III
Prof B.L. Atreya

A SAINT IS as great a necessity for human society as is a great
scientist, a great thinker and a great leader, nay the necessity is
even greater. For a scientist discovers the secrets of life and of
the Universe, a thinker tries to understand the meaning and
purpose of existence, and a leader tries to shape and transform
humanity or a portion of it according to his own notions of
what it ought to be.

A saint is one who makes a wholehearted effort to realise
in himself, in his own life, the highest and furthest possibilities
of human life, which in a natural course of evolution may take
centuries to actualise.

A saint is a man perfected, a fulfilled hope of humanity, a
successful experiment in human sublimation, and a source of
inspiration and guidance to the travellers on the path to
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perfection. He is the embodiment of the highest values of
humanity, an indubitable indication that ideals can be made
real, that man can be what he ought to be, here and now.

His life is a measure of man's manhood, when it is lived in
the midst of humanity and not in sanctified seclusion. It is a
practical solution of the various puzzles of life, provided it is a
comprehensive one. Considered from various points of view, a
saint is the greatest asset to human society. A perfected being,
he is the eternal beacon to sadhakas the world over.

I have read the biographies of many a saint, seen a number
of them and have come in contact with some. I have had the
privilege of being at the Ashram of Sri Ramana Maharshi for a
short time in March 1940 and since then have been in
correspondence with him.

He made a deep impression upon my mind, a mind that
has been moulded by a study of scientific and philosophic
writings of the east as well as of the west. The greatest peculiarity
and merit of Sri Ramana Maharshi's life is that although he has
moulded and perfected his personality on the lines of Advaita
Vedanta, a purely Indian way of Self-realization, he is highly
appreciated and resorted to by western seekers and by those
Indians who have been educated on western lines.

One of the reasons for this fact may be that some English
and French writers happened to praise him highly in their books.

But the fact remains to be explained why these western seekers
were themselves so well impressed by the Maharshi. Mere
publicity does not in the least establish the greatness of saints,
although it may make them known, as in the case of Jesus Christ,
to a wider public.

Maharshi's greatness is more deeply founded. It is based on
his actual living by the creed of Advaita Vedanta which holds that
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reality is one without a second, that everything in this Universe is
but that reality which is Existence-Consciousness-Bliss.

True to his creed, he regards nothing as alien, none as
other, no event as undesirable. For him the ideal is the real and
the real is the ideal. He has no other relation with anyone but
that of love. He thinks as much of others as he thinks of himself.

Love, affection, kindness, mercy etc. which are expressions of
one and the same thing, and the feeling of unity with all, ever
flow from him. This is the secret of Maharshi's unique greatness
and consequent popularity. The whole of humanity owes its
homage to this great sage amidst us.

Jnana is like akasha. The supreme Self which is to be known
through sadhana is also like the ether. The various objects we
see in the world as well as the souls are like the ether. Therefore,
who is to know which? What is to be known by what? The
supreme realization is that there is no plurality. True knowledge
is distinctionless. That knowledge is the Self, the light divine.

That knowledge is Bhagavan Ramana.

May we offer our obeisance to this supreme Lord who
came to save the world and who still abides and will ever abide
with us in order to make us perfect.

May we, on this auspicious occasion, renew our faith in
our Bhagavan and pay homage to him so that not only we, but
the entire world may be saved.

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