The Maharshi

II. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MAHAPOOJA

THE Mahapooja, or the samadhi anniversary of the mother of Sri Ramana Maharshi, is celebrated every year in summer, on the ninth day of the dark half of the solar month Vaikasi; for on that day, came the solemn hour, the final samadhi, for the mother. There are two main items in the programme of this annual celebration; one is the feeding of the visitors and the poor on a large scale, the other is the special worship of the Lingam that is installed over the masonry work sealing the interred remains of the blessed soul.

Here we may make mention of a few facts suggesting a line of thought that may throw light on the meaning of the samadhi and the worship of the Lingam and the general feeding and may prepare the enquiring mind that has faith in spiritual life and its possibilities for a change in the sense of values.

First about feeding. Generally, food is given as a matter of charity, as service of the poor, i.e. as service of God in the poor. When the feeding is associated with a great name, a saint or a religious institution, the religious man who does not believe in this form of charity learns to tolerate it! Now let us see if the feeding in Sri Ramanashram is undertaken as a matter of pity for the poor, or if there is anything else behind actuating this way of charity. Even on ordinary days, it is difficult for the visitor to return from the Ashram without the impression that the Maharshi evinces keen interest in feeding not only the hungry stomachs, but looks pleased to see that the visitor, whatever his status, avails himself of the opportunity of taking a meal at the Ashram; and this is so, notwithstanding the impersonal character of his dealings with men and things, of his general outlook on life, which is the inevitable expression of the intense deep life of the Truth he is centred in. Those who visit the Ashram frequently or have made a few days’ stay have often testified to the unusual appetite for food they experience which is a special feature of the Ashram atmosphere; and most of the devotees, even when they are on flying visits, would not forego the privilege of having a meal at the Ashram as The Maharshi 203 it is consecrated, sanctified by the very air of the Ashram, permeated by the Maharshi spirit.

If these facts are borne in mind, it will be easy to understand the significance of a number of people daily fed and of larger numbers on special occasions. Indeed the ashramites and devotees of Sri Maharshi take so much interest in such feedings because there is the common belief, a general understanding, that food in the Ashram is prasad in a truer sense of the word, an active symbol of the spiritual gift, a material vehicle of the awakening influence and gracious glance emanating from the presiding Spirit Sri Maharshi.

Let us next turn to the Samadhi and the worship of the Lingam, and look at the question in the light of known facts about the environmental changes in the life of Sri Maharshi before and after his mother came to live with him in 1916. There are good people who are satisfied that the mother of Maharshi was great because she gave birth to a great spiritual figure, and became greater after the close of her earthly life, deserving a place of worship, almost for the same reason. There is nothing essentially wrong in such a notion; for, a genuine faith of this kind is not objectionable and such beliefs of unsophisticated minds have got a value of their own, yielding good results always in the measure of the sincerity behind, governing and determining the course of conduct that is expressive of the conviction.

But such beliefs are no bar to others looking at the question from a different angle.

To make a proper study of the question is to learn as far as possible the attitude of Sri Maharshi towards this Samadhi, to know something of the part he has played, to see how far the expressive element in him has been stimulated in this connection.

Looking back to earlier years, we can note certain landmarks in the story of his environmental life that have been the stimuli for drawing him out, to be responsive to those that have sought him for help and guidance. Thus after 11 years of deep and intense mounam (silence in every sense of the word), his long-sealed voice opened in 1907 to give instructions to Kavyakantha Ganapati Sastrigal who afterwards became his great disciple. This was indeed the beginning of a new period in which he not only regained gradual control over the vocal cords and power of speech which had been, by long disuse, almost lost, but has been to this day answering questions and clearing doubts of earnest seekers and devotees who approach him.

Another period began in 1916 when his mother came to live with him to the end. Within a short period of her advent, culinary arrangements were made, regular kitchen was started, and visitors and devotees got lodging and boarding. In this period (19161922) i.e., the six closing years of her life, Sri Maharshi began to pay increasing attention to her needs. Gracious and sympathetic, he allowed her to have her share of his love and sympathy. Such was his spiritual stature that he would not mind the conventional shastra that a saint must keep himself aloof from his relatives. He was preparing her for the supreme consummation, the true samadhi. Apart from the silent spiritual way of helping her to build the inner life, he gave her useful instructions, narrated helpful anecdotes, corrected some of her world-old common notions of religious virtues in bathing and eating, of the kitchen religion, but never coerced her, always allowed her to have her orthodox way. For instance, he would remark in a jocose style, "O your cloth is touched by somebody, madi is gone, polluted, O religion is gone. ... Yes, this onion, drumstick,...great obstruction to Moksha!"

When the end came, the blessed lady completely resigned herself to the sage, making room for his proximity to be effective. On the last day of her life (May 19, 1922), from morning to about 8 in the evening, the great sage sat by the side of the gasping mother, placing his right hand on her heart and the left on her head until life in her body became extinct and the soul got absorbed into the Spirit, into the Peace that passeth all understanding.

Some time after the event, when some one referred to the passing away of his mother, the sage corrected with a curt remark "No, not passed away, *LDALLS, OLİSL absorbed.”

On another occasion referring to the same subject, he stated, “Yes, in her case it was a success; on a previous occasion I did the same for...when his end was approaching, but it was a failure, he yawned, passed away.”

Further explaining in part what was happening during those ten or twelve hours when his hands were on the head and heart of his mother, he said: "Innate tendencies, vasanas or subtle memory of past experiences leading to future possibilities, became very active; scene after scene rolled before her in the subtle consciousness, as the outer sense had already gone; the soul was passing through a series of experiences that might possibly have required many births of her, but for the quickening process worked by the special touch given on the occasion; the soul was at last disrobed of the subtle sheaths before it reached the final destination, the supreme Peace, Nirvana, Samadhi from which there is no return to Ignorance."

Utterances to this effect regarding his mother are aphorisms for which a plain commentary is to be found in the general atmosphere and his attitude to the Samadhi and the temple constructed after the event.

From Skandashram on the hill, he was for about six months daily visiting the Samadhi at the foot of the hills where her remains were interred, until one day he suddenly sat and has coniinued to stay there to this hour.⁶⁵

“Not of my own accord I removed from Skandashram...” he said, “Something placed me here and I obeyed; it is not due to my will, sveccha, it is pareccha, the will of others or of the Lord.”_"Lord, I have no will of my own. Thy will is my will, *5 roof L.Li Toro L.Li’ is one of the oft-quoted passages of the Maharshi.

What has been so far stated is enough to show how he looks upon this Samadhi with which, one may say, commenced a new period in the history of his life and the Ashram. The fact is wellknown that from 1922 onwards, the Ramanashram has been steadily growing, the teachings and the influence of the sage are increasingly recognized and spread; especially in the last half-a-dozen years the name of Sri Ramana Maharshi has touched some of the earnest hearts of Europe and America.

On one occasion Sri Maharshi is said to have remarked, "Where is she gone? She is here.” This was taken to mean that she, his mother, as a freed spiritual being, lived with him in his atmosphere. If so, it may be that the principle of female Energy, Shakti, was required to extend and spread the influence of Sri Maharshi and that was supplied by his mother effectively after her Samadhi. This need not be discussed further here, as it can be best understood only by students of occult tradition and knowledge of the East as well as of the West.

The greatness then of Sri Maharshi’s mother rests much more upon other factors than on the fact of her great good luck of having been a good and pious-minded mother of a spiritual personage of a rare type. Her greatness lay in her capacity to receive his help and influence in the closing hours of her life and thereby to shuffle off the subtle coils of mortal ignorance before she could get liberated into the eternal station of the Supreme Peace. Above all, her worth and greatness are manifest in the increasingly felt influence of the spirit and teachings of the Maharshi, spreading across the shores and entitling her to take the place of the Madonna in the institution of Sri Ramanashram where the Lingam Matrbhuteswara (the Lord who has taken her into Himself) is installed and offered daily workship.