27-6-46

In the afternoon, T.V.K. Aiyar, who had with him our
library copy of Tiruvoimozhi with commentary, asked Bhagavan whether we had any better commentary than that. Bhagavan replied that we had not and added, "All sorts of
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learned commentaries are written on the Nalayira Prabandam in the conventional Vaishnavite language, twisting the texts that are clearly Advaitic into some laboured Dvaitic meaning. In the old days some Vaishnavites used to come to me, and when they were wearing the `U' mark they would put it on me also, and when they were wearing the `Y' mark they would put that on me, and then they would prostrate themselves before me. I used to let them do what they liked with me."

T.V.K. then told Bhagavan, "Recently a man of the thengalai ^[?]
school who is well versed in the esoteric meaning of Vaishnavite literature initiated me and gave me samasanam ^[?] and sama asrayam ^[?] and taught me their esoteric meaning. He gives discourses and does good work among the poor, but he would not admit vadakalais to his discourses; according to the Vaishnavite teaching one must do kainkaryam ^[?] or service to God."

Bhagavan replied rather sarcastically: "So God can't get
on without their services? On the contrary, God asks: `Who are you to do service to Me?' He is always saying: `I am within you; who are you?' One must try to realize that and not speak of service. Submission or surrender is the basic teaching of Vaishnavism, but it does not consist in paying a Guru a fee for initiation and telling him that you have surrendered. As often as one tries to surrender, the ego raises its head and one has to try to suppress it. Surrender is not an easy thing. Killing the ego is not an easy thing. It is only when God Himself by His grace draws the mind inwards that complete surrender can be achieved. But such grace comes only to those who have already, in this or previous lives, gone through all the struggles and sadhanas preparatory to the extinction of the mind and killing of the ego."

Bhagavan added, "In the old days these Vaishnavites used
to come and advise me to undergo a samasanam ^[?] but I used to keep silent."

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Bhagavan continued to speak of the Dvaitism of the
Vaishnavites and quoted the Nammalvar song beginning `V??] Fu{ @?V?X??R' the gist of which is: "not knowing myself, I went about saying `I' and `mine'. Then I discovered that `I' was `You' and `mine' was `Yours', oh God." He said: "This is clear Advaita, but these Vaishnavites would give it some interpretation to make it accord with their feeling of duality. They hold that they must exist and God must exist, but how is that possible? It seems that they must all remain for ever doing service in Vaikunta, but how many of them are to do service and where would there be room for all these Vaishnavites?"

Bhagavan said this laughing, and then, after a pause, he
added, "On the other hand, Advaita does not mean that a man must always sit in samadhi and never engage in action. Many things are necessary to keep up the life of the body, and action can never be avoided. Nor is bhakti ^[?] ruled out in Advaita. Shankara is rightly regarded as the foremost exponent of Advaita, and yet look at the number of shrines he visited (action), and the devotional songs he wrote."

Bhagavan then gave further quotations from the eighth
decad of Tiruvoimozhi to show that some of Vaishnavite Alwars had clearly endorsed Advaita. He particularly emphasised the third stanza where it says: "I was lost in Him or in That" and the fifth, which is very like the Thiruvachagam stanza that says the ego got attenuated more and more and was extinguished in the Self.

Later a visitor asked whether Bhagavan had ever thought
of making a tour all round India or would consider such a proposal.

Bhagavan: I have never had any such idea, though several
devotees have proposed it. Rajeswarananda once said he would arrange for a special train to take me all over India. But what is the use of my going anywhere? I am not able to see anything.

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(I took this to refer to Bhagavan's seeing only the Self in everything). They say I must go and give darshan ^[?] to all the people in those parts who may not be able to come here, but even if I went, who would take any notice of a beggar going about clad only in a loin-cloth? Or should I go with a label on my forehead or a card hung round my neck saying: `Here goes a Maharshi'? Or I should have to take a big retinue who would go about proclaiming: `Here comes our great Ramana Maharshi'. Besides, out of all the millions of people, to how many should I be able to give darshan ^[?]?

Again at about seven o'clock in the evening, when I went
into the hall, Bhagavan returned to the subject, saying: "People come here to give darshan ^[?] to me, so why should I go to give darshan ^[?] to them? If I yielded to the importunity of some devotee and went to some place when he asked me I should have to go to every place that every other devotee asked me to and there would be no end to my trouble."