Reminiscences

Someone asked, 'In a temple there is a tortoise carved in stone, on the floor, and a bell suspended from the ceiling. What do they signify ?' ShriMaharaj said, "The tortoise is at the entrance of the sanctum sanctorum. A tortoise can withdraw its limbs into its shell whenever it wants. A sadhaka should, similarly, withdraw all thoughts from mundane subjects and concentrate on God, before proceeding for a darshan of the Deity. The sound of the bell is the articulated Aum.* It is, of course, identical with nama. It is after ringing the bell that the darshan of the deity is to be taken. Also, it is only after thundering the name of God that a devotee advances for a darshan of the deity."

* Aum (ॐ ) -The Mystic name of the Deity prefacing all the prayers. It is formed of 'a' a name of Vishnu, 'v' a name of Shiva, and 'm' of Brahma.

Reminiscences

In ShriMaharaj's days the banking system was avail­able only in large towns, and people used to give their money to ShriMaharaj for safe custody. ShriMaharaj used to accept it and used to give it back as and when the depositor asked for it. At times some even took more money than they   had deposited; but that too did not bother ShriMaharaj. For about a year before he cast off the mortal body ShriMaharaj used to say frequently, 'Be­ware ! My bank is going to close down soon. So whosoever has kept a deposit should withdraw it in good time; if not, I am not responsible if anyone suffers a loss.' Treating the warning as a joke, people who used to deposit money took no notice. ShriMaharaj cast off the mortal body on 23rd December 1913; and then everyone realized the meaning of his words. ShriBrahmanandamaharaj called all those who claimed that they had deposited money with ShriMaharaj, and refunded their claims to them.

Reminiscences

The village of Naravane is about a dozen kilometres from Gondavale. ShriMaharaj wanted to go there for some business. ShriMaharaj started soon after the midday meal.

Shri. Damle and Shri Manjire were asked to accompany him. They climbed into the coach. ShriMaharaj asked ShriBrahmanandamaharaj to accompany, too. After ShriMaharaj himself climbed into the coach and the coach started on its journey, ShriBrahmanandamaharaj began running after it. As the sun was shining fiercely ShriMaharaj clearly indicated to him to sit in the coach; ShriBrahmanandamaharaj,-however, continued running after it.   ShriMaharaj threw down his slippers and told him to put them on and follow; ShriBrahmanandamaharaj held those slippers over his head and again continued running,   barefooted.   After   reaching   Naravane, ShriMaharaj finished his business and started back for Gondavale. ShriBrahmanandamaharaj followed in the same manner while returning. On reaching Gondavale a misgiving arose in the minds of Damle and Manjire that ShriBrahmanandamaharaj had disobeyed his guru's in­junction. Shri. Bhausaheb Ketkar dispelled it. He said, 'You committed a gross mistake in that you hurriedly scrambled into the coach before ShriMaharaj. The second mistake was that you sat beside him as equals. No breach of command took place on ShriBrahmananda's part. But on the other hand you lost a big opportunity.' In this matter ShriBrahmanandamaharaj said; 'It is true that I suffered from scorching of the feet till some distance had been gone. But ShriMaharaj threw down his slippers and I held them over my head, and my pain immediately dis­appeared. I began to feel as if I was walking in moonlight. I had no consciousness of myself. If you had run after the coach you too would certainly have had a similar experi­ence.'

Reminiscences

Dr. Kurtakoti had great respect for ShriBrahmanandamaharaj. When ShriMaharaj was vis­iting Kurtakoti, ShriBrahmanadamaharaj arranged for Dr. Kurtakoti to meet Shri Maharaj. When they were alone together, Dr. Kurtakoti asked ShriMaharaj two questions. The first question was, 'Have you obtained everlasting bliss ?' and the second question was, If you have obtained it, can you bestow it on me?' ShriMaharaj did not reply 'yes' or 'no' to the first question. He said, 'I do not know if I have obtained everlasting bliss. But I sincerely wish that every living being should obtain love for Rama and become fully happy and contented.' In reply to the second question he merely placed his hand on Dr. Kurtakoti's head. Dr. Kurtakoti immediately went into a trance and lost consciousness of his body. When, after some ten min­utes, he regained consciousness of his body ShriMaharaj asked him, 'What did you feel ? He said, 1 was extremely happy.' Upon this ShriMaharaj said, 'Is your second ques­tion answered ? It is not difficult to reach this state, but it is very difficult to maintain it. It is necessary to make continuous efforts for it over a long period of time.'

Reminiscences

Sri Maharaj was visiting Hubli. A businessman named Nanjundaya from Chintamani village came to meet him, and urged him to visit Chintamani. Upon which ShriMaharaj said, "I will most probably come, let me see how I can manage. You go ahead." At this he said, "I do not want your 'Krishna's word' that you will 'most prob­ably' come, I want a 'Rama's word.' " ShriMaharaj smiled and said, "Take it to be 'Rama's word'." Turning to the others gathered there, ShriMaharaj said, "What he has said is correct. Shri Krishna's life is full of God's playful doings. These doings are not understood even by eminent persons, they confound them. His ways, His words, are comprehended only by His devotees, they cannot be com­prehended by ordinary persons. So one should reflect upon them with admiration, but not emulate them. In contrast, Rama is maryadapurushottama,* and provides the ideal for the ordinary person. One obtains deliverance by emu­lating Him."

Reminiscences

A devotee asked, 'In our temples, the idols usually de­pict the deity as standing. Why do they not show Him to be sitting ?' ShriMaharaj said, 'All idols show God to be in the standing posture so that when a devotee in dis­tress calls for help, he does not need to waste even the one extra moment that is necessary for rising from a sitting position. The unfortunate thing is that devotees who call God with a deep yearning are rarely to be found.'

Reminiscences

A devotee asked, 'Maharaj, how do saints respond to the illusory material world ?' ShriMaharaj said, "If a log falls into the sea, it rises and falls with the waves. It is sure that no matter how turbulent the sea gets, it defi­nitely will not sink, and is therefore absolutely free of any apprehension. Saints respond to the illusoriness of the world in a like manner. Or, imagine that there is a big lake and one is walking on its shore. One's shadow travels over the water. Even then one does not believe that one is drowning, and one is therefore not frightened in the least. A worldly-minded person imagines the shadow to be the real self and flounders to stay afloat, screaming 'I am drowning'. A saint is completely assured that just as the shadow is not a real thing, the material world's appearance is also not a reality. Therefore he is not dis­tracted or frightened by the buffets and blows of the illu­sory material world."