Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, by Suri Nagamma

Mixed with curry etc., each meal amounts only to about a
handful. Even that he does not eat each dish separately as
we do for taste. He makes a ball of the vegetable, chutney,
soup, etc. and then mixes it with rice and eats. In the course
of the conversation one day, he said, “It would be more tasty
to eat the rice with only one dish instead of so many. Why so
many dishes? We used to eat only a single dish in the olden
days. I have not given up that practice even now. While I
was on the hill many people used to bring rice, fruit and
sweets. Whatever they brought, I used to eat only as much
as could be lifted with three fingers. I used to eat some of
whatever they brought so that the whole day’s intake of the
food eaten did not amount to a handful. That method of
eating used to give me more than happiness. Nowadays they
spread a leaf and serve several things on it. As I cannot waste
anything, I eat them and feel heavy thereafter.”
So also as regards sleep. On special festival occasions
such as the birthday celebrations (Jayanthi) and Maha Puja,
the students do not commence the Vedic recitations at the
Brahma Muhurtham time (a couple of hours before sun rise),
being tired with work on the previous night, but Bhagavan
gets up as usual and keeps himself ready. If he is ever in ill
health and his personal attendants request him to sleep a
little longer, he replies, “What is the point in sleeping at the
time of the Brahma Muhurtham? If you want, you may sleep.”
In Dhanurmasam (December-January), puja starts in
Arunachaleswara temple early in the morning. Bhagavan
wakes up here by that time. People who do the Tamil parayana
may take some time to get up and come here, but he is always
ready to receive them. Of course his movements also are
limited. It is said that all these restrictions are only for sadhaks
and not for Jnanis. But Jnanis also observe all this discipline
for the welfare of the world. They never slip down from the
pinnacle of complete dispassion. Devotion to principle,
determination, etc., which do not transgress Nature’s laws
are normal for them. Their actions are all lessons for us.