Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, by Suri Nagamma

So long as the two are together, some effort is inevitable for
eating and sleeping. Even that is a disturbance to the bliss
enjoyed by such people, just as the clothes we wear appear
to be a burden in midsummer. Under such circumstances,
any effort at serving such people will perhaps be like asking
them to put on a full suit when they are anxious to remove
even the existing clothing on account of the distress caused
by continuous perspiration. The jiva says that it is difficult to
carry on with this stomach. Instead of that, Bhagavan has
given a different meaning to the verse. According to him the
stomach itself tells the jiva it is difficult to carry on with it!
See the beauty of it: “O, jiva! You don’t give me, the stomach,
even a moment’s respite. You don’t understand my troubles.

It is impossible to live with you.” That means, the jiva does
not stop breathing even for a moment. So the stomach says,
it is difficult to live with it indeed!
When I read this letter before Bhagavan, a Tamil disciple
after learning what it was all about said, “Avvaiyar’s song is
well known but Bhagavan’s interpretation is novel. No one
else has shown such consideration for the stomach. It is not
known in what context Bhagavan wrote thus.” Smilingly
Bhagavan said, “On a full-moon day in the month of Chitra
we were all sitting together after a hearty meal with sweets
and the like. As we had our food that day later than usual,
we were feeling rather tired. Amongst us, Somasundaraswami
sang the venba written by Avvaiyar, lying down in the hall,
rolling about and patting his stomach. I wrote this venba in
fun and sang it. What has been read just now is the meaning
of those two songs.”