[Chaturamnaya] Life and Teachings of His Holiness Jagadguru Sri Abhinava Vidyateertha Mahaswamigal - 16

[S Jayanarayanan]

 (Continued from previous post)

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

PART 7: PEERLESS PRECEPTOR

Various types of people whom Lord Krishna classifies as the distressed, the seeker of knowledge or
of wealth, and the man of wisdom, all these came to the Acharya for guidance and succour.
Those suffering from various ailments would have him play the role of a divine doctor; persons with
problems would seek the Acharya’s guidance and sacred intervention. People desirous of progressing
in the spiritual path as also those who have attained realization sought his guidance.

The Acharya would respond to each of them in an appropriate manner. The Acharya always went out of
his way to make himself accessible to his devotees. He made no distinction of caste, creed or status
as far as sincere aspirants were concerned.

Extreme Concern

A certain Muslim instrumentalist once visited Sringeri, and was seen by the Acharya playing his
instrument in front of the Samadhi temple of the Parmacharya. The Acharya then sent word to the
unsuspecting man to come and play his instrument at the time of the night puja. Usually musicians
are allowed to perform only during the intervals in the chanting of the mantras in the puja.
However, the already surprised musician was in for a greater surprise when the Acharya ordered that
the loud Vedic chanting be stopped to facilitate the musician to play his instrument through the
entire length of the puja while the Acharya chanted mantras mentally.

The Acharya accorded very high priority to spiritual aspirants. On a certain day he was not doing
well and visitors had been highly restricted. A spiritual aspirant in his twenties had traveled a
long distance to see the Acharya and was to leave the next day. When this was made known to the
Acharya, he called for the person, patiently heard him and gave inimitable spiritual advice.

The Acharya did not confine himself to just initiating a disciple into a mantra. He would willingly
give clarifications when asked. For instance, a person approached him and requested him to explain
the Dhyana Sloka of a particular mantra. The Acharya closed his eyes and gave such a lucid
description that it seemed as if he were seeing a form in front of him and describing it.

The surprised devotee remarked, “The Acharya’s explanation is so excellent that I can virtually see
the form in front of me.” Candidly the Acharya replied, “Of what use will my clarification be if I
merely confined myself to mechanically translating the Dhyana Sloka? I was indeed visualizing the
form described therein. That was the reason why I was speaking slowly, focusing my attention on the
various parts of the divine form before describing what I was observing.”

(To be continued)
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