Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, by Suri Nagamma

During the ten days of the annual festival, the whole town
bustles with the crowds of pilgrims that come and go. It is
usual for them to come for darshan of Bhagavan. The
Deepotsavam (lighting festival) is on the day of Karthika
Nakshatra (star). As the crowds begin gathering even four or
five days earlier, it is usual for Bhagavan to be seated in the
thatched shed in front of the Mathrubhuteswara temple to
facilitate darshan to the people. This year however the
devotees felt that it would be better to seat Bhagavan in the
Golden Jubilee Hall* and so made all necessary arrangements
to prevent rain coming in by erecting tatties all around.

Bhagavan shifted into the hall three days after the
commencement of the Brahmotsavam, a day or two earlier
than usual. It was raining heavily. Most of those who came
were poor people. And amongst them were the old, the
decrepit and women with babies in arms.

As the evening of the tenth day is the festival of the
Sacred Light, people who set out on Giri pradakshina (going
round the holy mountain) from about 2 a.m. on that day
come to the Ashram in groups with wet clothes. To enable
* A thatched shed constructed to the north of the Old Hall in
connection with the Golden Jubilee celebrations.

them to have darshan without any difficulty Bhagavan used
to have one of the doors of the hall closed and the sofa on
which he reclined, placed across the door. We thought the
same thing should be done now also. “Why?” said Bhagavan.

“It is all right here.”
Throughout that night, there was a stormy wind and
rain. My timepiece stopped. I therefore got up without
knowing the exact time, bathed and sat up thinking of going
to the Ashram early. There was no noisy movement of crowds
on the road. I thought it was too early and so felt like resting
for a while. I fell into a nap. Suddenly I heard the voices of
the crowds as in a dream. I got up in confusion. The rain
had decreased. Owing to the strong winds the clouds had
dispersed. The moonlight was shining in the room through
the windows. Feeling that I might be late, I got ready
hurriedly and went out only to find that rivulets from the
mountain were flowing rapidly making a gurgling noise. The
road was a sheet of water. I hastened into the hall and saw
the time by the Ashram clock. It was 4-30 a.m. Bhagavan
was not to be seen in the hall. When I asked someone where
he was, he said, “There, in the shed.” Exclaiming, “In the
shed, in this rain and wind!” I went there and saw Bhagavan
sitting on the sofa without even a duppatti (sheet of thick
cloth) over his body. Like the full moon, his face was beaming
with smiles and spreading an air of benevolence and
happiness to those around him. The smoke of the scented
Agarbathis (incense sticks) filled the whole place with a sweet
smell as if it were the perfume of the sandalwood trees of
the heavenly Nandavana. The Puranas say that somewhere
lies the ocean of milk, that there in that ocean lies the island
of Sweta Dwipa, that there in that island Sri Maha Vishnu
has His abode and that all the devatas (heavenly beings)
surround Him there, offering their homage to Him in
enjoyment of bliss and happiness. To me the vast sheet of
rain water that surrounded the hall appeared to be the ocean
of milk, the Golden Jubilee Hall flooded with electric lights
appeared to be the Sweta Dwipa, this Ramana Paramatma
seated on the sofa to be Sri Maha Vishnu, and the devotees
that surrounded him and offered their homage to be the
Devatas. My heart swelled with blissful happiness at that sight.

As I approached Bhagavan with many similar thoughts
crowding into my mind, he began to smile. I did not know
why. When I bowed before him and got up, he said, “The
Vedic recitation is all over.” Two months back, during the
Golden Jubilee celebrations, the programme relating to Veda
Parayana was gone through an hour earlier than usual and so
it was all over when we went there, at the usual time. I thought
that the significance of Bhagavan’s smile was that the same
thing had happened this time also. Ashamed at my own
carelessness, I asked Bhagavan, “Have you been here all
night?” Bhagavan replied, “No. Every year people used to
come group after group from 2 a.m. onwards. So, I came
here at 2 a.m. Because of the rains, they have not come yet.”
“You will be fined for having come late,” said one of the
devotees to me. We all laughed.

While we were all seated there chatting, Ramaswamy
Pillai and Kuppuswamy Iyer came and stood before the sofa.

“Why? Is there any parayana?” asked Bhagavan. “Yes. It is not
yet time for a bath. We shall recite Thevaram (Hymns of Lord
Siva by three Tamil saints),” said Pillai. Bhagavan agreed and
they started to recite. As soon as it was over Ramaswamy came
there, saying that it was time for his bath. Pillai said he would
recite the Thiruvembavai written by Saint Manikkavachakar.

“It has twenty stanzas. How can I wait till it is all recited? It is
time to go,” said Bhagavan, and got ready to go by massaging
his legs. “We shall stop presently.” So saying Pillai started
reciting one stanza beginning with ‘Annamalaiyan’. The idea
contained in it is this: “Oh! Sakhi (lady companion)! Just as
the glitter of the precious stones in the crowns on the heads
of the devatas who bow to the lotus feet of Lord Arunachala
get dim and hidden by the shining of those lotus feet of the
Lord, in the same way the rays of the rising sun dispel
darkness (in the universe) and dim the light of the shining
stars. At that hour, let us sing the praise of those sacred feet of
the Lord. Let us bathe and swim in the tank full of flowers,
singing in praise of those lotus feet.”
This recital just ended as Bhagavan placed his feet on
the ground to go for his bath. As the recitation ended with
the words, “Let us bathe! Get up!” Bhagavan got up from
the sofa, saying “Yes! Here I am, getting up for my bath.”
We all laughed.

Though the Paramatma who is neither man nor woman
manifested Himself in this universe in the shape of Bhagavan,
still in the worship of Lord Arunachaleswara, Bhagavan
addressed the Lord with abala bhava (feelings of a woman
towards her husband). I therefore felt indescribable pride at
this. It appears Manikkavachakar sang those songs when he
got abala bhava towards the Lord. Bhagavan too wrote his
Aksharamanamalai with the same abala bhava. Do you see how
exalted a place is accorded to the abala bhava!
I started writing to you this series of letters last year
just after the festival of Karthika, on the occasion of the arrival
of the procession of Lord Arunachala in front of the Ashram
while going round the sacred hill (Giri pradakshina) and in
the spirit of the Lord’s saying that the child is beholden to
the father. All those letters were sent for printing a few days
back.