[Chaturamnaya] His Holiness Jagadguru Sri Sacchidananda Sivabhinava Nrisimha Bharati - 6

[S Jayanarayanan]

 http://svbf.org/journal/vol8no1/2006_10_swamigal.pdf
 
 
How great was the old master’s love for his
young pupil was seen once when the young
Swami fell ill, during a visit to the shrine of
Srikanthesvara of Nanjangud.
 
The master intensely prayed for the recovery
of his charge, offered divine service himself to the
deity there and when the boy recovered in
response, as the master believed, to his devout
prayer, the master ordered a gold image of the
young Swami’s likeness and had it placed in front
of the Peetham of the Utsava-murti (the
procession image) of the deity of the temple, as a
sign that the boy was now entrusted to the care
of a greater being than himself.
 
The young Swami’s devotion and affection
for the master were equally great, as can be seen
f rom the fine hymns sung by him on several
occasions. These hymns have been published in a
handsome volume of over 500 pages under the
title Bhakti-sudha-tarangini, by Sri. T.K.
Balasubrahmanya Aiyer, one of the most devoted
of the Swami’s sishyas.
 
This tour lasted 12 years. The master
returned to Sringeri in 1887 and he was now 80
years old while the pupil was nearing 20.
 
After return to Sringeri, the pupil’s heart
turned towards yoga practice and he became
intent on going to the forest to practise tapas.
 
The master sent for and questioned the
pupil. He replied that he wished to go to the
forest and practise tapas. The guru sternly told
him: "You have a great duty, a grave responsibility
lying just before you. In a short time I shall be
called away; and the whole burden of the Peetham
will devolve on you and it will be upto you
whether the prestige of the Peetham, which has
been handed down untarnished through a
succession of great souls, should be kept by you in
increasing splendour or the spiritual ministry of
the Matha should wane in influence.
 
"When you have seen to it that the spiritual
glories of the Peetham shine more brilliantly than
ever before--and I see with my mind’s eye that it
will be so--then it will be time for you to rest on
your oars, occasionally go to the woods that adjoin
this picturesque village and practise penance
undisturbed.
 
"I see it visioned before me that the highest
spiritual experiences are before you and that you
will become a second Sadasiva Brahmendra; but I
also see that they will not be realised during my
lifetime. Note also that nothing undertaken against
the wishes of your guru will come to good."
 
These words impressed the young Swami
and he resumed his duties as of old. The master
was now 82 and nearing his end. It was Friday
morning about 9a.m. Jyeshtha light 2, Pramadi
(1879) when the master’s soul left for eternal bliss.
 
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