[Chaturamnaya] ***UNCHECKED*** Life and Teachings of His Holiness Jagadguru Sri Abhinava Vidyateertha Mahaswamigal - 19

[S Jayanarayanan]

 (Continued from previous post)

http://svbf.org/journal/vol4no3-4/teachings.pdf

Stamp of Realization

Quite often his Upanyasams clearly bore the stamp of realization. Since he regarded only a genuine
practitioner as competent to preach, he was meticulous in his Anushtanams (religious practices).
He would get up before sunrise, bathe and proceed for his morning Anushtanam which would go on till
9a.m. Only after that he would give audience. In the afternoon, after giving Tirtha prasadam and
finishing his duties, he would go for his afternoon bath followed by Anushtanam and only then take
Bhiksha. He would bathe, without fail, in the evening and perform Anushtanam for the third time.
Thus, there was perfect consonance between his practice and preaching.

The Acharya’s instructions also were unique and the method adopted was particularly suited to the
disciple. A young devotee (in his twenties) was working in a management concern. He often had to
take his assistants (some of them being old enough to be his father) to task. He felt that he was
being rude and was disgusted with himself. He met the Acharya at Sringeri.
 
When they were together the same afternoon, the Acharya suddenly got up and proceeded at a great
speed, beckoning the devotee to follow him. They quickly reached the Sharada Devi temple where a
new gopuram was being built. Some workers were found to be idling, instead of attending to their
tasks. The Acharya climbed the scaffolding with great agility and proceeded to reprimand them in
no uncertain terms.

He then climbed down rapidly and walked back towards the bridge. His face bore a delightful smile
directed towards the devotee. The devotee was amazed that the Acharya was seemingly angry a moment
back but was so peaceful immediately afterwards. The devotee learnt a permanent lesson in the manner
of handling official duties without a word having been exchanged.

Another young disciple was to appear for an honours elective exam during his engineering studies.
He suddenly felt that the result of passing the exam would be a few worthless additional alphabets
to an already worthless certificate. When he requested the Acharya’s permission to immediately
proceed to Sringeri, it was not granted.

The Acharya later clarified to him as follows: “I had told you not to come earlier because I did not
want you to miss your examinations. A task undertaken should be accomplished whether one considers
it important or otherwise.”

The Acharya never forgot any good turn done to him even if the favour was meagre. During a camp at
Chennai, a devoted lady yearned that the Acharya visit her house when he would be in the vicinity.
Though it was not in his schedule, the Acharya graced her house and blessed her and her family
members.

Wanting to express her gratitude at least in a small measure, the lady later went to the Acharya and
submitted a small silver glass filled with sugar. The Acharya accepted it and told the lady that he
was pleased with her devotion and would have visited her even without such an offering. When she
subsequently went to Sringeri, he remarked to the assembled devotees that the lady had given a big
silver vessel to the Mutt just because he visited her house. This happened on her next visit too
when he again expansively commented on her generosity. Having a crystal like pure heart,
the Acharya also, like Yuddhishtira, was able to see only the good in others.

(To be continued)
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