Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, by Suri Nagamma

In the meantime, a fussy young man who had recently
come, asked, “Swami, it seems a Jnani has jnanadrishti
(supernatural vision) besides bahyadrishti (external vision). Will
you please do me the favour of giving me that jnanadrishti? Or
will you tell me where there is a person who could give it to
me?” Bhagavan replied, “That jnanadrishti must be acquired
by one’s own effort and is not something that anybody can
give.” That devotee said, “It is said that the Guru himself can
give it if he so pleases.” Bhagavan replied, “The Guru can
only say ‘if you follow this path, you will gain jnanadrishti’. But
who follows it? A Guru who is a Jnani is only a guide but the
walking (i.e. the sadhana) must be done by the sishyas
themselves.” The young man felt disappointed and went away.

A little later, a devotee’s child of about five or six years
of age, residing in Ramana Nagar, brought two raw fruits
from their garden and gave them to Bhagavan. She used
to bring sweets and fruits now and then and give them to
Bhagavan. On all such occasions, Bhagavan used to say,
“Why all this?” But he ate them all the same. Yesterday, he
gave them back without eating and said, “Take this fruit
home, cut it into small bits and give them to all the others
saying, ‘This is to Bhagavan, this is to Bhagavan’ and you
also eat some. Bhagavan is within everybody. Why do you
bring them everyday? I told you not to. Give them to
everybody there. Bhagavan is within everybody. Please go.”
That girl went away disappointed. Looking at me,
Bhagavan said, “Children take great pleasure in such things.

If they say they will give Swami something they know they
will also get something out of it. When I was on the hill,
little boys and girls used to come to me whenever they had
a holiday. They used to ask their parents for money and
bring with them packets of sweets, biscuits and the like.

I used to sit along with them and get my share.”
“So you used to enjoy the feast like Bala Gopala,”
I said. “If they say they will take something for Swami, they
know they will get something for themselves. It is all right if
that is done once in a way. But why every day? If all of them
eat, isn’t it equivalent to my eating?” said Bhagavan. I was
happy and pleased at Bhagavan so clearly illustrating to us
how he is in everybody.

You know what happened a week or ten days ago! In
the morning at breakfast, someone served more oranges to
Bhagavan than to the others. Seeing that, Bhagavan
completely stopped taking oranges. Four or five days back,
when devotees appealed to him to resume taking oranges,
Bhagavan said, “Is it not enough if you all eat?” The devotees
said, “Isn’t it painful for us to eat when Bhagavan doesn’t?
That is why we are appealing to you to excuse us.” Bhagavan
said, “What is there to excuse? I don’t like them so much.”
When they said, “They are good for Bhagavan’s health,” he
replied, saying, “Look, there are about a hundred people
taking breakfast. I am eating through so many mouths. Isn’t
that enough? Should it be through this mouth only?”
That is jnanadrishti. Who can give it to others?