XI
K. R. K. Murthy

AN OLD WOMAN bent double with age used to go round
and round Sri Bhagavan's hall and finally go near Bhagavan's
seat and loudly sing songs composed extempore by her. Her
spontaneous compositions used to pour forth effortlessly from
her extremely devoted heart. She was not a learned lady, there
night be some grammatical mistakes and errors in rhyme,
rhythm, etc. She used to thus sing her prayers daily for obtaining
the grace of Bhagavan.

One day Sri Bhagavan smilingly remarked that her songs
seemed to be much better than those of her son. Her son was a
scholar and from an ordinary point of view, the scholar's
compositions ought to be superior but for Bhagavan those arising
from the bottom of the heart with great devotion and emotion
are more pleasing. Are not the standards of judgement different?

Whenever Bhagavan's physical body appeared to suffer from
some ailment, some devotees used to prescribe medicines for relief,
forgetting that Sri Bhagavan himself was Vaidyanatha who can cure
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all ills if he so willed. Sri Bhagavan used to take or apply the medicines
just for the satisfaction of the devotees who prescribed the same
and not for curing himself. He never wanted to wound the feelings
of even the humblest devotees and he used to accept the medicines,
though there was no necessity for any of them as far as he was
concerned. Though the act is the same, the object is different.

One lady devotee was one day expressing to Bhagavan
that she had come that day from a long distance. Bhagavan
suddenly remarked, "You did not come. The train brought you
here." The other side of the picture is more real to Bhagavan.

She did not come there perhaps by her individual exertion but
was brought by Bhagavan's grace.

In the early stages, Sri Ramanashramam was a lonely
cottage in the burial ground. As the number of devotees
frequenting the Ashram was increasing, so also was the joy of
the thieves in the neighbourhood at the prospect of getting easy
money from the Ashram.

They waited for an opportunity and one day suddenly
broke into the Ashram at the dead of night. They freely used
their sticks on every one of the inmates including Bhagavan.

They enraged the devotees who were preparing to pay them in
the same coin. Sri Bhagavan who was unmoved pointed out
that, "sahanam was sadhu dharma", and that they should
patiently bear with the thieves.

"We should not swerve from the path of our dharma ^[?]
irrespective of the acts or behaviour of evil doers, further it is
not wise to knock down the teeth that bit the tongue", he said.

These words disarmed the devotees, who kept quiet while
the thieves were busy. The thieves expected to go back with a
fortune but with all their efforts could not secure more than
ten rupees worth of valuables from the whole premises.

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While the thieves were thus disappointed and dejected, Sri
Bhagavan was reported to have suggested to them mercifully
that they should take the food available in the kitchen. This
sensational incident could not upset the peace of Bhagavan even
for a while or make an impression on his mind (although it
became the talk of the neighbouring town). The importance
attached to this occurrence by the sage was nil.

Once Bhagavan, while passing through the hilly tracts
inadvertently damaged a nest of wasps. The wasps furiously
attacked the leg that pulled down their beloved home. Sri
Bhagavan bore the unbearable pain patiently without offering
the least resistance as his guilty leg which caused pain to them in
his opinion, deserved the just punishment meted out to the
same by the angry wasps. How different is Sri Bhagavan's
reaction and his sense of justice which knows no fear or favour?

When a westerner invited the attention of Bhagavan to the
poverty of the average Indian and his poorly furnished quarters,
Sri Bhagavan replied that although the Indians did not possess
many material comforts, they are not less happy on that account.

As they do not feel the want of the same, they are able to enjoy
life with what they have. How true and how correct! Happiness is
not directly proportional to the material goods one possesses.

In Sri Ramanashram Sri Bhagavan used to occupy a sofa
and many people used to think it was very comfortable and
luxurious a seat for any person. Some used to remark why should
a sage or sanyasi require such a seat, forgetting for the moment
that Sri Bhagavan was accustomed to the roughest and hardest
possible seats throughout his life and only towards the end he
used the sofa to oblige certain devotees.

One day Sri Bhagavan was giving instructions to an
attendant about binding the books for careful preservation. To
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supplement the instructions and show personally, he sat on the
flat floor and remarked that it was very pleasant to sit on the
ground. A high seat also was essential to enable a number of
devotees to have darshan of Bhagavan simultaneously. Sri
Bhagavan was accustomed to put up with anything which came
his way and as he was not attached to any particular seat, he
occupied the sofa for the convenience of the devotees. This was
in spite of some physical discomfort in occupying that particular
seat. Ordinary people think that the sofa is a nice seat. But Sri
Bhagavan expressed at least once that the floor was much better.

Are not the views different?

One day as usual Sri Bhagavan started for a walk towards
Arunachala. On the way, there were some steps. While crossing
over these Sri Bhagavan's leg slipped and was injured. Some
devotees who noticed this examined the steps and found them
to be uneven. Immediately some masons were called for and
by the time they started work Sri Bhagavan returned to the
spot and observed that they were cutting off some portions of
the steps. "Why?" He questioned. "Why do you cut off the
steps? The steps did nothing. It is only this leg that is at fault.

Cut off the leg." How different is the saintly reaction!