Journey to Tirupapuliyur

A little distance from the station under a tree, were piled up some stones. Ramdas, going up to the place, sat down on them and continued his meditation of Ram. It was past midday when another train arrived. Ramdas leaving the place, got upon the platform, nobody obstructing him at the gate this time, because this train was the right one for him to travel in. Here he came in touch with a Sadhu who immediately took him up. Ram gave him another guide. Both entered the carriage. The new Sadhuram was very solicitous. He asked him as to where he intended going. Ramdas was perplexed at this question. The simple truth was, he did not know. He replied:

“Ram knows, and since you are sent by Ram to guide him, you ought to know where he should go next.”

The Sadhuram then said: “Well, I am taking you to Tirupapuliyur and thence to Tiruvannamalai.”

“As you please,” replied Ramdas. “You are Ram. Ramdas follows wherever you take him.”

Now the train was running. On the front seat facing Ramdas were seated two young Hindus – English educated. Both of them stared for some time at the strange, careless and quaint Sannyasi, that is, Ramdas in front of them. Then one of them remarked to the other in English (they thought that the Sannyasi before them was ignorant of the English language):

“Mark closely the Sadhu facing us. He belongs, take my word, to a class of Sannyasis who are perfect humbugs. The fellow has adopted this mode of life simply as a means of eking out his livelihood. This man is a veritable impostor and a hoax.”

This observation was highly approved of by the other party who held a similar opinion of poor Ramdas. They spoke something more which he could not clearly catch owing to the rolling sound of the running train. O Ram, how kind of Thee to put Ramdas in a situation in which he is made to hear himself spoken of in this manner! Instead of feeling annoyed, he sent up a prayer to Ram to bless the young men for their frankness. Further, Ramdas could not resist the expression of his gratitude to these friends, and thus addressed them with hands folded in salute:

“O kind friends! It gives Ramdas great pleasure to confess that he is in full agreement with the view you have expressed about him. It is perfectly true that he is a fraud. He has simply put on the robes of a Sannyasi in order to find a living thereby. But one thing more you discover in him and that is, he is mad of Ram and every moment he cries out to Him to make him pure and only live for Ram’s sake. Besides, it is his humble presumption that Ram is taking him on this pilgrimage to purify him.”

This speech surprised both the friends, not so much on account of its import as the knowledge it brought them that the vagrant Sannyasi could understand English and therefore had grasped the purport of their remarks, which were never intended to be known to him. A sudden change came over them and both fell at his feet and sought his pardon for their “thoughtless remarks” as they termed them. Thereafter, they became very solicitous and kind. They inquired if he required anything to eat. This was a reminder to him that he had not tasted anything the whole of that day, a circumstance which he had entirely forgotten. He then told the two friends that he was mainly living upon fruits, and would gladly accept any alms from them. After some consultation with the Sadhuram, the guide, they handed over to him some money for the purchase of fruits for Ramdas. Ram’s ways are indeed inscrutable – He is all love and all kindness!