I
Swami Paresananda

Major General V. N. Parameswaran Pillai, O.B.E.,
retired from service as G.O.C.,Travancore-Cochin State Forces
in the year 1950. Even while in service he had a deeply
religious bent of mind and he used to visit holy places and
personages. After retirement he made a pilgrimage to all holy
places in India and to Kailas-Manasarovar.He was initiated
by Sri Sivanandaji Maharaj of Rishikesh when he visited
Trivandrum in 1950. Sri Swami Purushottamanandaji
Maharaj of Vasistha Guha gave him sannyasa diksha in 1958.

Since then he is known as Swami Paresananda. He had his
own Ashram at Kanyakumari, Neyyathinkaray and
Trivandrum.

IT WAS in the year 1936 that I had the good fortune of having
darshan of Sri Bhagavan. I had heard about him before, and
was longing to go to Tiruvannamalai but the opportunity never
came till then. This is how it came about.

I was then a Captain in the Travancore State Forces and
an A.D.C. to His Highness the Maharaja. His Highness and
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the Royal Mother had been to Madras from where they paid a
visit to Sri Ramanasramam on the counsel of the Dewan, Sir
C. P. Ramaswami Iyer, who was a devotee of Sri Ramana
Bhagavan. I came to know of this when Their Highnesses
returned to Trivandrum and was wondering whether it was not
my bad luck that I was not taken as A.D.C. on that tour. In the
meantime, one morning, my friend Sri I. S. Narayana Pillai,
the Controller of Stationery, who was a devotee of Maharshi,
informed me over the phone that he was starting for Sri
Ramanasramam the next day and asked whether I would like
to join him. It was his general practice to inform me whenever
he went to some place of pilgrimage and I had accompanied
him to many places. But this time I was not confident of getting
permission from His Highness at such short notice and I replied
that I would not be able to go with him.

Mysterious indeed are the ways of Bhagavan! A few hours
later, when I reported for duty at the Palace, His Highness said,
of his own accord, that if I also wanted to visit Sri
Ramanasramam I could go. Yes, His Highness knew very well
that I was fond of visiting religious places and saints. This sudden
and unexpected permission made me speechless for a few
seconds. I felt it was all due to Bhagavan's grace.

Sri I. S. and I reached the Ashram the second day. My
companion was a frequent visitor, so everyone knew him. He
introduced me to the Sarvadhikari, Sri Niranjanananda Swami
who made arrangements for our stay. Then we proceeded to
the hall for Sri Bhagavan's darshan. Bhagavan was reclining on
a couch, turning to one side. The hall was almost full with visitors
from various parts of the country and from the west. As we
entered the hall, the scene brought to my memory, slokas from
Dakshinamurti Stotra. I felt Dakshinamurti Himself was
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reclining on the couch. I. S. took me to a vantage point, sitting
where we could see the Maharshi without any obstruction.

Bhagavan noticed us. After a while he sat up and beckoned me.

We did not know whom he was summoning and, as I was a
stranger, my companion thought he was being called and he
got up. Bhagavan signalled ` No `. Others enquired whether
this or that person was meant by pointing to some persons
sitting nearby but the answer was in the negative.

At last I was pointed out and Maharshi nodded assent.

Everybody was surprised and became curious about me. I was
also surprised. I approached him immediately, placed the flowers
and fruits I had brought, and prostrated before him. He
beckoned me to come nearer and gazed at me for a while and
smiled. Then he told his attendant "Bring that book." It was
brought and Maharshi presented it to me. It was a Malayalam
translation of Maharshi's Tamil work, Gitasaram. I was
overwhelmed with joy and devotion. After a few seconds
Maharshi took the book from me, made some corrections in
his own hand and then handed it back to me touching my
hand, I considered myself highly blessed to receive Maharshi's
Grace in this manner.

Then it was time for the midday meal. We were also invited;

so we entered the dining hall. Maharshi asked me to sit in the
opposite row, just facing him and I did so. While eating, he
enquired tenderly,"How is the preparation?" and so on. I replied
that everything was very nice. Again he said,"Take enough rice,
curry, etc. Eat slowly", and so on, and asked the servers to serve
me more curry etc. Throughout he was talking to me only in
the dining hall and this made others wonder who this favoured
one might be. As for me, I had had various such experiences
before and I felt that it was all due to some merit accumulated
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in past lives. "Omnipresent and Omniscient as he is, Maharshi
understands the heart of every one", this belief of mine was
confirmed.

My friend I. S. was a regular visitor to the Ashram but
Maharshi had never spoken to him. When I received such
favours from him, it was natural for I. S. to feel that there was
something lacking in him. Maharshi could easily understand
this. The same day he presented a book to I. S. also and made
him feel deeply gratified.

More than thirty-seven years have elapsed but the whole thing
is still green in my memory. And the book that Maharshi gave me,
corrected in his own hand, is still with meI keep it as a treasure.