pūjā, His Holiness asked him to come the next day at eight in the morning. He said, ‘His Holiness is an embodiment of compassion but the people around are rude. What am I to do if I am treated by them in the same way as today?’ His Holiness understood his predicament and advised him to come wearing a dhoti and an upper cloth.

“The next day, after finishing His morning āhnika, His Holiness told His attendant, ‘The Sethji who was here yesterday will be coming to see me. Usher him in.’ Later, the person came wearing a dhoti and a shawl, with sandal paste on his forehead as also vibhūti and a ‘nāmam’! We were pleasantly surprised to behold him thus. He was taken to His Holiness. After some time, he emerged, beaming.

“On his way back, he met me. I conveyed my apologies to him. I then asked him what brought him to His Holiness. He gave the following account:

“He was having a host of difficulties and was struggling to overcome them. One night he had an unusual dream. A sage with a brilliant and smiling countenance appeared in front of him. On waking up, he wondered who that might be. After some days, when he was in his shop, he accidently spotted a child carrying a large photograph. To his surprise, he found that it was a photograph of the sage whom he had beheld in the dream. On enquiry, he learnt that the photograph was that of the Jagadguru of Sringeri who was then camping in the city. He was filled with joy and immediately rushed to have darśana. My companions and I had tried unsuccessfully to stop him. His Holiness had duly blessed him and infused new strength into him.”

Sri Subbaramaiya was desirous of His Holiness’s pādukās but did not request Him to bless him with them. When His Holiness visited Sri Subbaramaiya’s place at Bengaluru, he hoped that His Holiness would, of His own accord, grant him His pādukās. After His Holiness left, he was pleasantly surprised to find that His Holiness’s pādukās had been left behind. He thought, “There is no specific instruction from His Holiness that I may keep them at home for worship. Hence, I should return them.” When he took them to His Holiness, He told him, “I left them there for you. Keep them with you.” Every time His Holiness camped at Bengaluru, he used to request Him, “Please bless my house with a visit.” His Holiness used to smile and say, “I am very much there.”

The following was narrated by S. N. Parameswara.

“His Holiness was once camping at my brother Srithandaveswara’s place. The room He stayed in had an open cupboard that contained some books. I had kept in that cupboard a notebook in which I had written some ślokas in Kannada; I recited these every day. After His bhikṣā, His Holiness glanced at some of the books. When I went for His darśana in the evening, He told me, ‘Bring me the notebook.’ When I did so, He said, ‘I went through this notebook in the afternoon when I had some free time. You have written some ślokas in Kannada which you are probably reciting daily. Some of the verses contain spelling mistakes. I have corrected them to the extent that I could. I did so because I did not want you to recite them with mistakes. You may verify their correctness and recite them.’ Saying so, He handed me the notebook. For His unparalleled erudition and the seat He was occupying, He could have easily said, ‘I have corrected the mistakes. You may now recite them without error.’ Instead, He only said that He had corrected the mistakes to the extent that He could and that I might verify their correctness. Such was His humility.”

“I left my pādukās there for you. Keep them with you.”

• His Holiness

During one of her trips to Sringeri, Alamelu Krishnan, who was deeply devoted to His Holiness, submitted a pearl necklace and sari on behalf of her younger brother, S. Subramaniam. His Holiness told her to convey His blessings to her brother and his family. He then remarked, “Subramaniam drove my car when I was camping in Chennai.” On her return to Chennai, she conveyed to her brother what His Holiness had said. Pleasantly surprised, Subramaniam said, “As you are aware, I was very keen to drive His Holiness’s car while He was camping in Chennai. However, much to my disappointment, I did not get an opportunity to do so. All I could do was to imagine myself chauffeuring His Holiness’s car. While that itself gave me consolation, I now am elated to hear from you that His Holiness accepted my mental chauffeuring.” There was no question of His Holiness, whose memory was very strong, having erroneously thought that Subramaniam had physically driven His car when He was in Chennai in 1986.

The following was narrated by R. Muthusundaram.

“Once, during my stay at Sringeri, I imagined lotuses in full bloom and offered them one by one at the lotus feet of His Holiness. I commenced my mental arcana when His Holiness started from Narasimhavana, continued it as He crossed the river and visited the temples there and completed it only when He returned. Before entering Sacchidananda Vilas, His abode, He turned towards me, smiled and majestically went in. That evening, He sent for me. He held a silver coin with the image of Śāradāmbā on it in His hands and closed His eyes for a few minutes. His normally bright face appeared all the more lustrous. He then blessed me with the coin and gave me mantrākṣata. I subsequently went to the structure housing the samādhis of the 33^rd and 34^th pontiffs and attached the coin to my yajñopavīta. Krishnaswami Iyer (who was the author of books on the 34^th pontiff and who, after saṁnyāsa was known as Śrī Jñānānanda-bhāratī) observed me doing so and asked, ‘Did you do any pādapūjā?’ ‘This pendant is given only to those who perform it,’ he added. I told him that I had not formally done any pādapūjā. I then described to him the mental worship that I had done in the morning. ‘Yes,’ he said with certitude. ‘It is the fruit of that worship which you have got now. Cannot our God-like Guru, who can grant the wishes in the minds of those who are thousands of miles away, bestow the result of the mānasika-pādapūjā (mental pādapūjā) that you did to Him in His presence? This is what He has done.”

The following was narrated by K. S. Natarajan.

Cannot our God-like Guru, who can grant the wishes in the minds of those who are thousands of miles away, bestow the result of the mānasika-pādapūjā (mental pādapūjā) that was done to Him in His presence?

“In 1968, I stayed at Sringeri for five days and then took mantrākṣata from His Holiness. As I was about to leave, His Holiness asked me, ‘Where are you going?’ ‘To Salem,’ I replied. His Holiness advised me to spend the night at Bengaluru before driving on to Salem. Being rather obstinate, I casually said, ‘I can manage to proceed to Salem without a stopover at Bengaluru.’ Just as my car reached Bengaluru, its axle broke. It was evening by the time the repairs were completed. My resolve to proceed to Salem remained. As I was to start, there was a heavy downpour. This put paid to my plan. Perforce, I halted for the night at Bengaluru and resumed my journey early in the morning. On my way, I found that a huge tree had fallen across the road. Had I left Bengaluru the previous night, I would have had to spend my time here, stranded in the middle of the night. I realized that His Holiness’s advice had been prophetic.”

The following was narrated by Ramani, a votary of Hanumān.

“We had a 32 feet tall statue of Āñjaneya sculpted for installation at a temple in Nanganallur in Chennai. In 1989, we went to Sringeri and requested His Holiness for His blessings for the proposed consecration of the idol. His Holiness was very pleased with my efforts and blessed me. He then asked, ‘Where do you intend to position the statue?’ I replied, ‘In front of the statue of Lord Rāma.’ His Holiness remarked, ‘In front of Lord Rāma, is it? I gather that Āñjaneya’s hands are folded in reverence but His tail is raised above His head. When standing in front of Rama, would not Āñjaneya have stood with His tail somewhat lowered? If His tail is to be curled upwards, with its end above His head, why not place Him beside Lord Rama?’ ‘It is impossible to place Lord Āñjaneya’s statue there, because there is no space for this in the sanctum sanctorum,’ I responded. His Holiness did not say anything. The other committee members and I discussed the matter and decided, ‘His Holiness did not say anything when we reported the lack of space. Hence, we shall go ahead as planned. As the date of the kumbhābhiṣeka has been decided upon and there is not much time left, it would be very difficult to make any changes now.’

His Holiness asked, “When standing in front of Rāma, would not Āñjaneya have stood with His tail somewhat lowered? If His tail is to be curled upwards, with its end above His head, why not place Him beside Lord Rāma?” What His Holiness had had in mind automatically came to pass.

“It so happened that when the idol of Śrī Āñjaneya was being brought to the temple site, a monkey suddenly jumped in front of the lorry. To avoid collision with the monkey, the driver slammed the brakes. A distressing consequence was that the tail of Āñjaneya’s statue broke at some distance from its end. We were in a quandary. We decided to get a sculptor to modify the remaining portion of the tail and go ahead with the kumbhābhiṣeka as planned. With the modification, Āñjaneya’s tail was no more above His head. We realized that what His Holiness had had in mind automatically came to pass in a way that was totally unexpected by us.”

R. Pandurangan was desirous of pursuing the M.B.B.S course and becoming a doctor. When, in the early 1960s, he sought His Holiness’s blessings, He said that by the grace of the Divine Mother, his wish would be fulfilled. Pandurangan, however, failed to get through the interview. His Holiness again told him that he would obtain an M.B.B.S. degree. Pandurangan failed to secure admission the second time too. His Holiness yet again told him that he would obtain an M.B.B.S. degree. Finally, in the year 1963, he joined the College of Integrated Medicine at Kilpauk, Chennai, for the G.C.I.M. course. This course led to a G.C.I.M. degree that was not on par with the M.B.B.S. degree and involved the study of Indian systems of medicine such as Ayurveda. When this information was conveyed to His Holiness, He reasserted His response. The infallibility of His blessing became clear only when it so happened that, in response to representations, the Government decided to give the first and second year G.C.I.M. students the option of joining the M.B.B.S. course, with their earlier studies being given due credit. Pandurangan was accommodated in the M.B.B.S. course at Stanley Medical College and graduated four years later; what His Holiness had assured him repeatedly came to pass.

Pandurangan then worked as Medical Officer at Vallanadu, near Tirunelveli. Later, he completed a D.O. course at the Egmore Eye Hospital and was posted as Assistant Eye Surgeon, Nagerkoil. In this manner, though seemingly impossible earlier, he was able to graduate with an M.B.B.S degree as blessed by His Holiness and thereafter, obtain a diploma in ophthalmology too. {Dr. R. Pandurangan’s cousin, Sankaran, told me in the early 1980s of how His Holiness had graced Pandurangan. Both Pandurangan and Sankaran are deceased. Further details and some corroboration were provided recently by the late Dr. Pandurangan’s wife, Vasanthi Pandurangan.} The following was narrated by Rajam Nagarajan.

“In 1961, when His Holiness was camping in Chennai and my father and my husband went for His darśana, He told my father, ‘Ask your daughter to sing during the Candramaulīśvara-pūjā tomorrow night.’ When this instruction was conveyed to me at home, I was petrified. I had almost completely lost my voice due to severe throat infection over the previous few days. I was unable to utter even a few words without breaking into painful bouts of cough. I took all possible steps to remedy my throat but there was no improvement. Even as I left for the pūjā the next evening, the cough had not stopped. After the abhiṣeka, when His Holiness looked in my direction and gestured that I may begin singing, I immediately started. I did not cough even once for the entire duration of my singing. After the pūjā, His Holiness gave prasāda to all of us and told my father, ‘Your daughter sang very well. Many here do not pronounce the Sanskrit letters śa, ṣa and sa distinctly. However, your daughter did so.’ He blessed me. When I reached home, I was flooded with questions from my family. However, by then, my voice had shut down once again and I could not speak a single word. It took another few days before I regained my voice. It was only because I sang in obedience to His instruction that, by His grace, I could sing without the slightest discomfort.”

“The lady’s devotion caused the Divine Mother to grace her. Impelled by Her, I merely functioned as a conduit for Her blessings.”

• His Holiness

On seeing that a good singer of Madurai who had lost her ability to sing regained it on His Holiness blessing her, K. M. Balasubramanian asked His Holiness, “How did this happen?” His Holiness replied, “By God’s grace.” “How exactly did her power of speech return?” persisted Balasubramanian. His Holiness said, “They are highly devoted people and came here with the firm belief that the problem would be solved. The lady’s devotion caused the Divine Mother to grace her. Impelled by Her, I merely functioned as a conduit for Her blessings.”

The following was narrated by V. Chandramouli.

“When His Holiness was camping in Ghatkopar in Mumbai, a Muslim had the opportunity to have His Holiness’s darśana. Being conversant with Sanskrit, he introduced himself to His Holiness in Sanskrit. His Holiness was surprised and conversed with him in Sanskrit to encourage him. The man was very happy and told His Holiness that he had been yearning to have His Holiness’s darśana for a long time and added that his father, who was in Kolkata, too had the same desire. His Holiness told him that his father could have His darśana when He visited Kolkata. His Holiness then asked for some stones to be brought. Giving them to the man, He said, ‘These were given to me by some Muslims who had returned from Mecca. You can keep them. If your father requires one, you can give it to him too.’ The man then asked His Holiness if he could watch the Candramaulīśvara-pūjā that night. His Holiness told him that he may do so. At the end of the pūjā, His Holiness blessed him with flowers. He preserved the flowers. Furthermore, he embedded one of stones given by His Holiness in a ring and wore that ring.”

During His Holiness’s tour to Rameswaram, two Muslims named Allah Pasha and Ibrahim came to have His darśana. Allah Pasha’s wife had suffered six miscarriages earlier and the couple was childless. Desirous of a child, he had come to seek the blessings of His Holiness. His Holiness blessed him saying, “You will beget a good son.” Needless to mention, in due course, a male child was born to the couple.

The other person, Ibrahim, submitted to His Holiness that someone was causing him great trouble in his business. He was in utter despair and had almost reached the point of having to shut down his business. His Holiness said, “All your problems will cease and you will be happy.” Soon, the one who was creating trouble went away. His departure paved way for Ibrahim’s business to recover and grow without any impediments.

“All your problems will cease and you will be happy.”

• His Holiness

With their prayers fulfilled, both Allah Pasha and Ibrahim went to Sringeri and sought His Holiness’s permission to offer pādapūjā (involving pūjā to the pādukās of His Holiness’s Guru). His Holiness advised them not to do pādapūjā as such a mode of worship was discordant with the tenets of Islam. They then requested Him to permit them to make some offerings to the Maṭha. His Holiness granted their fervent prayer and blessed them. {The source of this information is an article authored by K. V. Santhanagopalachariar in 1977 and published in a souvenir.} On 15^th April 1984, His Holiness presided over the conclusion of an Atirudra-mahāyāga at Anegunda (near Sringeri) and then returned to Sringeri. A few days later, as He was giving tīrtha-prasāda in the front hall of Sacchidananda Vilas in the morning, a devotee showed His Holiness two small idols of Lord Vināyaka and requested His Holiness to sanctify them by His touch. His Holiness took the idols in His right hand and remarked that they were beautiful. With the idols in His closed palm, He remained with His eyes closed for a while. Thereafter, as He was about to give them to the devotee, He asked, “Are you intending to worship two idols?” The devotee replied, “I was desirous of receiving one from Your Holiness and of submitting the other to Your Holiness.” His Holiness smiled, gave him one idol and kept the other near Himself.

As the devotee moved on, His Holiness looked in the direction of the entrance of the hall, beckoned to me and said, “Tell them, in Hindi, to come after 20 minutes.” I discerned that His Holiness was referring to two persons who were standing on the final step leading to the hall and were looking quite ill at ease. They were wearing white pyjamas and kurtas, were bearded and had white skull caps. One of them appeared to be in his fifties and the other in his thirties. I walked up to these Muslims and conveyed the message of His Holiness. They promptly left.

In a few minutes, the distribution of tīrtha-prasāda to the devotees was complete. His Holiness went inside, proceeded to the room on the eastern side of Sacchidananda Vilas on the ground floor and sat on His wooden seat there. He had gestured to me to follow Him and I did so. He called His attendant and assigned him a task that required the attendant to go to the Maṭha complex on the northern side of the river. After the attendant left, His Holiness told me to shut the door through which He had entered. Having sat silently for a while, He told me, “The two would have come. Bring them in. Shut the door behind you.” I did as told.

His Holiness took the idols in His right hand and remarked that they were beautiful. With the idols in His closed palm, He remained with His eyes closed for a while.

On His Holiness asking them to sit, they sat, not cross-legged but with their knees joined and positioned on the ground. Abruptly, His Holiness started to recite something that seemed to me to be in Arabic. He began with the words, “Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim”, which I had heard Muslims chant and knew that these words meant, “In the name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful.” Hence, I conjectured that His Holiness was reciting something from the Quran. All I could quickly register was that His subsequent chant had at its start what sounded like, “Alam nashrah laka sadrak.” I was surprised because I had never heard His Holiness chant anything like this before. I noticed that the two Muslims were awestruck. They quickly held their hands in the Muslim gesture of prayer, with their open palms held towards their faces. When His Holiness ended His chant, the elder of the two said, in Urdu, “Bābā, how wonderfully you chant the Quran!” His Holiness ignored the compliment and asked, in Urdu, “What is the purpose of your visit?” The younger man said, “My child is very ill.” Without waiting for him to continue, His Holiness said, “Bring the boy.” The man said, “I shall do so. He is with his mother in the car.”

“His Holiness started to recite something that seemed to me to be in Arabic. He began with the words, ‘Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim’, which I had heard Muslims chant and knew that these words meant, ‘In the name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful.’”

As he went out, the elder person told His Holiness, “I teach the Quran in a madrasa and my son does so in another. Both of us, his wife and child arrived at Mangalore (Mangaluru) a few days ago. We planned to see some pretty places in Karnataka and Kerala. We took a taxi and proceeded through Agumbe to the Jog Falls near Shimoga (Shivamogga). We then wanted to proceed to the origin of the river Tuṅgā. However, as we were nearing Koppa, my grandchild began to scream in pain, clutching his abdomen. My daughter-in-law tried her best to pacify him but could not. We took him to a doctor at Koppa. He examined the child and suggested that we admit him to a hospital there. We did so. Despite several tests and treatment, there was no improvement. The child was suffering much and could not eat or drink anything. He threw up even water. At night, due to exhaustion, my daughter-in-law must have dozed off for a few minutes. She dreamt that the child was dead and was inconsolable after waking up. Three years ago, her first son, when aged two, had clutched his abdomen and screamed. Later, he died in a hospital as his appendix had ruptured. Understandably, this child’s suffering severe pain in the abdomen and that too at the age of two was terrible for us. As there was no improvement even by this morning, we decided to shift the child to some big hospital in Mangaluru and got the child discharged, against the advice of the doctor at Koppa.

“As we were starting, the taxi driver suggested that as we would be passing through Sringeri en route to Mangaluru, we should get the child blessed by you. He was sure that with your blessings itself, the child would get relief. On hearing this, my daughter-in-law insisted that we should bring the child to you. My son and I strongly objected. We told her that her father was an Imam and we were orthodox Muslims. How could we take our child for blessings to some Swami who would know nothing of the Quran and would possibly prescribe some idol worship, which was clearly prohibited in the Quran? She, however, became hysterical and no matter how much we voiced our two objections to come to you, she continued to insist. As she was becoming unmanageable and as the child was crying non-stop and unable to take even a drop of water, we agreed, unwillingly, to bring the child to you. When I saw you from a distance, you were giving an idol to someone. That made us uncomfortable. I felt that not knowing that idol worship is taboo for us, you would give us also some idol and ask us to worship it for the sake of our child. We were somewhat relieved when you asked us to come back after twenty minutes. Now, by your excellent chanting of the Quran, you have completely dispelled our misgiving about our bringing our child to some Swami who would have no idea about the Quran.”

His Holiness listened passively. A few moments of silence followed. The younger person entered with a bawling child in his arms and followed by his wife who was in purdah. Even as she entered, she repeatedly wailed, in Urdu, “Bābā, bless my child.” His Holiness assured her, “Do not worry. The child will be alright. Allah is most merciful.” She gained some composure and, in response to His Holiness’s gesture, both the husband and wife sat down. The child continued to cry. His Holiness asked the child’s father to hand Him the child. Placing the boy on His lap, His Holiness lifted the child’s upper garment up. Gently rubbing the child’s exposed abdomen, His Holiness chanted something in Arabic that, as far as I could make out, started thus: “Allahuma rabbi-nas.” Even as He ended His chant, the child stopped crying. The mother blurted out, in Urdu, “Bābā, thank you, thank you.”

His Holiness asked her, “Do you have anything with you to feed the child.” She said, “Yes. I have milk and some eatables.” His Holiness handed the child back to his father and asked her to give the boy milk. The child drank the milk given in a cup. Helping the child to stand up, she told him, “Perform salaam to Bābā.” The child smiled and did so. His Holiness smiled back. The elders profusely thanked His Holiness. He just said, “Be thankful to Allah and not to me,” and permitted them to leave.

Gently rubbing the child’s exposed abdomen, His Holiness chanted something in Arabic that, as far as I could make out, started thus: “Allahuma rabbi-nas.” Even as He ended His chant, the child stopped crying. The mother blurted out, in Urdu, “Bābā, thank you, thank you.”

As they were about to leave, the elder Muslim said, “It is because of the driver that we came to you. Would you see him?” His Holiness said, “Yes. Send him in.” In a couple of minutes, the driver entered. He had removed his upper garments. He was having kuṅkuma on his forehead and seemed to be in his fifties. On seeing him, His Holiness smiled and said, in Kannada, “You have come here before.” The man confirmed that he had and performed namaskāra. As he was getting up, His Holiness asked him, “Do you continue to chant ‘sumukhāya namaḥ’ and the rest?” The driver replied, “I do so every day, without fail. After I started chanting the twelve names as taught by Your Holiness and offering worship through them to the picture of Vināyaka that Your Holiness had blessed me with, my problems ceased and I am living happily since then.” His Holiness asked, “How is that picture now?” The driver apologetically said, “As I travel much and carry it with me in my car everywhere I go, it has faded.” Giving the driver the Vināyaka idol that had been submitted to Him earlier in the day, His Holiness told him, “Hereafter, worship this instead of the picture.” He then gave him a fruit and permitted him to leave.

It is only recently that I ascertained, in the light of the words that I could recall of His Holiness’s chanting of the Quran, that He had recited Surah 94, called “ash-Sharh (The Opening),” and that this Surah comprises eight lines that convey:

1. Have We not opened your breast for you.

2. And removed from you your burden

3. Which weighed down your back?

4. And have We not raised high your fame?

5. Verily, along with every hardship is relief,

6. Verily, along with every hardship is relief.

7. So when you have finished (your occupation), devote yourself for Allah’s worship.

8. And to your Lord turn (all your) intentions and hopes.

As regards what His Holiness chanted when rubbing the child’s abdomen, I recently ascertained, on the basis of His initial words, that it is a dua (supplication) about which, according to the Hadith: “Aisha (R.A.) narrated: Whenever Allah’s Messenger (S.A.W.) paid a visit to a patient or a patient was brought to him, he used to invoke Allah saying, ‘Allahuma rabbi-nas adhhabal ba’sa, ashfi wa entashafi, la shifa’ illa shifa’uka shifa’ la yughadiru saqama (O Lord of the people! Remove this pain and cure it. You are the One Who cures. There is no cure but Yours. Grant such a cure that no illness remains).’” This supplication is to be chanted while rubbing with the right hand the affected part of the patient and that was precisely what His Holiness had done.

His Holiness was once camping at Kotekar, near Mangaluru. It was about 2:30 p.m. He was seated in His private room. He was telling me about an event when He abruptly got up, walked to the door leading to the open veranda in the front of the building and opened it. In moments, a man came rushing there. He was sweating, his shirt and trousers were dirty and his forehead was bandaged. His Holiness gently asked him who he was and what he wanted. The man blurted out, in Kannada, “Please save,” but could not proceed further as he began to sob. Even without his having said anything more, His Holiness told him, “Your son will be alright soon. Do not worry.” Then gesturing to him to wait, He went inside and brought two big packets of cashew nuts and one large pack of almonds. He gave them to him, saying, “Give some of these to your son daily, after some days.” Having respectfully taken the dry fruits, he told His Holiness, “My son is in hospital. The doctor told me today that my child is suffering from cancer.” “No, he does not have cancer. He will come home soon from the hospital and be well,” His Holiness stated emphatically. The man joined his palms, thanked Him and left. His Holiness shut the door, resumed His seat and continued to talk to me from where He had left.

The next evening, when He was completing His evening walk, He saw the man standing at a distance, with palms joined. He smiled at him and entered the building. The man remained where he stood. After His Holiness had gone for His evening bath, when I came out, the man walked up to me and said, “Last evening, after I had returned to the hospital from here, the doctor came and said, ‘There was a mistake; reports had got mixed up. Your son does not have cancer. We can discharge him in two days. After taking him home, give him good nourishment.’ Please convey this to Swami. I am very thankful to Him. As I did not wish to disturb Him today, I stayed at a distance.” I replied that I would submit his information to His Holiness. As I was starting to leave, he added, “I am a Christian. When I was shell-shocked on hearing that my child has cancer, a Hindu friend told me to approach Swami for blessings. That is why I rushed here yesterday. I am glad that I did so.” Later, when I reported the matter to His Holiness, He just heard me in silence.

The following was reported by Venkatarama Sastry.

“No, he does not have cancer. He will come home soon from the hospital and be well,” His Holiness stated emphatically.

A devotee took a group of foreigners including a Christian priest to Sringeri and had the darśana of His Holiness. His Holiness started chatting with them in His customary cordial style. The foreigners too freely voiced their doubts about Hinduism and its various tenets, including idol worship. His Holiness responded to their queries with convincing answers. The topic then shifted to Advaita philosophy. His Holiness gave a lucid explanation of the non-dual philosophy. Noticing the priest’s inability to grasp the subject, His Holiness resorted to catechism to drive home the points that He expounded earlier.

His Holiness: Who are you?

Priest: I am so and so.

His Holiness: No, I did not ask your name. Who are ‘you’?

Priest: I am the son of so and so.

His Holiness: No, no, not that. Who are ‘you’?

Priest: I am the priest of…church.

His Holiness: I did not mean that. Tell me who ‘you’ are.

Priest: (Confused) I don’t know.

His Holiness: (Smiling) See, this is the problem. We do not know who we really are. Your name, relationship to someone else and your profession – all these pertain to your body and not to you. Now, tell me, what are you called when you are starving?

Priest: A hungry man.

His Holiness: Correct. What are you known as when you are overeating?

Priest: A glutton.

His Holiness: That’s right. Well, when you are travelling?

Priest: A traveller.

His Holiness: Yes. Now consider this. Descriptions like ‘hungry man’, ‘glutton’ and ‘traveller’ are based on actions, again, pertaining to your body. Do you get the feeling that you are a different man every time you are called by a different name?

Priest: No, it is ‘I’ known by various names and relationships.

His Holiness: There you are. ‘You’ are that unchanging common entity behind all these changing names and forms. That indeed is your true identity.

His Holiness then expounded the unreality of the universe according to the tenets of Advaita and the underlying Supreme Reality, the substratum of all names and forms. The delighted Christian priest profusely thanked His Holiness and was happy that he had received a valuable teaching that day.

The following is abstracted from an article penned by T. R. Ramachandran, a close disciple of His Holiness.

“One day in Hong Kong, I wanted to recite a śloka, a gentleman had advised me to but could not get the text there. So when I came to Mumbai, I looked it up and after a few days went to see His Holiness who was camping in Madurai. Casually one afternoon, He sent for me upstairs and simply said the same śloka and explained the meaning. There was no provocation, no reason why it happened; it just happened. Was I flabbergasted and stunned? No, I was excited and thrilled. ‘Isn’t it verse 12 of Śataślokī ?’ I asked (having read it only a few days earlier). He nodded with a twinkle in His eyes.

There you are. ‘You’ are that unchanging common entity behind all these changing names and forms. That indeed is your true identity.

• His Holiness

“On another visit, I requested His Holiness to guide me in my sādhana, and He said a verse from the Vivekacūḍāmaṇi, which means, ‘The fool thinks ‘I am the body.’ The śāstraic scholar has the sense of ‘I’ in the body and the jīva (the soul). The mahātman who has knowledge born of discrimination always thinks of himself in the form, ‘I am Brahman.’ ’ I told His Holiness that I understood the meaning well, but would like to get the anubhava (experience). Simple, straight and as usual, sweet was His reply: ‘Oh, it will happen when you practise sākṣibhāva, identifying yourself with consciousness, the witness of even the mind.’ I feel grateful for this most useful guideline which can make the goal easy within reach.”

The following is culled from an article penned by K. V. Narayanaswami.

“In 1965, I mentioned to His Holiness that I wanted to give up my professional work (as a lawyer and concentrate on the study of the Upaniṣad bhāṣyas and the Sūtra- bhāṣya. His Holiness smiled and asked me if I would like a cow with one horn or a cow with both horns. The question surprised me and I could not catch its significance, I replied, ‘Of course, a cow with both horns.’ ‘So should it be with you,’ said His Holiness and continued. ‘You must pursue the worldly occupation and also study the śāstras side by side, slowly shifting the emphasis to the latter until the world falls off from you. You are well grounded for a dhārmic way of life. You are influential and are respected. You should utilize this opportunity for securing support for service to society, which is only another name for worship of God.’ A glorious concept: Service to society is worship of God.”

The source of the following information is K. S. Sankaran.

“Oh, it will happen when you practise sākṣibhāva, identifying yourself with consciousness, the witness of even the mind.”

• His Holiness

“A lady who was hardly thirty lost her husband in an accident. The responsibility of looking after her two young sons fell on her shoulders. One day, she requested His Holiness for an audience with Him. He asked her to come and see Him the next morning and told me also to come with her. She asked Him, ‘Why is it that I have to undergo so much suffering? I have not committed any sin. Why then should I suffer? Now that my husband is dead, who will look after me?’ Despite His busy schedule, His Holiness spent His time consoling her. He explained to her that the whole world is impermanent. He then proceeded to point out that one suffers due to one’s own karma; there is nobody who does not undergo suffering. He advised, ‘Your children are like your eyes. It is your duty to bring them up well. You are academically well-qualified. Take up a teacher’s job. That would fetch you sufficient money to meet the needs of your family. My blessings are with you.’ No sooner had His Holiness blessed her, she felt great peace. Her morale grew manifold and she resolved that she would do as per His Holiness’s advice. She visited the Maṭha regularly. By His Holiness’s grace, she and her children did well in life.”

The following is a transcription of excerpts from a talk by Dr. G. Lakshmipathy.

“I had the great good fortune to be His Holiness’s personal physician for a time. When I was first asked to treat His Holiness, I certainly could see this as a great honour. However, I had my own trepidation and little anxiety on this score because I was being asked to treat not an ordinary person but a great and exalted person, a jīvanmukta. My thoughts were on the following lines: ‘Treating a great and exalted person like His Holiness is something quite beyond my training. Normally, when I examine a patient, I feel clean while the patient is the one who is unclean. In this case, however, I am going to examine someone who is so completely pure, physically, mentally and spiritually. I am the one, in this case, who is impure, for I am full of worldly ambitions and capable of unholy thoughts. Next, how am I going to ask His Holiness questions regarding sleep and diet, because persons like Him go into nirvikalpa-samādhi often and subsist on very little food? In fact, yogins can cure themselves if they want; doctors are only used as instruments by such people to enact divine dramas.’ The first thing He told me when I saw Him was, ‘Please treat me as a patient and not as a preceptor.’ With that, His Holiness completely put me at ease. In fact, in the presence of His Holiness, I felt a kind of peace that I had never known before. Every time that I examined Him, I used to do a sāṣṭāṅga-namaskāra and pray, ‘Swamiji, I have given a prescription. Please make Yourself better.’

His Holiness said, “I stopped taking āyurvedic medicine because the vaidya is aged and has to put up with difficulty to prepare it. Of course, he is quite willing to do it for me but I don’t want him troubled.” Such was His compassion that He was more concerned about the physician’s strain than His health.

“His Holiness had some breathing trouble and was under the treatment of an āyurvedic physician in Bangalore (Bengaluru). He told me that his medicine was giving Him great relief. Being an allopath, I felt jealous. When I went to see Him later, He said that His trouble had recurred. I queried, ‘What about the āyurvedic medicine?’ With some satisfaction, I thought that that medicine was ineffective. However, He said, ‘I stopped taking it because the vaidya is aged and has to put up with difficulty to prepare it. Of course, he is quite willing to do it for me but I don’t want him troubled. Hence, let me take your medicine. Your medicine is also effective.’ Such was His compassion that He was more concerned about the physician’s strain than His health and was willing to satisfy me in spite of my jealousy.

“I suffer from migraine. Once, when I reached Sringeri, I had a terrible headache, nausea and vomiting. I was suffering greatly and lying in a corner, almost moaning. The Maṭha’s office then reached me with the message: ‘As soon as the doctor comes, His Holiness would like to see him.’ The moment I got the message, I sat up and was completely alright. This had never happened before. Miracles do happen.

“His Holiness was ever in a state of equipoise and total peace. Once, in Coimbatore, His Holiness visited the Śāradā Temple and I went to have His darśana. A function was in progress. All kinds of people were around and the sound level was pretty high. Nādasvara was being played loudly. Apart from noise, there was smoke from the homa-kuṇḍa. I was finding it difficult to sit amidst the din and bustle, crowd, smoke and sweat. However, His Holiness was sitting on the dais, completely at peace, with a beautiful smile on His face, eyes half closed. I thought that this was the greatest sight I had ever seen because I could not take my eyes off Him.

"Left to myself, I would like to sit like this and meditate.” Saying so, His Holiness went into a trance.

“When I went to see Him some time later in Sringeri, I was thinking that it would be nice if I saw Him again in that state. At that time, He was very busy and was also ill. I told Him, ‘Gurunātha, I think You are exerting too much and should take rest. If You were not a Jagadguru, I would not have allowed You to take up all these responsibilities.’ He said, ‘What can I do? Left to myself, I would like to sit like this and meditate.’ Saying so, He went into a trance. I did not know what to say. Once again, I had the opportunity to behold Him as He was when seated on the dais, glowing with tejas.”

The following was narrated by K. M. Balasubramanian.

“I once contracted severe diarrhoea and lay in my room. I did not even go for His Holiness’s darśana as I was exhausted, having had loose stools for three days. He asked someone in the Maṭha the reason for my absence. That person reported that I was unwell and suffering from diarrhoea. His Holiness straightaway came to where I was staying in the Maṭha. On seeing Him, I got up and prostrated before Him. He said, ‘Do not worry. I will send you some medicine’ and left. He then sent some medicine through an attendant. I found that it was made of herbs and was delicious and tasted like halwa. I had it once in the morning and again in the evening. Actually, the first dose itself put an end to my diarrhoea. When I went for His Holiness’s darśana, He asked me, ‘How are you? How was the medicine?’ I replied, ‘I am fine. The medicine was like nectar.’ To this, His Holiness responded, ‘Earlier, when you had the disease, the medicine was nectar for you. If you have the same thing now, it will be poison. If anything remains of it, discard it.’”

After retirement, Thyagaraja Dikshitar settled down, with the permission of His Holiness, in Narasimhavana. He once fell ill. The doctor who examined determined that he needed to be hospitalised for a few days. He was, however, unwilling to consider this on the ground that he performed agnihotra every morning and evening and this would be disrupted if he were to be admitted. On learning of His refusal, His Holiness came to his house and asked him, “Would you prefer to perform agnihotra today and stop doing it for long thereafter or would you prefer going to the hospital now for a few days and, thereafter, duly resume performing agnihotra? If you do not effectively deal with your present illness, you would be going in for the first option that I mentioned.” Thyagaraja Dikshitar decided to get admitted to the hospital; he returned fit in a few days and, in the prescribed manner, resumed his daily agnihotra.

A saṁnyāsin staying in Sringeri was in a very poor state of health and not in a position to do even his āhnika. His Holiness told him to present his condition to the doctor who had come to Narasimhavana. The monk did so. He later told His Holiness that the doctor had prescribed medicines for him but he did not intend to take them. The reason he gave was, “I am a saṁnyāsin. A saṁnyāsin is not supposed to take care of his body.”

His Holiness: Do you know that I, a saṁnyāsin, am also taking tablets?

Saṁnyāsin: Your Holiness is the Jagadguru Shankaracharya of the Sharada Peetham.

His Holiness: I am not asking you to take medicines to render yourself fit to enjoy life. I want you to take medicines so that you are physically fit enough to carry out the duties of your āśrama, which you are unable to do now. By properly engaging in spiritual disciplines, you would do good to yourself and also be an inspiration to those who are suitably inclined, to lead a life of renunciation. If you are just lying in a corner breathing twenty times a minute, not only will you not be in a position to uplift yourself through spiritual disciplines, you would even cause some of those who are dispassionate to feel distaste for saṁnyāsa. As for myself, I take medicines because my Guru has instructed me to take care of this Maṭha; I am supposed to engage in what is prescribed for a saṁnyāsin and also to attend to people who come here for solace, clarifications and so on. In order to keep the body functional enough for this, I take the medicines prescribed. You too do so.

The saṁnyāsin was convinced with what His Holiness told him and took the medication prescribed for him.

The following was narrated by V. Subramanian.

“I am not asking you to take medicines to render yourself fit to enjoy life. I want you to take medicines so that you are physically fit enough to carry out the duties of your āśrama, which you are unable to do now.”

• His Holiness

“My association with His Holiness started in 1956 when He made His first visit to Kerala. He visited Nagercoil and from there my father (Vaidyanatha Iyer) escorted Him to a tiny village called Bhimanagari, which houses our family deity, Bālāmbā. His Holiness entered the small temple. He then instructed the priest to lift the small platform on which Bālāmbā was kept, pointing out that in a particular portion below, a tile would be missing. One can imagine everybody’s surprise when that was exactly what was found. His Holiness said, ‘That is the place where an accomplished saint who was a member of this family attained siddhi. He passed away as a monk and so ārādhanā, as is done for saṁnyāsins, must be performed for him; it should be done on the full moon day of the month of vaiśākha.’ From then on, the ārādhanā is performed every year on that day.”

“That is the place where an accomplished saint who was a member of this family attained siddhi. He passed away as a monk and so ārādhanā, as is done for saṁnyāsins, must be performed for him.”

-His Holiness

His Holiness was camping in Vathirairuppu (in Tamil Nadu) in October, 1957. After pūjā, He retired for the night to His room there. After some time, He abruptly got up and quietly walked out of the residence. Except for a few street lamps that were flickering, it was pitch dark everywhere. The Chaturagiri hill was at a distance and the Mahalingaswami Temple was on its summit. His attention was drawn to it. He closed His eyes in contemplation, and after some time, started to head back to the camp. In the meantime, some disciples and townsfolk had woken up and, perplexed, approached His Holiness. His Holiness asked, “There is a temple on top of the hill. What temple is that?” Some replied, “That is the Mahalinga Temple.” His Holiness declared, “I am going there tomorrow morning. Make preparations without delay.” The next day, He proceeded by car to a small town at the base of the hill and from there ascended the hill by foot. He walked briskly. The others were unable to keep pace with Him and lagged far behind. He reached the top of the hill around 12:30 p.m. There was not even a trace of strain or fatigue on His face. He went to the Sundaramahalinga Temple and then that of the Goddess. It was around 5:00 p.m. by the time His afternoon routine was completed. He then decided to visit another shrine on the hill, that of Candana-mahāliṅga. His Holiness permitted only Sundaram, a man who lived on the hill and knew every portion of it, to accompany Him. His Holiness proceeded in silence, leading. He had darśana of Candana-mahāliṅga. Telling Sundaram to wait, He headed for another peak. He crossed some rough paths and proceeded swiftly as if He was most familiar with the place. Sundaram was stunned to see the speed with which His Holiness was navigating the dense path and proceeding so comfortably to a part of the hill rarely visited by anyone. He had never before seen a stranger walk at such a great pace on the hill he knew so well. When it was past six o’clock but there was no sign of His Holiness, Sundaram climbed up a huge tree nearby. From his position at the top of the tree, He spotted His Holiness seated in a clearing on the hill. In front of His Holiness was a person in ochre robes, with matted hair tied in a knot. His Holiness appeared to be conversing with him. Sundaram thought he was hallucinating, for His Holiness had gone there alone and he had never seen that person before. Inexplicably experiencing haziness of vision and tiredness, he descended, rested for a while and returned to where He was supposed to wait. In a short while, His Holiness climbed down and returned to where Sundaram was waiting. His Holiness did not stop but continued to walk. He went to the Candana-mahāliṅga’s shrine and climbed down the mountain. Sundaram quietly followed His Holiness. Subsequently, His Holiness returned to Vathirairuppu. Sundaram did not breathe a word of what had transpired that evening to anyone. However, later, when a saṁnyāsin known to him visited Chaturagiri, he told him all that had transpired. The saṁnyāsin was amazed and exclaimed that the person His Holiness conversed with that day was a great siddha-puruṣa, unavailable to others. {These details were culled from two articles that appeared in the fortnightly Tamil magazine, Shakti Vikatan, in the issues dated 20^th February, 2008 and 7^th March, 2008. These two articles were written by Kudanthai Shyama and were a part of a series titled Chaturagiri Yattirai (Pilgrimage to Chaturagiri).}

Hariharasubramanian, a native of Vathirairuppu recently recalled that his father had told him, “His Holiness wished to meditate in solitude in the Chaturagiri hill for a few days. The devotees of the town had a tough time dissuading Him from doing so as they were afraid of His safety; the hill was home to wild beasts.”

The following was narrated by Srinivasan of Singikulam.

“When His Holiness camped at Singikulam in Tamilnadu, on the day after His arrival, He walked early in the morning to the backyard of the house. I had to walk past the backyard to fetch milk for the pūjā and make other arrangements for the camp. I beheld His Holiness standing there and looking at the hill on top of which the temple of Goddess Bhagavatī is situated. Not wanting to disturb His Holiness, I stood silently at a distance. His Holiness noticed me and signalled me to proceed with my work. I obeyed. Later, at about 10:00 a.m., an attendant of His Holiness came to me and said, ‘His Holiness wishes to go to the hilltop and have the darśana of Goddess Bhagavatī.’ This was unexpected and we were all thrilled to hear this. Sometime later, He climbed the hill and spent some time in Her shrine. He then went to and saw all the eighteen fountains on the hill before descending.”

His Holiness wished to do penance in solitude in the Chaturagiri hill for a few days. The devotees of the town had a tough time dissuading Him from doing so as they were afraid of His safety; the hill was home to wild beasts.

A person in his late twenties happened to visit Sringeri in 1984. On entering Sacchidananda Vilas, he told me, who was standing in the front hall, that he was a lawyer and proceeded to say, “I came here for sightseeing. I am an atheist but am curious to see what the head of this Maṭha is like. Can I see Him? As I have no respect for saṁnyāsins, I will neither remove my shirt nor prostrate before Him.” I told him, “His Holiness will be giving darśana in a few minutes. Anybody can go in. You can decide for yourself whether you want to go in or not.” I then went inside and, in a few minutes, opened the door for people to enter the room in the eastern side of Sacchidananda Vilas where His Holiness was seated. The lawyer followed a group of devotees into the room. He stood right at the back. In a few minutes, His Holiness’s eyes fell on him. His Holiness beckoned to him, holding a fruit in His hand. The lawyer stepped forward, abruptly prostrated and remained so. Some time passed but the lawyer did not show any signs of getting up. Finally, His Holiness asked him to rise. He got up with tears in his eyes and, in a choked voice, requested His Holiness to bless him. His Holiness gave him His blessings and also prasāda. The man then went out. When I came out after some time, I found that the lawyer was the sole person in the veranda. He approached me and said, “Are you wondering why I behaved in this fashion?” I responded, “No, I have seen such things happen many a time.”

The following was narrated by K. C. Mahadevan.

“A man came to the place where His Holiness was camping and started shouting, ‘What are these Swamis for? What is their role in this world? I want to see this Swami and question him.’ He had a pistol on his person. When the matter was reported to His Holiness, He calmly said, ‘Let him in.’ As he entered His Holiness’s room, He welcomed him with a smile. The moment he looked at His Holiness, he unexpectedly joined his palms and then prostrated before Him. After he got up, His Holiness spoke with him and blessed him. He emerged a reformed man.”

The following was penned by Nagendra Rao.

“In the summer of 1967, at the end of my first-year classes at the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta (Kolkata), I went to Delhi to visit my parents. His Holiness was camping in Delhi at that time and my mother was very particular that I should go to seek His blessings. I mentioned to her that I was extremely allergic to meeting and wasting time on holy men and saṁnyāsins. However, after much persuasion by her, I agreed but told her that under no circumstances would I go in the traditional mode of visiting Him (which is wearing a dhoti and aṅgavastra). I would go just as I was, in a shirt and a pair of trousers, or I would not go at all. My mother had little choice and she accepted what I said with a somewhat heavy heart.

“We went to visit His Holiness. At that time, He was staying in the house of the then Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha. People had congregated to meet Him but somehow, we were called in immediately for a personal audience with Him. His Holiness was seated on a silver āsana in a corner of a fairly large room in the front portion of the house. When we were ushered into the room, He immediately beckoned to us to come to Him. It was at this point that, suddenly, a spontaneous transformation came over me. The innate purity of His nature and the great power of His tapas were such that I suddenly felt unclean and rather out of place in the vestments that I had come in and, therefore, was extremely reluctant to go forward. He was kindness itself and repeated several times that I should come forward and made me sit within a couple of feet from Him. His first response on my sitting down was, ‘Why did you not come to see me in Calcutta, my son? Your mother had shown me a photograph of yours and I was watching every day to see whether you were among the hundreds of people who came by.’ This was but one more surprise, which left me totally dumbfounded. In the first instance, I never really thought we could get in to see Him so quickly. And in the second instance, I certainly did not expect that He would remember me from the photograph that He had seen. Of course, at the time I had no idea of His Holiness’s phenomenal memory and His punctilious attention to even matters of the smallest detail. Ordinary people often imagine limitations in great souls which are really not there, because they judge them by their own limited abilities and attitudes.

“Why did you not come to see me in Calcutta, my son? Your mother had shown me a photograph of yours and I was watching every day to see whether you were among the hundreds of people who came by.”

-His Holiness

“As I started to recover my power of speech, I felt one should be very honest in the presence of one who, I now started feeling, was a very unusual person and one of great spiritual magnitude. I launched into my explanation as to why I had not come to see Him in Calcutta. I explained to Him rather tersely that I had heard that He saw only people of wealth and high social standing and that I had really little use for meeting such personalities, no matter how spiritual or famous or eminent they were considered to be. There was pin-drop silence from all the servitors around. In my estimate never before had anyone been quite so irreverent and that too in so explicit a manner, in front of His Holiness. I fully expected to be told to leave the room, never see His face again – in other words, some form of the Hindu equivalent of excommunication on the spot.

“His Holiness’s response was totally unexpected. He just smiled and said, ‘I am told you are a student of business administration. Are you?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ He then asked me if it was not true that I had to study some elements of law as part of my course work. I again said, ‘Yes.’ And He said, ‘Is it not also true that in law, as it is practised in the land, hearsay information is not considered evidence?’ I began to see what He was driving at and said He was correct. He then asked me that as a man endowed with considerable education and a fair degree of discrimination, was it not expected of me to have come there personally to see whether the allegations were true or unfounded. He was so logical and reasonable that I had really nothing left to say and I agreed with Him. What I also found remarkable at the time was that His Holiness used not the arcane letter and word of the traditional śāstras of which I knew little at the time and for which I had even less regard. He used the very branches of secular learning with which I was fairly conversant and for which I had high regard, to make His point. This was another surprise to me. I had really not expected His Holiness to have such an immense understanding of and familiarity with the various branches of secular knowledge.

“At this stage, it suddenly seemed as if the flood-gates of a dam had opened and I then asked Him in very homely language as to what I should do to improve myself spiritually. His Holiness immediately said that I had already been initiated into the Gāyatrī-mantra and it was sufficient for me to repeat this. He then also told me to go to the seashore whenever I had the opportunity, sit on the beach, and observe the waves coming in. I asked Him, ‘Then what, Your Holiness?’ He said, ‘And observe and observe, and observe.’ ‘But Your Holiness, I am not anywhere close to the sea,’ I said. He replied, ‘Then go and look at the blue skies when there are no clouds.’ ‘And then, Your Holiness?’ I asked. ‘And then look and look and look and that would be the sādhanā for you,’ was the reply from Him. Since I had absolutely no acquaintance then with the formal methods of dhyāna and I had heard the word ‘samādhi’ in only a vague sort of way, the full significance of what His Holiness told me escaped me. It has been my experience since that time that His Holiness’s words were never uttered in vain and they always bore fruit sooner or later.”

The following was narrated by Ramasubramania Iyer.

“My ailing grandmother was in her nineties when His Holiness graced my house in Tirunelveli. Compassionately addressing her, He said, ‘Chant the name of Rāma continuously.’ My grandmother replied that she would do so. His Holiness did not leave the matter at that. ‘Saying that you will do it is insufficient. You must actually do it. Now repeat after me.’ He then chanted the sacred Rāma-nāma and she chanted after Him. How fortunate she was to have received initiation at that age and that too unasked and further, with the Guru Himself coming to her! She proceeded to chant the Rāma-nāma continuously. Some months passed. Her condition became critical. Under these conditions there was every chance that her mental chanting would get interrupted. Strange are the ways in which the grace of His Holiness acts. Unexpectedly, a group arranged for akhaṇḍa (unbroken) chanting of Rāma-nāma. The place of chant being nearby, the divine name reverberated in my home day and night. Shortly thereafter, my grandmother breathed her last. Thus till her last days, an opportunity had been provided for her to be sanctified by the holy name of Lord Rāma.

“Then go and look at the blue skies when there are no clouds. And then look and look and look and that would be the sādhanā for you.”

-His Holiness

During His visit to Thenkarai in December, 1981, His Holiness was returning after His Candramaulīśvara-pūjā at night to His room, which was on the first floor of the building. Upon His climbing a few steps, He experienced breathlessness and sat down on a step for a while. A devotee remarked, “The steps are steep.” “The steps are the same as they were in 1958 when I came here. It is just that I have become old,” smilingly retorted His Holiness, much to the amusement of all present there.

One day when His Holiness was camping at Rameshwaram in 1980 and was in His room with Vaidyasubramanya Iyer, He could hear, from a loud speaker outside, a Harikathā (discourse on God, with singing) on the greatness of Rameshwaram being delivered by Krishna Premi, an eminent Harikathā exponent. Even as His Holiness was listening to the glories of the Lord, He closed His eyes and remained motionless for long. Thereafter, He slowly opened His eyes and said to Vaidyasubramanya Iyer, “I had gone into Samādhi.” Such was His devotion to God that on hearing an exposition of the Lord’s glories, He spontaneously became fully focused on the Lord. {This is based on an article in Tamil published in the magazine Bhagavata Dharma in July 2012.}

When His Holiness camped in Dewas in Madhya Pradesh in January 1983, as He was seated giving darśana to the public in the morning, some started to sing a Hindi bhajan. Soon, numerous others joined in. As He heard the words to the effect, “This is my prayer that my mind should remain centred every moment on Your feet; on Your feet, O Bhagavān,” tears of joy began to well up in His eyes. As the singing progressed, He became increasingly moved and soon plunged into meditation. He opened His eyes only sometime after the singing was complete. He then appreciated the crowd and blessed that their hearts be ever full of devotion.

Such was His devotion to God that on hearing an exposition of the Lord’s glories, He spontaneously became fully focussed on the Lord.

Many a time, when His Holiness stood next to the sanctum sanctorum of Goddess Śāradāmbā in Sringeri, His lips moved and it was discernible that He was conversing with Her. When He read, in the course of His worship of Lakṣmī-Narasiṁha every year on Narasiṁha-jayantī, the chapter in the Bhāgavata-purāṇa about the Lord’s manifestation, He invariably became overcome with emotion. On coming across two photographs, one in which His Holiness appeared to be saying something to an idol of Narasiṁha in a temple and another in which He appeared to be listening to the Lord saying something, I asked His Holiness about this. “That day, I did speak with Narasiṁha. I asked Him if He was quite comfortable there,” He clarified. “The Lord told me that He was.”

“That day, I did speak with Narasiṁha. I asked Him if He was quite comfortable there. The Lord told me that He was.”

-His Holiness

His Holiness’s performance of pūjā was, throughout, a feast for the eyes. He performed arcana in such an exquisite manner that the flowers that He gently threw up from His seat to the Candramaulīśvara-liṅga placed on the top step inside the pūjā-maṇḍapa often formed a pretty pattern. When He performed arcana with plenty of dark maroon roses one night in Chennai, the flowers offered formed a neat, thick garland around the liṅga. The gathering of devotees that witnessed this even forgot the normal decorum and started clapping spontaneously.

His Holiness’s performance of pūjā was, throughout, a feast for the eyes. He performed arcana in such an exquisite manner that the flowers that He gently threw up from His seat to the Candramaulīśvara-liṅga placed on the top step inside the pūjā-maṇḍapa often formed a pretty pattern.

“The naivedya was very hot. How could I offer it to the Lord? So, I had to wait for some time for it to cool down before I offered it to Him.”

-His Holiness

The following was narrated by A. Ramaswamy, a close disciple of His Holiness.

“Once during a pūjā session, I noticed that the curtain that had been drawn to enable His Holiness offer naivedya to the Lord in private as per tradition was opened after a longer time than usual. Later, when I had the darśana of His Holiness, I was curious to find out what caused the unusual delay. Straightaway, I posed my question to His Holiness. He said, ‘The naivedya was very hot. How could I offer it to the Lord? So I had to wait for some time for it to cool down before I offered it to Him.’ His Holiness’s devotion to God was unparalleled. His performance of pūjā was bewitching. He never thought of the idols as mere images of God. He always felt the living presence of God in them. Naturally, He did not wish to offer a naivedya that was too hot and would hurt the Lord.”

He took personal interest in the welfare and the studies of the students of the pāṭhaśālā in Sringeri and spoke to the students now and then. He renovated the pāṭhaśālā building and provided them comfortable accommodation and a good atmosphere for studies. At times, he probed the students’ knowledge by gentle questioning. If the student did not know the answer, He never humiliated the boy but merely went on to the next question, often after having given a brief clarification. He established Veda-pāṭhaśālās at numerous places. He started the Veda-poṣaka-sabhā for facilitating the teaching, study and propagation of the Vedas. Through it, He encouraged Vedic scholars by providing them financial assistance, honouring them and presenting them with cash awards. The Veda-poṣaka-sabhā has been unfailingly doing this every year during the five-day Śaṅkara-jayantī celebrations. It also conducts Veda- examinations in this period; students from pāṭhaśālas all over the country have been taking these highly valued examinations. The successful students receive certificates and cash awards. Vedic scholars are honoured on other occasions too such as on āśvayuja-kṛṣṇa-caturdaśī, His Holiness’s birthday.

He took personal interest in the welfare and the studies of the students of the pāṭhaśālā in Sringeri and spoke to the students now and then.

The following was narrated by Venkatappa Yajnanarayana (who became Śrī Jñānānanda-tīrtha after saṁnyāsa).

“As I was fortunate enough to accompany His Holiness during His tour of Andhra Pradesh, I was able to witness numerous incidents that underscored the faith He had in the Vedas and the regard He had for vaidikas. Whenever He visited a village or a town in Andhra Pradesh, He posed the question, ‘Is there any agnihotrin (a maintainer of the ordained fires and performer of the agnihotra rite every day at dawn and dusk) living in this place?’ If the answer was ‘Yes,’ He expressed His wish to pay a visit to the house concerned. Whenever He visited any such house, He praised the agnihotrin for his faith in performing such rites and specially blessed him and his family. He also advised the people who accompanied Him to such places to be sincere in the performance of their nitya-karma.

“Once during His camp at Tenali, He heard about a sincere agnihotrin and decided to visit his house. The person concerned was informed about His Holiness’s proposed visit and he was, naturally, delighted. When His Holiness came to his place, He asked him to take Him to the place of his agnihotra worship. The house he lived in as also the shelter where he performed agnihotra were in a dilapidated condition. Appreciating his strict adherence to his dharma despite his penury, His Holiness instructed the officials of the Maṭha to construct a new house at the expense of the Maṭha and offer it free of cost to the sincere agnihotrin. We were all moved at this compassionate gesture of His Holiness. Within months, the house was ready for the agnihotrin to occupy.”

Appreciating the agnihotrin’s strict adherence to his dharma despite his penury, His Holiness instructed the officials of the Maṭha to construct a new house at the expense of the Maṭha and offer it free of cost to the sincere agnihotrin.

His Holiness presided over the conduct of several Atirudra-mahāyāgas (in which the Vedic Śrīrudra-praśna is collectively chanted 14,641 times and offerings are made into fire), Sahasra-cāṇḍī-mahāyāgas (in which the Devī-māhātmya is chanted a thousand times and offerings are made into fire), koṭi-kuṅkuma-arcanas (in which arcana is done to śrī-cakras, chanting the names of the Divine Mother from the Lalithā-sahasranāma) and homas, such as the Ṛgveda-saṁhitā-homa (in which the hymns of the Ṛk- saṁhitā are chanted and offerings made into fire), Yajurveda- saṁhitā-homa and Sāmaveda- saṁhitā-homa. All these were conducted for the welfare of all.

There is no record in the Sringeri Math of an Atirudra mahāyāga or a sahasra-caṇḍī-mahāyāga having been performed in the Maṭha prior to Tipu Sultan requesting that a sahasra-caṇḍī-mahāyāga be done. Tipu wrote (Selections from the records of the Sringeri Mutt, Vol. I, Mysore, 1927. Record 65), “I have written to the Asaf of Nagar to supply you all the materials required for the great yāga; Triyambaka Rao of Nagar and the Amildar of Koppa will camp at Sringeri to see to the necessary supplies of vessels, clothes, images, etc. Kindly see that the rituals are performed according to the prescribed rules, giving liberal cash presents to Brāhmaṇas and feed them in thousands every day.” In a subsequent letter, he acknowledged the miraculous effects of the yāga; how he was successful in his enterprise, how rains fell and how the land yielded rich harvests. It was only over 150 years later that such a yāga was performed in Sringeri. This was organized by His Holiness in connection with the completion of 60 years by His Guru.

After becoming the pontiff, the first time His Holiness presided over the performance of an Atirudra was at Rudrapatna; this was conducted from 20^th December, 1961 to 1^st January, 1962. The first time He presided over a sahasra-cāṇḍī-mahāyāga during His pontificate was at Sringeri in March, 1963; this was conducted for world-peace. As for the first koṭi-kuṅkuma-arcana, it was performed in Sringeri, in January 1964.

The following was narrated by Vaidyasubramanya Iyer.

“In 1965, at my request, His Holiness was pleased to come to Madras (Chennai) and bless the Atirudra-mahāyāga and sahasra-caṇḍī-mahāyāga celebrated at a site, then belonging to me, opposite my house. A few years earlier, in 1960, when His Holiness had been walking on that very site, I told Him that it was an unclean place; I did not know beforehand that He would come there. He remarked, standing near some plantain trees, ‘Why do you say so? It seems to me to be a sacred place.’ In 1965, the two yāgas were performed at that place. The pūrṇāhuti (performed at end of the rite) was over by noon. That evening, at the close of my speech in the public function presided over by His Holiness, without any premeditation, I dedicated the site for temples to be constructed for Vināyaka, Śāradāmbā and Śaṅkara-Bhagavatpāda and for a ‘Pravachana Mandiram (Hall for discourses)’ to be built behind them. I did not know why I suddenly took that decision. After the function was over, His Holiness told me that that afternoon, He had discussed with His Personal Assistant, Padmanabha Upadhyaya, as to whether I would be willing to give that site for the purpose of putting up temples there as it had become sanctified by the Atirudra and Sahasra-caṇḍī. Upadhyaya had told Him that the plot would be very expensive to purchase and so they should not mention the idea to me. His Holiness had then dropped the matter. I explained to His Holiness that the thought of making the announcement had arisen suddenly in my mind. It had arisen only because the same thought had occurred to His Holiness earlier and my mind had become sanctified with the reflection of His Holiness’s thought. This is now the site of the Pravacana Mandiram and the three shrines and the road in front has been named ‘Sringeri Math Road’.”

The following was narrated by S. Ramakrishnan.

“In 1977, during His stay at Chennai, in response to the request of myself and the other committee members, His Holiness came to a vacant plot in the street where I reside, graced the assembled devotees and also performed pūjā there. Later, I spontaneously experienced an intense desire to construct a temple for Goddess Śāradā at this place. My associates and I managed to purchase the plot and had it registered in the name of the Sringeri Math. Vadiyasubramanya Iyer laid the foundation stone for the construction and it was in his speech that he disclosed for the first time that after His visit to this place in 1977, His Holiness had expressed to him that it would be good if a temple were to be constructed here. His words cannot be in vain. Purely by His grace, we were able to surmount every problem, such as paucity of funds, and successfully build a temple housing the idols of Śāradāmbā, Vināyaka and Kṛṣṇa. His Holiness camped here for two days each during His visits to Chennai in 1982 and 1986; Jagadguru Śrī Bhāratī-tīrtha Mahasvāmin, the present pontiff, performed the kumbhābhiṣeka of the temple in 1982.”

His Holiness invited those knowledgeable in the śāstras, such as Vedānta, Tarka, Mīmāṁsā and Vyā-karaṇa, from all over the country to participate in the Vidvat-sadas (assembly of scholars commencing every year on Vināyaka- caturthī and ending on the subsequent paurṇamī. A scholar par excellence, He presided over and personally participated in the annual Vidvat-sadas. He ensured that humiliation of others, particularly budding scholars, was not indulged in and if any such attempt were made by a paṇḍita, He gently intervened. When students spoke, He encouraged them by posing simple questions that they could have the pleasure of successfully answering.

The following was narrated by A. Ramaswamy.

“I was in my teens when I chanced to attend a vidvat-sadas at Sringeri. Realising that I could not make out anything from the scholarly debates of the assembled paṇḍitas, I left the sadas. After the night Candramaulīśvara-pūjā, His Holiness sent for me and enquired why I did not sit through the sadas. I replied that it did not make sense to me to sit in the sadas, pretending as if I was able to grasp the import of the scholarly discussions, when, in reality, I did not comprehend anything whatsoever.

“It is not necessary that you should be able to grasp everything that is discussed in the sadas. Even mere hearing of śāstras will fetch you puṇya.

• His Holiness

“‘No, that’s not the right attitude,’ His Holiness corrected me. ‘It is not necessary that you should be able to grasp everything that is discussed in the sadas. Even the mere hearing of the śāstras will fetch you puṇya. So it is sufficient if you sit in a sadas and listen to the scriptural discussions. From now on, make it a point to attend vidvat-sadas whenever you get an opportunity. Sometime or the other, you will start comprehending the import of these scriptural discussions.’ I followed His Holiness’s advice, and, needless to mention, I immensely benefited from it.”

For the propagation of Sanskrit, His Holiness started the Sura-sarasvatī-sabhā. This sabhā has a graded sequence of courses, with books for each level and teachers to train students. Those passing the examinations are awarded certificates. For spreading sanātana-dharma and facilitating connection with the Sringeri Math, He started magazines called Śaṅkara-kṛpā in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu and Tattvāloka in English. The Abhinava Vidyatheertha Mahaswamigal Education Trust was started with the blessings of His Holiness and caters to the publication of books; Tattvāloka is published under its aegis.

Besides giving a fillip to the learning of the Vedas and the Śāstras, He also encouraged secular education. Apart from the girls’ school that He started in Sringeri in 1972, He founded the Jnanodaya School in Bengaluru in April 1988. As intended by Him, this has developed into a big institution. He was the patron of the Sree Shankara College at Kalady since 1960; this institution provides education leading to university degrees in Science and Arts.

T. S. Nagarajan narrated the following conversation that he had had with His Holiness.

I: Even those who hardly do a good deed take to boisterous propaganda. The Sringeri Sharada Peetham is involved in initiating and executing so many dhārmika activities for the welfare of people but does not publicise such good deeds. Many people are not even aware of the good work of the pīṭha. I am agonised at this state of affairs.

Śaṅkara-bhagavadpāda established this pīṭha for dharma-pracāra (propagating dharma) and not for the pracāra (broadcasting) of its own good deeds (dharma)!

His Holiness: Śaṅkara-bhagavadpāda established this pīṭha for dharma-pracāra (propagating dharma) and not for the pracāra (broadcasting) of its own good deeds (dharma)!

The following is excerpted from an article by S. Y. Krishnaswamy published in a souvenir in 1983.

“His discourses are always tempered to the occasion and by logic and analogy and often by illustrative anecdotes, He makes what is difficult look easy.

“Once, when I ventured to ask Him about a concept of salvation in which God and the individual continued to remain separate, He said, ‘What kind of salvation is this? Even after obtaining mokṣa, you are Krishnaswamy and I am a pontiff and I must keep wondering if you are going to do namaskāra to me!’

“Once, in order to expound the variety in God’s creation and God’s endowment to each of a particular skill for survival, His Holiness said, ‘Take the bees. They fabricate a hive consisting of many apertures. There is a uniformity and perfection about the honeycombs which are remarkable. Birds make nests. One is surprised at the intricacy displayed in joining the little twigs together so as to make the nests stable. The mosquitoes sit on our skin to drink our blood. They do not take as much time as a doctor does to take blood specimen from our body.’

“He could go on and on with hundreds of such examples. Only the great can simplify the non-simple.”

Once, in order to expound the variety in God’s creation and God’s endowment to each of a particular skill for survival, His Holiness said, “Take the bees. They fabricate a hive consisting of many apertures. There is a uniformity and perfection about the honeycombs which are remarkable. Birds make nests. One is surprised at the intricacy displayed in joining the little twigs together so as to make the nests stable. The mosquitoes sit on our skin to drink our blood. They do not take as much time as a doctor does to take blood specimen from our body.

On His tours, it was customary for Him to give at least one anugraha-bhāṣaṇa (benedictory address) at every city, town or village that He visited. Though He delivered thousands of discourses, not one of them was discordant with another, even when the verses taken up by Him for exposition had dissimilar meanings. This was because He put things in the proper perspective. For example, in a speech delivered in Chennai, in Tamil, in January 1982, on the topic of karma, He cited a verse of Bhartṛhari’s Nīti-śataka to the effect, “Salutations to that karma on account of which Brahmā, like a potter, is constantly engaged in the task of creation; Viṣṇu was hurled into the problem-maze of ten incarnations; Śiva was forced to wander for alms with a skull in His hands and the Sun is compelled to daily course through the skies.” However, He put it into proper perspective by saying, “The poet has said so. He has given an exaggerated account in order to highlight the power of fate. Actually, free will does play a major role and Īśvara is not bound by karma.”

Another aspect of His benedictory addresses was His practical approach. For instance, speaking on the study of the Vedas, He said, “A parrot and a man may utter the same words. A person goes to another in response to the latter’s call but does not give the same weightage to the same words uttered by a parrot. The chanting of a Veda-paṇḍita and that being played back by a tape recorder may sound similar. However, the former is chanting the Veda, while the latter is not. The scriptures specify that the Veda must be learnt only from a Guru if it is to be efficacious. It may be possible to learn by rote Vedic passages by employing a recorder. However, this will not confer the puṇya that learning from a Guru would. Nowadays, however, some have difficulty in finding a good Vedic scholar to teach them regularly and for long; also, because of their hectic work schedules, they seem to find it difficult to go to a Veda-vidvān’s place every day for long. Even such persons will do well to learn at least a few times from a teacher and get the words and intonations right. Thereafter, it does not matter if they employ recordings to strengthen and refresh their memories.”

“A parrot and a man may utter the same words. A person goes to another in response to the latter’s call but does not give the same weightage to the same words uttered by a parrot. The chanting of a Veda-paṇḍita and that being played back by a tape recorder may sound similar. However, the former is chanting the Veda, while the latter is not.”

• His Holiness

His Holiness commenced His discourses with an invocatory verse about God and ended them by chanting, in effect, “Victory to the Lord” and getting His audience too to do so; the exact words that He normally chanted were, “hara namaḥ pārvatī-pataye hara hara mahādeva. jānakī-kānta-smaraṇam jaya jaya rāma rāma.” He thereby indicated that one should constantly think of God or do so at least at the start and end of every activity.

As was apparent to anyone who listened to them attentively and with devotion, His Holiness’s talks were beneficial, pregnant with import, lucid, practical, punctuated with rib-tickling humour, cogent and smooth-flowing, with not a single sentence or phrase out of place or superfluous. They also bore, when relevant, the unmistakable stamp of His own direct experience. The following comprises extracts from a benedictory address of His Holiness at Chennai in 1982; that He was speaking on the basis of the scripture as also His own experience is patent.

“Practice meditation, commenced in the aforesaid manner, with just a form of God as the object of focus and with the eyes kept closed. Some day that divine form will be apprehended even when the eyes are opened, as though it has manifested itself in front of you.”

-His Holiness

“Practice meditation, commenced in the aforesaid manner, with just a form of God as the object of focus and with the eyes kept closed. Some day that divine form will be apprehended even when the eyes are opened, as though it has manifested itself in front of you. For this, what is needed is perseverance for a time with the practice of meditation. As one persists with the practice, there finally occurs the direct perception of the divinity that was meditated upon. When this stage is reached, if one were to have something in mind at that time, one would even receive clarification regarding it. That response would characterise the word of God. The person concerned can uplift himself as also those around him. You can personally experience all this, subject to your assiduously striving for a time towards that end. “Can meditation be done on the Supreme as devoid of attributes? Yes, it can. You may ask, ‘How should I do it?’ Behold an external light briefly. Forget the world while doing so. While you take no notice of the world, close your eyes. Conceive that both your eyes are proceeding to look within. As you conceive thus, a light shall be seen on its own. What kind of light? What usually shows up is a spontaneous glow that is bluish or one that bears semblance to moonlight. When the light manifests, promptly think, ‘I am of the very nature of pure consciousness. Consciousness is all-pervasive,’ and retain just this thought. If you practice maintaining this thought, you shall progress all the way up to asaṁprajñāta-samādhi. With progression in practice, your meditation shall ripen into asaṁprajñāta-samādhi proper that results in the dawn of enlightenment.

“Due to the excellence of meditation, there arises in the mind the realization of the Supreme Brahman. There occurs Brahman’s sphuraṇa, manifestation. What is this manifestation like? It is like when we sometimes aver, ‘Aha! This is now so obvious.’ After such manifestation of the Supreme Brahman, there is no further requirement to meditate. The Supreme Brahman, which manifested, continues to remain unveiled.”

The Muṇḍaka-upaniṣad describes the Guru whom a disciple desirous of enlightenment should approach, as versed in the scripture and established in the Supreme Brahman; it goes on to teach that those who approach such an enlightened Guru with some desire obtain the consummation of that desire, while those who are dispassionate and serve him are freed from rebirth. The Kaṭha-upaniṣad points out that one does not become enlightened when taught the Truth by one who is unenlightened. Bhagavatpāda has described the Guru to be sought as one who has realized the Truth and is ever intent on what is good for his disciple. Vedānta-deśika, the eminent Viśiṣṭādvaitin philosopher and preceptor who lived in the 14^th century, has described an ideal Guru in the first verse of his Nyāsa-viṁśati. In a talk delivered by His Holiness in the Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai in 1958 and attended by thousands, His Holiness took up this verse and, elaborating on it, spoke of the characteristics of a Guru. Such was His broadmindedness and readiness to accept whatever was good that it did not even strike Him as unusual that He, an Advaitin and the pontiff of a Maṭha founded by Śaṅkara-bhagavatpāda, was taking up, and that too, in a Śaiva temple, a verse of a Viśiṣṭādvaitin who had attacked advaita in his works such as Śata-dūṣaṇī. That verse conveys, “One who is desirous of liberation should seek a preceptor who is (a) grounded in a good tradition, (b) a person of steady knowledge (of the Truth), (c) sinless, (d) versed in the scripture, (e) established in Brahman, (f) replete with the sattva-guṇa, (g) a speaker of what is true (or the Truth), (h) with conduct that is in accordance with the prescribed codes, (i) free from showing off, jealousy and other such negative traits, (j) unmoved by sense-objects, (k) an enduring friend (=not one who abandons a disciple), (l) compassionate and (m) corrector of disciples when they err.” His Holiness had in full measure each and every characteristic of an ideal Guru spoken of in the Muṇḍaka-upaniṣad, by Bhagavatpāda and in this verse.